Steamboat Mountain Resort couldn’t open for skiing and riding Wednesday because of adverse weather conditions.
A resort official blamed the closure on high winds and extreme wind chill. At mid-afternoon the temperature at mid-mountain was 9 degrees with winds from the south at 4 miles mph, according to the resort’s website.
“We woke up to high winds and resort operators began meeting at 6:45 a.m. to determine the safety of staff and guests for operations,” resort spokeswoman Loryn Duke said. “We re-evaluated conditions every hour until 11:30 a.m., in the hopes that winds would die down and we would be able to offer skiing and riding. By 11:30 a.m., conditions had not improved and we determined the resort should remain closed for the day.”
Winter Park also cut back operations because of the weather.
“Winter Park has shut down our upper lifts because of wind — the Panoramic Express lift, Eagle Wind lift, and Pioneer Express lift,” said spokeswoman Jen Miller. “Out of an abundance of caution, we’re also not allowing foot passengers on the gondola for the rest of the day.”
Duke did not say whether Steamboat expects to be able to open on Thursday.