# Earliest full opening day North America (ikon pass)



## woodhouse (Jan 18, 2013)

I've got the itch to get on the mountain, being in NY I like to go to VT, but they don't get good until about late Jan. 

I got an ikon pass this year and I'm looking to plan a trip early in the season. So I was wondering what mountain in North America is up and running first?

I see some places have opening days as soon as late October, but I'm not looking for an opening day that is just 1 lift and a few trails. Looking for what mountain is 100% up and running the earliest in the season. Again something that's part of the ikon pass. 

Thanks in advance.


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## Phedder (Sep 13, 2014)

Sunshine Village opens early Nov (Nov 9th for 2019 is planned) obviously depends on early season snowfall but I'd be shocked if it was only 1 lift. 2018 opened with 4 chairs IIRC, 2017 and 2016 were both better openers.


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## woodhouse (Jan 18, 2013)

Phedder said:


> Sunshine Village opens early Nov (Nov 9th for 2019 is planned) obviously depends on early season snowfall but I'd be shocked if it was only 1 lift. 2018 opened with 4 chairs IIRC, 2017 and 2016 were both better openers.


Ok cool, we were looking at banff. But none of us have ever been.

Ikon includes Sunshine, Lake Louise, Mt. Norquay. Is it worth it to make our rounds, or is sunshine the best?

The dates I was originally aiming for were nov 15-22. Unless thats too early I'll have to push it into dec. 

Any tips or info would be great.


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## Phedder (Sep 13, 2014)

woodhouse said:


> Ok cool, we were looking at banff. But none of us have ever been.
> 
> Ikon includes Sunshine, Lake Louise, Mt. Norquay. Is it worth it to make our rounds, or is sunshine the best?
> 
> ...


Unless it's a bad year, all 3 _*should*_ be open by then. Though Norquay may only be 1 chair... If early season conditons are good it's worth doing at least 1 day at each, but if not then Sunshine Village is the most reliable for coverage. The good stuff at Lake Louise takes a fair while to fill in generally, steeper rockier terrain. Feel free to send me a message closer to the time to get a run down on coverage and some areas worth hitting/definitely no-gos. 

If you end up deciding on Banff I know you can get some really good early booking/early season lodging deals through Skibig3.com


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

You're talking about wanting to take a very early season trip while at the same time talking about the conditions "not getting good" in your neck of the woods until January.

I think you're highly likely to end up very disappointed with your very early season trip. They don't call it the WROD (white ribbon of death) for nothing.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

I mean there's a few places that shouldn't be just WROD. Honestly it's mainly Colorado and VT that specialize in that. Glory of first open hooray! But at the same time, if you're coming out west and spending all the time and money for a trip, do you really wanna spend that on low snow and maybe 30% of the resort open and most of that being mild groomers? If you really gotta cure the itch or money/time isn't an issue for you, go for it. But if you are only going to take a trip or two out here don't waste it only getting part of the resort. 

But ya Banff area is a great choice if you're committed.


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## woodhouse (Jan 18, 2013)

linvillegorge said:


> You're talking about wanting to take a very early season trip while at the same time talking about the conditions "not getting good" in your neck of the woods until January.
> 
> I think you're highly likely to end up very disappointed with your very early season trip. They don't call it the WROD (white ribbon of death) for nothing.





lab49232 said:


> I mean there's a few places that shouldn't be just WROD. Honestly it's mainly Colorado and VT that specialize in that. Glory of first open hooray! But at the same time, if you're coming out west and spending all the time and money for a trip, do you really wanna spend that on low snow and maybe 30% of the resort open and most of that being mild groomers? If you really gotta cure the itch or money/time isn't an issue for you, go for it. But if you are only going to take a trip or two out here don't waste it only getting part of the resort.


This is exactly what I don't want to happen, that's why I made this thread. 

I'm looking to find out what places will be fully up and running the earliest. 

I have zero experience out west, with VT i know what I'm getting and I hop in the car and drive a few hours. This being much more involved getting on a plane and all, i want to be able to ride the entire mountain. Going all that way just to ride a few trails would be a waste. 

So if the answer is wait that's fine too. I'm still looking for which mountain is usually fully up and running first and when. 

Thanks again to everyone with input.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

woodhouse said:


> This is exactly what I don't want to happen, that's why I made this thread.
> 
> I'm looking to find out what places will be fully up and running the earliest.
> 
> ...


Full open is 100% an absolute impossibility in early/mid November. Like, God himself could come down and you're not going to get any of the big resorts fully running. The big stuff, steeps, etc take a LOT of snow to open, the bigger the terrain the deeper the snowpack needs to be often. Unlike the East coast where they can blow snow on 80% and only need a a foot or two to get everything open, out west there's lot of stuff we need 100+ inches to even consider opening. Ja


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

woodhouse said:


> This is exactly what I don't want to happen, that's why I made this thread.
> 
> I'm looking to find out what places will be fully up and running the earliest.
> 
> ...


