After a tough ski season in Colorado, resorts have announced closing dates — with some coming early.
Telluride announced that March 31 could be the resort's last day, "temporarily closing" after the day ahead of its scheduled April 5 closing weekend.
"Reopening plans will be determined based on weather conditions, with the goal of reopening for a closing weekend if forecasted snowfall materializes," a post from the resort said. It later announced it would reopen April 3, with a goal of staying open through April 5.
The same day, Keystone announced its rail jam and pond skim for its April 5 closing weekend were canceled.
Head to the bottom of this story for a list of closing dates
"The snow we needed for this weekend’s Pond Skim & Rail Jam started summer break early, and those events are unfortunately cancelled," a post from the resort announced, adding that DJ sets and costume contests scheduled for the weekend were still on.
Beaver Creek announced it would close March 29, two weeks ahead of its targeted closing date.
"While this isn’t the end to the season we hoped for, we’re thankful to our employees for their flexibility and positive energy as we dealt with prolonged warm weather," Bobby Murphy, VP and chief operating officer of the resort said in the announcement.
Winter Park's Mary Jane area closed at noon Friday, March 27 to "preserve conditions," with an announcement that the last day to ski the area would be March 28. Last season, the area closed May 18. Winter Park still has lift tickets for sale through April 26.
Ski Cooper in Leadville said in its closing announcement that lift tickets, lessons and rentals purchased beyond its March 22 closing would be refunded. The ski area called the decision to close "difficult," citing the recent heat wave and "an increasingly thin snow base."
"This is not the outcome we had hoped for, and we know it’s disappointing," the announcement said. "Please know we did everything we could to extend the season and keep the mountain open for you."
Purgatory, often open through mid to late April, is closing March 29 rather than its originally planned April 5 date.
"We don’t take adjusting a closing date lightly, but the early heat this year is accelerating our timeline,” Matt Ericksen, marketing director at Purgatory Resort, said in the announcement.
Here's when various ski resorts say they're closing. Many of these are "targets," so some dates could likely still move up.
March 19
Cuchara
March 22
Powderhorn Mountain Resort
Ski Cooper
Sunlight Mountain Resort
March 25
Buttermilk (originally set to close April 5)
March 28
Mary Jane area at Winter Park (about a month and a half earlier than last season)
March 29
Beaver Creek (originally set to close April 12)
Howelsen Hill Ski Area
Monarch Mountain (originally set to close April 12)
Purgatory (originally set to close April 5)
Aspen Highlands (originally set to close April 12)
Weather News
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March 31
Telluride (temporarily — set to reopen for April 3-5 closing weekend, pending conditions)
April 5
Keystone
Crested Butte
Wolf Creek
Steamboat (about two weeks earlier than last year - moved up from April 12 this season)
Eldora (moved up from April 19)
Snowmass (moved up from April 12)
Telluride (after March 31 temporary closing)
April 8
Vail (moved up from April 19)
April 19
Aspen Mountain (the resort has said it will stay open as long as possible)
Winter Park
Breckenridge (lift tickets listed for sale through May 17 as of earlier in April)
April 26
Loveland Ski Area
May 3
Copper Mountain (Pushed back from April 26)
TBD
Arapahoe Basin (lift tickets listed for sale through May 3)
This list will be updated as additional closures are announced.
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