Wolf Creek Ski Area opens today

Wolf Creek Ski Area opens today

Oct. 28, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

The 2000-2001 snow skiing/snowboard season opens today, Oct. 28, at Wolf Creek Ski Area. It is the first ski area in Southwestern Colorado and the first in the entire state to open for the season.

Deanna McKelvy, snow reporter for the Wolf Creek Ski Area, announced the area was opening four chairlifts.

"It has been snowing hard up here from this storm," she said. "It has been snowing off-and-on since Sunday."

Wolf Creek has an all-natural snow depth of 28 inches at the summit and 23 inches at midway. Some 16 inches had fallen on Tuesday and another four on Wednesday. Another storm was expected into the Four Corners area today, according to the National Weather Service. Up to a foot of snow is possible over the higher terrain. The storm is expected to linger into Sunday, Oct. 29, and another is expected to move into the area by late Monday, Oct. 30, or on Halloween, Tuesday, Oct. 31.

"Early season conditions are great," she added. "There is quite a bit of snow on top but the bottom is a little thin in places especially along steeper slopes."

Four chairlifts, Nova, Dicky, Bonanza and Treasure, will be operating today with at least 10 runs open, including Divide, Turnpike, upper and lower Powder Puff, Treasure, Legs, lower Alberta, Silver Streak, Tranquility, Navajo Trail and Kelly Boyce.

The Alberta Quad will not be open, though. The adult all-day lift ticket is $38 and $25 for children aged 12 or younger.

The Wolf Creek Lodge will be open with a limited menu along with the Pathfinder Bar. The ski school, rental department, and sport shop will also be open.

Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort, Telluride Resort, and Ski Hesperus are not open. Telluride is scheduled to open Nov. 21 and Purgatory is set to open Nov. 23. However, Purgatory and Telluride are making snow during the late-evening hours on a daily basis to build a base. Wolf Creek and Hesperus rely totally on Mother Nature.

Despite the reputation for Southwest Colorado to have outstanding ski conditions, snowfall was somewhat hard to come by last season. At Wolf Creek, November and December were lost to poor conditions but January started a recovery and February matched the previous year for skier days and March set a new attendance record for the month. Telluride had fairly good conditions during November and December thanks some early storms but January and February saw attendance drop off with a good six weeks to end the season in mid-April. Purgatory also struggled with attendance throughout much of the year because of poor snow conditions. Hesperus never did open.

Several improvements were made during the off-season. Several new trails off Alberta Peak have been cut. And on-going improvements include paving of the upper parking lot. But several projects were completed during 1999-2000 season including the new Alberta Quad lift which opened last Jan. 30. The Wolf Pup Building, which houses the Wolf Pup Program, opened in February. Other projects included remodeling of the Prospector Grill, underground burial of all power lines, and completion of the vehicle maintenance building, located across from the ski area.

Night skiing for beginners will now be the norm at Durango Mountain Resort.

The resort’s novice Columbine area added five new lights to the eight lights already serving the Alpine Snowcoaster – a tubing hill that opened in 1997. The five acres of lighted area will be used by guests who have just arrived and want to refresh their skiing ability before heading straight for the mountain’s 2,500 acres of ski terrain.

More lighting would also be a bonus for locals who could learn to ski after work or bring their kids up to ski for a few hours before bed.

Visitors have been asking for more night activities at the resort, so the night skiing was developed along with a star gazing program to take people to the top of the mountain with telescopes and an astronomer.

There are no plans to light any of the resort’s upper terrain or terrain serviced by Lift 7, which takes skiers and snowboarders to the base of the mountain.

Hours of night skiing will be from 5-8 p.m. Terrain will be groomed between 4-5 p.m. so every night will begin with a freshly groomed surface.

Hesperus Ski Area Inc. just off of U.S. Highway 160 also offers night skiing in La Plata County but Purgatory’s small, beginner-type service should not impact Hesperus’ more advanced hill. Purgatory operation is more of a beginning ski-school type opportunity for skiers.

Telluride Mountain’s Gold Hill and Prospect Basin expansion is slated to open this ski season. Telski Corp. spent some $3 million last summer on construction of trails and infrastructure preparation for planned two lifts which will be build in summer of 2001. When completed, the new expansion will nearly double the skiable terrain at the resort.

The people at Durango Mountain Resort have been busy. A new management team has taken over. They renamed Purgatory to Durango Mountain Resort. The first priority was to enhance and improve the Purgatory Village and mountain experience with many creature comforts. The most significant of those improvements is the installation of a new high-speed, six passenger super chair that will move skiers and snowboarders to the top of the mountain in only six minutes.

In addition, the resort added more programs for children and families, increased après ski entertainment and atmosphere, upgraded restaurants, improved ski schools and terrain parks, and expanded the direct air service.

The master plan has been updated and features additional development to both the mountain and the village that includes an array of real estate opportunities ranging from condominiums to single family homes.