Wolf Creek was the first Colorado ski area to open this season, and right now it’s really got the goods.
A weekend storm brought 28 inches of snow to the southwestern Colorado area, bringing its season total to 67 inches. Wolf Creek, located near Pagosa Springs and a 4- to 5-hour drive from metro Denver, was the only Colorado ski area to open in October this year, cranking up the lift wheels three days before Halloween. Six lifts are running, providing access to about 85% of the mountain.
Keystone, which opened Friday, is currently the only other ski area that is open, although that may change any day. Officials at Loveland said last Friday that they are “very close.” Also on Friday, Arapahoe Basin chief operating officer Alan Henceroth wrote in a blog post that he thought this past weekend would be “the last weekend of the fall that we are not going to be open for skiing.”
In the meantime, Wolf Creek is the envy of Colorado ski country. According to Monday’s snow report, the settled depth at the summit is 46 inches, 43 inches at midway. Vail and Beaver Creek reported 10 inches, Breckenridge 9, and Keystone 5.