Industry News
Ladies and gentlemen, ski season is right around the corner! Temps are falling, we’re seeing the first snow of the season, and winter will be here before we know it.
So, you know what that means; time to make your first chair predictions. Which ski resort will open first? Colorado is notorious 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 big snowmaking operations in the hunt.
To help you make an educated prediction this year, we here at SnowBrains thought we’d compile a list of the first resorts to open over the last 15 years or so:
- 22/23: Wild Mountain, Minnesota – October 18th
- 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
So who do you think it’s going to be? Who’s your money on? Let us know…
A basin…I have faith
Wasn’t there a Midwestern ski area that beat everyone out a couple years back?
I’m going to go with Wolf Creek… La Niña seems to favor the Southwest during the beginning of the season before settling into a pattern that favors the PNW, Wyoming, Montana, and Northern Co. Since we have the same pattern this year as last year, it seems likely that we’ll see similar results.