The race for “First to Open” is in the books for 2010. Loveland Ski Area officially started up their chairs yesterday at 9:00 AM to many onlookers including camera crews, a lift line full of grinning patrons and hoops and hollers from the three guys on the first chair.
The so called “white ribbon of death” was anything but with natural snow well mixed in with the man-made stuff making for a soft run down the trails Catwalk, Mambo and Homerun. The combined vertical feet of the one run was just over 1,000 and the distance just over a mile. Midway down the mountain, there were three boxes set up; a flat box, a c-box and a butter box for kids to hike and work on getting their jib legs back.
Ahmet Dadali and Mike Hornbeck were on site spinning laps and charging through the mini-park with the Freeskier Magazine staff and other shredders amped to get the Colorado season underway.
To top off the day, the parking lot was filled with beer, brats and hype, with people making plans to hit up A-Basin on Monday.
The cold, wintery weather provided a perfect backdrop to the launch of the season. Intermittent snow showers and cold temperatures mixed with brief patches of sun and warmth was the forecast of the day. More snow is in the cards for the next few weeks in the Rockies of Colorado with more and more resorts starting to spin their lifts in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned to find out who and when.
