Loveland Ski Area wins race to open first
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- Created on Friday, 18 June 2010 18:31
- Written by Nathan
By R. SCOTT RAPPPOLD, The Gazette
One run open with an 18 inch base greeted the first chair of skiers at Loveland Basin Wednesday morning.
CAROL LAWRENCE, THE GAZETTE
LOVELAND SKI AREA • The crowd buzzed with energy, waiting patiently – or not so patiently – for the ropes to lift.
“It’s been the longest two months of my life,” lamented Fairplay skier Mike Stone, one of several hundred who found time to head to Loveland Ski Area this morning.
At the stroke of 9 a.m., with a countdown and a roar of approval from the crowd, the curtain was raised on the 2009-10 Colorado ski season.
It was one run on a thin layer of man-made snow, not too icy, with good coverage, but still not what you think of with Colorado skiing.
In many parts of the country, this is as good as the skiing gets. In Colorado, we just call it opening day.
“The sooner we open, the sooner we open more terrain, and it’s a good thing for everybody,” said Loveland spokesman John Sellers.
It was Loveland’s earliest opening in 40 years, a week sooner than last year, thanks to cold temperatures for snow-making and a few early season snowstorms. Arapahoe Basin, which competes with Loveland to be the first open, starts its lifts Friday.
For most, this is training camp for the real season, which will begin in late November or December.
You squeeze your feet, which seem to have grown in the off-season, into boots, and trudge awkwardly through the snow to the lift. Your stomach takes a tumble as you are whisked into the air. You have your first “the snow isn’t too bad today” conversation with the skier next to you.
Once off the lift, you slide tentatively on the corduroy snow, perhaps pizza-wedging like a 4th-grader. As you pick up speed and make your first turn, muscles protest at not being used in this way for months. You gain confidence, go faster, glance in wonder at the snow-draped beauty around you, and by the time you hit bottom, it’s like the brief summer never happened.
Then, of course, you get back in line – which was almost nonexistent Wednesday.
“My legs are burning already,” said Denver snowboarder Cameron Wisenar, an hour into the season, resting in the lodge.
“I thought I was in a little better shape than I am,” said his friend, Andy Sandoval.
For Loveland, opening day means a ton of media exposure, from Denver television stations to The Weather Channel.
For Colorado’s largest tourism industry, today marks the launch of a season of uncertainty. Skier visits were down 6 percent last year statewide, due to the poor economy, and hurting resorts are hoping the early opening augers well for a bounce-back season.
For the hardcore, for whom ski season never really ends – there is always a snow field somewhere in the mountains – opening day means being able to hitch a ride up the hill.
“It’s nice to be able to take the lift up instead of walking,” said Jesse Morse, of Boulder.
Nate “Nate Dogggg” Nadler, was on the first chairlift of the season for the 14th year in a row.
“It’s just amazing. The snow conditions are just the best I’ve ever seen (on opening day),” Nadler said, after camping out at Loveland since 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Though it may still be warm on the Front Range, and leaves may still cling to the trees, from here the days only get colder and shorter, and the mountains whiter.
And ask anyone at Loveland this morning, they’ll tell you that’s a good thing.
“This is life after summer,” said Don Paeth, of Arvada.
Asked why he came all this way for one run, he pointed to a sticker on his snowboard: “Feed the addiction.”
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