COLORADO (KDVR) — If you’re itching to hit the slopes, you won’t have to wait much longer: Multiple ski resorts along the Interstate 70 corridor fired up their snow guns for the first time this year early Monday morning to prepare for opening day.
“It’s a great day,” said Lauren Roberson, marketing director for Loveland Ski Area. “This is my second favorite day of the year besides the opening.”
Roberson’s two favorite days will likely come sooner than last year, with the snow cannons on Oct. 18 last year and opening day on Nov. 9.
“We’re really excited and hopefully we can open a little earlier than we did last year,” Roberson said.
Loveland doesn’t have the only snow cannons that work overnight. Along the way, Arapahoe Basin has a fresh layer of snow visible from the road, and Keystone Resort also got in on the fun.
“It’s a little dry out here, but rifles like this one slung over my shoulder up here at the top of Dercum Mountain have been getting snow all night,” said Max Winter, Keystone’s director of communications.
Winter says they hope to have people walking through the River Run entrance as soon as possible, too, with their snow guns equipped with weather-tracking technology.
“They can sense the humidity and temperature in the air in real time,” Winter said.
They are able to take advantage of windows where conditions are right to build their snow base.
Skiers at both ski areas have some new things to look forward to as well, like Kindred Resort at Keystone.
“This is a brand new luxury hotel and residence with ski-in, ski-out lodgings, three new restaurants and our new location for the ski and riding school,” Winter said.
In Loveland, there’s a brand new elevator.
“We replaced Lift 7 in Loveland Valley,” Roberson said. “This is our ski lift for beginners and ski school.”
This lift transitions from a double chair to a triple chair to expand capacity.
While each ski area engages in friendly competition, they are both ready to see skiers back in the mountains as soon as possible.
“We always encourage all of our neighbors on the I-70 corridor, so when we all shot up last night, I think we were all really excited to see it happen,” Roberson said.
Neither Keystone nor Loveland have confirmed opening dates yet, but both are hoping for late October or early November.