It was snowing when I got into the county on Saturday and as I was leaving the county yesterday.

unless it gets dreadfully warm, I expect the opening day is no more than 2 weeks away

ABasin and Loveland started up snowmaking in the past week too.

Wolf Creek decided that 14 inches is enough to spin a few lifts this weekend, Oct. 16-17.  They'll open weekends until it makes sense to start 7-day operations.

Had such a good time at Wolf Creek last Feb, my primary ski buddies and I are going there in Dec for our early season trip out west.  Turns out that there is a very good instructor there who grew up in NC and taught at Sugar.  We had a ball with her last time and will do another 4-person full-day private lesson.  The lesson rates at WC are quite reasonable.

It appears that most of the Summit County ski areas have had at least 12 inches of snow this week.

A-Basin has announced that it will open on Sunday.

No word from Keystone yet, but it would not surprise me to see Keystone turn on the lights so it can open a few hours before the Basin and claim to be the first ski area to open in the county.

Keystone has finally returned to managing early season the way it did when it was owned by the dog food company.

Here's what was posted on the Keystone FB Page this afternoon, Oct. 15.  Happens to be the last day before prices for Epic Passes go up.

"Congrats to Wolf Creek and A-Basin on their openings this weekend! Winter is in the air and that has us feeling giddy like a kid in a candy shop. Our snowmakers and groomers have been out putting the finishing touches on the mountain and we’re aiming to open with more than 40 acres of skiing and riding very soon. Get those legs warmed up and ready – we’re going to have plenty of terrain waiting for you! Stay tuned for our official opening day announcement!"