Arapahoe Basin, CO, Begins Testing Snowguns

Ski season just got a step closer. Arapahoe Basin, CO, is getting ready to take advantage of the falling temperatures by getting its snowguns ready to start firing. Hoping to open in mid-October, testing the snowguns means that snowmaking can begin for real in the next week or so. Hopefully this week…

Last night we tested the snow guns.  Do you know what that means? We are one step closer to skiing and riding.

– A-Basin

Typically, it’s a tussle between Colorado’s A-Basin and Loveland to see who starts the ski season off for North America, both resorts battling for bragging rights.

• Related: The Top 9 Resorts for Early Season Skiing and Riding

From 1982 through 2001, Loveland opened first ten times, and Keystone ten times. However, three of Keystone’s wins were photo finishes when both areas opened on the same day, and Keystone used its lights to open before sunrise, getting a jump on Loveland by two or three hours in the quest for bragging rights, according to the Denver Post. Then in 2002, Arapahoe Basin installed snowmaking equipment. From 2003 through 2018, Arapahoe Basin was the first Front Range area to open nine times, Loveland was first five times, and they tied twice. Wolf Creek, a small area 250 miles from Denver in southern Colorado, actually beat both of them four times since 2011, thanks to ample early natural snowfall.

Here is a list of the first resorts to open over the last 10 years or so:

• 21/22: Wolf Creek, Colorado – October 16th
• 20/21: Wild Mountain, Minnesota – October 19th
• 19/20: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – October 11th
• 18/19: Wolf Creek, Colorado – October 13th
• 17/18: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – October 13th
• 16/17: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – October 21st
• 15/16: Killington, Vermont – October 18th
• 14/15: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – October 17th
• 13/14: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – October 13th
• 12/13: Wild Mountain, Minnesota – October 18th
• 11/12: Wolf Creek, Colorado – October 11th
• 10/11: Sunday River, Maine – October 23rd
• 09/10: Loveland, Colorado – October 6th
• 08/09: Loveland, Colorado – October 7th

See you on the slopes soon!