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Turns in time for Turkey Day: Keystone to open top-to-bottom, Breckenridge uphill, much terrain at other resorts

Snowcovered trails at Keystone Resort are in view through the clearing clouds late Tuesday morning as seen from a boat on Lake Dillon.
Antonio Olivero / aolivero@summitdaily.com |

With Thanksgiving holiday crowds descending on Summit County this week, Keystone Resort will open top-to-bottom ski access and night skiing Wednesday, while sister Vail Resorts property Breckenridge Ski Resort will open uphill access and its Peak 9 lifts and terrain on the same day.

Meanwhile over at Copper Mountain Resort, the plan is to open the resort’s American Flyer lift at some point in the next few days, a decision pending cool and favorable snowmaking conditions according to Copper spokeswoman Taylor Prather.

And at Loveland Ski Area, intermediate trails Upper Richards, Nix Nox and Waterfall opened on Tuesday.



Keystone

Currently Keystone is not open for uphill access due to continued snowmaking and early season operations, but Vail Resorts spokeswoman Sara Lococo said the resort will make an announcement soon when it is ready to open for uphill.



Keystone’s Wednesday openings push the amount of skiable terrain to more than 2,300 of vertical feet thanks to the opening of both beginner and advanced terrain, such as the the intermediate River Run trail and the advanced The Edge trail. Keystone will also open its Summit Express chairlift on Wednesday. And on Friday, Keystone plans to open top-to-bottom skiing and snowboarding access to both River Run Village and its Mountain House, as well as beginner trail access to Mountain House.

Wednesday and Thursday night skiing at Keystone won’t include beginner access, which will start Friday. 

Breckenridge

On Wednesday, Breckenridge’s Quicksilver SuperChair will open for access to the Silverthorne trail and to the Peak 8 SuperConnect chairlift, improving access between Peaks 8 and 9.

Also on Wednesday, the Peak 9 learning area and carpets and Snowflake chair will also open.

Breckenridge’s Park Lane terrain park at Peak 8 will also open on Wednesday.

Breckenridge previously opened Peak 8 terrain including Springmeier, Duke’s Run and Trygve’s, as well as its Peak 8 Breckenridge Ski & Snowboard School. Peak 9 school operations will open on Wednesday.

A-Basin

Speaking Tuesday afternoon, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area spokeswoman Adrienne Isaac said the ski area’s mountain operations currently don’t have concrete plans to open more terrain Tuesday or Wednesday.

“We have had limited openings in the Lenawee Parks area,” Isaac said, “but we will need more snow before we can open those trails on a permanent basis.

“We open runs as soon as they are ready to be skied,” she added, “and are in good shape to be open through the season. The snowmaking team is focusing on the upper mountain, and ski patrol will keep an eye on all areas to assess the snow quality.”

Aspen and Snowmass

When Aspen Mountain opens on Thursday, top-to-bottom skiing will be available. Over at Snowmass, limited terrain will be available.

After Aspen Mountain received 13 inches of snow from Friday night’s storm, the Silver Queen Gondola and Ajax Express chairlift will open Thursday. Snowmaking will cover the area from the Deer Park trail above the lower terminal of the Ajax Express chairlift down to the base. Spar Gulch will be open to provide access to Little Nell and the base as snowcats will move snow around in the upper terrain to provide the best coverage.

Vail

Vail Mountain will open Wednesday, a day earlier than what was a pushed-back season open set for Thanksgiving.

Starting at 9 a.m., skiing and riding will be available on the Born Free trail accessed via the Born Free Express (Chair 8) lift.


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