Industry News
Winter is just around the corner. Consistently low temperatures allowed Copper Mountain in Colorado to begin snowmaking yesterday, the first resort we know of in North America to start its guns for real. Many other resorts have already started testing snowmaking equipment, but not starting the snowmaking process.
The first official day of snowmaking is always magical. Spread the winter stoke and drop a
if you’re ready for November 14th!
– Copper Mountain
The US Alpine Ski Team will be arriving in Copper before the season starts for training ahead of this season’s World Cup schedule.
- Related: Brain Post: How Snow Guns Work
Copper Mountain, celebrating its 50th anniversary this season, is advertising a November 14th opening day.
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.
From 1982 through 2001, Loveland was the first to open ten times, and Keystone was the first 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 the 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.
- Related: It’s September… Beware
Here is a list of the first resorts to open over the last ten 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 shortly!
