The race to open was won with an announcement Wednesday.
Arapahoe Basin announced it will open for the 2016-17 ski and snowboard season at 9 a.m. Friday. The Summit County ski area frequently is the first to open in Colorado in a yearly race with Loveland Ski Area and, in some years, Wolf Creek Ski Area.
Snowmaking operations began Oct. 3 at A-Basin, and cold temperatures and natural snow have helped add to great snowmaking.
Loveland has yet to announce its opening day but marketing director John Sellers told the Denver Post he expects opening day to come next week.
Wolf Creek, which is known for getting the most snow in Colorado thanks to big storms, currently has no snow on its slopes. President and CEO Davey Pitcher joked they are seeing only “dust devils” on the mountain with winds moving through.
“Personally, I don’t see any real chance of snow for at least two weeks, at least good snow,” Pitcher said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “I’m not holding my breath.”
Wolf Creek has had a good run of October openings in recent years, but Pitcher said the average opening date is Nov. 7. Last year, the mountain opened for Halloween on Oct. 31.
“In recent history, we’ve had a lot of good early-season openings,” Pitcher said. “The law of averages mandates we have more of a November opening, which would be consistent with our average opening.”
Purgatory Resort will open for the season Nov. 19, with Wednesday marking the one-month countdown.
A-Basin’s opening day will be limited to the intermediate High Noon run serviced by the Black Mountain lift. Single-day lift tickers will cost $76 until Dec. 16.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
