0
0
Share with your friends










Submit
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Property
  • Contact
  • Sitemap

Logo

Navigation
  • Ski Resorts
  • Where to Ski
  • How to Ski
  • Snow
    • Snow Report
  • Gear
    • Ski Clothing
    • Ski Equipment
  • Family Skiing
  • Ski Holidays
  • Deals
  • Summer

Autumn Snow in the Rockies

By Sean Newsom | on October 8, 2018 | 1 Comment
Snow Report
Autumn Snow in the Rockies | Welove2ski

Photo: Ski Loveland/Facebook

This week, it’s the Rocky Mountains’ turn to see autumn snow. There’s a dusting on the peaks of both Colorado and western Canada today, thanks to two separate weather systems.

As a result of the cold snap, the ski resort of Loveland was running its snow-cannons this morning, and Arapahoe Basin will probably do the same tonight. As many of readers will know, the two high-altitude resorts race to be the first to open in Colorado each October. But it’s a stop-start process, utterly dependent on the vagaries of weather. At this time of year, mild spells can quickly follow wintry ones – so don’t hold your breath. The process has only just begun.

Here’s how it looked at Arapahoe Basin this morning.

Autumn Snow in the Rockies | Welove2ski

Photo: A-basin.com

And this is the view from Breckenridge, which is one of the first “normal” resorts to open in the US. It’s scheduled to spin its lifts for the first time on November 9.

Autumn Snow in the Rockies | Welove2ski

Photo: Breckenridge/Facebook

Meanwhile, in Banff National Park, this is the view at the top of Lake Louise this morning.

Autumn Snow in the Rockies | Welove2ski

Photo: skilouise.com

Here too opening day is scheduled for November 9.
 

Lake Louise is one of the most reliable early-season resorts in North America. Last winter, it got off to its snowiest start for 67 years, with 2.5m of snow falling by November 29.

In the Alps, conditions are currently much milder, with the daytime freezing point up around the 3400m mark in France and 3500m in Austria. Last week’s snowfall has now mostly melted, although it did help the glacier ski areas take a few more hesitant steps towards winter before it vanished.

Last Wednesday, for example, Solden in the Austrian Tirol opened its first piste to skiers, and on Saturday the Stubai Glacier south of Innsbruck got going too.
 

 
Meanwhile, on the Hintertux glacier, the Betterpark freestyle area opened on Friday. Here’s how it looked on Friday.

Autumn Snow in the Rockies | Welove2ski

Photo: Hintertux Glacier/Facebook

Despite the new terrain opening up, anyone keening some early-season snow should probably wait a while longer before they book their trip – unless they’re freestylers heading to the Betterpark. There should be snow on the highest peaks and ridges in the western Alps on Wednesday and Thursday. But the overall trend of warm, sunny weather is likely to continue into next week, at least. We’ll need a more decisive shift towards cooler, unsettled weather before the pre-season gets interesting.
 

 

Share this story:
  • tweet

Tags: Snow Report

Recent Posts

  • Morzine – For Skiing and Non-Skiing

    March 8, 2023 - 0 Comment
  • Six Reasons We Love Going to St Anton by Train

    February 1, 2023 - 0 Comment
  • 7 of the Best Wines to Sip on A Dolomites Ski Trip

    January 24, 2023 - 1 Comment

Related Posts

  • Fresh Snow in Italy – and Lots More to Come in the North

    February 15, 2022 - 0 Comment
  • Half-Term Snow in Both the Southern and Northern Alps

    February 11, 2022 - 2 Comments
  • Here Comes Another Snowstorm

    February 5, 2022 - 0 Comment

Author Description

Sean Newsom

As well as founding Welove2ski in June 2007, Sean has written about skiing and snowboarding in the British press for 28 years. For the last 20 of them, he’s also been the ski travel editor at The Sunday Times.

One Response to “Autumn Snow in the Rockies”

  1. Avatar

    October 17, 2018

    Cary Reply

    Any updates? Thinking of aspen for thanksgiving

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Free Updates

Join 16,000 clever people who get the latest Welove2ski content delivered to their inbox

RSSSubscribe 15163 Followers 10135 Fans

The Loveometer

Zermatt: Cool Chalets, Certain Snow and The Majestic Matterhorn
100 %
Tweenager Tips: How to Enjoy Ski Holidays with Older Kids
98 %
How to Go Green On Your Ski Holiday
98 %
St Anton, Austria: Wild Nights, Steep Pistes and Challenging Backcountry
97 %
Weird and Wonderful Ski Fads and Fashions
94 %
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Privacy
  • Property
  • Contact
  • Sitemap
© 2020. All Rights Reserved. Created with love by WL2S