| BY JOHN MEYER, JMEYER@DENVERPOST.COM
Hey, folks, I'm genuinely bummed there is so little natural snow in the high country, but I took advantage of that last week with a wonderful hike (in trail running shoes) on the Continental Divide from Berthoud Pass to a 12,300-foot peak. There were scattered patches of snow, but mostly the trail surface was dry dirt. Sounds like there was some good ski touring this week in Chicago, though -- some locations there got more than a foot of lake-effect snow. Made me jealous. Heads upThe metro area will experience near-record high temperatures in the mid-70s on Thursday, followed
by two more days in the 70s, but Monday will see highs drop into the 50s with near-freezing temps overnight. As for the mountains having little or no snow, OpenSnow founding meteorologist Joel Gratz notes that over the past 40 years, there were three that started ski season with virtually no snow through the second week in November: 2000, 2002, and 2017. "In each of those years," Gratz writes, "snow began to fall during the week before Thanksgiving (similar to the forecast for next week), the 2000 and 2017 snowpack wound
up being about average at the end of the season, while the 2002 snowpack was at a record low for most of the season."
Despite well below average natural snowfall so far this season, Eldora Mountain Resort will open on Friday as scheduled on manmade snow. (Hyoung Chang/Denver Post file)
Your Weekly 5:- Eldora opens for skiing on Friday as Nederland closes in on deal to buy it
- Vail opens for the season on Friday with two trails on the upper mountain
- How to use your smartphone to photograph the Northern Lights
- Sparring bucks break into Douglas County home near Roxborough Park
- Reintroduced wolf dies in southwest Colorado, CPW says
Worth Your Time
A heron flies over the arid land of the San Luis Valley near
Hooper in 2017. The State Land Board is considering selling nearly 46,000 acres of land farther south in the valley, between Alamosa and Antonito. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)
Supporters don’t know why San Luis Valley sale is being questioned; State Land Board votes Thursday
Get Yourself Outdoors
Skiers make their way up the American Eagle lift at Copper Mountain in 2024. For skiers looking
for affordable deals this winter Copper will be selling $99 lift tickets on select Thursdays beginning Jan 8. A portion of the proceeds will go to Summit County non-profits. (Andy Cross/Denver Post file)
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