When will ski season be starting at Vail this year?
Mid-October brought snow to Vail Ski Resort in Colorado, but when will the slopes open for winter? AccuWeather got a behind-the-scenes interview with the resort to find out everything that could affect opening day.
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00:00 Bernie, are you ready?
00:02 You know, I'm just going to step off the stage.
00:05 I do have a segment planned at the end of this segment.
00:09 But Christina's talking about ski resorts.
00:12 So I doubt, seriously, you'll see me anytime soon.
00:15 There's literally no chance of you having a forecast.
00:17 Even though she'll be wrapped, she does what she always does.
00:19 She just blows right through the wrap.
00:21 Excuse me.
00:21 That's your MO, not mine.
00:23 That said, get out of here.
00:24 I'm talking about ski season.
00:25 And it's getting closer.
00:27 So many resorts in the West had absolutely record-shattering
00:31 snow conditions last year.
00:33 And for the early word on when the runs
00:36 could be opening this year, I think
00:39 we should head out to Vail.
00:41 John Plagg is Senior Communications Manager
00:43 for Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek Resort.
00:45 And John is joining us this morning.
00:47 Oh my gosh.
00:48 First of all, John, I'm very jealous.
00:50 And second of all, thanks for being here.
00:52 Yeah, of course.
00:53 Thanks for having me.
00:55 Temperatures are falling.
00:56 We are getting ready to make more snow this week.
00:59 Our friends over at Keystone are working just as hard
01:01 to open as early as possible.
01:04 And we're ready for November 10th here in Vail.
01:06 Love it.
01:07 November 10th.
01:08 Is that the official opening day?
01:10 That's our planned opening day.
01:12 We are entering a perfect weather window for snowmaking.
01:16 This Friday through Tuesday, temps are going to drop.
01:19 We're going to see some precipitation.
01:21 And we're going to get those cold temperatures
01:23 that we need to start making snow here in Vail.
01:25 We made snow around October 13th when
01:28 we got about 15 inches in the upper elevations.
01:31 And so we're just ready, standing by.
01:32 And once we get in that window, we're
01:34 going to be guns ablaze, firing off, making snow.
01:38 I absolutely love it.
01:39 OK, I have to ask you, you mentioned October 13th.
01:42 What is considered early in terms of that snowmaking season
01:46 for you guys?
01:48 Yeah, so we always look at about mid-October and October
01:52 here in Vail to start making snow.
01:54 That's when temperatures consistently get cold.
01:56 We don't necessarily need precipitation in order
02:00 to start making snow.
02:01 What we actually really like is that 27-degree wet bulb
02:04 temperature, dry conditions, really cold.
02:06 And that's when we get perfect snow conditions
02:10 to make snow out of our snow guns
02:13 that we have all across the mountain.
02:14 Absolutely love it.
02:15 And you know what?
02:16 For folks who maybe are new to skiing or snowboarding,
02:19 I'd love to do a little deep dive here.
02:21 Is there a huge difference between man-made snow
02:24 and the old au naturel stuff that falls from the sky?
02:29 Not here in Vail.
02:30 We have a new system that we put in in 2019.
02:32 It was North America's largest snowmaking enhancement project.
02:35 And that new system really enables
02:37 us to make high-quality snow.
02:41 What we're looking for, like I said, are those dry conditions,
02:43 really cold temperatures.
02:45 And we're putting down the exact same thing that
02:47 comes out of the sky.
02:48 And in some cases, a little bit better.
02:50 We get a nice, hot, warm, juicy snowstorm.
02:53 It might feel a little bit wet.
02:54 But what we're looking for is a high-quality snow
02:57 that we can put out of our snow guns.
02:59 So guests won't even know the difference.
03:01 Absolutely love it.
03:02 Now, in terms of what comes next,
03:04 we obviously talked about November 10.
03:06 Is there anything that you think could hinder that opening day?
03:09 Or does it just all come down to weather?
03:12 It all comes down to weather.
03:13 And at this point, we're feeling really good.
03:15 The snow system that we have here at Vail is amazing.
03:18 We have enough compressed air capacity
03:21 to push through our system up on the mountain
03:23 when the conditions are right that we can fill the Goodyear
03:25 blimp in 12 minutes.
03:27 Or we can fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool
03:28 with water in 26 minutes.
03:30 So we have amazing capacity on the mountain.
03:32 And when the temperatures fall into place,
03:34 which it looks like it will this Thursday night to about Tuesday,
03:38 we can go ahead and make all kinds of terrain
03:41 up on the mountain.
03:42 Final question.
03:43 Can we just pick up that whole system
03:44 and move it to some of our East Coast mountains?
03:46 Because I could really use that around here.
03:48 I'm just throwing it out there.
03:50 Well, luckily, if you're on an Epic Pass,
03:52 wherever the snow falls, you can ski.
03:54 I highly recommend that guests visit epicpass.com.
03:57 Check out our products.
03:58 Whether you're skiing one to seven days for an Epic Day
04:00 Pass, or you want unlimited, unrestricted access
04:03 on an Epic Pass, you can see East Coast.
04:05 You can see West Coast.
04:06 Our friends at Whistler Blackcomb in Canada
04:08 or here at Geele, Colorado, we've got something for you.
04:11 Lock it in early while they're still on sale.
04:14 And that's, I think, my biggest tip right now
04:16 is make sure you have your mountain access product.
04:19 Those passes also come with Epic Mountain Rewards, which
04:22 provides even more value.
04:24 So we're talking 20% off lodging, rentals, retail, food
04:28 and beverage, all kinds of stuff.
04:31 So epicpass.com or veil.com, that's where I'd head today.
04:35 Absolutely love it.
04:36 John Plax, Senior Communications Manager
04:38 for Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek Resort,
04:39 thank you again for joining us this morning.
04:41 We're looking forward to ski season.
04:44 Me too.