Colorado snow guns howl as ski season draws near

Frost has returned to windshields. The peaks are capped with snow. Ski season is near.

The Aspen Skiing Company took to Facebook on Friday to post spectacular images of powder gracing area mountains, while resorts closer to the Front Range fired up their snow guns for the first time this season.

Arapahoe Basin began making snow with 18 machines Friday night, according to marketing and communications director Leigh Hierholzer, and Loveland started manufacturing snow in September. Spokesman John Sellers said Loveland cranked up 20 of its 32 guns last month, but the early October heat wave put the snow-making operation back on ice until Friday. Indeed, an Indian summer has pushed back the debut of skiing in Colorado this season: Last year, Arapahoe Basin was already open at this time.

As usual, it'll be another race to the start of the Colorado season with both A-Basin and Loveland the regular front-runners.

“Opening day is weather dependent and has yet to be determined,” A-Basin’s Hierholzer said. “The race is on.”

"We got a little bit of natural snow over the weekend to complement our snow-making efforts," added Loveland's John Sellers. "We had a very productive weekend and it looks like the temps will stay cool this week, so we will keep making snow as weather permits."

Aspen Mountain and Snowmass Ski Area are set to open Nov. 25.

“We really don't fire up (the snow guns) until Nov. 1 at midnight unless we get an exceptionally long cold snap and we see that it will not warm up,” Aspen Skiing Company spokesman Jeff Hanle said.

“Right now we are testing lines and just getting ready to fire up,” he said.

Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk are scheduled to open Dec. 11. As it does every season, the Aspen Skiing Company will award season passes to die-hards who help them boot-pack Highland Bowl.

The Aspen Skiing Company also has a variety of ski passes on sale now. There are all kinds of new perks at Aspen/Snowmass for 2010/2011, including a new terrain park, a longer ski season and more.

River Name / Location	Stream flow, ft3/s	Gage height ft
Gore Creek
At Upper Station, Near I-70 Twin Bridges	n/a	4 ft
Booth Creek	n/a	4 ft
Abv Red Sandstone Creek At Vail	182	6 ft
At Mouth Near Minturn	217	7 ft
Beaver Creek
At Avon	21	2 ft
Lake Creek
Near Edwards	80	1 ft
Cross Creek
Near Minturn	104	4 ft
Homestake Creek
At Gold Park	121	5 ft
Eagle River
East Fork Eagle River Near Climax	n/a	2 ft
At Red Cliff	30	3 ft
Near Minturn	237	4 ft
Wastewater Treatment Plant At Avon	675	5 ft
Below Gypsum	853	5 ft
Colorado River
Near Kremmling	407	4 ft
Near Dotsero	1,630	3 ft
Below Glenwood Springs	3,180	5 ft
Near Cameo	3,760	6 ft
Below Grand Valley Div Nr Palisade	2,080	5 ft
Near Colorado-utah State Line	4,120	4 ft
Near Cisco, Ut	4,020	3 ft
At Lees Ferry, Az	12,000	9 ft
Near Grand Canyon, Az	12,300	9 ft
Yuma Main Canal Ww At Yuma, Az	1,010	10 ft
Roaring Fork River
Abv Lost Man Cr Near Aspen	n/a	n/a ft
Ab Difficult C Nr Aspen	52	1 ft
Near Aspen	78	1 ft
Near Emma	480	6 ft
At Glenwood Springs	1,180	3 ft
Hunter Creek
Near Aspen	56	2 ft
At Aspen	48	4 ft
Frying Pan River
Near Ruedi	113	2 ft
Crystal River
Abv Avalanche Crk, Near Redstone	540	2 ft
Arkansas River
Ef Arkansas R At Us Highway 24, Nr Leadville	47	3 ft
Near Leadville	86	5 ft
Below Empire Gulch Near Malta	159	4 ft
Below Granite	429	4 ft
Near Nathrop	451	4 ft
At Parkdale	464	3 ft