The first ski area in North America to announce it will open for the 20-21 ski season has said it will open this Sunday. However, it’s now possible that another centre will open in the next 48 hours in order to claim “first to open for the 21-22 season in the USA and north America” title.
Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin says it will open its first runs this Sunday, October 17th.
“Black Mountain Express will be running and skiers and riders can cruise High Noon. We just might have a few features in the Banana Terrain Park. These are exciting times. It is so fun to get chairlifts spinning again. I can’t wait to see all of your smiling faces on the hill,” said resort COO Alan Henceroth.
**** Update: Another Colorado ski area, Wolf Creek has announced it will open on Saturday 16th, a day before A Basin ****
After a long hot summer the past week has seen unusually cold temperatures and a big snowfall on the Rockies and other Western North American mountain ranges.
The areas in Utah are reporting some of the heaviest snowfall with Solitude saying yesterday that it had had 33 inches (83cm) of snowfall this week.
(2017’s opening)
The main contenders to open in the next few days include fellow Colorado resorts Keystone which has announced that it is now snowmaking around the clock and Loveland which has had more than a foot (30cm) of snowfall, but with snow falling widely and cold weather for snowmaking there are many more contenders than usual this year.
International leisure travel has resumed to Canada, where the first ski areas are expected to open around Banff early next month. For the USA it has been announced international leisure travel will resume in November after a 20-month border closure although the precise date has not yet been announced.
