Dozens of trails remain closed at major Colorado ski mountains as spring break kicks off amid hot, dry winter

As the spring break holiday kicks into high gear, most of Colorado’s major ski resorts have yet to open all of their terrain.

With week-long vacations at schools around the country and Colorado’s snowpack nearing its peak, March is usually one of the busiest times of year for the state’s ski resorts. But this year, the state is headed into the busy season with a record-low snowpack and dozens of trails closed at its ski resorts.

Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek Resort, Breckenridge Ski Resort, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and Winter Park Resort all had 25 or more trails listed as closed on their websites as of Friday. None of the major ski resorts in Colorado that are accessible on the Epic or Ikon passes have opened 100% of their terrain this season.

At Steamboat Resort, only 77% of the skiable terrain was open on Friday, according to the ski resorts website. Steamboat director of communications Maren Franciosi said that while the Mahogany Ridge and Pony Express lifts typically open around or just after the New Year, those lifts have yet to open this season.

Winter Park, meanwhile, had about 69% of its skiable terrain open on Friday, according to its website. The website showed 146 of 171 trails open, with mostly black diamond and double-black diamond trails closed.

At Vail, the Back Bowls opened later this year than they ever have and, at Breckenridge, the Imperial Express also had its latest opening since the lift was installed in 2005, Vail Resorts Chief Executive Officer Robert Katz told investors earlier this week. Katz reported that skier visits to the ski giant’s North American resorts were down 13% due to the poor winter for snow in the West.

Vail Resorts spokesperson Emily Kowalenko noted that Breckenridge is “really rocky up high, and our high-Alpine terrain at Breck has been some of the slower and more challenging terrain to open.”

Still, Breckenridge has opened all five of its peaks, including high-Alpine areas like Imperial Bowl, the Lake Chutes and hike-to terrain at Peak 6, Kowalenko said. The main zone that remains closed at Breckenridge is the upper part of Peak 7, she said.

Thanks to the ski resorts’ snowmaking and grooming teams, Kowalenko noted that Keystone was the first ski resort in Colorado to open this year. She said Keystone has opened all of its beginner and intermediate trails and about 75% of its expert terrain. At Keystone Resort, 122 of 142 trails were open on Friday.

Copper Mountain communications manager Olivia Butrymovich noted that last year the ski resorts saw major winter storms early in the season that brought record-breaking amounts of snow, including more than 100 inches by the end of November.

“Winters in Colorado are naturally variable,” Butrymovich said. “We experienced a nearly record-breaking early season last winter, while this season has unfolded differently. As a ski resort, we understand that variability is part of the business, and we do not expect every winter to look the same.”

While this winter has not been on par with others, Copper has been able to open the vast majority of its terrain. Only seven runs remain closed on Friday. Butrymovich said those runs rely entirely on natural snowfall.

Most winters, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area communications manager Shayna Silverman said the entire mountain would usually open by this point in the season.

After opening the Montezuma Bowl on the first weekend of March, A-Basin now has all its lifts running. Silverman noted that what remains closed is A-Basin’s “most extreme terrain,” like the East Wall and the Steep Gullies. She said the ski area isn’t ruling out that those zones could still open.

“There’s no denying that our snowpack has affected our terrain offerings this season and it’s been a difficult winter to get more of our mountain open,” she said. “But that being said, we never give up on skiing and riding here.”

The Steep Gullies have opened every winter since they were incorporated into the bounds of the ski resort starting in the 2017-18 season, according to A-Basin. Meanwhile, the East Wall has only remained closed all season once in its more than 50 year history, during the 2011-12 winter, when Colorado also experienced abysmal snowpack conditions.

With about 120 inches of snow so far this season, Silverman said this year is tracking ahead of the 2011-12 season at A-Basin. To start looking at opening the East Wall, the ski area typically needs a base of 50 inches or more, she said. Right now, the base is at 43 inches.

Aspen-Snowmass communications manager Janelle Sohner noted that while other ski resorts struggled to open terrain, the four Aspen peaks bucked the trend and were able to open significant amounts of the terrain for much of the season.

“Despite broader coverage about warm and dry conditions across the West, Aspen-Snowmass has delivered an excellent season for our guests,” Sohner said. “Across our four mountains, we’ve consistently had more than 98% of terrain open.”