Labor Day weekend ski sales have been a tradition in Colorado for decades, with roots dating back to the 1950s. After Christy Sports and Epic Mountain Gear changed their formats and timing in the years following the pandemic, both have returned to offering steep discounts on past seasons’ gear during the holiday weekend. We’re talking up to 50% or 60% off on skis, snowboards, boots, bindings and more.

Here’s what you need to know about both of those sales, as well as another at snow sports shop, evo Denver. And if you can’t make it this weekend, we’ve included a couple of additional opportunities where you can find fresh threads later in the fall.

Christy Sports

Deals abound at Christy Sports, whether you’re shopping online or in-person at one of its . The company is currently offering up to 50% off so-called “carryover” winter gear and apparel from the 2025-26 season. The length of the sale depends largely on the availability of inventory, so shopping sooner is better. The places to find the best selection in-person are the stores in Arvada, Boulder, Cherry Creek, and Littleton. Visit for more information.

Epic Mountain Gear

From Sept. 3 to 13, all Epic Mountain Gear stores will offer up to 60% off select winter gear and bikes, but you have to visit in-person to snag these discounts. Owner Vail Resorts has some extra incentives to bring out buyers, including pop-up parties this weekend. On Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m., the Aurora and Boulder stores will have live DJs, food, and beer from Outer Range Brewing Co. to loosen those wallets. Additionally, Epic Pass holders get 20% off when they spend at least $400 and other perks like priority boot fittings. Find other locations and more information at .

evo Denver

Gear shop evo Denver promises up to 50% off apparel, bikes and, of course, ski and snowboard gear to folks who shop both online and in-person. Deals run from now until Sept. 8, at 860 Broadway and .

Gear Swap at New Terrain Brewing Co.

Golden’s New Terrain Brewing Co. is making a party of winter shopping on Sept. 27 when it hosts a gear swap. From noon to 4 p.m., locals are invited to sell used gear or buy a new kit while also perusing outdoor vendors like Never Summer and SMITH Optics. Local band Rapidgrass will cater tunes for this free event. For more information about how to register as a seller, visit .

Eldora Mountain Ski & Snowboard Club sample sale

On Oct. 9 and 10, the Eldora Mountain Ski & Snowboard Club and Singletrack Mountain Bike Adventures host their biggest fundraiser of the year, selling new gear at prices worth camping out for. Seriously, the organizations say in-the-know locals line up before the doors open on opening night to get first dibs on the goods, from helmets and hiking shoes and boots to base layers. The event comes to The Avalon Ballroom, at 6185 Arapahoe Rd. in Boulder, on Oct. 9 from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Oct. 10 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Proceeds benefit the organizations’ youth programming efforts. Find more information at .

On Tuesday, Vail Resorts announced its anticipated opening dates for the 2026-27 ski season, as enthusiasm for a possible Super El Niño drives hopes for a powdery winter.

Breckenridge Ski Resort is the first scheduled to open on Nov. 6, followed by Vail Mountain on Nov. 13, and Beaver Creek Resort and Crested Butte Mountain Resort on Nov. 25. As always, Keystone Resort will open as soon as possible in October in hopes of being the first place available for skiing in Colorado. (Lifts started turning on Oct. 25 last year.)

“While no one can predict exactly what Mother Nature will deliver, the possibility of blockbuster snowfall has us feeling optimistic about the winter ahead,” Bill Rock, president of Vail Resorts’ Mountain Division, said in a statement. “And while we’d love to see Super El Niño live up to the hype, we’re also taking an aggressive approach to snowmaking to ensure this ski season is one to remember.”

Vail Resorts is hoping to bounce back after a lackluster 2025-26, during which visitation to its resorts dropped 12.5% due to abysmal snow conditions. That����ap one reason the company has invested more than $100 million in snowmaking throughout its network of resorts over the past 10 years. New this season, Vail is ramping up “white glove” amenities and elevating its food offerings to keep loyal guests coming back.

Vail, of course, wasn’t alone in experiencing a dry winter. This upcoming season, Colorado resorts hope to see the effects of a Super El Niño, which is favoring above-average snowfall throughout much of the state, .

