Georgetown, CO – Front Range skiers and riders will gain a second early season option when Loveland Ski Area opens for the season this Thursday, joining its neighbor Arapahoe Basin that opened to the public on Oct. 21.

“The waiting game is finally over,” said Rob Goodell, director of business operations at Loveland. “The persistent warm weather made things difficult this fall, but our snowmaking team has done an amazing job getting the mountain ready for opening day.”

Loveland’s Lift 1 will run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Thursday and will offer skiers and riders access to one top-to-bottom run covered from tree-to-tree with an 18-inch base. The trails Catwalk, Mambo and Home Run make up this opening day run which is over a mile in length and drops nearly 1,000 vertical feet.

“We already have great coverage on most of the run and just have to put the finishing touches on the lower portion of Home Run,” continued Goodell. “While we are opening later than we had hoped, our opening day run will provide our guests with the exceptional early season snow they have come to expect at Loveland. We look forward to another long and snowy winter at Loveland and invite everyone to join us on Thursday to kick off the season.”

Loveland Ski Area opened on October 29 last season.

Loveland Ski Area will be open seven days a week until closing day in early May. Lift operating hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and designated holidays. Early season lift ticket rates are $59 for adults and $27 for children 6-14.

Also in Summit County, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge and Keystone all still have their public season debuts set for this Friday. Copper Mountain has been open since last week, but only for ski team training.