A blast of winter was short-lived in Summit, where morning snow on Monday caused closures on I-70 and excitement on the ski slopes. By this morning it was mostly gone, leaving only a ribbon of manmade snow like whitewash on brown grass.
But Monday’s natural snow is already on its way back to the slopes.
“Much of the snow on the south-facing slopes will likely melt,” A-Basin COO Al Henceroth writes on his blog. “That water will flow into the North Fork of the Snake River and some of it will be diverted into our snowmaking reservoir. Later in the week, our snowmaking team will pump that same water back uphill and re-convert it into snow again.”
And the water cycle continues – with a little love from mountain machinery.
Opening day dreams
The snowguns were quiet today as temperatures soared into the upper 50s. By tomorrow we could see temps in the lower 60s, and despite a chance of snow overnight Thursday the seven-day forecast is mild.
But every night the snow guns are firing back up at A-Basin, Keystone and Loveland, where temperatures have been in the sweet spot – 27 degrees or colder, known as “wet bulb.”
No one has announced an opening day yet, although Keystone snowmaker Dave Mansavage knows it will take a few more days like Monday.
“Ideally we’ll have good temperatures from top to bottom on each trail we’re working on, and then 24 hours of run time for several days,” Mansavage says in a Facebook video. “We’ll start working in conjunction with the grooming team to start spreading that snow out.”
Also churning nightly are the snowguns at Copper and Breckenridge. Both open to the public Nov. 7. Copper hopes to open before then for private early-season training on the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center above Center Village.
Preview images by Arapahoe Basin (Al’s Blog) and Keystone Resort (via Facebook).