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Where to Make First Turns of Season

by Dan Giesin | November 7, 2018

First the good news: The Rockies of Colorado got slammed by storms the first week of November, with up to four feet or more of snow coating many of the state’s ski and snowboard resorts.
The bad news? Only five of Colorado’s 30 or so resorts — Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Eldora, Keystone and Loveland — have been able to get their lifts spinning on a full-time basis.
Still, that’s three more than were open this time last week, and a couple more could come on line this weekend.
Around the country, its Killington in Vermont is the only other resort open full-time.
But winter seems to be slowly settling in over the Lower 48, and a handful of other resorts — mostly in New England, where unsettled weather is expected this weekend — will have their lifts spinning by Sunday.
The following is a brief rundown of where you can make some lift-assisted turns by the time Veterans’ Day rolls around:

Colorado

  • A-Basin has a 28-inch base and is running the Black Mountain Express to gain access to four runs.
  • Breckenridge, which has gotten more than five feet of snow this autumn, has a 38-inch settle base and is running four lifts, including the Colorado Superchair, to gain access to 11 trails.
  • Eldora has a 36-inch base with one lift and three trails open.
  • Keystone has three lifts, including the River Run Gondola, and two trails open and a 20-inch base.
  • Loveland, which has received five feet of snow since Oct. 20 and 50 inches in the last week, has one chair (Chet’s Dream) open to allow access to seven runs.
  • Wolf Creek, which received 58 inches of snow in October,  will re-open on a weekends-only basis, on Friday, Nov. 9, with seven lifts serving 90 percent of its terrain, including such expert enclaves at Montezuma and Step bowls.

New England

  • Killington has 12-inch base, with two lifts (K1 Express gondola and Upper Great Norther chair) gaining access to four trails.
  • Wildcat in New Hampshire will be open for the weekend with one lift and five trails.
  • Sunday River in Maine has a 16-inch base and will run one lift and open three trails just for the weekend.
  • Mt. Snow in Vermont will open Sunday, Nov. 11, with four lift and four trails, including Cascade and River Run.

Elsewhere

  • Wild Mountain in Minnesota, which says is “working on” its base depth, will have one trail and one terrain park served by two surface lifts this weekend.
  • Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe in Nevada will re-open this weekend with an eight- to 12-inch base with one lift serving a couple of trails.
  • MammothMountain in California has been undergoing a cold spell of late and has been able to shoot enough snow to get one lift and one run (Broadway) open for Saturday, Nov. 10.

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