Sadly, the end is in sight. There is less than two weeks left in the 2008-09 Colorado Ski Country USA ski season and as is usually the case, the last resort standing is Arapahoe Basin. This year the resort will go out in style with the 8th Annual Festival of the Brew Pubs where the theme is always tasty turns and tasty beer.
To officially close out the season, Colorado Ski Country USA always hosts the Annual Meeting. This is the 46th year for the Colorado ski industry event and it is taking place in Boulder, home town of Eldora Mountain Resort, on June 10-11 under the theme of Navigating the Bumps. With less than a month to go the agenda is shaping up to be,well, dare we say, epic. (more…)
Beach Cred
Colorado Ski Country USA has one of the longest ski seasons thanks to the high elevation of our mountains and the heavy snow from winter that sticks around through spring. Arapahoe Basin is the only resort in Colorado open now. But while there are only a few weeks left in A-basin’s season, neighboring Loveland just closed earlier this month. Last week on Loveland’s site they were already counting down the days ’till snowmaking for next season. (more…)
Drive for Ski License Plate Rounds Final Turn
At the end of last week the state legislature took the final steps toward allowing Colorado to have a ski license plate. Late in the evening on May 1st up on Denver’s Capital Hill, the Senate gave the green light on the bill which put it in the hands of the Governor. Once Governor Ritter signs the bill it will be official, Colorado will be the first state to have a ski license plate that depicts both skiing and snowboarding.
Life in Ski Country is funny. It’s not exactly like a box of chocolates, but it definitely has its surprises. Take this morning for example, here in Denver, we woke up to fresh snow, and in the mountains, they’ve been getting accumulations all morning.
Another example, last weekend Wolf Creek was closed for the season, and today we’re proud to say that the resort just announced they will re-open this weekend, again! They already re-opened once earlier in April, but sometimes good snow just can’t keep a resort from running. (more…)
Deja Vous in Aspen Highlands
This weekend is closing weekend in Aspen Highlands – again. It’s their third closing weekend this season. There seems to be a trend in Colorado Ski Country this year of resorts closing and then re-opening, like they’re teasing us with the sad news of the end of another season and then put us out of our misery with one more weekend only to deny us again. Wolf Creek re-opened last weekend and Echo just extended their season by a weekend.
Woohoo! It’s dumping in Colorado, especially in the San Juans. Just saw a report that said Telluride got 16 in the last two days and that it’s currently under a winter storm warning.
That makes it the perfect time to check out all of the new steep lines the resort has opened up in the last year in the “sidecountry” terrain of Revelation Bowl and Black Iron Bowl. It’s all inbounds and controlled for avalanches, so it will only open up if it’s safe. It’s a spectacular stomping ground for advanced and expert skiers and snowboarders, offering up some of the best vertical thrills in the state.
The calendar says winter begins Dec. 21st, but it rolled in this past week at Wolf Creek. The medium-sized family-owned ski area in southwestern Colorado might not offer the glitz and glamour of its mega-resort brethren, but its definitely near the top of the heap when it comes to snow.
With almost every resort officially open for the 2008-2009 season and copious amounts of snow falling, heres a list of some of the tasty new treats on the menu in Colorado to whet your appetite this winter.
1. The latest accoutrement in the transformation of Winter Park is the eight-passenger Village Cabriolet lift that will shuttle 2,800 skiers and snowboarders per hour from the free parking lots at the Vintage Hotel to the base of the new resorts new village.
