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Capital Weather Gang

Ski resorts had to delay their seasons left and right, but at least it’s finally cold

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November 18, 2016 at 3:42 p.m. EST
It finally looks like winter in Montana. (Big Sky Resort via Twitter)

Cold weather is settling over the West and ski resorts are breathing a sigh of relief. After a very warm fall, temperatures in are falling to a point that snow-makers can cover the slopes in fluffy white stuff. So adjust your bindings and find the ski wax.

For the best output, snow-making machines need the temperature to be below freezing and the air to be dry. Last week was extremely warm for not only the Sierra but the entire western range. Up until Thursday, temperatures were spiking into the 40s on mountaintops in the Rockies, which is too warm to generate snow that will last.

KUSA reports that Arapahoe Basin was the first to open in Colorado, followed by Loveland, which only has three green runs open this week. Telluride and Wolf Creek Ski area delayed their opening days and don’t have new tentative dates yet, according to KUSA.

At Colorado Public Radio, Nathaniel Minor and Jim Hill dug in a little deeper (pun intended). Scanning the internet archive, otherwise known as the “Wayback Machine,” they found six years worth of opening dates for 20 of Colorado’s ski resorts. This year, eight of those resorts will open later than they have since 2010, but a handful have opening days that are earlier than recent years — assuming they aren’t delayed.

The openings are almost in-total thanks to the ability to make snow. Breckenridge and Purgatory plan to open their winter-season doors on Saturday. Breckenridge is way behind schedule, but Purgatory is ahead. The “central mountain” resorts, like Steamboat and Beaver Creek, are on-schedule for a late November opening, Colorado Public Radio reports.

More Colorado opening dates via KUSA:

Beaver Creek — Nov. 23
Winter Park — Nov. 23
Aspen/Snowmass — Nov. 24
Crested Butte Mountain Resort — Nov. 24
Steamboat Springs — Nov. 23

Up north, Big Sky Resort in Montana lucked out this week. A winter storm clipped the state as it churned into the Midwest. Snow guns were aided by actual snow falling from the sky. Winter has arrived in Montana.

Farther west, cold temperatures and just a few inches of snow was enough to get the Sierra ski lifts rolling. “Resorts have kicked snow making into high gear as temperatures stay cold, setting the stage for the first wave of ski lifts to open Friday,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported. “A second round of mountain resorts will open for skiing and snowboarding just before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.”

Mt. Rose was the first to open in the Tahoe area Friday and Boreal Mountain Resort was quick on its heals. Squaw Alpine plans to open Nov. 23 and they are more and more confident that the weather will be cold enough — if not snowy enough — to open on schedule. Heavenly, on the south side of Lake Tahoe, planned to open Friday but needed to push back until Nov. 23 in order to make enough snow.

Overall, it looks like Thanksgiving weekend will be a massive opening day for the Mountain West.