El Niño conditions are often linked to periodic warming in sea-surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. OpenSnow’s recent predictions, prepared by meteorologist Alan Smith, call for a likelihood of above-average temperatures for much of North America this winter. Still, there’s hope, he wrote.

“Last winter was exceptionally warm — the warmest on record for a large portion of the West, and it’s unlikely it will be that warm again this winter even if this above-average outlook verifies,” Smith said.

The Farmers’ Almanac also recently released its winter forecast, calling for that is expected to bring “heavier-than-normal precipitation from California and the Southwest eastward through Texas, the Gulf Coast, and the Southeast.”

Perhaps it����ap never too early to get on Ullr’s good side.

On Tuesday, the ski company announced new initiatives intended to enhance its guest experience, from upgrading ingredients in its most popular mountain eats to adding more convenient features to the My Epic app. It����ap all part of a multi-year vision — formally called Epic Experience — that seeks to attract tourists to Vail Resorts properties on the heels of a difficult ski season.

Skiers visits to Vail properties during the 2025-26 fell 12.5% compared to the winter prior, the company previously said, thanks to abysmal snowfall in Colorado and across much of the Mountain West. Additionally, early Epic Pass purchases had declined 10% as of June.

While Vail Resorts has focused many years on building its network of resorts across the globe to give Epic Pass holders the choice of 42 different places to ski, the company is now investing in the onsite experience to build customer loyalty, CEO Rob Katz said in a statement Tuesday.

“The next chapter of growth for Vail Resorts is about delivering a guest experience that undeniably leads the ski industry and is best in class in the travel sector,” Katz said. “Epic Experience is about using the strength of our integrated model and leveraging our scale and technology to make every part of the mountain journey more seamless, personalized and memorable.”

Amenities for lessons and gear

That mission includes giving guests luxury treatment when they book private ski lessons through a new program called Epic Ascent. Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek will serve as test sites for the new program this upcoming winter, which offers tourists “high-touch customer support and a dedicated concierge to coordinate every detail of their overall trip, like dining reservations, transportation coordination and white-glove gear rental,” the announcement states.

Epic Ascent is expected to roll out to more locations by the 2027-28 season.

Vail Resorts is also planning to expand the initiative, which gives skiers a unique opportunity to rent gear ahead of time and have it delivered to wherever they are staying. Visitors who choose to demo newer models of skis and snowboards at certain resorts will be able to do so without paying the usual My Epic Gear membership fee. (Memberships cost $50 in previous seasons.)

Participating resorts include Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Whistler Blackcomb, Park City, Crested Butte, Heavenly, Northstar, Stowe, Okemo, and Mount Snow.

Upgraded food and app features

Beyond lessons and gear rentals, Vail Resorts will invest in the food options at 15 of its properties, including Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte in Colorado. Menus will still feature ski day staples like chili, burgers, pizza, fries, hot dogs, chicken fingers, and mac and cheese, which the company says make up the majority of food sales. However, guests can expect a “significant investment” in higher-quality ingredients and more elevated food presentation.

Burgers, for example, will soon be topped with and pecan-smoked bacon, and served on brioche buns with waffle fries and a signature sauce. Vail Mountain, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Whistler Blackcomb will also offer signature dishes that “reflect the energy, culture and character of each resort,” the company said. Prices are not expected to increase beyond normal inflation, it added.

To make on-mountain activities more convenient, Vail Resorts is adding new features to the My Epic app, such as the ability to purchase lift tickets and transfer buddy passes to friends and family. The app will also integrate Apple Pay and Google Pay.

In the future, Vail Resorts anticipates skiers will also be able to purchase lessons, reserve gear rentals and plan trip itineraries, assisted by AI, directly within its app.

“Exceptional experience is not one moment — it is the standard we want guests to feel across their entire journey,” Katz said in the announcement. “From the food, lessons and gear that shape a day on the mountain to how we communicate with and support our guests, we are focused on removing friction, elevating the experience and creating more moments that inspire guests to return.”

“Weather conditions remained extremely unfavorable in the third quarter,” chief executive Rob Katz is quoted as saying in the report, “adding to what had already been one of the most challenging winters in history across the western U.S., driving continued pressure on visitation and revenue in the quarter, particularly at our destination resorts in the Rockies.”

