Vail extends operating hours as snow-producing storms take aim at Colorado

Steady snow started falling in the Vail Valley Monday afternoon, with forecasters calling for between 6 and 20 inches of new snow by Tuesday afternoon.

“Most mountains should finish in the 6-12 inch range, with up to 20 inches in a few spots,” Opensnow.com meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote Monday morning, adding the next week or so should see more storms boostings what’s already been a decent February in Colorado.

“There should be powder for most mountains by Monday afternoon and you’ll likely find the deepest snow on Tuesday morning with light additional accumulations on Tuesday,” Gratz wrote. “Following dry weather on Wednesday, additional storms will bring snow from Wednesday night through Sunday, favoring the southern and central mountains.”

Vail and Beaver Creek have been steadily playing catchup after an abnormally warm and dry November-December kickoff to the season. Since mid-January, storms have been much more reliably passing through north-central Colorado.

On Saturday, Vail switched over the spring operating hours. Here’s a press release from Vail Resorts:

Vail Mountain to Extend Operating Hours Beginning Saturday, Feb. 17

VAIL, Colo. – Feb. 16, 2018 – Following 19 inches of snow in the last seven days, and with snow in the forecast, Vail Mountain will transition to its spring operating schedule beginning Saturday, Feb. 17.

With the shift in operating hours, the majority of front side lifts will close at 4 p.m., the Back Bowls and Game Creek Bowl will close at 3:30 p.m. and Blue Sky Basin will close at 3 p.m. Lift operating hours are posted at the base of all open lifts.

All ticket office and Vail Ski & Snowboard School locations in Vail will continue to be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Vail is featuring a lineup of world-class events to finish the second half of the season, which include:

Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championship – March 5-10

The 2018 Burton U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships returns to Vail Mountain this March, bringing with them the best snowboarders in the world competing to win the most prestigious Halfpipe and Slopestyle titles in snowboarding.

 Pink Vail – March 24

Sport your pink in the world’s biggest ski day to conquer cancer. Enjoy live music, a costume contest, themed deck parties and the Celebration Ski Down on Vail Mountain. All ages and abilities can participate in Pink Vail, and skiing is not required. 100 percent of the proceeds benefit patient care and survivorship programming at Shaw Regional Cancer Center.

 Taste of Vail – April 4-8

Taste of Vail is an idea, a platform for promoting the Vail lifestyle via the community’s ever-evolving culinary and beverage assets. After a full day on the mountain, join Taste of Vail’s signature events.

Spring Back to Vail – March 31 & April 15

Splash into spring with live music and spring time vibes with a free live concert on March 31 and the annual World Pond Skimming Championships celebrating the close of the winter season, returns to Vail on April 15.

For additional information please visit, www.vail.com or call, (970)-SKI-VAIL.