It may be hard to envision in a week when the mercury has flirted with 100 degrees, but history tells us two or three Colorado ski areas could be making snow a month from now and we could have access to some limited skiing soon after that.
It’s been three decades since Colorado failed to offer skiing in October, according to Denver Post record-keeping, when Loveland and Keystone opened on Nov. 3 in 1992. Over the past 10 years, the average date for the first day of skiing in Colorado has been Oct. 22. The earliest opening date over that period was Oct. 11, when first chair honors went to Arapahoe Basin in 2019, followed by Keystone the next day. Three times in the past decade, the first day of skiing occurred on Oct. 13.
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Last year, Wolf Creek was the first Colorado ski area to crank up the lifts, opening for weekend-only skiing and riding on Oct. 16, and Arapahoe Basin opened the next day. Keystone opened on Oct. 22 and Loveland on Oct. 30.
This is the time of year when many ski areas announce tentative opening dates, although they caution that they could open sooner or later depending on conditions. Here are the areas that have announced their tentative opening dates:
Arapahoe Basin: opened Oct. 23
Keystone: opened October 28
Winter Park: opened Oct. 31
Loveland: opened Nov. 3
Wolf Creek: opened Nov. 4
Breckenridge: opened Nov. 9
Eldora: opened Nov. 11
Vail: opened Nov. 11
Copper Mountain: opened Nov. 14
Aspen Mountain: opened Nov. 19
Snowmass: opened Nov. 19
Purgatory: opened Nov. 19
Beaver Creek: opened Nov. 21
Crested Butte: Nov. 23
Steamboat: Nov. 23
Howelsen Hill: Nov. 25 (tentative)
Powderhorn: opened Nov. 25
Telluride: opened Nov. 26
Monarch: opens Dec. 1
Echo Mountain: TBD
Cooper: Dec. 7
Sunlight: Dec. 9
Aspen Highlands: Dec. 10
Granby Ranch: Dec. 10
Kendall Mountain: Dec. 16
Buttermilk: Dec. 17
Yet to announce: Hesperus, Silverton
