Vail opens more runs after surprise storm

Vail Mountain got nearly a foot of new snow the last couple of days, and much colder temperatures more conducive to snowmaking.

“WHOA we were not expecting nine inches overnight,” Vail officials wrote on Facebook Tuesday. “Whistle Pig, Zot and Christmas are now open! Have fun go shred!”

Still no word on other lifts opening or when top-to-bottom skiing will be available instead of mandatory downloads on Gondola One and the Eaglebahn Gondola. Keep posted on those details either on Facebook or the official Vail website.

More snow is in the forecast for later in the week.

“Our low expectations for this early-week storm have been met and exceeded as most mountains received at least a few inches of snow and some mountains have notched double-digit totals in just two days,” Opensnow.com meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote on Tuesday.

“On Tuesday, showers will continue, on Wednesday we should see dry(ish) weather, then another storm on Thursday into Friday should deliver low-to-moderate snow totals for the northern mountains.”

Beaver Creek opens for the season on Wednesday, Nov. 23.