If you're peeved because we've just had our third October snowstorm with another one due early Tuesday, maybe this will cheer you up: The three Front Range ski areas that are open have been getting good snow, and they're looking forward to more from this next storm.
Keystone, which opened Oct. 12, has received 40 inches of snow this month, and Breckenridge, which is currently slated to open Nov. 8 but might open early, has received 42 inches, according to a spokeswoman.
"It's hard to believe it's October right now," Keystone/Breckenridge spokeswoman Sara Lococo said Monday morning. "Snow is still falling here in Breckenridge and across Summit County. It's just incredible that it looks like mid-winter conditions. The weather has been great, and the temperatures have been great, so our snowmakers have been out in full force."
With another storm rolling in tonight, we're excited for more incredible days like this! ๐โ๏ธ North Peak opening day #KeystoneKickoff #GoPro ๐ฅ: 10/25 pic.twitter.com/L2r6obclWA
โ Keystone Resort (@KeystoneMtn) October 27, 2019
Another 6" of fresh snow overnight ๐คฉโ๏ธ We'll make sure a black (snow) cat doesn't cross our paths, so this good luck will continue! ๐ #KeystoneKickoff pic.twitter.com/I3BwnPvDwv
โ Keystone Resort (@KeystoneMtn) October 28, 2019
Morning report for Monday, Oct 28.
โ Keystone Resort (@KeystoneMtn) October 28, 2019
โ๏ธ 6" in the last 24 hours
๐จ Snow in the forecast
โท 4 trails open
๐ฒ 86 acres (across two peaks!)
๐ก 6 lifts
๐จ Last chance to get your Epic Passhttps://t.co/cgD3ZEQIoY pic.twitter.com/kq8g6uVPoR
Breckenridge received 7 inches from the storm that arrived Sunday and Keystone reported 6. Loveland checked in with 5 and Arapahoe Basin reported 4 inches.
Arapahoe Basin, which opened for skiing on the lower part of the mountain on Oct. 11, is hoping to have top-to-bottom skiing this weekend. Keystone opened one trail on North Peak last Friday with top-to-bottom coverage, weeks before it typically opens. The upper part of Keystone mountain has been open, but officials there are hoping to get River Run open soon. That would mean top-to-bottom skiing there as well.
Kari Bowen, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Boulder, said the next storm is due in the early morning hours Tuesday, starting in the northern mountains after midnight and continuing to spread east and south with the arrival of a cold front.
"That will continue to increase in coverage throughout the morning and afternoon hours on Tuesday and continue through Wednesday," Bowen said.
Bowen said that system will be focused primarily on the plains and foothills, but the higher elevations of Boulder and Larimer counties could receive 8-12 inches. That could be great news for Eldora, which announced last week that it would open Friday, Nov. 1, two weeks earlier than planned. Eldora received 15 inches from last week's snowstorm, which rolled through the area Oct. 24.
Bowen said there wouldn't be exceptional accumulations from this next storm for the areas that are already open, but the higher elevations in Summit County should receive 6-8 inches.
R.C.