First Ski Resort in USA Opens

23rd October 2022

Last modified on October 25th, 2022

Arapahoe Basin in Colorado is out of the blocks and fired up its first lift on Sunday. Other resorts in the area may open some slopes next weekend. Winter is coming folks. UPDATED

It is only one lift and one run, but it is a start.

WE ARE OPEN FOR SKIING AND RIDING!!!#ABasin #LegendaryForAReason #LongestSeasonInColorado
📸: Ian Zinner pic.twitter.com/sNOxbEITB2
— Arapahoe Basin (@Arapahoe_Basin) October 23, 2022

The resort made the announcement of its opening on social media.

A-Basin has been making snow across much of this month with the first cannons fired up on October 9th as the temperatures fell.

“We are getting closer by the day,” A-Basin marketing director, Jesse True, hinted last week.

“We’re going to open as soon as we possibly can.”

Opening Day. Image © Arapahoe Basin

Keystone and Loveland have also been making snow, but the conditions are not there for some slopes to open.

Further north in Canada snow is falling and some resorts are setting their tentative opening dates.

“Stoke levels are high as the first major storm of the season is dropping significant snowfall right across the Canadian Rockies,” said a joint statement from Lake Louise, Mt Norquay and Sunshine Village in Alberta.

With cooling temperatures and more snow in the forecast, tentative opening dates have been set.

Lake Louise Ski Resort, November 4th
Mt Norquay, November 5th
Banff Sunshine Village, November 10th

The recent snow news has not been so good in Europe this autumn after a promising start.

A number of glacier areas are open, but warm temperatures have hit the snowpack hard in places.

The first downhill races of the season, from Zermatt in Switzerland to Cervinia in Italy, have been called off due to not enough snow on the lower section of the course.