TR Wolf Creek Dec. 7-14, 2025

[marzNC]

Just finished the second day of the fifth annual early season trip to ski Wolf Creek in Colorado. @TNtoTaos and I drove from the southeast, together with Rita, and arrived in South Fork on Dec. 6. Bill and Jason arrived the next day. Plan is to ski through Sunday morning.

Bottom line is that Wolf Creek Ski Area (WCSA) is 100% open even though it's a very low snow start for Colorado. See the 2024 trip report for more typical winter conditions.

TR Wolf Creek Dec. 8-16, 2024

We have finished the second day of what's become an annual early season trip to ski Wolf Creek in Colorado. @TNtoTaos and I drove from the southeast, together with Rita, and arrived on Dec. 7. Bill and Jason arrived the next day. We're in the same house in South Fork we were in last year...

www.theskidiva.com

Have a full day lesson planned for Tuesday working with Eric Bloom again.

For general Wolf Creek info and conditions:

Wolf Creek in Colorado, 2025-26 news and conditions

No October opening at Wolf Creek Ski Area (WCSA) for 2025-26. Although that's not unusual. In the past five years, the opening day has been in October three times and in November twice. A storm system is forecast for mid-November in Colorado. While opening by the weekend of Nov. 15-16 might...

www.theskidiva.com

 

[marzNC]

Still adjusting to altitude even after driving from NC Dec. 3-6. The last motel stop was in Dodge City, KS, which is about 2500 ft. The next day we were driving at over 4000 ft for most of the day. South Fork is about 8200 ft. The base of WCSA is at 10,300 ft.

Will be plenty of blue skis this week. Hopefully not too warm, although the forecast is for highs in the low 40s. Seems more like spring weather than early season.

@TNtoTaos getting started on groomers first thing Sunday morning, Dec. 7


Fresh snow in the trees near green trails, we were "just looking"


Near top of Treasure Lift, tracks are probably mostly from the day before, Saturday, Dec. 6


New snowboard rental building, replaced a small white yurt, base of Treasure lift behind it


New exterior for main base building
The main restroom can be used as a locker room

 

[marzNC]

@TNtoTaos and I are both wearing new Nobody's Princess pants, Mila style, short. My second pair.

I'm getting use to new Smith Mag 4D goggles. While they look about the same as earlier Mag versions, the shape make is a bit easier to see to the side or behind me when I turn my head. However, means that the lenses are not interchangeable with the earlier version.

First day on skis for the season for Bill (green jacket), Jason (blue jacket)


At the top of Bonanza (fixed-grip triple) there is a great view of the Continental Divide
MarzNC (black jacket), TNtoTaos (blue, pink)



Tranquility, a popular groomer


Top of Feature Duster, easiest way down after taking the Alberta lift to the Coyote Park Trail
There was pretty good coverage and the soft bumps aren't that big


Thumper, a blue bump run on the frontside off Raven (high-speed lift)

 

[wernerslab]

Looks like you had it all to yourself! Lovely views! Hope you acclimate to altitude quickly after arriving to ski!

 

[diymom]

@TNtoTaos Love the bright pants!

 

[Nicole3232]

Just finished the second day of the fifth annual early season trip to ski Wolf Creek in Colorado. @TNtoTaos and I drove from the southeast, together with Rita, and arrived in South Fork on Dec. 6. Bill and Jason arrived the next day. Plan is to ski through Sunday morning.

Bottom line is that Wolf Creek Ski Area (WCSA) is 100% open even though it's a very low snow start for Colorado. See the 2024 trip report for more typical winter conditions.

TR Wolf Creek Dec. 8-16, 2024

We have finished the second day of what's become an annual early season trip to ski Wolf Creek in Colorado. @TNtoTaos and I drove from the southeast, together with Rita, and arrived on Dec. 7. Bill and Jason arrived the next day. We're in the same house in South Fork we were in last year...

www.theskidiva.com

Have a full day lesson planned for Tuesday working with Eric Bloom again.

For general Wolf Creek info and conditions:

Wolf Creek in Colorado, 2025-26 news and conditions

No October opening at Wolf Creek Ski Area (WCSA) for 2025-26. Although that's not unusual. In the past five years, the opening day has been in October three times and in November twice. A storm system is forecast for mid-November in Colorado. While opening by the weekend of Nov. 15-16 might...

www.theskidiva.com

I'm Heading out to colorado ( Breckenridge) In January and cant wait. The skiing is just surreal compared to the east coast

 

[marzNC]

Looks like you had it all to yourself! Lovely views! Hope you acclimate to altitude quickly after arriving to ski!

