This marks the 11th time in 13 years that A-Basin has beat its local rivals to become the first Front Range area open for the season.
A skier catches some air on a jump on High Noon Run on opening day and the first day of the ski season Arapahoe Basin Ski Area on October 23, 2022 in Summit County, Colorado. Colorado has not missed out on an October opening for the ski season since 1992, and thanks to Arapahoe Basin, that streak will continue in 2023.
Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Loveland opened Nov. 6-11 in 2020, but Wolf Creek opened on Oct. 28 that year to preserve Colorado’s October streak. Last year Arapahoe Basin opened on Oct. 23, followed by Keystone on Oct. 28 and Loveland on Nov. 3. “The jet stream will linger over central Colorado for a solid 24 hours,” Gratz said. “This fast-moving ‘river of air’ at around 35,000 feet, about where commercial airplanes fly, is what will create these narrow bands. While we cannot be certain exactly where the most intense snow will fall, knowing that the jet stream will be overhead explains why the forecast models are all generating deep snow totals in the same general area.
Snowmaking crews at Loveland also are eagerly awaiting this weekend’s cold temperatures and natural snowfall as well, according to spokesman John Sellers.