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It’s just a few weeks until Copper Mountain opens. The official day is November 4, 2011. They usually are making snow in October, just to get the slopes ready. Copper Mountain is one of the best resorts to take new skiers. Most people look at where the challenge is, but I find it fun to get new people excited about skiing. Copper Mountain’s lumberjack lift has a plethora of slopes that help beginners relax and improve skills. The lift can take a while, but gives you a chance to check email, enjoy the scenery, or have a good conversation with your newfound ski buddies. Can’t wait!

Snowmass has announced their opening day!

Ever giggled the whole way down? If you’ve never had the pleasure of skiing at Snowmass, you haven’t lived. It’s premium skiing – an experience you won’t forget. Come November 25, 2010 you can “giggle like a schoolgirl”*.

Check out Snowmass on opening day of the 2010-2011 season, November 25, 2010!

*My buddy Jason came up with that on gunners view.

Loveland opened today at 9am. They’ve been making snow since Spetember 21, but I’m sure they’ll get plenty more soon! The base on opening day will be 18 inches, which is pretty good. With 3 trails and more than a mile of ski-worthy terrain, it looks like a pretty exciting start to the season.

I just got back to Thornton from Breckenridge. How Cow – there was a bunch of snow. We BARELY made it back over the continental divide. Many cars – including ours – were spinning their wheels trying deperately to get over the pass. I had better traction on the side of the road, but found our short little car could easily bottom out it I wan’t careful. Through careful twisting of the wheel back and forth, the occasional grain of sand(hey, I’ll take what I can get), and a lot of luck, we made it back over the pass and through the Eisenhower tunnel.

Even after the tunnel it was slick. It’s rare for me to see weather on both sides of the tunnel, but we saw it today. Some cars were exiting the tunnel way too fast, and one nearly went off of the road to the left! I got behind a nice dark horsetrailer with blinking lights and we made the white knuckle journey down the other side of the mountain. I was surprised to see SUVs behind me moving at the same snail’s pace. Maybe we all had a little more excitement than we needed that day. Snow is WONDERFUL to ski on, but horrible to drive through. Visibility was pretty minimal for a good part of the journey down the mountain. From Georgetown onward, it was clear sailing.

I have met the snow of the 2007 Colorado season, and I have this to say:

• It’s slick
• It’s fluffy
• It’s wonderful
• It makes me giddy
• I miss it already

Yes, closed due to SNOW. Snow in September isn’t strange for Colorado. It’s normal here. It signals that soon we will be skiing, snowboarding, and throwing the fluffy stuff at each other. Sweet sweet snow.

Apparently westbound I-70 was closed at the tunnel due to “Quick, Heavy snowfall”.

In other – very related news – Loveland and A-basin have begun making snow. I love this guy in charge of snowmaking, quoted in the news:
"We'll have 30 guns going tonight...We go and we don't stop from this point,” said Marc Abrahamson, Loveland's Snow Making Manager.

Typically, it takes 14 days from this point for Loveland to open for skiers and riders.

Yes, love is a strong word. And yes, you heard me correctly.