North America’s ski season is off to a slow start but like a crusty ski tuner once said, “the snow will come when it comes…” Just so happens it arrived this weekend for much of the western United States.
Related: The Drought Is Over! | Utah Picks Up 15″ [Photo Tour]
This weekend, Breckenridge, Timberline, Keystone, Copper, Breck, and others join the party making for a grand total of 9 open ski areas across North America. Next week, expect to see Sunday River, Winter Park, and possibly Vail open if the current systems deliver significant snowfall.
Resorts Currently Open In North America
Mammoth Mountain, California
Mammoth is holding strong in the Sierra and continues to deliver surprisingly good conditions through the early season. If you like chalk, head to Mammoth.
Surface Conditions – Packed Powder/Groomed
Base Depth – 36″
Lifts Open – 4
Runs Open – 8
Mt Rose Ski Tahoe, Nevada
Mt Rose will be tied for second ski area to open in the Sierra as they and Boreal plan to spin lifts on mostly man-made snow starting tomorrow.
Surface Conditions – Groomed
Base Depth – 7″
Lifts Open – NA
Runs Open – NA
Boreal, California
We have to give it up to Boreal. At the beginning of the week, we had no idea how they’d make that much snow but they did.
Surface Conditions – Groomed
Base Depth – 4″
Lifts Open – NA
Runs Open – NA
Timberline Lodge, Oregon
Timberline Lodge will host a limited opening on Saturday with Bruno’s (9-4pm) and Palmer (9-3pm) spinning chairs. Palmer is for expert skiers only and resort officials are warning that early season conditions do exist.
Surface Conditions – Packed Powder/Groomed
Base Depth – 12″
Lifts Open – 2
Runs Open – TBD
Sunshine Village, Alberta
If you can get to Sunshine Village this weekend– go. That is all.
Surface Conditions – Powder/Packed Powder/Groomed
Base Depth – 49″
Lifts Open – 11
Runs Open – 74
Lake Louise, Alberta
Lake Louise opens tomorrow so go get some at Banff’s favorite ski resort.
Surface Conditions – Powder/Packed Powder/Groomed
Base Depth – 21″
Lifts Open – 5
Runs Open – 47
Copper Mountain, Colorado
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It’s snowing @CopperMountain and with opening day tomorrow, stoke is high in Frisco. So far, information on what will be open is limited. Stay up to date by visiting their website.
Surface Conditions – Groomed
Base Depth – NA
Lifts Open – NA
Runs Open – NA
Breckenridge, Colorado
Breck is joining the party a little late but better late than never right?Accumulations are forecasted to be in the 2-3″ range but lower temps are really helping snowmaking efforts.
Surface Conditions – Groomed
Base Depth – NA
Lifts Open – NA
Runs Open – NA
Keystone, Colorado
Keystone is in a similar boat as Breck. The summit county resort has had a productive few nights of snowmaking and the recent natural snow just makes things that much better.
Surface Conditions – Groomed
Base Depth – 18″ (man-made)
Lifts Open – NA
Runs Open – NA
Arapahoe Basin, Colorado
After claiming the title for first resort to open in North America, A-Basin has since fought nature tooth and nail to stay on the board. They have been successful and now they’re getting a much-needed breather from mother nature. Did we mention #SkiRunRamrodIsOpen?
Surface Conditions – Groomed
Base Depth – 18″ (man-made)
Lifts Open – 1
Runs Open – 3
Loveland, Colorado
Loveland just got 6″ of pow! That said, it’s not sitting on much but it’s something for Colorado and we couldn’t be happier to seeing snowfalls getting closer to the double-digit mark.
Surface Conditions – Powder/Groomed
Base Depth – 18″ (man-made)
Lifts Open – 1
Runs Open – 1
Purgatory, Colorado
Starting Saturday, Purgatory will spin lifts for the skiing public as the first resort to open in Southwest Colorado. That said, the lifts will spin odd hours (1-5pm)
Surface Conditions – Groomed
Base Depth – NA (man-made)
Lifts Open – 1
Runs Open – 1
Killington, Vermont
The Beast of the east is open for business and look for some new snow to further cement the beast as the “Snowiest Place In The USA.” At least for the near future.
Surface Conditions – Groomed/Warming
Base Depth – 16″ (man-made)
Lifts Open – 2
Runs Open – 4