It may be hard to believe, considering its only the middle of October, but ski season has officially begun in Colorado. Yesterday, the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area opened for business and today skiers will hit the slopes at Loveland for the first time as well.

Early fall snowfalls have already been dumping fresh powder across the Rocky Mountains, and when combined with the artificial snow-making machines, both ski areas have a good base for the start of the season. Loveland began the week with roughly six inches of snow already on the ground, and more has fallen over the past few days, and when A-Basin kicked off the season yesterday, it was covered in 18 inches of powder.

Last year's ski season was one for the record books, with heavy snows falling across much of the western United States. Those snowfalls continued well into the spring, which extended the season into July. That has made for a very short off-season for Arapahoe, which was closed for just 100 days this year. Long term forecasts are predicting similar weather patterns for this winter, which is good news for skiers and snowboarders.

Over the course of the next few weeks, other ski resorts will begin to open throughout the U.S. as the new season gets into full swing. For now, those of us not lucky enough to live close enough to one of these hills, is going to have to sit and wait.

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