Editor’s Note: Each Thursday throughout the winter, the Summit Daily News will provide a terrain update that will inform skiers and riders on what trails are open at what mountains before they head out to the slopes.

A week ago, Summit County ski areas were in desperate need of some fresh, natural snow to help open more areas of their mountains. 

Residents and guests alike must have been doing their snow dances, putting a spoon under their pillow or flushing ice cubes down the toilet since Summit County was blessed with a snowstorm that dumped a significant amount of flurries upon the slopes throughout the weekend.

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Copper Mountain Resort saw the most amount of snow, 23 inches as of Monday morning, Dec.4, with other nearby ski areas also enjoying a powder day with snow totals ranging from 12 to 21 inches.

The snowfall didn’t just make for ideal conditions throughout the weekend. It also allowed many ski areas to drop ropes on new trails.

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Breckenridge Ski Resort pushes back opening time, puts final touches on Peak 7 

Last week’s multipart storm cycle really benefited Breckenridge Ski Resort. With storm-fueled snow totals reaching 21 inches as of Monday morning, Breckenridge has had several soft openings on runs across Peak 8 with the trails opening or closing on a daily basis based on snow conditions.

On Friday, Dec. 8, Breckenridge’s base-area lifts will shift their opening times from 9 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. for the core part of the season. The move means the resort will now operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. until the spring.

To celebrate Breckenridge opening a half hour earlier, the resort also plans to open its Peak 7 base area around mid-to-late morning on Friday. The Independence SuperChair will be the main lift, accessing Pioneer and Claimjumper trails.

Breckenridge plans to open Peak 7’s Freedom SuperChair to give guests access to Angel’s Rest early next week. The opening of the Peak 7 base area means that the resort now has trails and lifts open on three of its five peaks.

“Our patrol team has been hitting it hard in the high Alpine, with bootpacking and avalanche mitigation explosives work in Contest Bowl, Horseshoe Bowl and our Peak 6 terrain,” senior specialist in communications Sarah McLear said. “We have Contest Bowl open via hike — snow conditions dependent. Looking ahead, we’re working on Peak 6 with hopes to have Kensho spinning before the holiday season.”

Breckenridge hopes to see a few inches of natural snowfall on Friday and into the weekend.

Keystone Resort opens access to North Peak 

Across from Breckenridge at Keystone Resort, mountain operation teams have opened up several new runs thanks to cold temperatures and natural snowfall.

Over the last week, Keystone opened up Mozart trail alongside a handful of runs on the frontside of Dercum Mountain.

Heading into this weekend, Keystone is preparing to open up North Peak, starting with the resort’s Prospector trail on Friday. The resort will open up more terrain accessed from the Santiago chairlift as conditions allow. 

Timber Ridge Lodge will also open this upcoming weekend, offering a spot for an on-mountain lunch accompanied by mountain-top views. The Discovery Learning Zone will open on Friday, and the Mountain House Ski School will begin offering lessons and early beginner terrain for guests in Keystone’s Mountain House base area. 

“Offering opportunities for our guests to spread out across our peaks and enjoy a diverse range of terrain is a big priority for us right now,” communications manager Max Winter said. “In the coming weeks, we’ll be making snow on Anticipation so that guests can enjoy the backside of North Peak and access our Wayback chairlift. Anticipation is largely sun-exposed and can require a little extra love before it’s ready to open.”

Winter added that progress is also being made in Bergman Bowl where teams are making snow on Miners, lower Ten Mile and Quandary trails. Keystone has seen a fair amount of natural snowfall in the Bergman Bowl, but it still needs to see a bit more before opening the new Bergman Express chairlift. 

Away from the slopes, Keystone plans to open the “World’s Largest Mountaintop Snow Fort” this weekend. This year’s snow fort design sits at over three stories tall, features three turrets, slides, an ice cave and several snow sculptures.

Copper Mountain Resort starts spinning Timberline Express 

Copper Mountain Resort’s superpipe and big air jump are finally starting to take shape for next week’s Toyota U.S. Grand Prix and Visa Big Air freeski and snowboard competitions.

While the competition venues are receiving their final touches, Copper is working to open up more terrain to the general public.

Following the opening of several new trails after last week’s storm, Copper officially started turning the Timberline Express lift on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 7. The lift gives skiers and riders access to eight different trails including Copperfield, Jacque’s Pique, Soliloquy, Tempo, Windsong, Minor Matter, Woodwinds and Woodwinds Traverse.

With the opening of Timberline Express, Copper will begin dining operations at T-Rex Grill and Flyer’s Soup Shack on Saturday. The West Village Café — minus Koko’s Hut — is also set to be open this weekend.

On Friday morning, Kokomo Express, Rugrat and Slingshot carpets will open for the season with access to Roundabout. Liberty, I-Dropper, Coppertone and Upper Skid Road will also be unveiled for the winter on Friday.

The new terrain offerings will bring Copper up to more than 400 acres by Saturday with the possibility of more terrain to open throughout the weekend due to the incoming storm.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area expands terrain

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area received 5 inches of snow on Saturday night, Dec. 2, which allowed for the ski area to officially open Upper Ramrod to skiers and riders for the first time this season on Sunday morning. 

With another storm approaching, the teams at A-Basin are working hard to open up Sundance and Wrangler trails for the weekend. Sundance and Wrangler can both be accessed off of the Black Mountain Express lift. 

Communications manager Shayna Silverman also noted that guests throughout the weekend may see some limited openings where terrain will pop open for a period of time, before ski patrol decides to re-close the terrain. 

The method prevents runs from being completely skied-out while also working to pack down the snow and creating a strong base. A-Basin will not officially claim the runs as open terrain until ropes are officially dropped for the season. 

Additionally, A-Basin will be setting up a few terrain park features by the Black Mountain Lodge for weekend skiers and riders.

As of Thursday afternoon, A-Basin had eight runs open accessed by four lifts. The ski area has 50% of its easiest terrain open, with 14% of its most difficult terrain open. 

Loveland Ski Area prepares to open up Lift 6

After not being able to open up any new terrain on the precipice of the winter storm last week, Loveland Ski Area has been able to open up several new runs. According to marketing director John Sellers, Loveland was able to open up Upper Richard’s Run, Nix Nox, Waterfall and Tempest thanks to the new snow. 

Loveland Ski Area continues to make progress on opening Lift 6 and expects the lift to open sometime this weekend. Lift 6 will give access to Roulette.

Loveland currently has five lifts open, which access 16 trails. 

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