Colorado ski resorts get jump-start on the season thanks to cooler weather, hope to open early
After a few years of delayed starts, Colorado's ski season is looking like it might get an earlier jump this year. With colder nights settling in across the high country, resorts are optimistic they could be welcoming skiers and riders close to the end of October, should Mother Nature do her part too.
There's no official race to open first, but a few resorts are clearly pushing hard to get their lifts spinning as soon as possible (with a healthy dose of sibling rivalry).
At Keystone Resort, crews are already working long hours to take advantage of every cold window for snowmaking. Communications Manager Sarah Mclear says the magic number they're looking for is about 28 degrees or colder, and the drier and colder the air, the better the snow gun will perform. Getting an early first day on the mountain is great, Mclear said, but getting a quality first day is more important.
"That's going to be at least an 18-inch base of snow, which, as you can tell, with over two miles of skiing and riding train on our opening day package, that is a lot of snow," Mclear said. "We also try to get tree to tree coverage, we don't want any snow showing on the sides." Thankfully, the weather has been cooperating compared to recent years.
"We've had some warm falls the last couple of seasons," Mclear said, "so we're really excited to see some natural snowfall this year, along with those colder temps we've been waiting for."
A few miles down Highway 6, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area (A-Basin) is once again a strong contender for first to open, not that it says that's its focus.
"A-Basin is very well known for getting open first or very close to first each season," Shayna Silverman, Communications Manager for Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, said. "We're pretty blessed with high elevation here at the base area, we're above 10,700ft, positioned perfectly on the Continental Divide. So we get snow, we get low temperatures and we get snow that sticks around."
"That being said, we're not really racing to open," she added.
The big question remains: when would that be?
"The official statement is A.S.A.P., but TBD," Silverman joked.
Further west, Winter Park Resort is also getting ready. Spokesperson Jen Miller says new snowmaking upgrades and favorable weather patterns have them "in the hunt" for an early start, even if claiming the top spot isn't their main goal.
"With our upgraded snowmaking and where we sit in the state, those have allowed us to be in the hunt," Miller said.
No resort has officially picked a date on the calendar just yet, but with overnight lows dipping into the 20s across Summit and Grand counties and snow guns a-blasting, the slopes are getting closer by the day.
