If water is the essence of life, then snow is its most playful expression. Consider the wackiness of snow: It’s one of nature’s most fragile compositions, yet its heft can cause great damage. Each flake so tiny—often .05 inch—but from one comes large swaths of blizzards! And while it’s certainly wet, fresh snow is 90% […]
skiing
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Vail Resorts sold 2.1 million Epic Passes for 2021-22 season after cutting prices by 20%
Vail Resorts’ decision to cut the price of its Epic Passes by 20% spurred 2.1 million skiers to buy the passes, which range from early purchased day tickets to unrestricted, season-long access. That’s a 700,000 bump in passes from 2020-21 and 900,000 more than than the 2019-20 season. The company on Thursday reported its earnings […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Culture, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
PHOTOS: Short on powder, Colorado’s ski resorts let snowmakers rip
Ski resorts across the country are leaning more heavily on snowmaking guns as warmer, shorter winters threaten a business model based on snow. In Colorado, the reliance on man-made snow has been essential to the start of the 2021-22 ski season, with all of the state’s 13 major river basins reporting precipitation through November well […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
72-year-old skier dies in collision with snowboarder at Eldora Mountain
BOULDER — An investigation is underway after a 72-year-old skier died in a collision with a snowboarder at Eldora Mountain in northern Colorado. Boulder County sheriff’s officials say the crash happened on the intermediate Windmill run on Tuesday morning, and the skier was unconscious and not breathing when ski patrollers arrived. They attempted CPR, but […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Outsider
Snow may not be piling up at Colorado ski resorts this season, but anxiety sure is
It wasn’t that long ago that ski resort operators lost sleep over snowfall. Then they had to fret over once-in-a-lifetime protocols to limit the spread of contagion at their ski areas. Now, the worries are stacked even deeper, with affordable housing, dwindling numbers of workers and ever-lengthening lift lines joining the perennial fretting over snow […]
Posted inCartoons, Opinion
Drew Litton: More challenges await Colorado’s coming ski season
More cartoons from The Colorado Sun.
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Powdr’s Fast Tracks offers $49+ chance to skip the lift line at Copper Mountain, triggering a skier backlash
Powdr, the owner of Copper Mountain, Eldora and nine other resorts, likely thought its Fast Tracks program unveiled this week would be a defining perk in the increasingly competitive resort industry. The so-called “premium experience” program offers fast-access, beat-the-crowds lift lanes at Copper, Utah’s Snowbird, Oregon’s Mount Bachelor and Vermont’s Killington to skiers who pay […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Wolf Creek Ski Area plans to kick off Colorado’s ski season on Saturday; A-Basin opens Sunday
Wolf Creek Ski area in southwest Colorado is planning to kick of the state’s 2021-22 ski season this weekend. The resort said it will be open Saturday and Sunday. The beginner Nova Lift and the Lynx Lift will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Wolf Creek will then reopen weekends until Mother Nature […]
Posted inNews
Early winter storm brings snow to Rocky Mountains as Colorado ski resorts prepare to open
BILLINGS, Mont. — An early winter storm is forecast to bring the first heavy snowfall of the season to portions of the U.S. Rocky Mountains this week. The National Weather Service on Monday issued winter storm warnings for large areas of Wyoming and southern Montana. The warnings were in effect through midday Wednesday. Up to […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Retreating snowpack is a threat to Colorado skiing, and to Colorado brewing
A professional skier and the CEO of a brewery might seem like an unlikely pair to co-author a plea to our elected representatives. But skiing and brewing each rely on healthy snowfall, thriving natural ecosystems, and abundant clean water – whether it’s the snowpack Connor needs to explore the backcountry or the snowmelt New Belgium […]