Colorado's Opening Day Is Approaching, Here's How It's Shaking Out
November is right around the corner, which means so is the start of Colorado’s ski season, conditions permitting, of course.
Quite a few of Colorado’s resorts have scheduled opening dates in the next two weeks and others have been gearing up to open “ASAP”.
While Mother Nature will ultimately decide who wins the race to open, there’s no doubt that a robust snowmaking system makes a big difference. Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Loveland, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Winter Park, and other mountains across the state have turned on their snowmaking guns in the last few weeks as temperatures have dropped.
Last winter, Keystone won the race to open by a single day (actually, a couple hours in the afternoon to be exact), and is currently blowing snow with an ASAP opening day program.
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Loveland has also had their snow guns fired up through the weekend and got a little 2″ bump from Ullr as of Monday morning, with more on the way in the next couple of weeks. Like Keystone, Loveland is hoping to open as soon as possible.
via Loveland Webcams
Breckenridge and Copper Mountain both have scheduled opening dates of November 6, which is just over a week away. Both mountains have been making snow at every opportunity for the last two weeks and, like much of Summit County, both got an inch of snow on Sunday night.
via Copper Mountain Webcams
Although things are looking good for Loveland and Keystone, Colorado skiers know one mountain often reigns victorious when it comes to early openings and late closings: Arapahoe Basin.
A-Basin’s snow guns are up and running, and the mountain got 3″ of snow on Sunday night. Their opening date is also still TBD, but the ski area is starting to look pretty wintry, especially at higher elevations.
Arapahoe Basin
Winter Park is also in the race for an ASAP opening and, with a slightly different microclimate than Summit County ski areas, mixes up the competition a little bit. Snow guns have been blowing at Winter Park for the last two weeks, and webcams show that Winter Park got 2″ of snow Sunday night.
via Winter Park Webcam
Snow is expected to return to Summit County in the first few days of November, with roughly 8″ expected to fall at Loveland, A-Basin, Copper Mountain, and Breckenridge.
Winter Park has 6″ in the forecast starting in early November as well. You can find the full list of of expected opening dates for Colorado ski resorts here. Vote which ski resort will open first in our poll below.
The 2026/27 print issue of POWDER Magazine is here. Click here to have a copy shipped to your front door. Copies can also be found on newsstands at major retailers like Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, and more.
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