SAM Magazine—Dover, Vt., Nov. 9, 2016—At the beginning of this week, nearly ten more North American ski areas—from Alberta, Canada, to New Mexico—had planned to open for the season on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Now, only two remain—Loveland, Colo., and Mammoth, Calif.

Loveland plans to open on Thursday with top-to-bottom terrain on one run consisting of three named trails. The resort plans to take advantage of cold temps between now and then to put the finishing touches on the lower portion of what will be open. Once complete, skiers and riders will have 1,000 vertical feet of snow served by one lift spinning from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with $59 adult tickets. Loveland opened Oct. 29 last season.

“The waiting game is finally over,” said Rob Goodell, Loveland director of business operations. “The persistent warm weather made things difficult this fall, but our snowmaking team has done an amazing job getting the mountain ready for opening day.”

Mammoth will also open Thursday. The resort plans to have a DJ and free coffee and cocoa at the bottom of the Broadway Express starting at 7 a.m. First chair will load at 8:30 a.m. The area plans to operate three lifts serving top-to-bottom terrain. Opening day lift tickets will be $50 for adults, but the first 50 people in the lift line at Broadway will ski for free.

Other areas have postponed early-opening plans. Just up the road from Loveland, Keystone and Copper have both moved their planned opening date back to Nov. 18.

“Temperatures are indeed beginning to trend in our favor and Keystone's mountain operations team was able to continue snowmaking operations again last night and into this morning,” said Mike Goar, chief operating officer for Keystone Resort. “With favorable overnight snowmaking temperatures forecast through next week, we are looking forward to continued progress toward opening day and providing guests with a great ski and ride experience.”

Nearby Breckenridge had planned to open on Nov. 11, but it will have to wait a bit longer, too. “We will continue to take advantage of any and all opportunities to continue making snow and are pleased with the results of additional snowmaking last night,” said Breckenridge's chief operating officer John Buhler on Nov. 9. “We expect to open soon after Keystone Resort and will update guests as soon as we have a date to share.”

Lake Louise and Nakiska in Alberta were hoping to join neighboring Sunshine Village on the list of open Canadian resorts by the end of this week, but just communicated today those plans have changed—Lake Louise is shooting for Nov. 18, Nakiska is eyeing Nov. 19.

Arizona Snowbowl, Ariz., had planned to open Nov. 11, but warm weather has forced that date to be pushed back until favorable snowmaking weather arrives. Sipapu, N.M., planned to open Nov. 12, but just started making snow today in hopes to open by Nov. 19. Ski Brule, Mich., Andes Tower Hills, Minn., and Canyon in Alberta, Canada, have all pushed their early opening plans back to wait for snowmaking conditions to arrive.

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