Triple-digit heat only recently left Denver, but it’s time to start thinking snow.
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On Tuesday, Vail Resorts announced its anticipated opening dates for the 2026-27 ski season, as enthusiasm for a possible Super El Niño drives hopes for a powdery winter.
Breckenridge Ski Resort is the first scheduled to open on Nov. 6, followed by Vail Mountain on Nov. 13, and Beaver Creek Resort and Crested Butte Mountain Resort on Nov. 25. As always, Keystone Resort will open as soon as possible in October in hopes of being the first place available for skiing in Colorado. (Lifts started turning on Oct. 25 last year.)
“While no one can predict exactly what Mother Nature will deliver, the possibility of blockbuster snowfall has us feeling optimistic about the winter ahead,” Bill Rock, president of Vail Resorts’ Mountain Division, said in a statement. “And while we’d love to see Super El Niño live up to the hype, we’re also taking an aggressive approach to snowmaking to ensure this ski season is one to remember.”
Vail Resorts is hoping to bounce back after a lackluster 2025-26, during which visitation to its resorts dropped 12.5% due to abysmal snow conditions. That’s one reason the company has invested more than $100 million in snowmaking throughout its network of resorts over the past 10 years. New this season, Vail is ramping up “white glove” amenities and elevating its food offerings to keep loyal guests coming back.
Vail, of course, wasn’t alone in experiencing a dry winter. This upcoming season, Colorado resorts hope to see the effects of a Super El Niño, which is favoring above-average snowfall throughout much of the state, according to predictions from OpenSnow.
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El Niño conditions are often linked to periodic warming in sea-surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. OpenSnow’s recent predictions, prepared by meteorologist Alan Smith, call for a likelihood of above-average temperatures for much of North America this winter. Still, there’s hope, he wrote.
“Last winter was exceptionally warm — the warmest on record for a large portion of the West, and it’s unlikely it will be that warm again this winter even if this above-average outlook verifies,” Smith said.
The Farmers’ Almanac also recently released its winter forecast, calling for “a very active southern storm track” that is expected to bring “heavier-than-normal precipitation from California and the Southwest eastward through Texas, the Gulf Coast, and the Southeast.”
Perhaps it’s never too early to get on Ullr’s good side.
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