27th October 2022
Arapahoe Basin in Colorado is the first resort in the USA to open a slope and more are set to follow suit shortly. Locals have been hiking up in Utah to enjoy the powder, but there are warnings of avalanche danger. In Canada the first dustings are down.
The first resort able to offer skiing and snowboarding was Arapahoe Basin that fired up a lift last weekend
We reported on it at the time.
Opening Day. Image © Arapahoe Basin
The snow has continued to fall in Colorado, with Loveland and Keystone preparing to open.
Keystone has announced it is opening on Friday 28th October.
Elsewhere in Colorado Aspen has seen some snow.
“Winter showed up in late October with a series of cold storms dropping more than two feet of snow at higher elevations over the last several days,” said a statement from Aspen.
“In the last 24 hours, Aspen Snowmass has seen up to 13 inches on some of our mountains, marking the ramp up to the winter ski season.”
Snowmaking starts on 1st November with Aspen Mountain and Snowmass scheduled to open on Thanksgiving Day, 24th November.
Over in Utah snow has been falling too.
No resorts are officially open, but people have been walking up and making some powder turns.
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There have already been some avalanches.
Three human-triggered avalanches were reported:
Mt. Baldy (Near Alta Ski Area’s famous ‘Main Chute’): 8″ deep, 25″ wide.
High Greeley (Inside the Alta Ski Area boundary): skier caught and briefly carried.
Cardiac Ridge: 150′ wide, ran 250′.
All three of these avalanches were triggered on high-elevation North-Northeast aspects.
No one was reported injured or hurt.
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The Utah Avalanche Centre is stressing that people heading into the backcountry should follow key points when it comes to early-season conditions:
“It doesn’t matter what you’re doing in the mountains-going for a hike, hunting, trying to ski, board, snowshoe, or firing up the snowmachine: be prepared for avalanches,” said a statement from UAC.
- Triggering any avalanche regardless of its size can produce serious trauma because of a thin snowpack.
- Hitting rocks and stumps is a real danger.
- Don’t end your season early by hitting one of these obstacles
Back in Colorado, Steamboat Ski Resort says “recent mountain snow coupled with prime snow-making conditions has ski areas optimistic for the upcoming winter season”.
Breckenridge Ski Resort and Vail Ski Resort have announced they will open on November 12th.
Steamboat Ski resort plans to open November 23rd.
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And lets not forget news from one of our regular readers in North America – the former No 1 GB ski racer, Martin Bell.
Rocky Mountain Winter, welcome back!#Octsnowber pic.twitter.com/vJy8gqcY8Q
— Martin Bell (@skimartinbell) October 27, 2022
Further north in Canada it has snowed in the Alberta resorts of Sunshine, Lake Louise and Mt. Norquay.
All received their first significant snowfall of the season, with up to 24 cm (9.5″) recorded at Sunshine.
This was the first major storm to hit the West, with two more storms expected to hit the Northwest, British Columbia, and Canadian Rockies later this week.
Tentative opening dates for SkiBig3 resorts (weather permitting):
- Banff Sunshine: Thursday, November 10, 2022
- Lake Louise Ski Resort: Friday, November 4, 2022
- Mt. Norquay: Saturday, November 5, 2022
At Sunshine they have been preparing for winter:
Here at PlanetSKI we are keeping a close eye on the snow with resorts opening some slopes and we will be updating across the next few days….
Winter is Coming Folks!
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This article was originally published by Planetski.eu. Read the original article here.
