Colorado Ski Resorts Expecting 6-12 Inches This Week

The snow is set to arrive this evening and tomorrow, hitting Colorado ski areas with a solid spring refresh. 

OpenSnow, a forecasting service popular amongst skiers, feels similarly bullish about the storm. At Loveland Ski Area, Colorado, they predict as much as 14 inches of snow this week. Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, could see 11 inches.

At some closed resorts in North America, the storm would've been too little too late—it's April, after all. 

But Colorado boasts numerous ski areas that plan to remain open into May or, in the case of A-Basin, maybe later. Loveland will spin the lifts until May 12th, and A-Basin has its eyes tentatively set on June 4th, although the resort doesn't commit to closing dates far in advance. 

The late-season April snowstorm is a confusing, perhaps divisive part of the skiing experience. By the time spring rolls around, some skiers are ready for it to be, y'know, spring—blizzards tend to get in the way of rocking t-shirts and sliding ponds. Or, at the very least, they make those end-of-season traditions less pleasant.

In the other camp stands the powder-or-die folks. They'd willingly be snowed in by a mid-July blizzard if it meant they could squeeze in a few more fresh turns, cookouts, swimming, and mountain biking, be darned.

Like the April weather, I'm more indecisive, unsure of my place in the great spring skiing debate. Powder or slush? That's the question.

The last two closing days at Montana Snowbowl—where I ski—have been opposites, falling on either side of the April conditions spectrum.

During 2023, I wrapped up the season riding slush in a t-shirt. This year, the coin flipped the other direction when an April storm delivered some of the best snow conditions we'd seen in an otherwise challenging season.

I recall telling someone that I wasn't sure how to feel as I enjoyed the last lift-accessed turns of this winter. Yes, the snow is surprisingly great, but I was hoping for at least one round of proper spring skiing, I said. The lack of lines eventually swayed me towards appreciating the fresh snow. 

It's true: when storms hit in the late season, it pays to be one of the few skiers who haven't moved on to more seasonally appropriate activities. Colorado skiers, keep your tips up—that adage might apply to you this week.