{"id":1316920,"date":"2019-11-23T16:53:19","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T23:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=991179"},"modified":"2019-11-23T16:53:19","modified_gmt":"2019-11-23T23:53:19","slug":"aspen-mountain-snowmass-open-as-hundreds-rejoice-under-bluebird-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/aspen-mountain-snowmass-open-as-hundreds-rejoice-under-bluebird-skies\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Mountain, Snowmass open as hundreds rejoice under bluebird skies"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.3830508474576\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-991179-570\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-1-1024x678.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-1-1024x678.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8-1024x729.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"openingday-atd-112419-8 | People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>openingday-atd-112419-8<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8-1024x729.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/aspen-mountain-snowmass-open-as-hundreds-rejoice-under-bluebird-skies\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/aspen-mountain-snowmass-open-as-hundreds-rejoice-under-bluebird-skies\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>With hundreds of excited skiers and snowboarders filling the Aspen Mountain Gondola Plaza, some well before sunrise, the mountain opened Saturday with a fresh layer of powder and a high level of stoke.<\/p>\n<p>The first in line arrived at 6 a.m. at the Silver Queen Gondola, and nearly three hours later he and his buddies were the first to load to cheers and excitement.<\/p>\n<p>And the vibe was the same at Snowmass on the bluebird Saturday, but it just took a little longer to get there. Only about 10 people were in line when the Village Express lift loaded just before 8:30 a.m., but by 10 a.m. the limited terrain was filling up with skiers.<\/p>\n<p>Before the faithful loaded at Aspen Mountain, J.T. Welden gave the crowd a few pointers about the 150 acres for opening day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEarly-season conditions exist, so take it easy. It\u2019s gonna be a long season,\u201d Welden, the mountain manager, told the crowd. \u201cKeep an eye on one another. And I think at this point we should probably get to skiing and snowboarding!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And with that, the hundreds gathered on the plaza started to hoot, holler and whistle their approval. By the time the Silver Queen Gondola started loading at 8:45 a.m., the line was down the Gondola Plaza stairs and out to Durant Avenue, curving toward The Little Nell hotel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s done and we\u2019re open,\u201d Katie Ertl, Aspen Skiing Co. vice president of mountain operations said just minutes before the gondola opened. \u201cThe crews have done and amazing job. We are ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><noscript><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>Ertl and Welden said they would have \u201cflash openings\u201d of more terrain through the weekend at Aspen Mountain and into next week. Another snowstorm is expected to start Monday and last into Tuesday morning with forecasts of 4 to 8 inches.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday afternoon as ropes dropped on Bell Mountain, skiers were getting opening-day faceshots thanks to the nearly 14 inches of snow that fell at the end of the week.<\/p>\n<p>Welden said the snowmaking and snowcat crews did \u201ctheir usual amazing job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe guys were here most of the night. They took a few hours off and were back at it at 5 a.m. to clean up what snowmaking we had from overnight,\u201d said Welden, who is going into his second season as mountain manager at Ajax. \u201cEverything was buffed top to bottom. No surprises.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said the next move is to get Copper Bowl open and more of Bell Mountain. The Ruthie\u2019s area will be awhile and after they get the west side of the mountain settled.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p402_hide\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8-1024x729.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-991181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8-1024x729.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8-768x546.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8-1536x1093.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/11\/openingday-atd-112419-8.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption><strong>People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/><em>openingday-atd-112419-8<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Paul Crouse of Aspen showed up at 6 a.m. to start the line at the Silver Queen Gondola. His buddy Rob Skorr of Basalt scoped out the plaza well before dawn, then met up with Crouse a few hours later when he came knocking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got here at 3 a.m. and walked around for a little bit. I was like \u2018it\u2019s way too cold\u2019 so I went back to my car and got my sleeping bag and slept for a bit,\u201d Skorr said as they waited for the gondy to load. \u201cHe came up banging on my window about 6 a.m. He got over (to start the line) about 6, and I got here about 6:15.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The small group at Snowmass on opening day cheered and high-fived the lift operators waiting for them at the Village Express entrance. By 10 a.m., a larger crowd was making turns down the mountain, and by 11 a.m. there was a line for the lift.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a slower start for the first chair most likely due to the temperature and limited terrain, but there\u2019s a good crowd now,\u201d said Susan Cross, Snowmass mountain manager, at around 11 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>Cross said there will not be any more terrain opened this weekend other than the 60 acres under the bottom half of the Express lift and the Elk Meadows area atop Elk Camp Gondola.<\/p>\n<p>Cross, who also is in her second season as a mountain manager, added the goal is to up snowmaking so that they can open the Big Burn area this week. (Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk are scheduled to open Dec. 7.)<\/p>\n<p>For now, the Village Express chairlift will remain open to midway, providing access on trails down Fanny Hill. Cross and other Skico officials said further terrain opening updates would come through the Aspen-Snowmass app and website.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just so happy to see so many people out here with smiles on their faces, even with limited terrain,\u201d Cross said. \u201cIt makes it all worthwhile to see everyone so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/aspen-mountain-snowmass-open-as-hundreds-rejoice-under-bluebird-skies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times People enjoy opening day on Aspen Mountain on Saturday, November 23, 2019. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)openingday-atd-112419-8 Show CaptionsHide Captions With hundreds of excited skiers and snowboarders filling the Aspen Mountain Gondola Plaza, some well before sunrise, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 11:52:30","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}