More Ski Resorts Opening in the USA

4th November 2022

Last modified on November 13th, 2022

Nine US resorts are now open with some skiing on offer in three states – Colorado, Utah and California. Two more resorts, Timberline & Brighton, are opening some slopes this Friday. UPDATED

Timberline in Oregon and Brighton in Utah opened on Friday 11^th November.

Timberline is operating two lifts: Pucci and and Bruno’s.

They will then be open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as conditions allow, and lift tickets will cost $87.

It will take the number of states offering skiing and snowboarding to five.

The other four states are Colorado, Utah, Idaho and California

In Utah, Brighton also opened on Friday 11th.

There has been heavy traffic on the roads with some criticism of how people have parked in their rush to get to the slopes.

Solitude in Utah fired up some lifts on Thursday 10th November.

It’s so exciting being able to kick off the season early with the help of these storms,” said Solitude in a statement.

“All this natural snow, supplemented by our snowmaking efforts, is setting up a perfect base for us to enjoy all winter long as we strive for Utah’s longest ski season.

“Looking at the forecast, this continued snowfall will be vital as we open the mountain.”

IDAHO

Lookout Pass Ski & Recreation Area, located near Mullan, Idaho, was the first Idaho ski area to open for the 2022-23 winter season starting Saturday November 12th and Sunday November 13th.

CALIFORNIA

Things are underway in Mammoth Mountain in California – the first main resort in the state to have opened.

It has been snowing heavily across northern California.

Here’s a report from Sugar Bowl near Lake Tahoe.

COLORADO

Breckenridge opened on Wednesday 9th November.

Bringing the number of ski areas open in North America to 10 – eight in the USA and two in Canada.

“We will be kicking off the season two days early on Wednesday, Nov. 9 thanks to cold temps for snowmaking, fresh snow, and the amazing work of our resort team,” said the resort ahead of opening.

Wolf Creek in Colorado opened on Friday 4th November.

Wolf Creek was the 5th resort in Colorado to open this autumn.

A-Basin in Colorado continues to shine.

What’s on tap for the weekend? We got fresh snow, $39 lift tickets today from 2-4 p.m., a rail jam and free mobile COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic on Saturday, and maybe even some new terrain opening!#ABasin #LegendaryForAReason #cowx https://t.co/lppFIqEjLt pic.twitter.com/VC9XA8t3Nf
— Arapahoe Basin (@Arapahoe_Basin) November 4, 2022

We have more on the openings in Colorado and a look at the avalanche danger lower down this article.

UTAH

The first resort has opened in Utah.

Brian Head opened on Friday 4th November.

It was due to start two weeks later on November 18th but fresh snow allowed it to open some limited terrain.

The resort will open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the next two weeks. Weekday operations are expected to start on November 21st.

“Happy opening day! We are excited to be the first ski resort open in Utah and to make history with the earliest opening day for Brian Head Resort,” said the resort on Facebook.

In Utah Solitude has announced it is opening this Friday.

Join us for our earliest opening day since 2013 next Friday, November 11.#LongestSeasonInUtah
Get the details: https://t.co/bmTPBeug7o pic.twitter.com/k2QserkggE
— Solitude Mountain Resort (@SolitudeMTN) November 4, 2022

Park City in Utah is also looking forward to winter.

And in neighbouring Deer Valley in Utah:

People have been hiking up in Utah as we have reported on PlanetSKI over the past week or so:

Early season snow falls in North America with resorts opening in the USA

In Brighton in Utah the resort is asking people not to hike as it is hindering the preparation of the groomed slopes.

“Our uphill travel light is currently red meaning uphill travel is prohibited since we are preparing the mountain to open for the season,” said the resort.

“We can open up sooner if we can get the mountain in shape faster if our uphill travel policy is respected so our grooming and snowmaking staff can continue their work.”

Back in Colorado five resorts are now open and we have been following their progress.

Loveland opened last Thursday.

The former GB ski racer, Martin Bell, is a regular reader of PlanetSKI and is in Loveland.