The week that includes Dec. 11 is never busy. That's why lift tickets are discounted Dec. 8-11 this season. The advantage of WCSA is that it's not a destination resort in any sense of the term since the closest lodging is 20-30 minutes away.

During early season, we often meet people from AZ, NM, and OK. While there are Colorado plates in the parking lot, they are probably mostly locals.

I was feeling fairly normal by Monday in terms of altitude adjustment. Will get out of breath walking up at WCSA stairs all week because that's over 10,000 ft.

 

[TNtoTaos]

@TNtoTaos Love the bright pants!

Thanks! I'm really tired of dark-colored ski pants, and NP has a pretty good selection of colors, so I decided to go bold, LOL!

 

[marzNC]

Had another very good lesson with Eric Bloom on Tuesday. Fourth season in a row. Jason and I worked with Eric all day. Bill joined in for the morning. Since the snow coverage is reasonably good on the front side bump runs and in the trees off the Alberta lift, there are some advantages to having warmer weather for an early season lesson. A bit easier to pay attention during on-snow discussions when not feeling cold. Air temperatures were in the 30s but snow wasn't melting.

We started out on the front side (Raven, Bonanza, Treasure lifts). First run was on a groomer and second run was on Thumper bumps (blue). Mid-morning we did an adventure run on the Alberta side where there was plenty of good snow in the trees. It helps that after about 2:00 at this time of year, almost all the terrain over there is in the shade of the ridge. Going in the morning is better since in the afternoon it's all flat light.

The bump runs we did included Treasure Falls, middle Treasure, Lower Windjammer, Feather Duster, and Thumper. All felt like there was better coverage compared to last year, perhaps because the snow last week was dense enough to be well packed by the off-piste skiers who have been around for the past week or so. Of course, still need to be on the lookout for small rocks or branches.

In the afternoon, we spent most of the time on fundamentals on groomers. It's only Jason's second ski day and altitude adjustment is a factor for him as well. On the one hand, not really that much new since we have worked with Eric before. That never bothers me at this stage because I end up understanding a skill or drill in a different way than before. On the other hand, there was more opportunity for repetition. (Last year we took time to hike the ridge.). That led to being able to feel doing stuff right in a way that makes it more likely I'll remember the better movements during the next week. Very useful during early season.

 

[marzNC]

Did a lot of skiing today, Wed, Dec. 10. Went all over with Bill and Jason. Since we explored off-piste yesterday and the day before, we had a pretty good idea of where to go for good snow.

In the morning I used my Zelda 106 skis mostly because I haven't skied in a while. Bought them as powder skis that are also good on groomers when necessary. That is still true, perhaps even more so because my technique has improved since I bought them. I haven't had a chance to use them much.

Went back to my Stöckli Stormrider 85s after lunch.

WCSA is moving snow as needed. Sometimes by snow groomer, sometimes manually. The walk up from the closest parking lot to the ticket windows gets extra attention. Note that there are multiple ways to get to that building. We saw a ski patroller with a shovel adding snow on top of a known small area near the top of a lift that is very sun exposed. He called what he was doing "snow farming."

One reason to open up off-piste terrain is to allow good skiers to "skier pack" the early season snow. When I said we were headed to Alberta to help do that, the patroller was happy to hear it because he said that's what is needed right now. Of course, it's important that the advanced/expert skiers know the terrain well enough to stay safe. Need another storm or two to really cover up stuff in sections with good tree skiing. Wolf Creek seems to have the right type of skiers/boarders.

Dumping snow to help smooth out a walkway to the ticket windows, Dec. 7


Snow was added on Wed, Dec. 10 for the ticket window


Orion's Beltway (blue) on the Alberta side, later on there were small bumps on the way to the Charity Jane lift, definitely hasn't been groomed for a while


Top of Little Bank Shot, from the Park Avenue cat track that is the only easy way back to the main base from the Alberta side


Near the top of the Bonanza triple

 

[marzNC]

As has been the case the last four years, Wolf Creek was 100% open on Dec. 11. This year what's unusual is that temperatures are in the 30s this week. It's more like spring skiing than early season.

For families bringing kids this week, it's that much easier given that there is no need for extra layers to keep warm. Also good for adult beginners who aren't moving around as much as intermediate and advanced folks.

