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First few opening days in the Rockies coming soon for 2020-21

StayWarm

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Loveland just announced that they're opening tomorrow. My husband happens to have the day off for Veterans' Day, so I expect we'll be heading up. I plugged in my hotronics as soon as I saw the announcement. Loveland isn't requiring reservations, though all ticket sales are online, so I'm curious to see how that plays out in practice. Here's hoping. :goodluck:
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
They opened yesterday!
Interesting. A quiet soft opening on Monday afternoon, then officially open on Nov. 10. Ikon reservations required using the Ikon app. No reservations required for ABasin season passes.

Nov. 10, Arapahoe Basin Blog
Is It Normal Yet?
http://arapahoebasin.blogspot.com/2020/11/is-it-normal-yet.html
"Has life at The Basin returned to normal yet? No, I can't say that, but we are open for skiing and riding. We opened yesterday afternoon with very little promotion. We are taking management of the resort in the COVID era very seriously. We did not want to see a typical, crowded, rowdy opening day. Our strategy worked. With Wolf Creek and Keystone already open, that took away some of the opening bluster. By opening for a couple hours in the afternoon, we took even more of the edge away. Lastly, our plans for A-Basin passes, Ikon Passes and lift tickets worked well these first couple of days.

We are so excited to be open. With everyone wearing masks, I did not see a lot of friendly faces, but I heard a lot friendly voices. It is good to be skiing."
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Loveland just announced that they're opening tomorrow. My husband happens to have the day off for Veterans' Day, so I expect we'll be heading up. I plugged in my hotronics as soon as I saw the announcement. Loveland isn't requiring reservations, though all ticket sales are online, so I'm curious to see how that plays out in practice. Here's hoping. :goodluck:
Have fun!

Is having 3 trails open for Opening Day the usual approach?

Nov. 10, Summit Daily
Loveland Ski Area to open for the season Wednesday
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/loveland-ski-area-to-open-for-the-season-on-wednesday/
 

StayWarm

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Have fun!

Is having 3 trails open for Opening Day the usual approach?

Nov. 10, Summit Daily
Loveland Ski Area to open for the season Wednesday
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/loveland-ski-area-to-open-for-the-season-on-wednesday/

I think so, yes; I remember that being the case when we went in mid-November last year, too (though we didn't make opening day last year). They basically use a combo of snowmaking and natural snow to cover a full run from one lift to the base; the three trails all link together end to end and are all greens (gotta start the season somewhere, I guess). The big covid-related question marks in my mind are line management and the parking shuttles, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. I'll post an update tomorrow!
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Apparently Mammoth decided to open a day earlier than announced before. Was supposed to be Nov. 14, but there will be five chairs running on Nov. 13.

Nov. 10, NBC Los Angeles
Mammoth Mountain's 2020 Opening Date Moves Up
The new date will occur a day earlier, thanks to a foot of snow dropping over the first weekend of November.
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/worth-the-trip/mammoth-mountains-2020-opening-date-moves-up/2457925/
" . . . Nov. 13 (there are five in all, "more than normal for this time of year": chairs 1, 2, 3, 6 & 11). There are no more individual tickets available for opening weekend, . . ."
 

Sandrinjo

Certified Ski Diva
Ski lifts are running today in Vail.. getting ready for tomorrow opening day.
Summit is already is red stage.. Eagle County will most likely go red within a week or two.. in Summit... no eating of any kind on the mountain.. you have to eat it in the car. Restaurants will only be selling to go stuff.. You are allowed to come in and use the restroom/ worm up . But you have to take your food back to your car and eat.. i was able to reserve all the days i wanted without problems.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
no eating of any kind on the mountain.. you have to eat it in the car. Restaurants will only be selling to go stuff.. You are allowed to come in and use the restroom/ worm up .
When Wolf Creek opened up, it was just lifts and the base lodge open for restrooms. Has been fine for the people who drive to Wolf for it's terrain and don't care about the amenities.
 

skibum4ever

Angel Diva
Mammoth lodges are open and serving food. The tables are spaced wide apart. Bathrooms are open with no capacity restrictions.

Of course, this may all change when the lodges become more crowded. I'm especially concerned about how things will work on a cold snowy day when people need breaks from the weather.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Jackson Hole is opening on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26. The homepage has this as a banner:

"Opening Day is approaching! Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26 and 27 full day lift tickets are sold out. Afternoon lift tickets are still available."
As of Nov. 21, there are 124 tickets left for Sat, Nov. 28. No mention of the number left for Nov. 29. Price is $98. Only other dates currently sold out are Dec. 28-30, and those were $164/day.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Not in the Rockies, but wanted to note that Mt. Hood Meadows is an independent ski area that has really done a fantastic job of really thinking through what approaches would be best in order to limit numbers. Mt. Hood is 90 minutes from Portland, has 2150 acres, night skiing, and opens on Nov. 28.

Their ongoing communication has been fantastic. Here's a sample of their COVID-19 winter ops webpage.

https://www.skihood.com/en/covid19-update

Screen Shot 2020-11-27 at 9.55.52 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-11-27 at 9.55.19 AM.png
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Originally thought I'd stop posting about openings after late November, but opening dates kept getting pushed back for assorted reasons. After Dec. 7, pretty much all the resorts that usually open by late November or early December will have opened.

Copper opened on Mon, Nov. 30. The later start allowed for more terrain for Day 1. Copper is using parking reservations for everyone who hasn't got a paid parking spot. The people mentioned in the following article all did day trips. Sounds like everyone had a good time.

Dec. 1, Vail Daily
Copper Mountain is final Summit County resort to open for the season
https://www.vaildaily.com/news/copper-mountain-is-final-summit-county-resort-to-open-for-the-season/
 

TNtoTaos

Angel Diva
LA Times did an overview of skiing in the west. Sounds like some destination resorts will not only have food trucks at the base, there may also be food snowcats on the mountain.
Nov. 25, LA Times
Here’s what pandemic-era skiing and snowboarding will look like this winter
https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2020-11-25/covid-19-tips-skiing-snowboarding-winter
OMG! The food trucks were in my weird ski dream!
https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/ski-nightmares-literally.23082/post-421044
 

jskis190

Certified Ski Diva
Originally thought I'd stop posting about openings after late November, but opening dates kept getting pushed back for assorted reasons. After Dec. 7, pretty much all the resorts that usually open by late November or early December will have opened.

Copper opened on Mon, Nov. 30. The later start allowed for more terrain for Day 1. Copper is using parking reservations for everyone who hasn't got a paid parking spot. The people mentioned in the following article all did day trips. Sounds like everyone had a good time.

Dec. 1, Vail Daily
Copper Mountain is final Summit County resort to open for the season
https://www.vaildaily.com/news/copper-mountain-is-final-summit-county-resort-to-open-for-the-season/
 

jskis190

Certified Ski Diva
the picture I saw in Summit Daily News about the copper opening shows front and center someone waiting in line without a mask. I don't think this is a good look. I will be happily enjoying the local cross country trails while I sit out this season
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Not the Rockies but Mt. Hood Meadows has become my favorite ski area to check on because their communication is stellar. Often includes very well done videos. Their opening day included a blizzard that meant only a couple lifts could open due to high winds. Only open for passholders for a few days. Those who went clearly had a good time.

Glad I had a chance to spend a morning skiing at Meadows in May a few years ago. Want to get back there for a late season trip when more terrain is still open.

Nov. 30, Mt. Hood Meadows blog
A blustery yet awesome opening day
https://www.skihood.com/about-us/meadows-blog/posts/2020/11/a-blustery-yet-awesome-opening-day

 

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