Loveland to open Friday as ‘rockin’ northwest flow’ hits Colorado

Colorado is in what Opensnow.com calls a “rockin’ northwest flow” that dumped 8 inches of new snow Monday at Vail, where snowmaking has already begun in anticipation of a Friday, Nov. 15 opening. Meanwhile, Loveland Ski Area will open on Friday, Oct. 25.

That will make three Colorado ski areas up and running as Loveland joins Arapahoe Basin and Keystone. Breckenridge, which got 9 inches new on Monday, opens on Friday, Nov. 8, along with Copper Mountain. And more snow is in the forecast for this week.

“Tuesday and Wednesday will bring drier weather though snow showers and clouds will still hang around the northern mountains,” Opensnow.com meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote Tuesday.

“The next storm will bring snow to the northern and eastern mountains from Wednesday sunset through Thursday sunrise. After that, we might see a storm early next week but details are still very uncertain,” Gratz added.

Here’s the press release on opening day from Loveland:

Loveland Ski Area will open for the 2019/20 season on Friday, October 25.

“Our snowmaking team has been working around the clock to get the mountain ready and all of their hard work is about to pay off,” said COO Rob Goodell. “Mother Nature chipped in with almost a foot of snow during this last storm cycle and that was the boost we needed. Winter is officially here and we can’t wait to celebrate the start of another season.”

Chet’s Dream will start spinning at 9:00am on Friday and will offer access to one full top-to-bottom run covered from tree-to-tree with an 18 inch base. The trails Catwalk, Mambo and Home Run make up this Opening Day run which is over a mile in length and nearly 1,000 vertical feet.

“We know how excited everyone is to get the season started and look forward to welcoming everyone back to Loveland on Friday,” continued Goodell.

Loveland Ski Area opened on October 20 last season. Loveland’s snowmakers will continue to make snow on Home Run and around the base of Chet’s Dream this week before moving on to opening additional terrain.

Loveland Ski Area will be open seven days a week until Closing Day in early May. Lift operation hours are 9:00am until 4:00pm on weekdays and 8:30am until 4:00pm on weekends and designated holidays. Early season lift tickets are $75 for adults and $32 for children 6-14.