SAM Magazine—Shrewsbury, Mass., Oct. 22, 2025—The first turns of the 2025-26 season are in the books. Ski Ward in Massachusetts fired up its all-weather snowmaking system to allow for surface lift-served laps at its annual fall festival event this past weekend.
Ski Ward
Ward counts the event as day one of its season, and will offer limited operations, including beginner lessons, starting in early November. Regular operations typically kick off around Thanksgiving weekend.
In Wisconsin, Trollhaugen also gets a jump on the season with its “Open Haugen” weekend, held early this year on Oct. 4–5. The event features a hike-to rail jam made possible with snow stashed from last winter, and marks some of the earliest skiing of the year.
Out West, Colorado’s high-elevation areas are making snow. Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, and Loveland fired up the guns in mid-October as overnight temperatures dropped, while Vail and Beaver Creek followed suit a few days later. None have announced opening dates yet, but all are expected to spin lifts in late October or early November.
Further south, guides at Silverton Mountain made their first turns on 5 inches of natural snow last week, although the ski area’s public opening remains scheduled for late December. More than a foot of snow at Mammoth Mountain around the same time generated a fair bit of online chatter, too. The resort is still expected to open Nov. 14.
With snowmaking system tests underway across multiple regions, the first dustings of natural snow falling, and preseason events drawing skiers back to the slopes, the 2025-26 season appears officially underway.
