Ski season opens early in Colorado

From the “Children just aren’t going to know what snow is…” department, and it just isn’t in Colorado either, Mammoth, California got an early base also.

Courtesy of Mammoth An October storm brought nearly a foot of snow to Mammoth, which opens for the season Nov. 10.

ESPN reports: This week, the first significant snowfall of the winter season hit ski areas around the country — dropping 10-plus inches of snow at higher elevations in Tahoe and Mammoth, nine inches on West Virginia’s Snowshoe Mountain, and causing winter storm warnings in the mountains in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.

I’m sure somebody will find a way to blame global warming.

Colorado ski resort opens early with 44 inches of powder

By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD

OutThereColorado.com

WOLF CREEK SKI AREA, COLO. – The ski season in Colorado officially began on Oct. 8.

It was announced not with the din of snow-making machines pasting a path of man-made snow between dirt and rocks, but the distant whoops of avalanche-control bombs.

And accompanied by heaps of powder.

On Oct. 8, 1,500 skiers and snowboarders converged on remote Wolf Creek Ski Area, four hours from Colorado Springs, Colo., for the most memorable ski season opening in recent memory.

Every year, the Interstate 70-corridor ski areas Loveland and Arapahoe Basin compete to make enough snow for an 18-inch base on one or two ski runs to open first.

But as both were firing up snow guns for the first time on Oct. 6, an autumn storm was dumping 3 feet of snow on Wolf Creek, in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado.

Photo gallery from opening day

In a coup that will long be remembered in skiing circles, Wolf Creek announced it would be the first resort in the U.S. to open, the earliest opening in resort history. They had three lifts and 600 acres of terrain open.

“Despite the fact Loveland or A-Basin are often first, we’re usually right behind them,” said vice president Rosanne Pitcher.

After another 8 inches of snow fell the night of Oct. 7, cries of joy echoed through Wolf Creek’s pines all day.

Skiers talked about the conditions in hushed tones.

“This is a very rare treat,” said Charles Vogel, who drove 6 hours from the Western Slope. “I grew up in Colorado. I’ve been skiing since I was 4 years old, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“This is one of those days that I’m going to remember for years to come,” said Drew Petersen, of Silverthorne, Colo. “It’s definitely worth the drive, and I’ve got a smile on my face that hopefully lasts for a while.”

h/t to WUWT reader “Steve”