The Race To Open The Ski Season Is On: Which Resort Will Be First?

The first day of October is approaching, and skiers know what that means: the race to be the first ski resort open in the United States is officially on.

Most ski resorts set a firm opening date in late November or early December, but there are a handful of resorts in California, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and even Massachusetts that open as soon as Mother Nature allows.

There are the usual suspects in Colorado’s high country that benefit from early-season snowmaking windows due to their high elevations, namely Keystone, Loveland, and Arapahoe Basin, but could El Niño send a massive mid-October storm to southern Colorado’s Wolf Creek? Wolf Creek was the first to open in 2020 and 2024.

Speaking of El Niño, Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a State of Emergency for the entire state of California in anticipation of a wet and wild winter. Will El Niño deliver cold temperatures and early-season snow to ski resorts like Mammoth, Palisades Tahoe, and Kirkwood?

Then there are the underdogs. Scrappy hills like Wild Mountain, Minnesota, and Trollhaugen, Wisconsin, have been known to open in October, and Ski Ward, Massachusetts, made waves when it used its all-weather snowmaking system to be the first to open for the 2023-2024 winter season.

Mother Nature will have the final say, of course, but here’s a resort-by-resort breakdown of how the race to open is shaking out. Vote which resort you think will be first to open in the reader poll at the bottom of the article.

The Usual Suspects

Arapahoe Basin, Colorado

• Targeted Opening Date: ASAP
• Earliest Opening Date: October 9, 2009
• Latest Update: “We have clearly shifted to Fall,” wrote Arapahoe Basin COO Al Henceroth in his blog dated September 26, 2026. “Next week we are expecting daytime highs to drop even further, with rain and snow, and temps barely getting into the 40’s. We have not quite seen snowmaking temperatures yet, but we are getting closer.”
• POWDER’s Take: Arapahoe Basin is a perennial favorite to be the first ski resort open for a reason. The ski area takes pride in blowing snow as early as possible and logging one of the longest ski seasons on the planet. That has not changed since Alterra Mountain Company’s acquisition.

Keystone, Colorado

• Targeted Opening Date: ASAP
• Earliest Opening Date: October 12, 2019
• Latest Update: Keystone’s bike park is closed for the season, and a message on the resort’s website reads: “OPENING DAY, ASAP!” Look for Keystone to compete with Arapahoe Basin for the first to open. The two ski resorts have developed a friendly rivalry in recent years.
• POWDER’s Take: If Keystone can be the first to open, they will be. Vail Resorts is coming off a bad season, namely in Colorado, and kicking things off with an early opening day will be important for the company’s bottom line.

Loveland Ski Area, Colorado

• Targeted Opening Date: “Mid-October/Early-November”
• Earliest Opening Date: September 30, 1951
• Latest Update: Loveland Ski Area is preparing for snowmaking to begin as early as October 1. Temperatures may be too warm to start, but the ski area will be ready.
• POWDER’s Take: Loveland has fallen slightly behind its neighbors Arapahoe Basin and Keystone in the race to open in recent years. That could change depending on freezing levels and other factors, but we expect A-Basin and Keystone to continue their aggressive pushes to be the first open.

Wolf Creek, Colorado

• Targeted Opening Date: TBD
• Earliest Opening Date: October 8, 2011
• Latest Update: Unlike its neighbors to the North, Wolf Creek doesn’t rely on snowmaking to open early. Rather, as the state’s snowiest ski resort, Wolf Creek benefits from early-season dumps that transform the San Juans from Fall to Winter overnight. It happened in 2020 and 2024. Could the super El Niño make it happen again? We’ll see.
• POWDER’s Take: Regardless of whether Wolf Creek is the first ski resort to open or not, the super-charged El Niño should deliver heaps of snow this winter. Keep an eye out for the forecast and get ready to storm chase down to Wolf Creek. It could be a legendary season.

The Dark Horses

Arizona Snowbowl, Arizona

• Targeted Opening Date: November 20, 2026
• Earliest Opening Date: November 8, 2024
• Latest Update: The resort is rounding out Fall operations with hiking, scenic lift rides, and more.
• POWDER’s Take: Arizona Snowbowl isn’t planning to be among the first to open in North America, with a targeted opening date close to Thanksgiving, but will El Niño have other plans? The resort is favored to have a cold and snowy winter, and with its season extensions into June in recent years, what’s keeping AZ Snowbowl from opening in October other than a burst of cold weather and a little bit of snow? We’ll see!

