Colorado ski season has begun — Arapahoe Basin is open

Colorado ski season is officially underway.

Christian Clark

Oct. 13, 2017, 1:21 p.m.

Opening day at A-Basin. (Jack Dempsey/Courtest of Arapahoe Basin) — Opening day at A-Basin. (Jack Dempsey/Courtesy of Arapahoe Basin)

Colorado ski season is officially underway.

Starting at 9 a.m. Friday, skiers and snowboarders hopped on the Black Mountain Express lift at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, were transported to the top of High Noon trail and shredded down slopes packed with 18 inches of powder.

The lines to board the lift, well, they were not short.

Tweet from @blairmiller

Arapahoe Basin began making man-made snow on Sept. 24. That, combined with cold weather and natural snowfall in the mountains, allowed A-Basin to open a little less than three weeks later.

Loveland Ski Area is still at least a couple days away from announcing an opening date. Loveland officials said they would continue to produce man-made snow over the weekend and would “have a better guess” Monday about when their lifts would officially start running.

Here’s what Loveland Ski Area looked like as of Friday morning:

Loveland Ski Area is still a few days away from announcing an opening date. (Courtesy of Loveland Ski Area) — Loveland Ski Area is still a few days away from announcing an opening date. (Dustin Schaefer/Courtesy of Loveland Ski Area)

Below is a list of expected opening dates for other ski resorts and mountains throughout Colorado:

Mid-October: Loveland

Nov. 3: Wolf Creek

Nov. 10: Breckenridge

Nov. 10: Copper Mountain

Nov. 10: Keystone

Nov. 15: Winter Park

Nov. 17: Eldora

Nov. 18: Purgatory

Nov. 21: Echo Mountain

Nov. 22: Monarch

Nov. 23: Aspen Mountain

Nov. 23: Crested Butte

Nov. 23: Snowmass

Nov. 23: Telluride

Nov. 25: Howelsen Hill

Dec. 8: Sunlight

Dec. 9: Aspen Highlands

Dec. 9: Buttermilk

Dec. 9: Cooper

Dec. 15: Granby Ranch

Dec. 15: Hesperus

Dec. 15: Powederhorn

Dec. 28: Silverton

A skier makes her way down the slopes at A-Basin. (Courtest of Arapahoe Basin) — A skier makes his/her way down the slopes at A-Basin. (Jack Dempsey/Courtesy of Arapahoe Basin)

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Opening day at A-Basin. (Jack Dempsey/Courtesy of Arapahoe Basin)

Loveland Ski Area is still a few days away from announcing an opening date. (Dustin Schaefer/Courtesy of Loveland Ski Area)

A skier makes his/her way down the slopes at A-Basin. (Jack Dempsey/Courtesy of Arapahoe Basin)