California and Colorado ski resorts in a snow daze

Southern California skiers are gearing up for an early season, with snow-making going on a full month before usual at Mountain High, thanks to an unusual October cold spell. Big Bear and Mammoth are biding their time, waiting for the real stuff as cold weather lingers and new storms approach. Meanwhile, at least one Northern California resort, Boreal, is planning to open this weekend.

Mountain High in Wrightwood, where wildfires threatened just a week ago, was making snow all week, the earliest that has ever happened at the popular SoCal ski destination.

“We are making snow and will open as soon as possible,” says John McColly, the resort’s director of marketing. “Could be a day. Could be a week.”

Bear Mountain is being more cautious, saying it prefers to wait until winter conditions arrive for sure. “I can’t imagine a scenario without a substantial natural snowfall that we would begin snow-making in October,” reports marketing director Chris Riddle. “While this has been an unprecedented cold spell for early October, we don’t want to waste our time, energy and water resources knowing we’re not going to be able to sustain operations through the winter.”

The Big Bear season usually opens in mid-November.

In Northern California, meanwhile, at least one resort is preparing to open this weekend.

Boreal Mountain Resort, near Lake Tahoe, was expecting to turn on a quad lift Friday, which, it said, would make it the first California resort open to skiing this year. Adults lift tickets are $30; children 5-12 and college students are $15. For the time being, the resort is planning to be open only on weekends.

Mammoth Mountain, which has already received 8 inches of snow, reports that it is preparing to open Nov. 12. The snow was holding at higher elevations, and was expected to withstand a slight warm-up this weekend. Officials there were hoping a new storm, predicted for Tuesday, would provide more of the real stuff.

Farther east, a resort in Vail, Colo, is toasting the early winter with free season passes for those staying at least seven nights during the holidays. Vail Beaver Creek Resort Properties‘ EPIC Holiday Gift package would allow holiday guests unlimited skiing and riding through April 2010. Book by Nov. 15. Lodging options vary. Christmas week rates start at $435 per night at The Pines Lodge. The passes normally sell for $599, and are good for Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly. Contact: Vail Beaver Creek Resort Properties or call (877) 923-7669. Ask for the EPIC Holiday Gift package.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Loveland Ski Area claimed to be first ski resort in North America to open for the season. Its debut Wednesday was the earliest in the resort’s 40-year history.

—Chris Erskine, deputy Los Angeles Times travel editor

Photo: Cool temperatures allow for snow-making at Mountain High. Credit: Mountain High

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 4:11 pm by Chris Erskine and is filed under California, Colorado, Deals, News, Tips & Advice, Outdoors & Adventure, Rocky Mountain States, Sierra Nevada, Ski & Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.