A-Basin, Loveland start snowmaking operations

By Real Vail
Real AspenSeptember 29, 2013
Both Loveland and Arapahoe Basin ski areas turned on their snow guns over the weekend as a cold front passed through the state on Friday and lowered overnight temperatures.

The manmade snow supplements natural snow that fell in two separate storms over the past week, moving both resorts closer to opening day.

“The surrounding peaks have been white all week and it is great to see our snowmaking team push the snow line a little further down the mountain,” said Loveland marketing director John Sellers said. “Every flake that falls from the sky or from one of our snow guns gets us that much closer to opening day. We look forward to turning the lifts for all the skiers and snowboarders that have patiently made it through another long summer.”
Snowmaking at A-Basin on Saturday.

During an unusually dry fall last year, Loveland opened for the season on Oct. 23, with A-Basin opening first on Oct. 17. The two ski areas high atop the Continental Divide typically duel to be the first to open in the state, sometimes opening as early as the first week of October.

“Our mountain ops crew fired up the snow guns late last night [Friday], and [Saturday] morning we have new snow blanketing the intermediate High Noon run at Arapahoe Basin,” A-Basin marketing and communications manager Adrienne Saia Isaac said in an email blast on Saturday. “Break out your puffy and get that gear tuned. The 2013-14 ski and ride season will be here before we know it.”

Loveland’s snowmaking crew also started up the guns Friday night and will work their way down Catwalk, Mambo and Homerun for opening day. Sections of the three trails form a top-to-bottom run that’s more than a mile long and drops nearly 1,000 vertical feet.

It usually takes two to three weeks for Loveland's snowmaking crew to cover the top-to-bottom run with an 18-inch base and tree-to-tree coverage. Loveland started making snow on Oct. 4 last season. Go to the websites for both Loveland and A-Basin for the latest snowmaking updates.

Forecasters are calling for sunny and dry weather through Thursday, with another storm rolling in Thursday and possibly dropping up to six inches at altitudes down to 7,000 feet by Friday.

Vail opens for the season Friday, Nov. 22, and Beaver Creek opens Wednesday, Nov. 27.


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Snow Report

  24hr snow mid dpth snow cond.
A-Basin n/a n/a
Aspen n/a n/a closed
BC n/a n/a closed
Breckenridge n/a n/a closed
Buttermilk n/a n/a closed
Copper n/a n/a closed
Crest. Butte n/a n/a closed
Eldora n/a n/a closed
Heavenly n/a n/a closed
Highlands n/a n/a
Howelsen n/a n/a closed
Keystone n/a n/a closed
Kirkwood n/a n/a closed
Loveland n/a n/a
Monarch n/a n/a closed
Northstar n/a n/a closed
Powderhorn n/a n/a closed
Purgatory n/a n/a closed
Silverton n/a n/a closed
Ski Cooper n/a n/a closed
Ski Granby n/a n/a closed
Snowmass n/a n/a closed
Steamboat n/a n/a closed
Sunlight n/a n/a closed
Telluride n/a n/a closed
Vail n/a n/a closed
WinterPark n/a n/a closed
Wolf Creek n/a n/a closed
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