Industry News
After a storm this week dumped almost 2-feet of snow at Wolf Creek, CO the ski area announced they will open for business at 9 am on Saturday, Oct. 13, making it the first area in North America to open to the public for the season. The resort will open the rental shop, ski school, main lodge, and three lifts.
After Wolf Creek’s announcement of an early opening, all eyes turned to the usual suspects in the #RaceToOpen, Arapahoe Basin and Loveland, both also in Colorado. Both had been making snow and had received decent amounts of natural coverage too. Could one of them steal the title of ‘First Resort in North America to Open’ from under Wolf Creek’s nose right at the death?
Turns out, no. The title will be going to South Colorado, both resorts have said they won’t open this weekend, but continued favorable weather could mean opening isn’t far away. It seems likely that one of these two will be the first resort in North America to open for every-day operations.
SnowBrains reached out to Loveland this morning, and we were told:
We won’t be opening this weekend. Our snowmakers are working hard and still have a good amount of snow to make. We hope to open in the next two weeks.
And in a blog post yesterday, A-Basin COO Alan Henceroth said:
The forecast is very encouraging. And it’s too early to call when the resort will open, but, for now, go enjoy a weekend of skiing at Wolf Creek (kudos to those guys).
Snow in Colorado has been plentiful so far, a great sign for the season ahead. Patrollers at Silverton Resort, CO claimed the first lift-served powder turns earlier this week, on Oct. 8. The resort is not scheduled to run its chairlift until Dec. 27 but plans to offer heli-skiing by reservation on its upper mountain terrain starting Nov. 24.
Mount Rose Ski Tahoe, NV, also won’t be far behind. The ski area recently invested in 17 new snow guns as part of a $2 million capital improvement and expects to open Oct. 26.
Over in Vermont, Killington Resort aims to once again be the first ski area to open in the Northeast, with a projected starting day of Nov. 7. Killington is ready to utilize its multi-million-dollar investment in snowmaking improvements as soon as the temperature drops low enough.