Vail Resorts owns 37 North American ski areas, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge and Crested Butte in Colorado. Last week, Colorado Ski Country USA announced that the projected statewide decline in skier days for the 2025-26 season is 24%.

Vail Resorts also reported a 10% decrease in pass product sales for the 2026-27 season.

“While any decline in pass sales is disappointing, it is not surprising given the severity of this past season’s conditions, and we are encouraged that third-party data indicates our spring pass results are meaningfully outperforming others in the industry during this period,” Katz said. “We believe the challenging conditions have delayed purchase decisions, creating the opportunity for improved pass performance in the fall selling season and/or ultimately through lift ticket purchases during next season.

“Historical U.S. ski market data indicates that visitation typically fully recovers following a season with poor conditions if the subsequent season has normal conditions,” he added, “and we believe we are well positioned to capture that visitation with the pass and lift ticket product and marketing strategies we have developed.”

Colorado Ski Country USA projects that skier visits statewide declined nearly 24%, from 13.8 million during the 2024-25 season to 10.5 million this season. The record for Colorado is 14.8 million, which was set in 2022-23. Colorado resorts hit 14 million in 2023-24, the second most in state history.

Colorado Ski Country, the state’s ski industry trade association, represents 21 member resorts, but they do not include the five Vail Resorts mountains (Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte). Wolf Creek is also not a member. But Vail Resorts reported in April that skier visits to its resorts in the Rocky Mountain region fell by 25% year over year, while its total visits to all of its North American resorts declined 14.9% compared to the prior year. Lift revenue was down 5.6%, ski school revenue was down 12%, and dining revenue was down 11.7%.

Ski Country announced this year’s figures — using metrics to factor in estimated skier visits at the non-member resorts — to come up with a “projected preliminary statewide” number, which it announced at Thursday’s annual meeting in Denver.

In a news release, Ski Country said every visitor segment declined — in-state, out-of-state and international — and the average number of days resorts were able to operate declined from the 20-year average of 144 days to 129 days. Visits declined more than 20% below the five-year and 10-year averages.

“This year revealed the experience, dedication, and grit of Colorado’s resorts and the teams behind them,” Ski Country chief executive Melanie Mills said in the release. “Their work supports mountain economies, keeps people connected to the mountains, and sustains the experience that generations of Coloradans and visitors come here to share. Skier visits are an important metric, but they are far from the only measure of the health of our industry.”

The ski-in/ski-out project is the largest real estate development project in Summit County in recent history and the newest addition to .

The over 320,000-square-foot mixed-use development will include 107 guest rooms and spread across two towers, with homes ranging from one to four bedrooms.

Amenities will feature a private club, spa, meeting and event space, 25,000 square feet of retail, ski school and three restaurants.

“Colorado is our home, and we had a special opportunity to create a legacy project and give back to our community,” said Ryan Geller, Partner with Kindred Development Team.

The resort will debut several food and beverage concepts in stages. Kindred Spirits, the lobby bar and lounge, opened May 7, and Lula’s Restaurant will debut May 15. Two independently owned and operated venues, The Goodz Tavern, an alpine tavern, and Kinji Sushi, will open Memorial Day weekend.

The property will also feature an extensive art collection of more than 200 pieces by Mountain West artists, including 70 original and site-specific pieces. Installations include floor-to-ceiling murals and hand-carved Aspen furnishings placed throughout the resort.

“Keystone Resort is a mountain that immerses visitors in every season, from skiing and snow tubing in winter to the festivals, biking, and golf in summer. With Kindred, we’ve finally built a luxury home base to match,” said Dan Dohner, general manager of Kindred Resort.

Plans for the have been around for decades. The resort was to open in 2025, however, Geller said it����ap not uncommon for a project of this scope and size to take extra time.

“Kindred was designed and built as a multi-stage project,” he said.

“We’re in the final stages of construction and approvals for the second phase, Kindred’s East Tower.”

The is a partnership between Colorado-based developers and hospitality leaders, as well as Interland, a global firm with a portfolio that includes Fox Park in Denver. The team has developed more than $4 billion in mixed-use, hospitality and residential projects across Aspen, Vail, Summit County, Mexico and beyond.