Brian Head, Utah

• Targeted Opening Date: November 6, 2026
• Earliest Opening Date: November 4, 2024
• Latest Update: Brian Head, with its southerly geographic location, is expected to benefit from El Niño this winter. The resort is marketing the weather phenomenon on its social media pages, and is closed for summer activities.
• POWDER’s Take: Brian Head will likely be the first resort open in Utah, but could it steal the show with a surprise late-October opening day? The odds are unlikely, but not impossible!

Killington, Vermont

• Targeted Opening Date: “Early to mid-November”
• Earliest Opening Date: October 1, 1993
• Latest Update: Killington’s Fall bike park season is still rolling through the end of October, but don’t be surprised if the resort flips gears and starts firing snow on trails before the month is over.
• POWDER’s Take: The Stifel Killington Cup is back after a hiatus, and the resort will want to take advantage of all snowmaking widows. Could that lead to an early opening in late October or early November? Maybe!

Mammoth Mountain, California

• Targeted Opening Date: November 13, 2026
• Earliest Opening Date: October 11, 1975
• Latest Update: Mammoth’s bike park and summer activities have closed for the season, and the resort is prepping for winter.
• POWDER’s Take: Mammoth is well-positioned for a snowy, cold winter due to a strong El Niño. The resort is planning for a mid-November opening, but don’t be surprised if a big early-season storm or extended cold snap moves that date up.

Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, Nevada

• Targeted Opening Date: ASAP
• Earliest Opening Date: October 18, 2018
• Latest Update: Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe always aims to be the first ski resort in Tahoe, and this year won’t be an exception. The ski area’s snowmaking systems off the Lakeview Express typically allow for an early November opening.
• POWDER’s Take: Mt. Rose, with its 8,260′ base elevation, could have a great season if the El Niño forecasts pan out. The ski area typically only needs a few days of sustained snowmaking temperatures to open, and a little help from Mother Nature could go a long way. Look for Mt. Rose to be the first to open in Tahoe, and keep an eye out for below-freezing temperatures in mid-October. It could make for an early opening day.

Sunday River, Maine

• Targeted Opening Date: “Late October”
• Earliest Opening Date: October 14, 2009
• Latest Update: Sunday River tested its snowmaking system on September 19, 2026, and reaffirmed its desire to open sooner rather than later with a brief Instagram caption: “Your move, Mother Nature.”
• POWDER’s Take: Sunday River says on its website that it’s hoping to open in late October, and while that seems far-fetched on paper, it would be far from the first time. The resort opened for a special preview weekend over Halloween 2024 after a cold snap made snowmaking possible, and has logged multiple October opening days since 2000.

The Underdogs

Ski Ward, Massachusetts

• Targeted Opening Date: TBD
• Earliest Opening Date: October 22, 2023
• Latest Update: Ski Ward said in an Instagram post on September 2, 2026, that it was “less than a month away from snowmaking.” This is presumably referring to using its all-weather snowmaking system to open in October, as it has done in previous seasons.
• POWDER’s Take: Ski Ward made stingy western skiers mad when it claimed to be the first ski resort to open a couple of years back. The lone, admittedly small strip of snow descending from the ski area’s magic carpet isn’t impressive, but skiing is skiing, after all. We’re fans of Ski Wards’ proactive approach to snowmaking, and we wouldn’t be surprised if they steal the first to open crown yet again.

Trollhaugen, Wisconsin

• Targeted Opening Date: November 10, 2026
• Earliest Opening Date: N/A
• Latest Update: Using snow preserved from last season, Trollhaugen will host its Open Haugen event on October 3-4, 2026. The snow will be used for a hike park, and lift tickets will not be sold. We can’t count this as an “official” opening day, but skiers and snowboarders will slide on snow.
• POWDER’s Take: Open Haugen is a great early-season tradition to get the ski hype juices flowing, and it’s a reminder that Troll doesn’t need a ton of snow to have a good time. The ski area has opened in October before, and will again if Mother Nature allows.

Wild Mountain, Minnesota

• Targeted Opening Date: “November 2026”
• Earliest Opening Date: October 7, 2012
• Latest Update: Wild Mountain tested its snowmaking systems on September 24, 2026, and while temps weren’t cold enough to produce snow, the humble Midwestern hill is ready for winter.
• POWDER’s Take: Similar to Trollhaugen, Wild Mountain can open its slopes with just a few hours of cold snowmaking temperatures. The ski area has won the race to open before, and could again if the stars align.

Poll

Related: Ski Injuries Suck. Why Am I Fond of My Beat-Up Feet, Then?