SkiChicken.com

Aspen Highlands Ski Resort will soon be opening. The official date is December 10, 2011. Now hit those slopes!

It’s just a few weeks until Copper Mountain opens. The official day is November 4, 2011. They usually are making snow in October, just to get the slopes ready. Copper Mountain is one of the best resorts to take new skiers. Most people look at where the challenge is, but I find it fun to get new people excited about skiing. Copper Mountain’s lumberjack lift has a plethora of slopes that help beginners relax and improve skills. The lift can take a while, but gives you a chance to check email, enjoy the scenery, or have a good conversation with your newfound ski buddies. Can’t wait!

Does it feel like ski season yet? I recommend you ponder that slopeside, with a song in your heart and powder blowing upon your face. Yeah, I said powder. Apparently, Wolf Creek has received 36 inches of snow in the last 24 hours and they are opening for the weekend. They will be open 9am to 4pm with 3 out of 5 lifts operating. Powder is specifically mentioned in this article over at westword.com. Lift tickets are $33/adult, $19/children & seniors.

I won’t make it over there this weekend, so I sure hope you’ll go. And please collect a little baggie of snow for my collection!

For an excellent list of other ski resort openings, see the list over at Colorado Ski.

Snowmass has announced their opening day!

Ever giggled the whole way down? If you’ve never had the pleasure of skiing at Snowmass, you haven’t lived. It’s premium skiing – an experience you won’t forget. Come November 25, 2010 you can “giggle like a schoolgirl”*.

Check out Snowmass on opening day of the 2010-2011 season, November 25, 2010!

*My buddy Jason came up with that on gunners view.

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As I was sifting through the internet tubes, I happened to notice that Loveland HAS OPENED! I could not have guessed any resort would be open this early in the season. Loveland, you have bested me again. Touche.

So if you need to get your ski freak on early, get your freak up to Loveland.

Great article about their opening over at westword:
With five inches of snow last night on top of the snowmaking operation they’ve been running all month, opening day is tomorrow, Sunday October 24. Loveland’s staking their claim as the first ski area open in Colorado for the second year in a row (Maine’s Sunday River got the jump on them yesterday on the East coast). Better yet, they’re predicting a powder day: It’s still snowing up on the pass today.

Or check out this cool video, where the snow actually does like quite enticing:
Alday Productions went up to loveland for the opening day of the 2010 season! so stoked.

http://snowboarding.transworld.net/1000136271/ugc/ugc-videos/opening-day-at-loveland-ski-area-colorado-10242010-2/

Copper Mountain has announced their opening weekend will be November 5 (Friday) through November 7 (Sunday). There is more information on their website. But because you are too lazy to click that link, and/or you want to get all of your ski opening weekend info directly from the Chicken, here it is copied and pasted for your perusal:

Fri Nov 5 – Sun Nov 7
Copper Mountain celebrates Lift Off presented by Sprint, the resort’s 6th annual opening weekend festival. Copper starts the season off right with ski & snowboard movies, demos, après parties and late night music. Past Lift Off music performances include Blackalicious, the Beatnuts and Rahzel from the Roots.
Schedule of Events

Friday, November 5th
1st Après Party of the season along with prizes & giveaways
Coors Tap the Rockies Party: Jack’s 4pm – 6pm
$2 Coors / Coors Light. Win a pair of Liberty Skis plus other great prizes!

Lift Off Movie Tour: Jack’s – 6:30pm
Poor Boyz Productions: Revolver
MSP’s: The Way I See It

Saturday, November 6
Lift Off Movie Tour: Woodward Barn – 6pm
Pirate Movie Production: Hooked
Red Bull: Off the Planet
Level 1: Eye Trip

Lift Off Concert featuring: Lyrics Born & MURS
Copper Conference Center Doors Open 8pm
Tickets $12 at the door or available now at Guest Services.

Sunday, November 7
Lift Off Movie Tour: Woodward Barn – 6:30pm
4 Real Media: DubReel
The new Special Blend, Forum and Foursquare video

Loveland opened today at 9am. They’ve been making snow since Spetember 21, but I’m sure they’ll get plenty more soon! The base on opening day will be 18 inches, which is pretty good. With 3 trails and more than a mile of ski-worthy terrain, it looks like a pretty exciting start to the season.

Copper Mountain opens in less than a Month! Many of the web searches we receive every year ask “When does copper Mountain open for the 2009 season?” Well, there’s your answer.

It looks like they have a big party weekend planned: Their opening weekend festival is called “Lift Off,” and includes a free movie tour and concert. they usually have some pretty great entertainment at these things, so I hope to see you there!

Snowmass Village Spring skiing is amazing. I arrived at 2pm and found free parking in the C lot, allowing me a short ski down to the lift.

We switched lifts to the Elk Camp Goldola and rode up the Elk Camp lift. Our first run down wasn’t on Gunner’s View(one of my favorite runs), but it was still a GREAT run. We then made our way over to Alpine Springs and made a run down “Naked Lady”.

Naked lady is such a pleasant run, I was giggling while I skiied. It’s such a great reminder of the ski fervor Snowmass gives me. I hadn’t skiied for 11 years, then skiied Snowmass in 2001. It changed my life. Snowmass is just that great. Smooth slopes and plenty of room. It just makes skiing some much fun! Have you ever giggled while you skiied? If not, get your butt over to Snowmass!

Naked Lady is a curvy little run, and there are a few unexpected bumps. In fact, I had my first big crash in years due to a bump that caught me a little offguard. Jason witnessed it, and thinks maybe I flew off the side of a nipple on Naked Lady. To me it felt a little more like a belly button. I lost both skies(Something Jason said even he had never seen) and skidded down the hill 40 or 50 feet head first on my stomach. Another great reason to have a helmet. My Goggles were full of snow and down around my neck by the time I stopped. I tasted the snow and IT WAS GOOD! A little salty perhaps.

Of course, I am fine. Thanks to the sweet spring powdery goodness of Snowmass, which lovingly held me. I was brought to a safe stop in the caressing embrace of it’s sweet snow cleavage.

Copper’s April is off to a great start. While the Temperatures are warming, there was just enough wind yesterday to keep the snow in PERFECT packed powder conditions.

Skiing on a Tuesday means smaller lift lines, but yesterday was a little different. Copper was hosting the USASA, and had a few lines closed over on the American Flyer lift. The combination meant a bit of a wait, but the Timberline lift (over beside the T-REX cafe) had almost no one there! Once I was on the mountain, it was run after run. The slopes didn’t feel crowded, and the snow was amazing. I might need to ski every Tuesday, just to experience it. Hopefully nothing will warm up too quickly.

I followed the day up with a Copper Bowl Brown Ale and Empenadas at Endos. Yes, they were out of Guinness.