Vail Resorts hopeful about El Niño and the upcoming Colorado ski season; sets opening date for Breckenridge

Like everyone in Colorado, officials at Vail Resorts are hoping for a snowy winter with lots of powder for skiers and snowboarders. The Colorado-based company announced this week that the ski resort Breckenridge is projected to open on Nov. 6.

They also said Keystone resort will open "as soon as possible."

"We just announced our opening dates, tentative weather permitting, but we're very excited," said Vail Resorts spokeswoman Emily Kowalenko. "We're optimistic with El Niño reports coming in."

So, what is an El Niño? CBS Colorado First Alert Chief Meteorologist Dave Aguilera provided an explanation.

"El Niño, simply put, is the warming of the ocean water off the coast of South America. It is not a storm. It doesn't create storms, and it doesn't guarantee that we're going to have a big winter. It is just the surface water off the coast of South America warming up slightly," he said.

Many people talk about El Niño like it's a winter storm destined to bring dump trucks of snow to Colorado's dry slopes. But the climate pattern is just bringing the potential for more snow.

"Yeah, it's just kind of if you were a poker player or something -- it stacks the deck and puts you in a good situation for more moisture to move into Colorado. So a lot of things have to fall into play for us to get more snow," Aguilera said.

It's a poker hand Vail Resorts is willing to bet on.

"We just all want that nice powder day. We want the normality back, and that's what we're hoping to have," Kowalenko said.

If you believe in patterns, 1980 was one of the worst snow droughts on record for Colorado (like last winter), and El Niño came right after it.

"The biggest (El Niño) ever was back in '82, '83 when we did have big snow in the Denver metro area and a lot of mountain locations," Aguilera said. "So this has the potential, at least 69% potential, to be bigger than that one back in '82."

It's a potential that has just about everyone crossing their fingers in Breckenridge.