Loveland churns out snow; opening day looms

GEORGETOWN - In an effort to continue the five-year tradition of being the first ski area in the U.S. to open, Loveland Ski Area began snowmaking operations on Thursday night.

Consistent overnight lows in the 20s have allowed the area to fire up its fleet of snow guns. The traditional battle in recent years to open first involves Loveland and Arapahoe Basin. A-Basin COO Alan Henceroth said the resort plans to begin making snow as soon as they see similar temperatures.

So far, Loveland has a head start.

"We've been working on getting everything ready and have had everything in place for a couple days now," said Mark Abrahamson, snowmaking and trail maintenance manager, "we just needed the weather conditions to cooperate and last night they did."

Loveland Ski Area contracts the services of year-round professional snow makers, who will return from New Zealand for a sixth consecutive season to cover the mountain trails with snow for opening day.

"Opening first is important, but we will not open for the season until we have a quality product to offer our guests," said John Sellers, marketing director.

Loveland Ski Area created a website last year to keep up with the high volume of requests for snowmaking updates. Skiers and riders can visit www.skiloveland.com/snowmaking to view the snowmaking progress and access updates.