Up to 2 feet of snow fell in Aspen and many other ski areas in Colorado were blanketed as well as a wintry storm hit the state.
Winter storm and heavy snow warnings were in effect for metro Denver, northern Colorado, the northeastern plains and the Colorado Springs area.
In the mountains Tuesday, World Cup organizers canceled a men’s downhill practice at the Beaver Creek resort near Vail, saying the racers–who can exceed 70 mph–couldn’t see far enough ahead through the heavy snowfall. They also cited the threat of avalanches if the new accumulation slides off the icy, hard-packed base.
“It’s a big one, a really big one today,” Hanzi Arnold, a food and beverage manager at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen, said Tuesday.
The National Weather Service said 2 feet of snow fell in Aspen. Up to 14 inches fell near Montrose and 10 inches was reported near Avon, National Weather Service forecaster Gerry Smith said.
“Any snowstorm is a welcome snowstorm, but to get a late November snowstorm like this is fantastic,” said Molly Cuffe, a spokeswoman for the industry group Colorado Ski Country USA.
The closely watched mountain snowpack, which provides most of Colorado’s water, ranged from 66 percent to 120 percent of the historical average Wednesday. The statewide average was 92 percent.
But the storm also was a factor in several deadly car accidents. Authorities said slick roads contributed to the crash of a minivan Tuesday night that left four people dead and as many as 11 injured in a suspected immigrant-smuggling operation.
A 10-year-old boy was killed Tuesday night when a pickup skidded off a snow-packed highway and rolled. A collision Wednesday morning that left one person dead may also have been weather-related, authorities said.
