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Recent snowstorms help open terrain at Summit County Nordic centers

Nordic skiers race at the 2018-19 Up & At ‘Em Ski Race Series at the Frisco Nordic Center.
Joe Kusumoto/Courtesy photo

The snowstorms that made their way through the Summit County area around the Christmas holiday not only blessed the local ski areas with much-needed snow, but also helped out the local Nordic centers.

Prior to the storm, many of Summit’s Nordic skiing centers had very minimal snow to groom, but most were open to the public with early season conditions. The snow over the past week has helped the areas tremendously, allowing the Nordic centers to open more terrain ahead of the new year.

Breckenridge Nordic Center

Around Thanksgiving, Breckenridge Nordic Center had 6 kilometers of Nordic skiing trails open to the public. A month later, the center has 21 kilometers of snow groomed for both classic and skate styles, which accounts for 60% of the center’s total Nordic skiing terrain.



The Breckenridge Nordic Center also has 80% of its snowshoeing terrain open, which is another improvement from a month ago.

“The trails are excellent and are well covered,” the center’s office administrator Alison Leonhart said. “The only trails that are not open is the upper portion of Morning Glory and the lower third of the Beaver Meadow trails.”



Gold Run Nordic Center

The Gold Run Nordic Center, also in Breckenridge, has opened more of its terrain after receiving about a foot and a half of snow over the past week.

The Gold Run Nordic Center had only 1 1/2 runs open before Christmas but now has six runs open and is hoping to open one to two more runs in the next day or so.

“We are getting up there,” Gold Run’s Director of Nordic Operations Patrick Clary said. “We are starting to get our terrain open and pushing some snow on the trails and really trying to get enough different difficulties for everybody to get out there to enjoy what they like to do.”

Clary also said Gold Run Nordic Center has seen a good amount of traffic over the past week.

“We are busy,” Clary said. “We are getting a lot of walk-ins, a lot of group lessons, a lot of private lessons. Everybody’s anxious to get outside and really enjoy the conditions and what Breckenridge is made for.”

Frisco Nordic Center

Frisco Nordic Center had to delay its opening but started its season Dec. 4 with limited terrain due to the lack of snow.

The Frisco Nordic Center has been able to open up more terrain and now has 1 kilometer of classic groomed skiing and 8 kilometers of skate groomed skiing available. The center also has all of its snowshoeing terrain open as of Dec. 26.

Keystone Nordic Center

Keystone Nordic Center officials said they barely had any snow before the Christmas holiday but now have received close to 2 feet of snow, allowing the center to open up all of its Nordic skiing trails along with its tubing hill and snowshoeing terrain.

Another winter storm watch that is in effect from Wednesday, Dec. 29, to Saturday, Jan. 1, could help Nordic ski centers in Summit County continue to improve trail conditions and open up more terrain as the winter season continues.


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