\n <\/p>\n
Wolf Creek Ski Area east of Pagosa Springs has been open on weekends for three weeks. The ski area now is open every day.<\/p>\n
New this year is a detachable four-person \u201cquad\u201d chair. The Treasure Stoke lift replaces Treasure, a first-generation triple chair that proved cumbersome for skiers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would stop and start a lot because people would have trouble loading and unloading,\u201d said Rosanne Pitcher, vice president of marketing and sales. \u201cIt was just time to replace it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lift, which cost about $5 million, serves intermediate and expert terrain.<\/p>\n
Unlike DMR, Wolf Creek has only four snow guns, which it uses to cover beginner terrain at the base area. Wolf Creek tends to receive among the most snow of any Colorado ski area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really depend on the natural snow, although the man-made snow helps us out on the beginner terrain there,\u201d Pitcher said.<\/p>\n
Wolf Creek had received four feet of snow for the season by Thursday.<\/p>\n
Wolf Creek also improved the ticket office with new windows for customers.<\/p>\n
Adult lift tickets cost $58. Local days cost $38, and there are three this month \u2013 Wednesday, Nov. 20 and Nov. 24. Season passes now are $786.<\/p>\n
SILVERTON MOUNTAIN<\/p>\n
The expert ski area outside of Silverton is offering overnight backcountry heli-skiing trips for the first time, becoming the only ski area in Colorado to do so.<\/p>\n
Similar trips are popular in Canada, said Silverton Mountain manager Aaron Brill.<\/p>\n
The helicopter will take skiers and a guide to a remote basin near Animas Forks. Skiers then will ski down untouched snow to a camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s usually no other users out there because it\u2019s so remote,\u201d said Brill.<\/p>\n
The trips cost $429 per person per day with a minimum of four people.<\/p>\n
Silverton Mountain is scheduled to open Dec. 21. The ski area has found skiers tend to show up in small numbers before then, Brill said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the early-season snow trend is spectacular, then we might open earlier,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
DURANGO MOUNTAIN<\/p>\n
Durango Mountain Resort is deploying 16 new snow guns this month in a bid to ensure better early-season conditions for skiers on the mountain\u2019s heavily trafficked front side.<\/p>\n
After a dry beginning to the 2012-13 season, Purgatory wanted to open the front side\u2019s \u201csix-pack\u201d \u2013 the resort\u2019s highest-capacity and fastest chairlift \u2013 earlier in the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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