While ski areas in Summit County won’t begin winter operations for several more weeks, chief operating officers from five local resorts helped build excitement for the upcoming season at the annual Ski Area COO Summit on Friday, Oct. 3.

Considered the unofficial kickoff to winter, the event — which is hosted each year by the Summit Chamber at the Keystone Conference Center — brought together community members, the media and ski industry professionals.

Following a breakfast spread provided by the team at Keystone, chief operating officers from all five Summit County-area resorts took the stage to share updates ahead of the 2025-26 winter season.

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Keystone Resort

With Keystone Resort serving as this year’s host, Shannon Buhler was the first COO to present to the crowd.

Entering her second year as vice president and general manager, Buhler began her presentation by highlighting what the resort accomplished over the summer.

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Outside of the resort’s vast array of events throughout the summer season, Keystone built its first mountain bike trail in the last decade, WD-40, an intermediate flow trail.

Looking toward this winter season, Buhler shared insight into what prep work has already taken place. So far, Keystone has tested its snowmaking system, laying the groundwork to open for the season with more than 2 miles of tree-to-tree terrain on Schoolmarm. 

New this winter, Epic Pass is offering Epic Friends. The pass incentive allows Epic Pass holders to purchase lift tickets for their friends and family for 50% off.

“This was announced a few weeks ago,” Buhler said. “Anyone who has purchased a season pass gets a new certain number of now 50% off lift tickets for your friends and family.”

Among a myriad of other events, Keystone will be offering a new “snow fort after dark” event on Dec. 27, Jan 31, March 14 and March 28. The event will allow guests of all ages to explore Keystone’s sprawling mountaintop snow fort.

After kicking off the season with neighboring Arapahoe Basin on Nov. 2 last year, Keystone is once again eyeing to open as early as possible. 

Copper Mountain Resort 

Dustin Lyman, the president and general manager at Copper Mountain Resort, got people excited for the upcoming winter season by speaking in- depth about the multiple World -Cup events the resort will host this winter. 

Leading off the season will be the Stifel Copper Cup during Thanksgiving weekend from Nov. 27-30.

Lyman expects the event to bring guests from across the globe to Copper. Not only will guests be able to watch professional Alpine ski racers ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, but the event will also feature live concerts, fireworks and other activations.

“It has a lot involved in it, including festivities,” Lyman said of Stifel Copper Cup. “We will have a ton of post-race celebrations. On Friday night, we are having the giant slalom award ceremony followed by a concert. On Saturday, we will have the women’s bib draw for slalom featuring the top 15 competitors in that discipline.”

A few weeks later, Copper will host world-class freeski and snowboard athletes for the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix from Dec. 17-20.

“This is an Olympic qualifying event, so it will be a great opportunity to see these Olympians before they head to the Olympics in February,” Lyman said. 

Copper is also looking forward to cornerstone events like Snowstation, Safety Fest, Subaru Winterfest and Slush Rush. 

With the resort starting snowmaking on Wed, Oct. 1, Copper is already well on its way to opening to the public on Nov. 7. 

“We are excited about all the things that we are bridging back again for another great season,” Lyman said. “It is shaping up to be another good one, so let’s keep our fingers crossed on Mother Nature.”

Breckenridge Ski Resort 

Heading into its 64th season as a ski resort, Breckenridge is focusing on big sends, bigger energy and mountain town connection. 

Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Copeland explained that “big sends” does not always apply to sending it off a cliff — it can also refer, but rather refers to major investments into the mountain experience.

One of the major investments Breckenridge has taken ahead of the season is upgrading its snowmaking systems on Peak 8 and Peak 9.

“We have also upgraded the infrastructure in and around our Peak 9 pump house, which is really the hub of the entire system,” Copeland said. “We are taking advantage of the change in technology and upgrades and are trying to replace some of the older, outdated equipment.”

Breckenridge continues to invest in its employees by paying attention to the employee experience. Breckenridge hosts an employee leadership program every year and is once again planning to host its employee preview day ahead of opening the ski resort to the public.

Copeland and Breckenridge are aiming to revive the resort’s old-school energy. Long regarded as a snowboarder’s haven, Breckenridge is looking to rekindle the spark that once defined its snowboarding culture.

