While fall in Colorado’s High Country mostly features a steady decline in temperatures and a couple dustings of snow, this autumn has been quite the opposite.

Although Summit County saw its first snowfall of the season at the beginning of September, the rest of the month was unseasonably warm and dry. The trend continued into the month of October, further stalling the snowmaking season for ski areas in the state’s highest reaches. 

However, as a cold front moved into the area on Thursday, Oct. 17, local ski areas got a jumpstart on snowmaking, blowing snow the second temperatures dipped below freezing in the early morning hours on Friday. 

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Arapahoe Basin Ski Area 

A-Basin reported that it fired up its guns as light began to peek over East Wall at 6 a.m on Friday. The blowing of snow marks the third time the ski area has switched on the snow guns this fall season, testing the guns on two separate occasions, with one taking place on Oct. 8.

While A-Basin would ideally have several large whales of snow piled up along High Noon at this time of year, snowmaking teams have remained busy by completing necessary maintenance work and completing snow gun tests.

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With snow in the forecast throughout the weekend, A-Basin has not changed any of its plans in terms of an eventual opening day. After opening on Oct. 29 last year, A-Basin will once again open as soon as possible. 

“As for this upcoming storm, natural snow gets us excited for the season more than anything,” communications manager Shayna Silverman said. “Right now, I think forecasts say about 3 inches over the weekend, maybe more in the coming days. But what the storm will bring us that is most helpful is consistent cold temperatures which allow us the window we need to start blowing snow.”

Keystone Resort

Similar to its neighbor a few miles down the highway on the way to Loveland Pass, Keystone Resort began blowing snow in the early hours on Friday — marking the first time the ski resort has blown snow so far this season.

“Keystone fired up the snowmaking system overnight, officially kicking off snowmaking operations for the 2024-25 winter season as we work towards opening as early as possible,” senior specialist in communications Sarah McLear said. 

Historically battling with A-Basin and Loveland to be one of the first ski areas to open in the U.S., Keystone will continue to blow snow whenever temperatures reach the resort’s snowmaking threshold.

Like in previous years, Keystone plans to open as soon as possible with its opening terrain package which features 2 miles of skiing and riding on the Schoolmarm and Silver Spoon trails.

“With an opening day ski experience spanning over 40 acres and two miles of trail, there’s quite a bit of work ahead of our team before we can announce an opening date, but cold weather windows like this bring us closer and closer to the start of ski season,” Keystone communications manager Max Winter said.

Last year, Keystone welcomed skiers and riders back to the mountain a few days after A-Basin, hosting its opening day on Nov. 1. 

Loveland Ski Area 

After seeing natural flurries fall upon the mountain on Thursday afternoon, Loveland Ski Area also kicked off its snowmaking season early on Friday morning. 

According to marketing director Loryn Roberson, the ski area started accumulating snow across trails at both Loveland Valley and Loveland Basin. 

“With our base elevation of 10,800 feet, we were able to take full advantage of the colder temps, allowing for productive snowmaking,” Roberson said. “The snowmaking team will be monitoring temperatures around the clock, making snow whenever conditions allow. The upcoming forecast looks promising, and we’re excited to continue building our early-season base.”

Loveland will once again welcome skiers and riders back to the mountain as soon as conditions allow. Loveland opened last season on Nov. 10

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Copper Mountain Resort 

The slight delay to snowmaking this season is not expected to affect Copper Mountain Resort’s opening day slated for Nov. 8. 

Copper is hoping that the cold weather system that is currently making its way through Summit County will assist the resort’s preparation for opening day and will allow snowmaking teams to blow snow more consistently. 

“We’re still three weeks out from our opening day, so it’s too early to say if we will have to adjust our operational plans,” communications and philanthropy manager Olivia Butrymovich said. “We’re optimistic Copper will be able to open as planned.”

Home to the U.S. Alpine Ski Team Speed Center, Copper is currently evaluating conditions for early-season race training for the U.S. Alpine ski team as well as several international teams. The Speed Center is scheduled to open at the end of October, but Copper will know more about its exact opening date after the storm moves through.

Copper Mountain hosted its 2023-24 winter season opening day on Nov. 13.

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Breckenridge Ski Resort 

Sharing an opening day with Copper on Nov. 8, Breckenridge Ski Resort is completing tests of its snowmaking equipment, but has yet to begin blowing snow across any of its five peaks.

Once all the tests have been completed, Breckenridge is expected to start making snow in the near future. Last year, Breckenridge Ski Resort kicked off the winter season on Nov. 10.

Warm weather returns next week 

While Summit County ski areas are expected to make some progress over the next few days in terms of welcoming guests back onto the mountain, current weather forecasts for next week predict warm weather returning to the area.

According to forecasts produced by the National Weather Service, the storm front will make its way out of the area on Monday, Oct. 21, before seeing a significant warming of temperatures starting on Tuesday, Oct. 22. 

While temperatures overnight may still be conducive to snowmaking, daily highs are expected to hover between the upper 50s to low 60s from Tuesday through Saturday next week.