Georgetown, CO – Better late than never, they say.

In their annual race to open, Colorado’s Loveland and Arapahoe Basin ski areas both traditionally start blowing snow in late September or early October in anticipation of a mid-October opening date. This year, however, unseasonably warm weather in the Colorado Rockies has thwarted those plans.

That is, until this week when a brief window of cold air finally arrived. Both Loveland and nearby Keystone ski resorts turned on their guns Thursday night and started blanketing their slopes in white. Loveland made snow for a few hours, while Keystone’s snowmaking was to support their anticipated season opening scheduled for November 6 — the same day as nearby Copper Mountain, which first made snow on October 4 this year. Arapahoe Basin hasn’t yet started snowmaking and is “patiently waiting for colder weather,” COO Alan Henceroth indicated today, but colder air is expected to move into the region early next week.

It’s been precisely one year since Arapahoe Basin won the race to open for 2014-15 on October 17, while Loveland didn’t come on board until November 1. This year’s race to open will be won by Killington in Vermont, which will open to passholders tomorrow and the general public on Monday, when it will be joined by Sunday River in Maine.

“I am happy for those communities and wish them a great start to the season,” Henceroth added. “You know there are some psyched New England skiers gearing up right now. Those guys wrote the book on enjoying snow.”