DENVER-
A storm dumped up to a foot of snow in the Colorado mountains Tuesday, and more was expected Wednesday.
Between 5 and 12 inches of snow had fallen by Tuesday evening in the mountains and foothills along the Front Range and another 1 to 4 inches were possible overnight, the National Weather Service said.
In western Colorado, between 8 and 16 inches were expected by Wednesday afternoon above 9,000 feet, said Dan Zumpfe of the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.
Aspen Skiing Co. reported 16 inches of new snow at Snowmass, including some snow that started falling Monday evening. Aspen and Snowmass are not set to open until Thanksgiving but company spokeswoman Kristin Rust said they would be sending out e-mails about the snow to customers in hopes they would make reservations for this winter.
“It’s snowing like crazy right now,” Rust said. “It’s like January–huge snowflakes, it’s sticking. It’s winter.”
At Loveland ski area, one of two resorts open in Colorado so far, Steph Pierce, 23, of Avon and two of her friends said the 7 inches of new, fluffy snow were a lot nicer to ski on than the hard-packed, manmade snow that they found at the beginning of the season last year.
“We all had the day off from work. The snow was an added bonus,” said Pierce, a waitress who moved to Colorado from Boston partly so she could ski more.
With Loveland only 53 miles west of Denver, resort spokeswoman Kathryn Johnson said snow falling along the Front Range could have a more immediate impact on business there.
“If it snows for our core people at their houses, they definitely think about us a little bit more,” she said.
Arapahoe Basin, which is also popular with skiers and snowboarders from the Front Range, also opened earlier this month, the first in the nation to open its slopes.
That followed back-to-back snowstorms in September that dumped up to 3 feet of snow in the mountains.
The storm, which brought the first snow of the season to Denver, hampered east-west travel across Colorado after semitrailers stuck in the snow forced the closure of Interstate 70 at Georgetown, including westbound lanes leading to the Eisenhower Tunnel. Traffic was backed up 2 to 3 miles at times.
Rescuers in Garfield County looking for a missing hunter called for snowmobiles after more than a foot of snow fell in the area. Snow was falling so fast, rescuers were unable to find tracks they could follow, Garfield County Sheriff’s Deputy Evan Mead said.
Surviving the ordeal would depend on the missing hunter’s outdoor skills, he said.
“With snow the great insulator, all you need is a candle to stay warm, if you know how to build a shelter,” he said. “It all depends on him.”
In Routt County, searchers were also looking for a second William Porter, 54, of Prospect who was last seen Monday when he went out to get an elk he had shot on Sugarloaf Mountain, said Darrel Levingston, Routt County Search and Rescue.
