Industry News
Winter is just around the corner; it may be even closer than you think. Some resorts may be opening as soon as mid-October. That’s just over a month away.
So, it’s time to get the gear out of storage, wax your skis, wash your clothes (you do, right?), and start those snow dances.
Here are the expected opening dates for Colorado ski areas, which are weather-dependent and subject to change. Let the countdown commence.
- Arapahoe Basin: October
- Keystone: October
- Loveland: October
- Wolf Creek: 4th November
- Breckenridge: 11th November
- Vail: 11th November
- Copper Mountain: 14th November
- Eldora: 18th November
- Purgatory: 19th November
- Beaver Creek: 23rd November
- Crested Butte: 23rd November
- Steamboat: 23rd November
- Aspen Mountain: 24th November
- Snowmass: 24th November
- Telluride: 24th November
- Howelsen Hill: 25th November
- Powderhorn: 25th November
- Monarch: Thanksgiving
- Echo Mountain: late November
- Cooper: 7th December
- Sunlight: 9th December
- Aspen Highlands: 10th December
- Buttermilk: 17th December
- TBD: Granby Ranch, Hesperus, Kendall Mountain, Silverton, Winter Park
Wolf Creek, CO, which started its lifts on 16th October, won last year’s #RaceToOpen.
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: It’s Septembrrr… Beware
Which ski resort will open first? Colorado is famous for taking the title, with resorts like Arapahoe Basin, Wolf Creek, and Loveland being consistent early openers.
But they’re not the only ones. We also have some East Coast sleepers with extensive snowmaking operations in the hunt.
To help you make an educated prediction this year, here is a list of the first resorts to open over the last ten years or so:
- 21/22: Wolf Creek, Colorado – 16th October
- 20/21: Wild Mountain, Minnesota – 19th October
- 19/20: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – 11th October
- 18/19: Wolf Creek, Colorado – 13th October
- 17/18: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – 13th October
- 16/17: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – 21st October
- 15/16: Killington, Vermont – 18th October
- 14/15: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – 17th October
- 13/14: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado – 13th October
- 12/13: Wild Mountain, Minnesota – 18th October
- 11/12: Wolf Creek, Colorado – 11th October
- 10/11: Sunday River, Maine – 23rd October
- 09/10: Loveland, Colorado – 6th October
- 08/09: Loveland, Colorado – 7th October
So who do you think it’s going to be? Who’s your money on? Let us know.