RockResorts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vail Resorts, provides accommodations in Park City, Utah; Vail; Beaver Creek; Breckenridge; and now Keystone.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in John Litterer v. Vail Summit Resorts Inc. on April 16 at a high school in Holyoke. The case could further test the limits of the liability waivers ski resorts require customers to sign when buying passes. It comes two years after the state’s highest court ruled in another case, Miller v. Crested Butte, that the blanket waivers do not protect resorts in all cases when a customer is injured.

Litterer sued Vail Summit Resorts Inc., a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, which owns the Epic Pass, six ski resorts in Colorado and dozens across the U.S. and the world. He claims he was hit by an employee driving a snowmobile around a “blind corner” at Breckenridge in 2020.

Complicating the case is that Litterer twice clicked through online waivers agreeing he would not sue Vail Resorts: first, when he purchased the Epic Pass for the 2020-21 season, the year he was injured; then, when he purchased an Epic Pass for the 2022-23 season after he had recovered enough to snowboard and while his litigation was still ongoing.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear Litterer’s case after the Summit County District Court and Colorado Court of Appeals had both dismissed it, determining that Litterer gave up his claims to sue when he signed the liability waiver during his second pass purchase.

Read the full story from our partner at .

Skier visits at the company’s North American resorts declined 14.9% compared to the prior year. Lift revenue was down 5.6%, ski school revenue was down 12%, and dining revenue was down 11.7%.

But in the company’s Rocky Mountain region, skier visits declined 25%.

Based in Broomfield, Vail Resorts owns 37 resorts and regional ski areas across North America, including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Crested Butte in Colorado. Also included in the company’s Rocky Mountain region is Park City Mountain Resort in Utah.

Colorado’s other ski resorts are privately held, so they don’t disclose information about their financial performance. Vail Resorts is publicly held, so the information is available through company reports to its investors.

“The winter of 2025/2026 has been one of the most challenging winters in history across the western U.S., with record low snowfall and historically warm temperatures negatively impacting visitation and spending throughout the season,” chief executive Rob Katz is quoted as saying in the report. “March conditions saw a continuation of low snowfall and warmer temperatures well outside of historical norms, leading to weaker late-season visitation and earlier than planned closures for many resorts across the western U.S.”

Numerous Colorado resorts closed before their projected closing dates. Vail Mountain closed on April 8, 11 days early, and Beaver Creek closed two weeks early on March 29. Breckenridge, which was scheduled to close in May, shut down on April 19.

After Loveland closes on Sunday, only two Colorado ski areas will remain open, Copper Mountain and Arapahoe Basin. They both plan to close on May 3.

Colorado Ski Country USA will release skier visit totals for the season in June. That number was 13.8 million in 2024-25, the state’s third-highest total.

In other ways, however, the season can be considered a success — Vail Resorts reported only modest declines in lift revenue despite the worst-case weather scenario, and the company also said it received high satisfaction scores in the surveys it conducted with guests.

Visitation was down 13% at Vail Resorts properties through Jan. 31, but total lift revenue was down only 2.9%, due to pre-sold 2025-26 passes reaching a total sales revenue that was 3% higher than last season’s pre-sold passes. Low snow years like this one show how the company’s shift toward pre-sold passes and away from walk-up window tickets demonstrates “the resilience of the business model,” Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz told investors on March 9.

With less-reliable powder days, Colorado ski resorts invest in snowmaking, push preseason pass sales

Vail Mountain’s official U.S. Department of Agriculture Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) snowpack measuring site goes back to the 1978-79 season, and prior to this season, the mountain’s lowest snowpack occurred during the 2011-12 season. .

Resort officials announced the change Friday and said Vail will close for the season on Wednesday, more than a week ahead of the scheduled April 19 closure.

Despite a fresh foot of snow from a Thursday night storm, Vail officials said warm temperatures and spring conditions caused them to call the season.

“We’re incredibly grateful to our teams across the mountain who made the most of every opportunity and kept things going through a challenging winter, especially these past few weeks,” the resort said in a post on .

Vail will join the ranks of 17 ski areas that already closed or are set to close this weekend after scraping through a season marked by Colorado’s worst snowpack since statewide recordkeeping began in 1941.

Climate scientists expect Colorado’s ski season will be several weeks shorter in the coming decades, with climate change causing snow quality to worsen and precipitation to fall more often as rain rather than snow.