Winter conditions this morning at 10700ft (3260m) pic.twitter.com/oE3JGPfDfz
— Martin Bell (@skimartinbell) November 3, 2022

Winter Park fired up its lifts on Monday 31st October.

Here’s what it looked like on Opening Day of the 2022/23 season.

Keystone opened for skiing and snowboarding on Friday 28th October.

“We are beyond excited to kick off the winter season here at Keystone,” said Chris Sorensen, Vice President and General Manager at Keystone Resort.

“Thanks to our team’s hard work throughout the summer and over the past few months, winter is here, and with plenty to look forward to this season.”

Keystone Ski Resort has opened two more runs since Friday and now has top to bottom skiing for experienced skiers and snowboarders.

From Wednesday morning, Keystone Ski Resort will open Decrum’s Dash and River Run.

Intermediates will now be able to ski directly to the River Run Village instead of downloading from the River Run gondola.

Keystone stresses that there will be no beginner top to bottom terrain.

The first main resort in the USA able to offer some skiing and snowboarding was Arapahoe Basin in Colorado.

We reported on it at the time.

First ski resort in USA opens

Opening Day. Image © Arapahoe Basin

More terrain has now opened in A-Basin.

Mini park is now open at the top of the lift! #abasin #LegendaryForAReason pic.twitter.com/5eJLSoiHxA
— Arapahoe Basin (@Arapahoe_Basin) October 27, 2022

Today’s #Halloween party brought lots of shredders throwing down in the Tricks For Treats rail jam, candy galore, bluebird skies, and tons of great costumes. Today was another Halloween for the books at The Legend. Thanks to everyone for coming out!#ABasin #LegendaryForAReason pic.twitter.com/kjPdv1JhuQ
— Arapahoe Basin (@Arapahoe_Basin) October 30, 2022

Elsewhere in Colorado Aspen has seen some snow.

“Winter showed up in late October with a series of cold storms dropping more than two feet of snow at higher elevations over the last several days,” said a statement from Aspen.

“In the last 24 hours, Aspen Snowmass has seen up to 13 inches on some of our mountains, marking the ramp up to the winter ski season.”

Snowmaking starts on 1st November with Aspen Mountain and Snowmass scheduled to open on Thanksgiving Day, 24th November.

We have already mentioned Utah.

No resorts are officially open, but people have been walking up and making some powder turns.

Others have been pushing the envelope.

Here’s Miles Clark Drone Video of Skiing Suicide Chute on Mt. Superior, Utah on 28th October 2022.

There have already been some avalanches with more possible.

Three human-triggered avalanches were reported:

Mt. Baldy (Near Alta Ski Area’s famous ‘Main Chute’): 8″ deep, 25″ wide.
High Greeley (Inside the Alta Ski Area boundary): skier caught and briefly carried.
Cardiac Ridge: 150′ wide, ran 250′.

All three of these avalanches were triggered on high-elevation North-Northeast aspects.

No one was reported injured or hurt.

The Utah Avalanche Centre is stressing that people heading into the backcountry should follow key points when it comes to early-season conditions:

“It doesn’t matter what you’re doing in the mountains-going for a hike, hunting, trying to ski, board, snowshoe, or firing up the snowmachine: be prepared for avalanches,” said a statement from UAC.

Triggering any avalanche regardless of its size can produce serious trauma because of a thin snowpack.
Hitting rocks and stumps is a real danger.
Don’t end your season early by hitting one of these obstacles

in Colorado, Steamboat Ski Resort says “recent mountain snow coupled with prime snow-making conditions has ski areas optimistic for the upcoming winter season”.

Breckenridge Ski Resort and Vail Ski Resort have announced they will open on November 12th.

Steamboat Ski resort plans to open November 23rd.

And lets not forget news from one of our regular readers in North America – the former No 1 GB ski racer, Martin Bell.

Rocky Mountain Winter, welcome back!#Octsnowber pic.twitter.com/vJy8gqcY8Q
— Martin Bell (@skimartinbell) October 27, 2022

Here at PlanetSKI we are keeping a close eye on the snow in the USA with resorts opening some slopes and we will be updating across the next few days….

Winter is Coming Folks!