Perhaps the season’s premier event will be the Rockstar Energy Open from Dec.19-21. The snowboarding competition will feature more than 60 of the top riders from around the world competing on a multi-terrain course at the resort.

“Breck had a reputation of being the center of the snowboarding universe, and it is our goal right now to kind of start to bring that back,” Copeland said. “We are working to return the energy. I am thrilled to share that world-class snowboarding is returning to Breckenridge.”

In terms of connecting with the mountain town community, Breckenridge continues to partner with organizations like the town of Breckenridge and the Family Intercultural Resource Center. 

Copeland addressed the parking challenges at Breckenridge at the conclusion of his presentation. Like many mountain communities, he said Breckenridge will always be up against a parking problem, but Copeland is confident that the resort will continue to work to find solutions.. 

“We are super fortunate to have great partners like the town of Breck that we can continue to work through options with,” Copeland said. “We put in a ton of work to encourage our guests to utilize car pooling and public transportation.”

Breckenridge will open for the season on Nov. 7.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area 

Now officially a part of the Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass, Arapahoe Basin president and COO Alan Henceroth quickly tried to soothe any uneasiness about the change.

While Henceroth recognized the concerns of A-Basin becoming overrun since it’s now on a major pass, he believes that the change in ownership will be good for the ski area.

“I am really excited for this ski season,” Henceroth said. “All indicators are pointing up. I know Alterra bought A-Basin because they like A-Basin. They did not buy it to change it. They like our ethos. They like what we have done. They love the mountain.”

Henceroth pointed to the new parking lot reservation system as a successful byproduct of change. Although guests initially complained about the new system, Henceroth said the method was a massive success.

“It is unbelievable what it does for us,” Henceroth said. “Summit Stage ridership is up. Like I said, we didn’t cause any troubles on Highway 6 last year. The only issue was getting cars off the highway fast enough. This is really the right direction.”

Outside of the Alterra transition, A-Basin’s master development plan has been accepted by the U.S. Forest Service. The plan includes the potential to build a couple small parking lots, a pedestrian bridge over the highway, new remote avalanche equipment and an upgrade to the ski area’s snowmaking. 

“Our master development plan was accepted by the Forest Service last month,” Henceroth said. “What that means is that we have a plan. None of the projects in the plan are approved. The Forest Service requires us to have a plan.”

Even with all the changes, A-Basin vows to continue to be a resort dedicated to locals.

“I am looking forward to skiing powder and hanging out with my friends and family,” Henceroth said. 

A-Basin will open for the season as soon as possible.

Loveland Ski Area 

Loveland Ski Area’s senior vice president and COO Rob Goodell closed out the presentations by summarizing what Loveland is looking forward to this winter.

Most notably, Loveland will be unveiling the newly upgraded Lift  7. The former double chair has been enhanced to a fixed-grip triple chair, allowing uphill capacity to be increased. On Friday morning, Oct. 3, Loveland successfully installed the wider-than-standard chairs on Lift 7. 

“The lift they are putting in, the configuration is a quad-chair lift — the carrier is for four,” Goodell said. “They had to reconfigure the restraining bar. We are only going to load three passengers to it. We feel like it is important for those ‘never-evers’ to have a little more space.” 

Additionally, Loveland improved the Zig Zag trail by completing tree clearing and regrading work. The trail will now have wider turns, better sightlines and improved learning zones for families and ski and ride school guests. 

Coming off an 184-day 2024-25 season, Loveland is primed to see another strong season this winter. Goodell says that Loveland’s sales have been strong. With pass prices once again frozen at last year’s rates, Loveland is anticipating another landmark season this winter. 

“For the third season in a row we froze those season pass prices because we felt that was again very important,” Goodell said. “Our sales have been strong. It was very encouraging to hear the economic report because we are feeling the same thing. There is a good demand.”

Similar to A-Basin and Keystone, Loveland will be firing up the snow guns as soon as possible ahead of an eventual opening day. Last season, Loveland opened on Nov. 6. 

Next year’s Ski Area COO Summit will take place at the Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center in Breckenridge. A date will be announced at a later time.