The Race To Open Is On as Colorado Ski Resorts Start Snowmaking
In Colorado, it’s officially snowmaking season.
Arapahoe Basin and Keystone Resort, two mountains known for being among the first to open, have turned on their snow guns.
As a surge of colder weather and snow passed through Colorado Wednesday night, Keystone began its first snowmaking push.
“The start of snowmaking is always one of the most exciting milestones of the year because it signals that winter is just around the corner,” said Kate Schifani, senior director of mountain operations at Keystone Resort, adding that she and her teams are “making the most of every opportunity Mother Nature provides.”
Katie Young/Keystone Resort
Arapahoe Basin followed a similar trajectory, with snowmaking starting at around 6 p.m. Wednesday night. Per their webcams, both resorts were still snowmaking as of Thursday morning.
But the opening day question isn’t settled yet. While avid skiers noticed that Keystone’s already selling lift tickets for Saturday, October 24, a rep for the resort pumped the brakes on the hype train in an email earlier this week.
“The ability to buy a single-day lift ticket two Saturdays from now doesn’t have any bearing on when the resort will open,” they noted. “If a customer did purchase a lift ticket now and the resort opened earlier, they would have the option of moving up their visitation date or being refunded the full amount.”
The response didn’t preclude the possibility of an October 24 opening. But it did reaffirm that we still can’t put a big red X on our calendars. Mountain weather, which is famously unpredictable, will have the final say on this one. Notably, last winter, Keystone finally revealed its opening day the very same day that it opened.
Arapahoe Basin also hasn’t confirmed an opening date yet.
Riley Kisser/Arapahoe Basin
At Arapahoe Basin and Keystone, clear skies and warmer temperatures are expected over the next few days. Colorado’s next notable chance for precipitation could arrive around the middle or the end of next week, meteorologist Chris Tomer said in his latest update.
While you wait, we might suggest waxing your skis. In a perfect world, Colorado would cut the ribbon on the 2026-27 season this month. Only time will tell.
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