Snowmaking is underway at Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, USA, one of the world’s 10 highest ski areas and the resort with the longest ski season on the planet for resorts without a glacier.
Loveland and Arizona Snowbowl ski areas have also announced they’ve started snowmaking.
“Mother Nature dropped the temps and said, “Go!” A-Basin’s snowmakers kicked off the snowmaking season just after 8:00 p.m. Sunday and made snow for over 12 hours. According to our snowmaking team, the first night was wildly successful in terms of both weather and output. Our plan is to continue snowmaking tonight as long as the weather cooperates, and then to keep an eye on temperatures for the rest of the week,” said A Basin’s Adrienne Saia Isaac.
Arapahoe Basin does not set an opening date; opening is completely dependent on weather and snowmaking.
The ski area has been the first to open in Colorado every season since 2011-12 (tying with Loveland in 2015). Last season, A-Basin began making snow on October 3, 2016 and opened on October 21, 2016.
It can take approximately two weeks of optimal snowmaking to make a skiable base of snow on the intermediate High Noon run, the first run to open at Arapahoe Basin. Natural snow helps the centre open sooner.
Natural snow did fall across Western North America at the end of last week and two ski areas did open, temporarily, at the weekend as a result for those in the know.
Fellow Colorado ski area Silverton had a little bit of powder skiing up top, and Mt Bachelor in Oregon (below) operated a small terrain park for the weekend.