That's what I'm saying. No one in North America is going to be fully open or even close to fully open in mid-November unless it's just an absolute banner early season. You're looking way too early. There are always a ton of weather variabilities in openings, but the rule of thumb in November is limited terrain openings. I would never book a trip in November in North America expecting anything but that. You'll be disappointed far more often than not. The odds of you being able to ride an entire mountain in mid-November are practically zero. 50% of terrain open at that point would be a pretty good start with considerably less than that being the norm.


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## woodhouse (Jan 18, 2013)

lab49232 said:


> Full open is 100% an absolute impossibility in early/mid November. Like, God himself could come down and you're not going to get any of the big resorts fully running. The big stuff, steeps, etc take a LOT of snow to open, the bigger the terrain the deeper the snowpack needs to be often. Unlike the East coast where they can blow snow on 80% and only need a a foot or two to get everything open, out west there's lot of stuff we need 100+ inches to even consider opening. Ja





linvillegorge said:


> That's what I'm saying. No one in North America is going to be fully open or even close to fully open in mid-November unless it's just an absolute banner early season. You're looking way too early. There are always a ton of weather variabilities in openings, but the rule of thumb in November is limited terrain openings. I would never book a trip in November in North America expecting anything but that. You'll be disappointed far more often than not. The odds of you being able to ride an entire mountain in mid-November are practically zero. 50% of terrain open at that point would be a pretty good start with considerably less than that being the norm.


lol ok guys got it dont book a trip in november..... still looking for the answer to my original question


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## powderjunkie (Jun 30, 2015)

For mountains to be fully open in NA id say mid to late December. Unfortunately at that point you're running into Christmas break. I honestly make all my trips starting like first week after the new years. Always good coverage and low crowds.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

powderjunkie said:


> For mountains to be fully open in NA id say mid to late December. Unfortunately at that point you're running into Christmas break. I honestly make all my trips starting like first week after the new years. Always good coverage and low crowds.


Yup even December can be a stretch. January starts the full season and when plans should be made. As for the original question we answered it pretty well. Look at Lake Louise, etc. 

First mountain open will be A Basin and Loveland with your Vermont Conditions and WROD. Then it's a matter of where snow starts hitting but Canada or PNW have the best chance at getting huge dumps early and getting a lucky early season. A two or three day storm can go from bare grass to 90% open. But then again it can be raining and 35 degrees too. 

Then there's Mammoth which is almost guaranteed to be like 70% open by mid December. 

Beyond that I'm not sure what you expect to get as an answer. The west is HUGE and weather patterns are CRAZY different each year. Jackson Hole can be at 300" of snow and meanwhile Colorado just down the road could have only gotten 100" for the season.


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## woodhouse (Jan 18, 2013)

powderjunkie said:


> For mountains to be fully open in NA id say mid to late December. Unfortunately at that point you're running into Christmas break. I honestly make all my trips starting like first week after the new years. Always good coverage and low crowds.


Ok cool, I normally start going on trips mid January as well, as soon as the holiday season is over.

I was just curious if anywhere else was in full swing before then, but these last 2 posts helped me out.

Thanks everyone, see you all in jan!


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

woodhouse said:


> lol ok guys got it dont book a trip in november..... still looking for the answer to my original question


The only answer is that no one knows. Look at long term NOAA projections and make a call while also understanding that even the best of long-term forecasts are wildly unreliable. 

Here's the latest October - December forecasts:

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=3



















It looks good for above average precipitation in NM, CO, and Alaska. Looks like the major UT and WY resorts are north of the above average precipitation forecasts. So is Tahoe. A section of the PNW is slated for below average precipitation. The entire US is forecast for above average temperatures and the higher probability for above average temps pretty much mirrors the higher probability for above average precipitation.

Given this scenario, I'd be looking at the higher elevation areas within the above average precipitation predictions. If I was booking a trip, I'd probably be looking at Summit County. Even above average temps usually means snow at 10k+ feet in Colorado in November. Usually. There's no sure thing when it comes to the weather.


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## Phedder (Sep 13, 2014)

I just went back through photos of the last 3 seasons mid Nov, mostly at Sunshine, and it looks like pretty much all Green/Blue runs are open, and between those runs includes a lot of mellow but fun off-piste. There will very likely be good turns to be had, but you likely won't be riding any tight chutes or decent rock drops. Goats Eye Express will almost certainly not be open though. 

If it fits your budget and schedule, then it's probably worth it to get some early season fun. If it makes more sense for you to wait and spend that money on travel when conditions are better, then do that. 

We haven't even had a summer here in Banff yet, we've had *maybe* 5 sunny days over 70F, it snowed last night. Could mean we just get summer in August then back to licks of snow on the peaks, could mean it stays warmer later than usual and early season sucks. As above, who the hell knows.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

woodhouse said:


> lol ok guys got it dont book a trip in november..... still looking for the answer to my original question


And if I knew that, I would buy the winning lotto ticket. However likely clues would be precip and polar vortex...start watching NOAA long range forecast.

Another thing, if you hit the earliest opening day, it will be a shitshow, long lines of locals that are going to hammer the place while you stand around and look at a trail map. Few years ago, got one of those days...like a 60-70" opening day...no trail map needed :hairy:


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