Welcome to Colorado winter 2023-24 | Whiteout

Welcome back skiers and riders. It's time to talk about the best time of the year again: WINTER.

Colorado's resorts are making snow and dialing in opening-day routines, last minute ski and board tunes and mounts are being done at ski shops, and all of us are watching the skies for inclement weather to roll in via the form of snow.

Near metro Denver, Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort, Loveland Ski Area and Keystone Mountain Resort have been making snow on and off since late September, and Copper Mountain, Vail Mountain and Breckenridge Mountain have joined in the snowmaking process this month.

But don't call it "a race to open first," Colorado Ski Country USA CEO Melanie Mills said to me earlier this summer. She said the phrase is used too widely by the media and should be stayed away from.

Regardless, ski and ride season is near and one resort will be first to open sooner than later.

Another season nearing its start is the FIS Alpine World Cup. Colorado's Mikaela "Queen of Ski Racing" Shiffrin and fellow ski-racer Paula Moltzan continue their quests for podiums and wins in 2023-24 with the first race of the season at Soelden, Austria, Oct. 28-29.

The return of El Niño to North America and Colorado is on the horizon. Currently the phenomenon is warming the waters off the west coast of South America and has a tendency to bring between 5% to 10% plus or minus snow amounts to the Colorado mountains and the ski areas dotting the hillsides.

Anecdotally speaking, El Niño years deliver more snow to southwest, Front Range and south-central resorts, but each El Niño is different and snow storms can track other places. But spring snows are usually favored during El Niño years, with the middle of the season less snowy.

SNOW NEWS:

• Keystone Mountain Resort is cutting back on night skiing hours. The resort will offer night skiing on weekends and holidays until 7 p.m. Night skiing ends March 30.

Keystone also has its newest chairlift offering in the Bergman Express, a six-person high-speed chairlift being constructed, eliminating the need to hike the ridge line as in previous seasons. 

• Copper Mountain is keeping its Alpine and Far East lots free in 2023-24. The Alpine lot holds approximately 1,700 vehicles. Copper will charge $20 for overnight parking in the Alpine lot from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. beginning Nov. 13. However, there is no car camping in any lots at Copper Mountain.

• Arapahoe Basin is running on 100% renewables now. The renewable electricity is set to power Arapahoe Basin's snowmaking efforts, chairlifts, buildings, and electric vehicle chargers.

“We are so excited to be sourcing all of our electricity from renewable sources. So many A-Basin projects benefit from utilizing renewable electricity to make them go,” said Mike Nathan, sustainability manager at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. “I’m especially excited to continue growing our electric vehicle charging infrastructure, knowing that those guest trips to the ski area are now 100% fueled by carbon-free, clean electricity.”

Arapahoe Basin is also talking about expansion plans. At the Ski Area COO Summit on Friday, the resort's COO, Alan Henceroth, divulged ideas of a yet-to-be-released future master plan, listing off such plans as:

• Improved arrival experience
• New parking facilities
• A pedestrian bridge over U.S. Highway 6
• A 'pulse gondola' to phase out the shuttle program
• Beginners program reshuffle on the Wrangler trail area
• Additional lifts to access the beginners area on and around Wrangler
• The addition of a multifunctional facility with rentals including: snow sports school, food and beverage services, retail space, and plans to increase spaces for employees
• Snowmaking system upgrades
• Additional summer trails
• Adding remote avalanche mitigation systems

• Hoedown Hill in Windsor is nearing completion of its snowmaking installation. The ski hill in northern Colorado says it will have power within a week and will be testing its snowguns soon. CHS Snowmakers is installing a DEMACLENKO snowmaking system and MND conveyor lifts will start arriving soon with construction beginning immediately after delivery. 

Check out the all-new Whiteout page on the Denver Gazette’s website. Come visit us regularly for updated skiing, snowboarding, and snow news plus weather forecasts and resort information at denvergazette.com/outdoors/whiteout.