Beaver Creek offers nearly 500 skiable acres on opening day

Abundant early snowfall and good early-season snowmaking conditions have allowed Beaver Creek to not only open with more terrain than is typically available on opening day but also to build two World Cup ski race courses for this week’s women’s Raptor World Cup races and next week’s men’s Birds of Prey World Cup event.

“This year Beaver Creek opens with a full schedule of exciting events, and our Thanksgiving holiday guests will enjoy beginner to expert skiing on a variety of trails on the main mountain as well as in Bachelor Gulch,” said Doug Lovell, chief operating officer for Beaver Creek Resort.

“The amount of momentum we have with all of our events and great terrain is unprecedented and we’re thrilled to showcase Beaver Creek to the world.”

Snow riders on Wednesday will have access to all ability levels of terrain served by the following lifts: Buckaroo Gondola (Lift #1); Rose Bowl Express Lift (#4); Drink of Water Lift (#5); Centennial Express Lift (#6); Cinch Express Lift (#8); Strawberry Park Express Lift (#12); Bachelor Gulch Express Lift (#16); and seven surface lifts

The Beaver Creek Ski & Snowboard School will be open on Wednesday, offering group and private instruction for adults and kids. The Small World Play School Nursery will be open for non-skiing children. Guests can register online at www.beavercreek.com.

Spruce Saddle Restaurant will be serving food at the top of Centennial Express Lift.

At 2 p.m., Wednesday, Beaver Creek’s 10th annual Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition takes place in the village. Guests can sample five different cookies and vote for the resort’s Official Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe for the season. Five finalists will each bake and serve 1,000 cookies each for opening day and the winner will be announced immediately after the votes are tallied.

Cookie Time is Beaver Creek’s signature guest service program. At 3 p.m. every day, Cookie Time Chefs greet skiers and snowboarders at the foot of the slopes with warm chocolate chip cookies. Nearly 500,000 cookies are served each season.

The inaugural Nature Valley Raptor Ladies’ World Cup takes place this week with downhill training Tuesday through Thursday. The downhill race itself takes place Friday, Nov. 29, followed by a super-G on Saturday, Nov. 30. Giant Slalom rounds out the women’s events on Sunday, Dec. 1. The men’s Birds of Prey races take place Dec. 6-8.

In addition to the on-hill racing action, which is free and open to the public, Beaver Creek Village will host its traditional Holiday Tree Lighting Friday, Nov. 29, with live entertainment, an ice-skating show and the public pick bib presentation for the women’s giant slalom.

For more information on all the events this week and next at Beaver Creek go to www.beavercreek.com.

The weather should be warm and sunny the rest of this week, with a storm rolling through northern Colorado over the weekend. Next week brings a much better chance of significant snowfall throughout the Vail Valley, according to forecasters.

“From Saturday evening through midday Sunday, northern Colorado will get clipped by a storm to our north,” reports meteorologist Joel Gratz of Opensnow.com. “Snow will likely accumulate up to a few inches for areas along and north of I-70, with possibly some flakes down to Aspen and central Colorado. After a brief return to drier weather on Monday, it looks like the rest of next week will be chilly with the chance for snow each day.”