DENVER — This weekend is set to be a good one for skiers looking for fresh powder as the high country has more snow forecasted Friday.
Two ski resorts tell Denver7, they are prepared to welcome more traffic.
“There's no denying that this has definitely been a weird winter for us here in Colorado,” Shayna Silverman, the communications manager with Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort, said. “Hasn't been our greatest snowpack that we've seen, but that doesn't mean that the vibe isn't still high.”
According to Silverman, this has been a good week for the resort when it comes to fresh snowfall.
“We have most of our blues on the front side open for some good cruising,” she said.
Silverman noted, the resort received 5 inches this week, which allows for new terrain for skiers planning to make the trip this weekend.
“We actually jumped from about 20% of our terrain open to 35% of our terrain open in just the last couple of days,” Silverman emphasized, crediting the fresh snow and the resort’s mountain operations team. “So come and explore what's new to open. A lot of our steeps on Poly are open. So when you're ready to push yourself and get a little more extreme skiing, that's here waiting for you.”
Even though it has been an unusual winter, Silverman said A-Basin has not had to make any cuts to staffing, just shorter hours for some workers.
“With less of the mountain open, we need less people to run it, so we have less people working on a day to day basis. But it totally varies based on you and your position and where you're at in the resort,” Silverman said. “Knowing that we have snow on the way, knowing that we have guests on the way, that means that we can get those staff in here for more hours, we are super excited to welcome everyone back for some good skiing.”
Denver7 also reached out to Vail Resorts, which sent a statement saying the mountain is also “fully prepared.” Vail hasn't had to limit staffing either, even with the unusual snow pattern this season.
The full statement is below:
“We’re excited about the new snowfall in the forecast and are looking forward to what should be a fantastic ski weekend across the high country. Fresh snow always brings great energy to our mountains, and we’re expecting strong visitation as guests come up to enjoy the conditions.
Our teams are fully prepared. They’ve been doing an excellent job all season maintaining terrain to our standards, and we’re well positioned to deliver a great experience this weekend. Even with the unusual snow patterns this year, we have not had to limit any staffing. Our resorts remain fully staffed, and our operations teams are ready to support higher guest traffic.”
