Eldora, CO 11/07/2024

[EMSC]

Breaking all the rules

Rule #1 broken, never show up to opening day, it's a zoo
Rule #2 broken, avoid WROD (eg 1-2 trails open) if at all possible
Rule #3 broken, don't waste ski days on weekdays with limited terrain
Etc....

I'm sure it will warm up, melt half of it, etc... but for now Eldora and Colo are getting pretty plastered with snow. For Eldora: 8" from a storm a few days ago, then 17" in 48 hrs (8" in 24) heading into today. It then snowed ~4" from 9a-12p (when I left) and another big storm is expected tomorrow afternoon and into Saturday.

Of course that just makes the ambiance nice. No natural terrain is even open as yet (except at Wolf Creek 4-5hrs away). But surfaces were quite nice for opening day I must say. Despite the 'hordes' in attendance. The main lot basically filled up, before all the college kids headed back to classes abut 10:30a (my guess was ~50% were college age kids).

They had a DJ for ~3hrs and donuts and burritos (only if you got there early enough).

I am transitioning to PT style work and should be able to be a reasonable amount more flexible this season - at least for local/weekday skiing. That was in part why I went. To force the new mindset into reality as a strong reminder for the rest of my season to just go when able and conditions are good.

All in all it was worth it despite having to wait to find open slots in the crowd heading down. Though very glad it was not a Saturday opening! I think this weekend will be bad, esp Sat as with a Friday night storm that also hits Denver, I70 will be terrible pushing tons of folks to Eldora. Even with a likely one additional snowmaking trail open by then, it will still be a madhouse.

Looks almost as snowy as it finally got by mid-Jan last season. The big surprise so far (not to jinx it) is no huge wind events so far...

Is it worth it to wait for a rope drop with 100 of your best buds on opening day? About to open Windmill for trail #3 (I didn't wait).

Please wait your turn!

There was a 10min lift line twice. Then calmed down to this ~2min for a while before more and more people left.

Lots of yellow jackets and patrol around... Kinda nuking snow at times too.

I just thought the tree looked quite scenic

Drivers beware! Ned has the totally obnoxious cop thing going on with road speeds way down at 25mph. They used to do this constantly, then stopped bothering for at least 5+ years, and as of last year they started back up with the revenue generation nonsense.

Green highlight=open, Blue highlight=snowmaking

 

[Tony Crocker]

No natural terrain is even open as yet (except at Wolf Creek 4-5hrs away)

I would say Wolf Creek has real skiing now: 600 acres open on 64 inches snowfall and a 32 inch base. In a cursory look, I'm not finding anyone else in Colorado reporting more than 35 inches snowfall.

 

[MarzNC]

Though very glad it was not a Saturday opening! I think this weekend will be bad, esp Sat as with a Friday night storm that also hits Denver, I70

Slightly off-topic question . . . I know of an Australian family who are in Denver and driving to Winter Park on Saturday. They are staying all season so no rush. The father and daughter were at WP last spring so he knows the road. She's a tween competition level skier who will be training in Colorado this winter. What time do you think would be better in terms of traffic headed west on I-70?

 

[EMSC]

The father and daughter were at WP last spring so he knows the road. She's a tween competition level skier who will be training in Colorado this winter. What time do you think would be better in terms of traffic headed west on I-70?

Very early if headed up I70 nearly any time of year lately. Say, passing Morrison exit by ~6:00a? I'm just guessing as there is an odd combination of not being prime season yet, but I70 will be very icy and the locals cannot play golf, bike, etc... from the storm so more will want to go... somewhere. That said I generally recommend against WP for opening weekend. They have a history of opening the flattest (like literal pan flat) stuff the first weekend or even two. WP usually gets decent natural early season so will expand faster than some other areas shortly (if the snow keeps coming).

 

[EMSC]

I would say Wolf Creek has real skiing now: 600 acres open on 64 inches snowfall and a 32 inch base. In a cursory look, I'm not finding anyone else in Colorado reporting more than 35 inches snowfall.

I'm sure plenty of barely buried things to hit, but generally agree, WC is probably starting to ski decently.

Is the 35" Copper? They have to have at least that much (heck they had 20" from one storm alone several days ago), but their reporting has been hit or miss as to bothering to list accurate daily snowfalls on websites since they only open to the public tomorrow for the first time this season.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Copper's website is not reporting anything yet. The 35 is Keystone; Vail is 25. I'm surprised Eldora is only reporting 17, as I got the impression from Joel's forecasts that the Continental Divide areas have been favored. Loveland is reporting 28.