Telluride, CO – With the longer afternoons afforded by Daylight Savings Time, a number of ski resorts across North America are adjusting their operational hours to take advantage.nColorado’s Telluride Ski Resort is taking full advantage of the longer days. With warm days and cold nights approaching, and the snow piling up this March, the resort has shifted its operating hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in order for skiers to make the most of spring conditions. The hour shift means that slopes that re-freeze overnight will have more time to soften in the warm spring sun, producing the corn snow that spring skiers and snowboarders crave.
On a handful of days this spring, Aspen Skiing Company is keeping one of its four Colorado ski mountains open after regular hours for guests to experience Sunset Skiing. Select lifts will run until 6 p.m. or later. Gorgeous views and on-mountain dining options will complete the experience. This Friday it’s at Snowmass, then at Aspen Mountain on April 8 and April 16 at Aspen Highlands. Regular ticketing pricing applies for Sunset Skiing and all valid passes will work during extended hours.
Along with changing its clocks, officials at Vermont’s Bolton Valley Resort officials have changed the ski area’s hours of operation for the remainder of the season. The resort is now open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays. On Saturdays, lifts will turn from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“One of the best benefits of spring skiing and riding at Bolton Valley is the longer days and we take advantage of that,” explains Josh Arneson, director of marketing at the resort. “We have sensational sunsets from our west facing slopes, a unique experience for anyone who has been skiing or riding all season long. It doesn’t get dark at 4 p.m. like it did in December and January. Most other resorts end their day in the shadows, while we ski and ride into the sunset with direct sunlight. The sky glows red and orange as the sun sets behind the Adirondacks, a view we enjoy from the top of Bolton.”
In Canada, Sunshine Village ski resort in Banff, Alberta, is taking a different approach, providing skiers and riders an extra half-hour each day to frolic in the white. All lifts now run until 4:30 p.m. daily, except for Jack Rabbit, which runs until 5 p.m. Gondola hours remain unchanged.
Sunshine’s spring is known for long sunny days, mild T-shirt temperatures and live music to get visitors into that mountain mood. Sunshine has the longest non-glacial ski season in Canada.