Loveland opens 7 November with $60 tickets, Copper follows on Sunday 8 November

The north side of Loveland Ski Area, Colorado. Photo: Mitch Bennett via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Loveland Ski Area opens its 2026/27 season on Saturday 7 November 2026 at about 10 a.m., with a $60 adult day ticket to mark 60 years of snowmaking. Copper Mountain, which postponed its Friday opening on 5 November, now opens on Sunday 8 November at 9 a.m. Breckenridge, delayed on the same day, still has no date as of Saturday morning.

• Loveland runs the Chet's Dream lift from about 10 a.m. on Saturday 7 November on Catwalk, Mambo and Home Run, nearly 1,000 vertical feet.
• Opening-day tickets cost $60 for adults at the window; the ski area calls it a tribute to 60 years of snowmaking.
• Copper Mountain's American Eagle lift starts at 9 a.m. on Sunday 8 November, two days later than planned.
• Breckenridge has announced no new date; its website says "Breck to open ASAP".
• Colorado then has four areas open: Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Loveland and Copper. Wolf Creek stays closed after the flood.

Loveland Ski Area, on the east side of the Eisenhower Tunnel, announced its opening on Friday 6 November. Summit Daily reports that the Chet's Dream lift starts around 10 a.m. on Saturday 7 November and serves Catwalk, Mambo and Home Run, top to bottom, with nearly 1,000 vertical feet. Rentals, private lessons and child care are available, and a band plays on the Basin Patio in the afternoon.

The price is the hook. Adults pay $60 at the window on opening day. "This season also marks 60 years of snowmaking at Loveland and to honor that legacy, we're offering $60 adult day lift tickets for opening day," said Rob Goodell, senior vice president and chief operating officer, in the press release quoted by SnowBrains. The same release puts the child ticket (ages 6 to 14) at $40, says the snow guns have run since 15 October and that the system covers more than 240 acres. Loveland Valley and the ski school open on 20 November.

Adventure Sports Network adds the forecast: clear skies and crisp temperatures on Saturday, and a possible pattern change with snow late in the week of 9 November. One caution from the release itself: there is no dedicated beginner terrain on opening day.

Copper Mountain was due to open on Friday 6 November. On Thursday 5 November the resort postponed. "Much of the moisture we have received at Copper this fall has been rain with limited snow reaching our village areas," communications manager Olivia Butrymovich wrote to Summit Daily, and the resort could not guarantee a safe early-season surface by Friday. We covered that day in our report of 6 November.

On Friday 6 November the new date followed. The resort's own event page lists "26/27 Opening Day" for Sunday 8 November, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with hot cocoa and snacks in the morning and swag for the first 50 people in the lift line. Summit Daily names the terrain: the American Eagle lift in Center Village, the Rhapsody, Fair Play and Main Vein trails, and a hike-to terrain park at the top of the lift. More terrain follows as conditions allow.

Breckenridge, which delayed its 6 November opening the same morning, had announced no new date by Saturday morning. Its homepage reads "ULLR! ULLR! Breck to open ASAP." Unofficial Networks quotes the resort's Instagram: "Every Kingdom is built on a strong foundation, and ours needs just a few more inches."

Sources: Summit Daily (5 and 6 November), Unofficial Networks, the resorts' own pages. Wolf Creek's website says the area stays closed until the communities on both sides of Wolf Creek Pass can recover; our San Juans storm report has the background.

The snow behind the openings is thin. Summit Daily's snow report of 5 November, with OpenSnow figures, gives about 4 inches at Copper, Breckenridge and Beaver Creek on the night of 4 November, 2 inches at Vail and 1 inch at Arapahoe Basin, Keystone and Winter Park. The openings rest on snowmaking, which needs cold nights.

Mt. Rose in Nevada opened on Friday 6 November, and Mammoth Mountain in California opened on 5 November, as we reported in our Mammoth piece. Brian Head in Utah postponed its 6 November opening without a new date, see our Brian Head article. No Utah resort opens on 7 or 8 November.

Three runs on machine-made snow, firm in the morning and soft by noon, ask for a ski that holds an edge on a hard groomer and forgives a soft one. A carving or narrow all-mountain ski of 76 to 84 mm underfoot does that job. In our catalog the Head Supershape e-Rally and the Rossignol Arcade 80 sit on the piste end, the Salomon Stance 80 and the Blizzard Thunderbird R15 82 on the all-mountain end.

Our best carving skis and best beginner skis lists sort these by skill level, and the Pick-A-Ski tool matches length and stiffness to your weight and ability.

• Summit Daily, "Loveland Ski Area announces opening day, offering discounted lift tickets and 1,000 feet of terrain", 6 November 2026
• Summit Daily, "Copper Mountain Resort announces opening day", 6 November 2026
• Summit Daily, "Copper Mountain, Breckenridge delay opening days, citing warm overnight temperatures", 5 November 2026
• Summit Daily, "Colorado ski resorts record up to a half foot of snow as opening days loom", 5 November 2026
• SnowBrains, "Loveland, CO, to Open for 2026-27 Season on Saturday with $60 Lift Tickets", 6 November 2026
• Unofficial Networks, "Another Colorado Ski Area Is Preparing To Open This Weekend", 6 November 2026
• Adventure Sports Network, "Another Colorado Ski Resort Opens This Weekend, Tickets Just $60", 6 November 2026
• Copper Mountain, event page "26/27 Opening Day"; Wolf Creek Ski Area, closure notice; Breckenridge, homepage, read 7 November 2026