Editor’s Note: Each week throughout the winter, the Summit Daily News will provide a terrain update that will inform skiers and riders on what trails are open at what mountains before they head out to the slopes.

On Monday, Nov. 13, Copper Mountain Resort officially opened to the public, therefore becoming the final Summit County ski area to open for the 2023-24 season. Skiers and riders enjoyed turns beneath bluebird skies with mild late-fall temperatures.

Although some skiers and riders have basked in the warmer conditions to begin the season, Mother Nature is currently slowing the ski areas’ progress toward opening more terrain. 

Breckenridge highlights plan for future terrain openings 

Breckenridge opened up for the 2023-24 season on Friday, Nov. 10, with three lifts running and two trails. Since opening day, Breckenridge has been able to open up three additional lifts (Rip’s Ride, the Peak 8 Kids Carpet 1 and the Peak 8 Kids Carpet 2) that access beginner terrain.

Additionally, Breckenridge added the Lower 4 O’Clock and Trygve’s Platter trails bolstering the resort’s trails up to four out of 187. Breckenridge currently has 2% of its total terrain open for the season. The resort plans to bolster that number with the opening of Peak 9 on Friday morning, Nov. 17.

According to a social media post, Breckenridge will start spinning Peak 9’s Quicksilver lift at 9 a.m. on Friday with access to green terrain on Silverthorne. The expansion will also allow access back to Peak 8 via the Peak 8 SuperConnect.

With colder temperatures expected this weekend, Breckenridge’s snowmaking teams will now begin working to get upper Peak 9, including Beaver Run and Mercury SuperChair, open next.

In an article published by the Summit Daily News, Lococo also released a detailed terrain opening plan for the next couple weeks. Weather dependent, Breckenridge hopes to open the Peak 7 base area on Friday, Dec. 8, which will give skiers and riders access to the Peak 7, 8 and 9 base areas.

The opening of Peak 7 will also mark a shift in Breckenridge’s daily opening time from 9 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. 

Keystone Resort continues to lead the way for early-season terrain 

Since last week, Keystone Resort has made considerable progress in opening up more terrain, blowing snow whenever weather conditions allow. Keystone opened up top-to-bottom skiing for the first time last week and this week was able to open up the Mountain House base area located next to the westernmost side of the front of the mountain. 

With the addition of the Mountain House base area and the Peru Express lift, Keystone now has eight of its 143 trails open and six of its 21 lifts open. Ina’s Way, Jaybird and Silvermaster join Endeavor, River Run, Dercum’s Dash, Schoolmarm and Silverspoon trails on Dercum Mountain. 

Copper Mountain Resort begins season 

Copper Mountain Resort began the season on Monday, with the American Eagle Lift, Excelerator Lift and the EZ Rider Lift. Those lifts allowed access to the Rhapsody, Fair Play, Main Vein, and Ptarmigan trails and the EZ Rider Learning Area.

As of Thursday afternoon, Nov. 16, Copper still has the same amount of terrain open as opening day, but it is working to open up more terrain across the mountain. Copper has five of its 157 trails open, three of its 23 lifts running and has 69 acres of skiing. 

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Copper also has a hike-back terrain park at the top of the American Eagle Lift. 

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area nears top-to-bottom skiing 

Not much has changed in terms of terrain openings at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area over the last week. A-Basin is still operating with only the Black Mountain Express and the Lower Mountain Blues trail open to the public.

On Thursday afternoon, A-Basin did offer an update. In an email newsletter, A-Basin said that the ski area’s snowmaking teams have been hard at work on the upper mountain over the past week, and crews are hoping to offer top-to-bottom skiing soon.

Loveland Ski Area works toward opening more terrain 

Loveland Ski Area shared an opening day with Breckenridge on Friday, Nov. 10, and gave skiers access to a long, top-to-bottom run consisting of Catwalk, Mambo and Home Run trails via the Chet’s Dream lift. 

Loveland is working to open up more terrain as soon as possible.