The Dumps showed some signs of sliding this morning, evidence of the weak underlying layers. The fresh snow on the hill today was dense given the cold temps overnight, but the carpet was rolled out nicely. Frigid conditions under clear skies was the prevailing theme. The National Weather Service says snow showers are likely this afternoon and that another 1 to 3 inches could fall. Nice and clear at mid-day though. The high today was forecast to be 12 degrees, and just before noon it was only 4 degrees. Snowmass reporting 6 inches in the last 24 hours at mid-day and Aspen Mountain 4 inches. Red’s Run opened this morning on Ajax and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see some tracks in some other locations today. Snowmass now reporting a 41-inch base on top with 795 acres open. The Sheer Bliss terrain opened today on the Burn, but not the lift. The Elk Camp lift is supposed to open Thursday , and Alpine Springs, High Alpine and Gwyn’s High Alpine restaurant are scheduled to open Saturday. Also opening Saturday is the Assay Hill lift, which will make the new Viceroy Snowmass hotel truly ski-in, ski-out. The online grooming report for Snowmass showed that both the Elk Camp and Sheer Bliss lifts were open today, but that is apparently not the case.
Aspen Mountain is now reporting a 20-inch base and 258 acres are formally open, or, at least were open this morning. Could be more by the end of the day. SkiCo is working on getting the Ruthie’s side open for the weekend, but nothing firm yet. And Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk are set to open this weekend as well. The snowstorm that swept through Colorado gave most ski areas a pretty good boost. According to Colorado Ski Country USA, Silverton got 38 inches of snow in the past two days, Wolf Creek got 35 inches, Purgatory 34, Crested Butte 28 and Telluride 17 in the last 48 hours. Sunlight in Glenwood picked up 16 inches of snow, as the storm hit the lower valley harder than Aspen/Snowmass. Nice to see the state covered in snow...
