Conditions are looking decidedly snowy in Colorado a year on from the start of one of the worst winters for snowfall in the famous ski state's recent history, raising hopes that 2018-19 will be very different to 2017-18.
The ski season started early on October 13th when Wolf Creek was the first resort to open in North America for the season after a 75cm snowfall. It has kept snowing since with Loveland, one of three areas now open, reporting 45cm more snow in the past 72 hours, and powder conditions.
This time last year only Arapahoe Basin, one of the three Colorado areas currently open, had managed to do so and the bigger resorts that aim to open from early November were beginning to announce postponements as a warm, dry autumn took hold, ahead of a warm dry winter, which only really ended in early-March when snow started falling heavily for the last month of the season.
This year everything looks set for two of the state's larger resorts, Breckenridge (pictured top yesterday) and Keystone to open this coming weekend with Copper, Vail and others lined up the weekend after.
Many US areas target the Thanksgiving holidays in late November as an ideal time to be open to start the season off with good sales, and this year that's looking much more promising, so far, in Colorado.