Disclaimer: This is sponsored content. All opinions and views are of Monarch Mountain and does not reflect the same of KOAA.
It's no secret that the slopes have been painfully dry season-to-date in Colorado. It feels like a broken record at this point: warm, windy, no snow, limited open terrain.
So, it may come as a bit of a surprise to some readers that several resorts have as many open runs as they do. Aspen Snowmass has 170 open trails this weekend - and while that only represents 46 percent open terrain, you'd still be able to spend several full days skiing the mountain complex without repeating a run should you so choose. Similarly, Steamboat has been rapidly adding terrain and has 92 open trails.
Monarch Mountain has 73% open terrain - which is on the high end by percentage statewide, with 56 of their 77 runs open.
A weak storm system was able to provide several inches of snow to many ski areas from late Thursday into early Saturday. While the totals are generally under a foot, almost every resort picked up something. Through the weekend, skies will stay mainly dry with resort highs in the 30s.
The potential for more beneficial snowfall is likely in two rounds next week. The first batch from Monday into Tuesday, with more from Thursday through Saturday. The first system will be a northern mountain special - but the second set of systems should provide statewide snowfall. The end of week system will be more potent and bring what most of us would consider powder day conditions - with the Monday-Tuesday system less well defined. As a result, totals in the 2-4" range seem reasonable with system #1, while we could be looking at 8"+ totals with system #2 (though it's really multiple systems delivering multiple rounds of moisture).
Either way, the pattern will turn dry again after next weekend...so I'd suggest getting out for both systems.
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