There’s no official proclamation, but most anyone with a lift ticket dubs this weekend the big start to Colorado’s ski season. A storm of mountains will celebrate the season opening of their lifts with a storm of skiers and boarders storming to the storms. Stormety-storm.
If boots and bindings are on the feet, then storms are on the brain. Deliver the mountains snow. Storms of snow. Snow-filled snowstorms with snow chasers.
“There’s a good chance of snow in the mountains Saturday into Sunday,” Bob Glancy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, said Wednesday. “And another trough could come through next week.”
This week’s openings nearly doubled the number of open mountains. Crested Butte, Monarch and Steamboat turned on their lifts Wednesday. Aspen, Ski Cooper and Snowmass followed Thursday. And Purgatory takes in skiers today. The newly open mountains join Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, Wolf Creek, Keystone, Copper Mountain, Breckenridge, Winter Park, Eldora and Vail.
Eight more mountains are scheduled to open in the next two weeks. Let it storm.
“The whole year, that’s a real tough thing to forecast,” Glancy said. “But we’re in an El Niño pattern. Normally with El Niño, you can have a dry period at the lower elevations. But the mountains can be an entirely different story.”
Wolf Creek tops out on snow so far, with a 31-inch base. Four others have at least 20 inches. Not great, yet, but too early to judge.
“In the mountains, it’s a little harder to gauge the timing and impact of snow,” Glancy said. “El Niño over the whole year tends to give us a wetter year. We tend to get one or two bigger storms but, overall, not as many smaller storms.
“This winter we should expect a more normal snow. But that’s a tough call.”
The mountain resorts have until at least April — and as late as June — to compile more storms and snow before the lifts start closing
“Don’t give up hope,” Glancy said. “It’s gonna come and go. Stay tuned to the forecasts. Every little bit counts.”
AROUND TOWN
Dons put locals to test.
They might not be a college basketball powerhouse like, say, the Duke Blue Devils. But the San Francisco Dons have a storied history. Twice national champions, with an all-time roster that includes Bill Russell, Bill Cartwright and Forest Ray Maloney, the Dons can get it done. USF travels to Fort Collins for a Sunday game against Colorado State, with a 2 p.m. tipoff. The West Coast vs. Mountain West matchup should be an early test for both teams.
The Dons then travel to Boulder to take on Colorado on Tuesday. That game airs at 7 p.m. on FSN. The Rams follow by heading east to take on the red-hot and undefeated Northern Colorado Bears at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
STAY ON THE COUCH
Worth watching.
One of the great intrigues about college football is its tradition. While several NFL teams celebrate their 50th anniversaries this year, college teams go back much further. Witness Colorado’s hosting of Nebraska today at Folsom Field in Boulder. The game will close CU’s 120th season.
The game airs nationally on ABC (KMGH-7) at 1:30 p.m., with Ron Franklin on the play-by-play and Ed Cunningham doing color commentary. It will be the 14th consecutive national broadcast of the CU-Nebraska game, which, to the chagrin of some Cornhuskers fans, is now an entrenched post-Thanksgiving rivalry.
An alarming trend regarding the game has also cropped up. Too often in the game, the outcome goes toward deciding a coach’s fate. The Huskers’ Frank Solich was fired a day after losing in 2003 and Bill Callahan was gone within hours after losing to CU in 2007.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Turkeys far and few.
Where did all the holiday Turkey Trots go? The once-ubiquitous Thanksgiving- themed running races are few this season, with two notable exceptions.
The Fountain Creek Livewell 5K Turkey Burn will run through Fountain starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. The trail race starts at the Fountain Creek Nature Center on Pepper Grass Lane. Check elpasocounty for information.
Also Saturday, the Gobbler Chase Snowshoe Race runs through Copper Mountain starting at 11 a.m. The fun run kicks off at Burning Stones Plaza Center Village. Check -chase for info.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Keep on rolling.
After trouncing the hapless Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, the Nuggets return home tonight to face the nearly-as- hapless New York Knicks.
At 11-4, the Nuggets are off to their best start since 1985, when the team went 11-2 and finished 47-35. In only three previous seasons have the Nuggets won 11 of their first 15 games. And in two of those seasons Denver finished with at least 50 victories.
The Nuggets and Knicks tip off at 7 p.m., with the game airing on Altitude.
