The snow is finally starting to fall at Colorado’s ski resorts. In typical Colorado fashion, Mother Nature is making up for the slow start by consistently delivering a few inches of fresh snow on a near-daily basis throughout the past week.

With another storm system expected to bring potentially heavy snowfall this weekend, ski areas are dropping ropes on new terrain and preparing additional trails to come online in the days ahead.

Grand County resorts look to keep up

While Summit and Eagle County resorts move full bore ahead, Grand County is on a mission of its own. Though it’s been a slow start, things are moving in the right direction as more terrain is expected to open over the next few days.

As of Friday morning, Winter Park was spinning 8 of 24 lifts with just 13 of 171 trails open, mostly on the lower mountain.

“We are continuing to work on being able to ski from the top of the gondola to the bottom,” said Winter Park spokesperson Jen Miller. “We are really focused on getting that open, which could be as early as this weekend.”

The base at Granby Ranch was at 24″, and the resort had three trails and three lifts open.

“With the slow and the low temps we are really cranking on snowmaking,” said Granby Ranch marketing manager Gabby Lara. “We’re opening Buckhorn tomorrow. That’s our staple trail. It’s a long green that goes along the right side of our mountain. We are planning on opening two more trails, if weather cooperates early to mid next week as well.”

Keystone opens up North Peak for the season

Keystone Resort once again leads the weekly terrain update with the announcement that North Peak will open for the season on Friday, Dec. 5. Skiers and riders can take Mozart down or take the Outpost Gondola over to North Peak to access the Prospector and the Alamo trails.

The trails and terrain zone will bring Keystone to over 300 acres of terrain. Along with North Peak opening, Labonte’s Smokehouse BBQ and Timber Ridge will be open for dining. 

On Thursday, Dec. 4, Keystone opened The Edge — the resort’s first black diamond run to open this season — back to the River Run base area. 

The resort will also have the Discovery learning area open on Saturday, Dec. 6, in its Mountain House base area for beginners and its ski and ride school programs. Looking ahead, Keystone will begin to work on opening Starfire on North Peak and Frenchman on the front side of Dercum. 

Breckenridge drops rope to upper Peak 9 

The steady snowfall over the last week and consistently cold temperatures have allowed Breckenridge Ski Resort to open upper Peak 9 for the season. 

After only having the lower part of Peak 9 open for skiers and riders, guests can now hop on the Beaver Run SuperChair to access both the Columbia and Sundown trails. Peak 9’s Overlook and TenMile Station are also now open for guests for dining.

With upper Peak 9 now open for skiers and riders, the teams at Breckenridge are working to make snow on Peak 7. 

Starting on Sunday, Dec. 7, Move United will host the 39th annual The Hartford Ski Spectacular at Beaver Run Resort. The event will bring together more than 800 participants ranging from first-time skiers to elite Paralympic athletes. Through Saturday, Dec. 13, the event will celebrate individuals with physical disabilities through training, racing and having fun on Peak 9. 

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Arapahoe Basin Ski Area gives guests top-to-bottom turns

On Saturday, Nov. 29, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area began spinning its Lenawee Express chairlift for the first time this season. The opening of the lift officially opened up top-to-bottom skiing and riding from Lenawee Face to Dercum’s Gulch to High Noon. 

A-Basin was also able to get Molly Hogan, its beginner learning area open for the season alongside its ski and ride school. 

With forecasts calling up to 14 inches of snow over the weekend, A-Basin is working to open more of its lower mountain green runs. A-Basin expects for Sundance and Wrangler to come online in the coming week or so.

Guests are invited to the 6th Alley Bar & Grill for the ski area’s Local’s Film Fest on Saturday, Dec. 6. The following weekend on Saturday, Dec. 13, A-Basin will host another film fest at Black Mountain Lodge. At this event, attendees can skin up the mountain to check out both “After the Snowfall” and “Mountains of the Moon”.

A-Basin will also be having a demo day on Saturday, Dec. 6, and Sunday, Dec. 7.Guests can demo both skis and snowboards and the event is free to the public with a valid pass or lift ticket. An identification card, such as a drivers license, is required to demo equipment.

Copper Mountain begins spinning Timberline Express 

Copper Mountain will go into the weekend by spinning Timberline Express on Friday, Dec. 5. The chairlift will give skiers and riders access to Windsong. Guests can reach Timberline Express via the Minor Matter trail off of the American Flyer chairlift. 

The following day on Saturday, Dec. 6, Copper will open West Village for the winter. Woodward Express will begin taking guests up the mountain on Saturday morning, giving skiers and riders access to Vein Glory. 

In addition to Woodward Express opening for the season, West Village will have two beginner surface lifts open along with the Gem Lift in Green Acres. By Saturday, Copper is expected to have skiing and riding from all three of its villages with 11 lifts in operation. 

With significant snowfall in the forecast for this weekend, Copper is encouraging guests to respect boundaries by following postage signage and rope lines for closed terrain. Copper would also like to give a huge shoutout to the Summit County community for cheering on professional ski racers throughout the Stifel Copper Cup last week. 

Richard’s Run now open at Loveland Ski Area 

Loveland Ski Area has picked up 18 inches of new snow over the last week and is expected to pick up another 15 inches of snowfall throughout the weekend.

At the tail end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend on Sunday, Nov. 30, Loveland successfully opened Richard’s Run off of Chet’s Run. With the intermediate blue groomer now open for the season, snowmaking efforts have now shifted to the bottom of Lift 6 and onto Zig Zag which is Loveland Valley’s newly enhanced trail.

Loveland does not anticipate opening any new lifts or terrain this weekend, but cold temperatures have helped Loveland make significant progress. Lift 3 is expected to open at Loveland Valley on Saturday, Dec. 13, with Lift 6 to be the next to start spinning at Loveland Basin.

Sean McAlindin contributed reporting on Grand County resorts to this article.