Cold front pushes snowmaking at Summit County ski resorts

While fall in the high country of Colorado is mostly characterized by a steady drop in temperature and a few piles of snow, this fall has been the exact opposite.

Although Summit County experienced its first snowfall of the season in early September, the remainder of the month was unseasonably warm and dry. This trend continued into October, further delaying the snowmaking season for resorts at the highest elevations in the state.

However, as a cold front moved through the area on Thursday, October 17, local ski resorts began making snow as snow blew and temperatures dropped below freezing in the early morning hours on Friday.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area

A-Basin reported that it fired its weapons as light began to peek over the eastern wall at 6 a.m. Friday. The snow blow marks the third time the ski area has turned on the snow guns this fall season and has tested the snow guns twice, one of which occurred on October 8th.

While A Basin would ideally see several large snow whales piling up around midday this time of year, snowmaking crews remained busy performing necessary maintenance and conducting snow gun testing.

With snow forecast throughout the weekend, A-Basin has not changed its plans regarding a potential opening day. After opening on October 29 last year, A-Basin will reopen as soon as possible.

“When it comes to this upcoming storm, the natural snow is what really gets us excited about the season,” said Communications Manager Shayna Silverman. “Right now I think the forecasts are calling for about 3 inches over the weekend, maybe even more in the coming days. But what the storm will bring us most is consistent cold temperatures, giving us the window of opportunity we need to start blowing snow.”

Keystone Resort

Similar to its neighbor a few miles down the highway on the way to Loveland Pass, Keystone Resort also began receiving snow in the early morning hours Friday – the first time the resort has blown snow so far this season.

“Keystone commissioned the snowmaking system overnight, officially beginning snowmaking operations for the 2024-25 winter season as we work toward opening as early as possible,” said Sarah McLear, senior communications specialist.

Keystone has historically competed with A-Basin and Loveland to become one of the first ski areas to open in the U.S. and will continue to blow snow once temperatures reach the ski area’s snowmaking limit.

As in previous years, Keystone plans to open as soon as possible with its inaugural terrain package, which includes 2 miles of skiing and horseback riding on the Schoolmarm and Silver Spoon trails.

“With an opening day ski experience spanning 40 acres and two miles of slopes, there is still some work ahead for our team before we can announce an opening date, but cold weather windows like this bring us ever closer to the start of ski season,” said Keystone communications manager Max Winter.

Last year, Keystone welcomed skiers and snowboarders back to the mountain a few days after A-Basin and held its opening day on November 1st.

Loveland Ski Area

After natural storms hit the mountain on Thursday afternoon, the Loveland ski area also started its snowmaking season early Friday morning.

Snow began accumulating on the slopes at the ski area in both the Loveland Valley and Loveland Basin, according to marketing director Loryn Roberson.

“With our base elevation of 10,800 feet, we were able to take full advantage of the colder temperatures and allow for productive snowmaking,” Roberson said. “The snowmaking team will monitor temperatures around the clock and produce snow whenever conditions permit. The upcoming forecast looks promising and we look forward to continuing to build on our preseason base.”

Loveland will welcome skiers and snowboarders back to the mountain as soon as conditions permit. Loveland opened last season on November 10th

Copper Mountain Resort

The slight delay in snowmaking this season is not expected to impact Copper Mountain Resort’s opening day, scheduled for Nov. 8.

Copper hopes the cold weather currently sweeping through Summit County will aid the resort’s preparation for opening day and allow snowmaking crews to blow snow more evenly.

“We are still three weeks away from our opening day, so it is too early to say whether we will need to adjust our operating plans,” said communications and philanthropy manager Olivia Butrymovich. “We are optimistic that Copper can open as planned.”

Home to the US Alpine Ski Team Speed ​​Center, Copper is currently evaluating early season race training conditions for the US Alpine Ski Team as well as several international teams. The Speed ​​Center is scheduled to open in late October, but Copper will have more information on the exact opening date once the storm passes.

Copper Mountain hosted opening day of the 2023-24 winter season on November 13th.

Breckenridge Ski Area

Breckenridge Ski Resort will celebrate its opening day with Copper on Nov. 8 and is completing testing of its snowmaking equipment, but has not yet begun blowing snow over any of its five peaks.

Once all testing is complete, Breckenridge is expected to begin snowmaking in the near future. Last year, the Breckenridge ski area started its winter season on November 10th.

Warm weather returns next week

While Summit County ski areas are expected to make some progress in returning guests to the mountain over the next few days, current weather forecasts predict the return of warm weather to the area next week.

According to National Weather Service forecasts The storm front will exit the area on Monday, October 21st, before a significant warming in temperatures from Tuesday, October 22nd.

While overnight temperatures may still be conducive to snow formation, daytime highs are expected to range between the upper 50s and lower 60s Tuesday through Saturday next week.