Nearly 1000 people plowed the slopes on opening Tuesday. |
Loveland, CO October 19--Dust off those boards and break out the wax because the 1999-2000 Colorado ski season has finally arrived. For the second straight year, Loveland Ski Area beat out friendly rival Keystone and fired up Chair One to become the nation's first ski resort to begin operation.
On Tuesday morning, a crowd of approximately 850 people greeted crisp blue skies and some four inches of fresh snow, to begin yet another Rocky Mountain ski season.
You can stay on the nozzle snot, but don't venture out in the natural snow. There's only a few inches. |
"This is one of the best turnouts we've ever had for opening day," said Loveland's Marketing Manager, Scott Fortner. "Both the crowd and the conditions were better than we had expected."
Loveland's Chair One gave access to the Catwalk, Mambo, and Homerun trails, which linked to make up a groomed one-mile cruiser with a 1,000-vertical-foot drop.
Since Sept. 26, Loveland has been making snow in cooperation with Mother Nature who strung together several cool days and colder nights, and even threw in several inches of natural snow. Loveland reports a base of 10-20 inches and up to six new inches of natural snow over the past 24-hours.
Thanks to a recent snowfall it actually looks like winter. |
This weekend, Loveland expects to open two more runs, Spillway and Richard's Run, to access some 80-acres of terrain.
The race is still on for other Colorado ski areas with Keystone scheduled to open this Friday, Oct. 22, and Breckenridge expecting to open Peak 9 on Oct. 29. Out East, Killington Resort in Vermont is also making snow and aims to open this weekend.
Tickets prices for Loveland are $25 for adults and $11 for children (ages 6-14), while seniors (ages 70 and over) and children under six ski free. The Loveland season pass is also on sale for $300 until October 24.
