US Resorts Announce Opening Dates

31st August 2021

Last modified on September 28th, 2021

The two main resort operators, Alterra and Vail Resorts, have announced when their lifts start spinning for the 2021/22 season. Many UK skiers and snowboarders are looking across the pond as they plan a bucket-list ski trip as the pandemic begins to be brought under some sort of control. Fingers crossed. UPDATED

Alterra Mountain Company’s Ikon Pass offers skiers access to 45 mountain destinations in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

It has released the opening and closing dates for its main resorts in North America:

November 13th: Mammoth (California)

November 17th: Winter Park (Colorado)

November 19th: Crystal Mountain (Washington).

November 19th: Solititude (Utah).

November 20th: Steamboat (Colorado)

November 20th: Sugarbush (Vermont)

November 23rd: Big Bear (California)

November 24th: Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows (California)

November 24th: Stratton (Vermont)

November 25th: Tremblant (Canada)

December 4th: Deer Valley (Utah)

Deer Valley, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI

PlanetSKI was in Deer Valley ahead of the pandemic in January 2020:

Deer Valley Re-discovered

Last month Alterra added another heli-skiing company to its portfolio:

Alterra Buys Purcell Heli-skiing

Vail Resorts has also released details of the openings of its resorts in North America.

“We are thrilled to welcome guests back this season for a fantastic winter of outdoor fun across our portfolio of resorts,” said president of the mountain division of Vail Resorts, James O’Donnell.

“As always, our goal is to provide a safe and memorable experience of a lifetime for our guests and employees, and to do everything we can to provide incredible skiing and riding all season long.”

Opening Dates of Main Areas for Vail Resorts

October: Keystone (Colorado) – as early as possible as weather conditions permit.

November 12th: Breckenridge (Colorado), Vail (Colorado)

November 19th: Heavenly (California), Northstar (California), Park City (Utah)

November 24th: Beaver Creek (Colorado), Crested Butte (Colorado)

November 25th: Whistler Blackcomb (Canada)

December 3rd: Kirkwood (California), Stevens Pass (Washington)

Skiing in the USA. Image © PlanetSKI.

One of our favourite US mountain towns at PlanetSKI is Park City in Utah.

Park City, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI

It is opening on November 19th and was the last US resort we visited before the pandemic struck.

We look back at our trip to Utah

Main Street, Park City. Image © PlanetSKI

It wasn’t our first trip to Utah:

The Ultimate Ski Road Trip: Part One

The Ultimate Ski Road Trip: Part Two

We hope to be visiting again this coming winter.

Apart from the resort itself, many other resorts in Utah are a short drive away.

Image © PlanetSKI

Park City is the first resort to open in Utah.

Alta follows the next day on November 20th .

Snowbasin and Deer Valley have set November 24th and December 4th respectively.

The other Utah resorts have not announced their opening day, and we will let you know as soon as we hear.

Many other ski areas in North America are run by the rival organisation to Vail Resorts – Alterra, with its IKON Pass.

We expect to hear the opening dates from Alterra shortly and will keep you posted here on PlanetSKI.

Many UK skiers and snowboarders are looking at a bucket list trip after the season last winter didn’t happen, and the one before was severely disrupted by the pandemic.

Time for that dream ski trip perhaps?

“With hopes rising for skiing and snowboarding next winter some people are looking for that tri-of-a-lifetime to make up for lost time,” said the PlanetSKI editor, James Cove.

“For some that includes a ski trip to the USA.

“We love skiing in the USA not because it is better than the Alps, but because it is different.

“The snow, the mountains and the atmosphere are just different.

“Not better or worse, simply a different mountain experience and every person who considers themselves a skier really should visit North America a few times in their life.”

PlanetSKI has visited numerous US resorts on many, many trips over the years.

Often muli-resort road trips:

The Ultimate Ski Road Trip – 1 month in North America

And so it ends…

And later on PlanetSKI we will be looking at Canada, a country where we are thinking of living next season for a couple of months – if pandemic conditions allow.

Likely in Rossland in British Columbia with its ski resort of Red Mountain and access to the nearby resort of Whitewater.

We last visited on a motorhome trip a few years back round some of the finest resorts in British Columbia.