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Aspen Mtn To Open With Top-To-Bottom Skiing Saturday

Elizabeth Stewart-Severy
/
Aspen Public Radio

Aspen Skiing Company expects top-to-bottom skiing when Aspen Mountain opens Saturday.

 

The combination of above-average early season snowfall and cold temperatures mean an early start to this ski season. SkiCO said the gondola, Ajax Express, Little Nell and Bell chairs will be running. Skiers can expect intermediate runs like One and Two Leaf and Spar Gulch, as well as flash openings of more advanced terrain.

SkiCo spokesman Jeff Hanle said a storm Sunday night that brought up to 10 inches to the top of area mountains was key in deciding to open the mountain top-to-bottom.

"The storm really was great. It couldn't have come out better, it was more productive than we thought it would be and the cold temperatures are just a bonus," Hanle said.

Those cold temperatures contribute to more efficient snowmaking. Hanle said snowmaking operations on Aspen Mountain are more than a third of the way complete for the 2018-19 season.

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.