After the latest cycle of storms dropped 31 inches of snow in five days at Purgatory Resort, including 4 fresh inches on Tuesday, the mountain was able to open more trails and start spinning more lifts while its holiday visitors played in the powder.
Purgatory’s marketing director Amanda Anderson said the skiing recently has been, “Fantastic!”
“There are powder pockets hanging in the trees, groomers are all-time, and Lift 8 opened on Sunday,” Anderson said.
As of Tuesday, 98 of the resort’s 105 trails were open. Anderson said there wasn’t a magic number of snowfall that would allow Purgatory to open its last few runs.
“We expect to be 100% open in the near future,” she said.
“Last week’s heavy, dense snow helped fortify the man-made and natural snowfall on previously opened trails,” Anderson said. “Combined with today’s light and fluffy snow, the primary focus is ensuring everyone’s safety on the slopes by focusing on avalanche control work.”
The fresh snow also attracted lots of skiers and snowboarders to the mountain, even more so than during an average Christmas season.
“Typically it’s always busy around the holidays, and coupled with the fact that we have some of the most snow in the country right now, we are seeing an unprecedented demand this holiday season,” Anderson said.
With that in mind, she encouraged people to plan ahead before venturing up to the mountain.
“Plan ahead, reserve tickets, lessons and rental gear in advance,” Anderson said. “Carpool, get here early, and come with a full tank of patience! We are losing parking spaces now because all of the snow dumps are full. We have increased our snow removal equipment fleet by 50% from last year and still have not been able to keep up with all the new snow and demand.”
The mountain has opened one terrain park, the Headwaters progression park. Crews are working to build the Pitchfork Park this week, Anderson said.
Because of a staffing shortage, the ski area’s tubing hill is closed, but Anderson said Purgatory plans to offer tubing in the New Year.
Cat skiing with Purgatory Snowcat Adventures is expected to begin this week. Trips are on sale through Dec. 31.
For New Year’s Eve on Friday, the fireworks and torchlight parade traditions will continue at the mountain. Those events are scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
And more snow is coming.
“We are looking at another 3 feet in the next few days,” Anderson said. “Drive safe and please be patient with with our transportation and snow removal crew.”
Hesperus Ski Area on Tuesday reported 18 inches of snow in the past 72 hours, including 5 inches overnight. With a 30-inch base, all 26 of its trails are open.
“Hesperus is looking good with snow,” Anderson said. “(We) expect to add tubing in the next week or so.”
Silverton Mountain reported 55 inches of snow from the storm so far, bumping its base to 90 inches. The ski area will begin its guided season Thursday and operate Thursday through Sunday this season. Silverton could receive 10 to 20 inches by Friday, according to OpenSnow’s forecast.
