Western North America Conditions 2025/26

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Seven more closing in Colo by Sunday:
Wolf Creek will close on Easter with 90% of its terrain in operation. Also closing on Sunday are Eldora (33%), Snowmass (30%), Crested Butte (19%), Keystone (14%) and Steamboat (9%).
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And very muchly yes, most of those are early closings by a couple weeks.

www.denverpost.com

Seven Colorado ski resorts will close this weekend, leaving just 7 in operation

Ten Colorado ski areas have closed already and six more will shut down on Sunday, most offering with meager terrain. After Sunday, only eight Colorado ski areas will remain in operation.
www.denverpost.com www.denverpost.com
 
Wolf Creek opened up 100% of their terrain at 9:00 this morning, April 2. The initial Snow Report at 6:00am had Knife Ridge and Horseshoe Bowl as closed. An updated email blast was sent out at 9:20 MT or I wouldn't have known.
 
MarzNC said:
Wolf Creek opened up 100% of their terrain at 9:00 this morning, April 2.
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Isn't the conventional wisdom that most snow-sure ski areas end their season due to lack of business, not lack of cover? Wouldn't they get more business because almost all the other ski areas are closing early?
 
The areas with early April closings do that because of remote location and dependence upon destination travelers who (in North America) stop skiing when it gets warm at home.

Wolf Creek is an interesting case because it often gets early natural snow and can attract Front Range skiers when the I-70 areas are in WROD mode. It’s not getting those people in a normal April when Summit County is in its prime.

Is Wolf Creek that much better that the rest of Colorado now? I have my doubts. It’s very liberal about open terrain in low tide and was reporting only 50% open before the recent storm. It was baked the last 3 weeks of March like everyone else.
 
Wolf Creek had 19 inches of fresh snow as of 9am this morning. The Horseshoe snowcat (free) was running. Given the state of the rest of Colorado, I bet there are some people considering a drive south this week. Lift tickets are Adults $70, Seniors 65+ $51, and kids for $35 because the rest of the season are what they call Local Appreciation Days. Anyone is considered "local".

When I skied WCSA in late February, there were clearly people who were there for the first time. Meaning people who drove from AZ, CO (>2 hours), or TX. I opted to drive from Taos even though I had Ikon and MC days left because it was clear there would be more off-piste terrain variety at WCSA and less need to watch out for speeding advanced/expert skiers on groomers.

Mid-mountain snow depth is over 40 inches. Having skied WCSA with only 30 inches mid-mountain, I have no doubt there is fun to be had while temps stay cold.
 
Heavenly closing on Easter. Kirkwood was busy and very good today. 12" yesterday and 6" today. I skied 25K+ from 9-almost 4 with 9 laps on Wall.

Facebook post by Heavenly Mountain:

"Saying this is a tough call is an understatement. We'll be closing ski and ride season this Sunday, April 5th.

Our team gave it everything we had. Moving snow, patching runs together, enduring some record high temperatures. But even with this recent dusting, we’re losing some key throughways and it's time to wrap it up.

A little bummed, but mostly grateful to the entire team for their hard work and commitment, and to all of you for joining us for our 70th anniversary. Let’s send it off right this weekend - spring turns, après, DJ sets, the whole 9 yards. We'll continue operating Gondola sightseeing and activities through April 19.

In case you missed it, our friends over at Kirkwood Mountain Resort just got 18 inches and it is firing. They're staying open through April 19th, so head over there and keep your season rolling. Thanks for another great winter, see you this weekend!
🤝
"
 
No question high snowfall places like Alta, Kirkwood and Wolf Creek are benefiting greatly from the current storm not only because they got more new snow but because they had more of a base left than other regional areas.

I vaguely recall that Wolf Creek used to run deeper into April but abandoned that several years ago, presumably because they weren't getting enough business. Should they extend now, given the unusual circumstances? Possibly, but they probably made the decision a couple of weeks ago when everything was melting down with no end in sight.

Here's my end of March progress report. This is a big reason I have not posted recent TRs from Europe.
 
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tseeb said:
Heavenly closing on Easter.
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Lucky they made it that long. I did a Heavenly ski weekend in March with friends and the skiing was underwhelming even for casual skiers.

At least views of Lake Tahoe and gambling cannot melt.
 
This morning Kirkwood reports 17" new in the last 24 hours, 27" in last 48 hours and 310" for the season. Temps in low 20s today and may stay cool through scheduled 4/19 close. OpenSnow computer-generated says 9" more today and 8" more tomorrow with detailed prediction of 6-10" during day today and 7-11" tonight. Friend who got his cabin back from ski lease at end of March was going to be home in Half Moon Bay 4/10-14, so I planned to return 4/15-17. But he's returning this afternoon, so I'll try to join him for 3-4 days driving up early on Monday.
 
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