Its reasons like last night’s Cracker concert that make me glad to live in the vicinity of such a worldly resort as Beaver Creek. Locals like me wouldn’t normally venture up to Beaver Creek, except maybe to show off to relatives and friends who have come to visit. For the most part, all but the slopes of Beaver Creek is out of reach, except on nights like that of the 2013 bid party, when the resort opens up to vacationers there to check out the World Cup Birds of Prey races and also locals like myself. (more…)

The Vail Valley Blog went to Beaver Creek to ski today, on its first powder day of the season. Outside the window in the morning there were about three inches, but since Beaver Creek reported six, we figured it would be worth a shot. After stopping in at Venture Sports for a quick tune-up, we were up the lift and down the -one- run, Latigo, which was long, winding, and surprisingly not crowded, considering the packed busloads running up and down the mountain. The snow was loose and soft and ice was minimal.

Later on, we spied skiiers and riders breaking in some fresh powder on a run called Double Diamond which ran alongside the our Centennial Express lift. “Did they just open that? No way!” Surprise! Powder.. a lot of it. Enough to support dozens of us on the trail, not enough to cover all the weeds and saplings that had sprung up over the summer. I spoke with ski patrol just a few minutes ago to find out what other train would soon be open, and learned that Double Diamond was already closed. Why? “We only opened it for a couple of hours. We just wanted to get some tracks in it to get some of the air out of the snow. We don’t know when its going to open again. It was pretty rocky.” Oh great.. guess its a lucky accident that my head didn’t come in contact with any. Lesson one: wear a helmet!

My friendly ski patroller was able to tell me that a few of them were going over to Rose Bowl to see if the snow would support its opening. An expected storm on Friday and Saturday this week would undoubtedly support the opening of more terrain for the weekend. Still, the guns were going, and the mountain looked good. I was tired. I got one day in.. that’s one for us, zero for ski-blog. Today’s 6″ of snow get a 6 out of 10 for a worthy effort but lacking the volume to open more trails on the mountain. We are looking forward to a 7+ out of 10 this weekend.

If you open, they will come. A little snow helps, of course.

The storm everyone was looking for finally landed on us last night- about 9 hours before Vail’s rescheduled opening day. Vail opened one trail, Born Free, and its corresponding express lift, as well as the adjacent Eagle Bahn Gondola, but only to site-seers and folks seeking lunch without their equipment.

Eagle Valley Blog went to Lionshead to catch the buzz of the excitement of opening day. When we got there, it was snowing like crazy!

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From Weather.com:

Tonight: Snow this evening will become lighter late. Colder. Low 16 degrees. Chance of snow 100%.

Tomorrow: Snow showers early becoming more scattered later. Cold. High 23 degrees. Chance of snow 70%.

Despite the early pessimism for Thanksgiving skiing, the weather appears to have given way. You should come skiing tomorrow and enjoy opening day. (In our own, humble opinion.)

This also in: Beaver Creek will be shuffling opening back until Friday, November 23. Now theres something else to do on black Friday.

From a statement released by Vail Resorts yesterday, 11/15, at noon:

VAIL MOUNTAIN TO OPEN WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21

Vail, Colo. – November 15, 2007 – Vail Mountain resort officials announced today that they are moving the resort’s 2007-08 season opening day from Friday, Nov. 16 to Wednesday, Nov. 21. Snowmaking crews have been making snow on Born Free trail since Nov. 1, but early November snowmaking temperatures have been marginal. Last evening a cold front dropped into the region producing the first significantly cold temperatures that allowed for a great night of snowmaking.

“We are very confident that with the big drop in temperatures, and indications of a strong shift in the weather pattern that we will open with a very good snow surface next week,” said Bill Jensen, chief operating officer of Vail Mountain. “It appears that the first major winter storm of the season is headed our way next week as well, which is very good news for our Thanksgiving holiday guests who may even experience a powder day.”

Snowmaking operations continue and will accelerate as colder temperatures prevail. Weather forecasters also indicate that a major change is in store for the Central Rockies in the next several days including a traditional Thanksgiving snowstorm.

The town of Vail will now implement paid parking to coincide with the mountain opening. Paid parking will begin at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 21.

So what does this mean for Vail? How many guests are here for the anticipated opening? Is everyone completely bummed out? We went to find out, just hours after the release of this news.

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