RSSPlentiful powder draws skiers to mountain resorts
A skier takes advantage of early season conditions at Vail. Snow enthusiasts have 18 Colorado resorts to choose from this holiday weekend.
After stuffing yourself like a turkey on Thanksgiving, you could use some exercise.
And Mother Nature has the answer.
Thanks to a series of winter storms pounding Colorado’s high country, many of the 18 ski resorts now open are reporting their best early season conditions in years, leaving you with no excuse to watch more football.
“With the extra snow from Mother Nature, Crested Butte Mountain Resort is opening with the best snow conditions in six years,” resort spokeswoman Emily McCormack said, echoing a message heard from nearly all of the state’s resorts.
Crested Butte reported six inches of new Wednesday with more on the way. The resort has 19 trails, 105 acres of beginner and intermediate terrain and the terrain park open.
“With this amount of skiing available, crowds shouldn’t be an issue, even over the holiday weekend,” McCormack said.
Steamboat Springs is reporting more than 6 feet of snow in November and living up to its reputation as Colorado’s home of Champagne Powder snow.
“You have to go back more than a decade, all the way to the 1996-97 winter, to see as phenomenal a start to the season as we’re experiencing this year,” said Chris Diamond, president and chief operating officer of the Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation. “With arguably the best snow conditions in Colorado, powderhounds at Steamboat will truly have something very special to celebrate over the Thanksgiving weekend.”
The snow gods also made an early stop at Vail, and the largest ski resort in North America is opening more than 2,700 acres of skiable terrain, including China and Tea Cup bowls.
“We always have a lot to be thankful for in Vail,” said Chris Jarnot, chief operating officer of Vail Mountain. “But having virtually the entire front side plus Sun Up, China and Tea Cup bowls and 2,700 acres of terrain open before Thanksgiving provides us with an overabundance of reasons to give thanks this year.”
Just down the road, Beaver Creek Resort is kicking off its 30th season with 426 acres of terrain, 11 lifts and a mix of beginner, intermediate and expert trails.
And don’t forget Telluride, Purgatory, Snowmass, and, and ... well, you get the picture.
Closer to home, you can watch seven U.S. Olympians race against the clock Saturday when the Visa Aspen Winternational opens the North American swing of the women’s Audi FIS Alpine World Cup.
The American team includes 2010 Olympic medalists Lindsey Vonn of Vail and Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.). The two are set to start Saturday’s giant slalom and Sunday’s slalom on Aspen Mountain. Races both days begin at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.. Spectators watch the action from the grandstands at the bottom of Lift 1A.
For all you flat-trackers, Doug Conant of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council said ski trails on Grand Mesa, thanks to the efforts of the Nordic Council grooming crew, are in grand shape.
There’s plenty of time for football, but finally it’s ski season.
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