Despite some early snow in Colorado, it looks like the past two weeks of warm weather have put a serious glitch into the opening day plans of Keystone Resort and Copper Mountain. Both mountains were slated to open this Friday, October 31, but despite an impressive fleet of snowmaking equipment, that's just not going to happen. That leaves Arapahoe Basin as the only ski area currently open in Colorado.
Copper Mountain has announced that their new opening day will be November 7. They plan to open with top-to-bottom skiing on Ptarmigan via the Excelerator lift as well as on Rhapsody and Main Vein via the American Eagle lift. Easy Rider will also be open for beginner terrain.
Keystone has not announced a new opening date, but says they plan to open as soon as snow conditions allow. You can head over here to stay updated on their progress.
This is a major bummer for those looking to slide on snow in Colorado, but the good news is that a later opening doesn't have much influence on the future of the 2014-2015 ski season. What we really need is for the snow to start pumping and fall consistently through March. And on the bright side, According to meteorologist Joel Gratz of Opensnow.com, snowmaking weather should hang around for most of the week:
"Tuesday through Friday will be dry and mostly sunny across the entire state of Colorado. Temperatures will be great for snowmaking on Tuesday morning and again Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, so look for the snow guns to be cranking. Overnight lows on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night won't be as chilly but I think they will be cool enough to allow for continued snowmaking at higher elevations."
Do your snow dances!
· Open Snow [Official Site]
· Crazy Map Predicting "20 Times" As Much Snow is a Hoax [Curbed Ski]
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· The Snow Lover's Bucket List: 33 Things to Do Before You Die [Curbed Ski]