The first resort closure of the 2024-25 ski season comes on Sunday when Granby Ranch shuts down, followed by seven more the following weekend.
By the end of April, the only areas expected to be open are Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Loveland and Arapahoe Basin.
Many areas seem likely to close with good snow cover, though. As of Thursday, according to figures curated by the OpenSnow reporting and forecasting service, 12 Colorado resorts have above-average base depths. They included Winter Park, Steamboat, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, Eldora, Copper Mountain and Breckenridge. Vail and Beaver Creek were close to average, coming in at 95% and 99%, respectively.
Base depths are expected to grow over the next week as a series of storms is headed to the high country.
“The total snow from Friday through Thursday, which includes three storms, should get into the 10- to 20-inch range for most areas,” OpenSnow founding meteorologist Joel Gratz wrote in his Thursday morning update, “so it’ll be a return to winter after this week’s summer sneak peek.”
The 30-day forecast for April, issued by the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service, calls for above-average temperatures in Colorado and below-average precipitation.
Colorado ski area closing dates for 2024-2025 season
March 30: Granby Ranch
April 6: Buttermilk, Crested Butte, Keystone, Powderhorn, Sunlight, Telluride, Wolf Creek
April 13: Aspen Highlands, Beaver Creek, Ski Cooper, Monarch, Silverton (Purgatory will be open daily through April 13, and after that will operate on weekends through April 27
April 20: Aspen Mountain, Eldora, Snowmass, Steamboat, Vail
April 27: Winter Park (Mary Jane will remain open as long as conditions permit. Last year that came on May 28)
May 11: Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Loveland
Arapahoe Basin: As usual, A-Basin plans to stay open as long as conditions permit