Colorado skiing and snowboarding resorts receive heavy blanket of snow
While resort operators, antsy skiers and snowboarders in California await the arrival of wintry weather, the waiting is over in Colorado.
A major storm arrived Tuesday and is still dumping snow throughout the Rockies. Arapahoe Basin and Loveland are already open and the new snow might spur more early openings. At the very least it will ensure that Colorado's resorts open on schedule.
Wolf Creek, which received eight inches from the latest storm, will open Saturday with powder and packed-powder conditions. Powderhorn has scheduled a Dec. 17 opening and so far is sticking to that. Copper Mountain, which plans to open Nov. 6, is unofficially reporting five inches but predictions call for up to eight inches more. Winter Park Resort has received eight inches and plans to open Nov. 18. The storm is lingering on the Front Range and has dropped more than 12 inches at Eldora Mountain Resort, which will open Nov. 20.
Most of the 22 resorts that are part of Colorado Ski Country USA will open the week of Thanksgiving. That's the plan throughout California as well, but lots more snow and colder weather will be needed for those resorts to open on more than a limited basis.
Photo: A crewman gets to work preparing the slopes at Aspen/Snowmass, which received more than five inches of snow. Credit: Colorado Ski Country USA
