Now that is more like it.
As storm clouds broke on Tuesday morning, patches of sun revealed just what we were hoping to see: a blanket of white on the La Platas and San Juans.
Apparently the snow gods did hear the prayers and appreciated the sacrifices and dances of local skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers, too. After an alarmingly long spell of warm and dry weather, there is snow on our local mountains.
Purgatory, which opened the ski season on Saturday with just a swath of snow, reported a welcome three-day snowfall of 17 inches. That made the decision to open in time for Thanksgiving a gutsy, and correct, wager.
Kudos are due to owner James Coleman and his crew for having so much fun with the opener. Combining skiing and boarding with mountain biking made the most of conditions that looked more suited to mountain-meadow picnics than winter sports.
The chance to speed down the mountain on two wheels in the morning, then on skis or a snowboard in the afternoon, was enthusiastically embraced by locals, many of them loyal Purgatory season pass holders.
One thing was clear: While a handful of resorts across the state could offer more snow-covered terrain, none of them could offer more fun.
Colorado ski resorts still closed this week – more than twice as many as those with chairlifts running – include Aspen, Vail, Steamboat and Crested Butte. Only Summit-County stalwarts Arapahoe Basin, Breckinridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone and Loveland, taking advantage of high altitude and colder temperatures to make snow, are up and running (Eldora, west of Boulder, is also open).
Wolf Creek, which received nearly a foot and a half during the storm, will open for the season on Thanksgiving Day, with six lifts serving roughly half the mountain.
Lift tickets at Wolf Creek, like at Purgatory, are selling for early-season rates.
It snowed in Telluride, too, but the lifts are idle. Telluride will announce opening plans on Nov. 28. Silverton Mountain will open for guided skiing in December, depending on snow conditions.
Here’s hoping for more, much more, between now and the coming holidays.
