Denver’s Ruby Hill Rail Yard for skiers and snowboarders closed for the season on Sunday due to warm temperatures and deteriorating conditions after only a month in operation.
Launched in 2007 as North America’s first urban winter terrain park, with snowmaking equipment provided by city-owned Winter Park Resort, Ruby Hill usually opens in early to mid-January and remains open until mid- to late March. This year, though, it opened on Feb. 1 and closed on March 1.
“It is shorter than we have been open historically,” said Stephanie Figueroa, spokeswoman for Denver Parks and Recreation. “Obviously, it was because of weather. This year was a unique year, it’s been a very warm winter. We had to wait until there was enough cold for us to open, then the same on the back end — it’s been way too warm. All the ice is melting and turning into slush, so we had to close it.”