 

[marzNC]

On Wednesday, I decided to set up another lesson with Eric for Thursday afternoon. It was a solo lesson to work on fundamental movements on groomers. I wanted more repetition as a followup to what we'd worked on Tuesday afternoon. Since my primary learning type for sport activities is visual, being able to have more opportunity to follow and mimic Eric was useful. I also asked him to follow me a bit looking for something specific that I thought might be happening that is an old habit to be avoided.

One thing I learned when he was following me is wearing a relatively long ski jacket can make it difficult to see what's happening. My black Marmot jacket is long, with a double zip and lots of pockets. However, for this trip that turned out to be spring skiing weather I could've brought my shell jacket that is a much shorter style. I'll keep that in mind when if I decide to have a lesson with Arthur at Alta in April.

Eric was interested to see the W2W wolf BP88s. So I had them on a rack in the morning along with my Stromriders. Decided to use the BP88s during the lesson since we would be working on groomers. They felt good now that I've had a few days to get back into skiing shape. The final run on empty groomers back to the ski school building in the late afternoon was at high speed. Bottom line is that 152cm for the 2026 BP88 is a good length for me (5'0", 110 lbs). It was hard to tell when I was willing them Sunday because that was my first day of the season.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

One thing I learned when he was following me is wearing a relatively long ski jacket can make it difficult to see what's happening. My black Marmot jacket is long, with a double zip and lots of pockets. However, for this trip that turned out to be spring skiing weather I could've brought my shell jacket that is a much shorter style. I'll keep that in mind when if I decide to have a lesson with Arthur at Alta in April.

I was going to comment earlier that it looks like you have a whole new outfit this season! Do you still have your red helmet? That is usually how I spot you at The Nutt.

Good point about the longer jackets. I have wondered about that myself. Something to think about when I'm planning lessons w/Walter this year.

 

[VickiK]

Thanks for the report, @marzNC. The snow looks great, and so do both of you in the new ski pants!

I was at Mammoth Dec 8-11 and they badly need more. Little rocks, some bare patches, icy under softer snow, very limited terrain. But no lift lines and ditto with the spring-like weather...temps in the 50s.

 

[santacruz skier]

I just canceled a trip to Tahoe that would have been Dec 14-18. Who wants to ski in the rain? Snow levels expected 8,500 ft. Plus Palisades not really open except magic carpet and Northstar has one run open.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

I just canceled a trip to Tahoe that would have been Dec 14-18. Who wants to ski in the rain? Snow levels expected 8,500 ft. Plus Palisades not really open except magic carpet and Northstar has one run open.

LOL. Here in the east if we didn't ski in the rain, we might not ski at all. Still, rain here is probably not the same thing as rain where you are. Climate and terrain make a difference. So sorry your trip is cancelled - we are all hungry to ski at this time of year!

 

[marzNC]

I was going to comment earlier that it looks like you have a whole new outfit this season! Do you still have your red helmet? That is usually how I spot you at The Nutt.

Have had the jacket for a few years. But I don't wear it at Massanutten. The pants are a new color of the Mali from Nobody's Princess.

Red helmet gets used at Mnut. White MIPS gets used out west.

 

[Olesya C]

Thanks! I'm really tired of dark-colored ski pants, and NP has a pretty good selection of colors, so I decided to go bold, LOL!

Those look great on you and I love the combo with the deep blue jacket - super stylish!

 

[marzNC]

Made it home. Was busy traveling and skiing at Copper and Winter Park after leaving South Fork on Dec. 14. My ski/travel buddy for the drive east, Jason, and I decided to have a day off from the slopes. Instead we stopped by the Great Sand Dunes Nat. Park. It's about an hour from South Fork. Absolutely unique ecosystem!

The highest dunes are 750 ft high. It's a closed system so the dunes look the same as they did 150 years ago. If you look closely at the last photo, there are people on the dunes.

 

[marzNC]

WCSA continues to make small changes to their operations. While they have had RFID for a couple seasons, for 2025-26 there is a machine for getting a lift ticket that can be re-loaded. In general signage is improved. The most obvious new sign is the one for the 5-min Drop Off section in the parking lot.

The yurt that was used for snowboard rentals is gone. It's been replaced by a new building in the same general area between the Treasure lift and the main lodge.

Heading to the ticket windows, Drop Off zone marked by new orange sign


Ticket windows with signs for Local Appreciation Day


Heading to Ticket Kiosk


Continental Espresso Bar at the top of the Treasure lift, serving waffles too
Great views on both sides of the Continental Divide