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(Webcam shot from Monarch Mountain)
BY. R. SCOTT RAPPOLD
THE GAZETTE
Thanksgiving skiing — for some in Colorado, it’s as much a part of the holiday as turkey and stuffing.
But there hasn’t been much snow to be thankful for so far this winter, and some ski areas that can’t make snow won’t be open for the holiday.
Ski Cooper, a family-oriented ski hill near Leadville, won’t open, and there is doubt Monarch Mountain will meet its planned Wednesday opening.
“It’s not very likely for Wednesday,” said Monarch marketing manager Greg Ralph. “Maybe later in the week, maybe Saturday and Sunday, but who knows?”
While the area has a “solid 12-inch base,” too many early-season snowstorms have been accompanied by high winds.
“It took more snow away than it left behind,” Ralph said of a recent storm.
The weekend storm that brought a few inches of snow to some Colorado ski areas delivered just a trace to Monarch. Though it was snowing lightly at the ski area Monday, only 1 to 4 inches were expected, and Ralph said at least a foot is needed to open Wednesday.
Ski Cooper has received 22 inches of snow, and warm days between storms have melted some of what has fallen, said employee Becca Brandau. So the ski area won’t open on Thanksgiving as planned.
Managers hope to open Ski Cooper on weekends by Dec. 2, “snow permitting.”
“We still need a couple big storms in order to open by then,” she said.
Meteorologists have predicted that a La Niña weather pattern, a cooling of the Pacific Ocean that last winter brought record snowfall to Colorado, will mean a snowy winter for Colorado’s central and northern mountains. Boulder meteorologist Joel Gratz, who runs ski-oriented weather website opensnow.com, said the slow start to the season doesn’t change that prediction, though the La Niña is two-thirds as strong as last year.
“Things still point to an above-average year, but there’s just a little less confidence,” he said.
There is a chance for up to 6 inches in the mountains Thursday through Saturday, but no massive dumps are expected to kick ski season into high gear.
Gratz noted that last fall was also dry until late November, when the snow started falling and didn’t really stop until spring. “It really is just too early to tell at this point what’s going to happen the rest of the season,” he said.
At Monarch, which gets an average of 350 inches a year, they’re watching and waiting and ready to start the lifts at the drop of the snowflakes.
Said Ralph, “We’re hoping for a foot of snow without the wind.”
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Contact R. Scott Rappold: 476-1605
Twitter @scottrappold
Facebook Gazette Scott Rappold
OPEN SKI AREAS
Despite the inauspicious early-season snow, many ski resorts in Colorado are open for the season.
(Based on information available Monday)
• Arapahoe Basin: Eight runs open, 21-inch base
• Breckenridge: 12 runs open, 21-inch base
• Copper Mountain: Nine runs open, 21-inch base
• Eldora: Nine trails, 23-inch base
• Keystone: Eight runs open, 18-inch base
• Loveland: 10 runs open, 22-inch base
• Snowmass: Nine runs open, 12-inch base
• Vail: 10 runs open, 18-inch base
• Winter Park: 10 runs open, 18-inch base
• Wolf Creek: 100 percent open, 38-inch base
Opening Wednesday: Beaver Creek, Crested Butte, Steamboat
Opening Thursday: Aspen, Telluride
Opening Friday: Durango
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