Summit County snow forecast

Skiing in Summit County

Summit County is the cluster of big Colorado resorts along and near Interstate 70 west of Denver, plus Vail and Winter Park, which Denver skiers weigh up against them on any given day. Everything here is high: base areas sit between roughly 2,400 m and 3,300 m and summits reach close to 4,000 m, so snow tends to stay cold and dry, but visitors from sea level should allow for the altitude.

In the Summit County section, Breckenridge spreads across five peaks with around 1,000 m of vertical, and its Imperial Express is the highest chairlift in North America, serving above-treeline bowls. Copper Mountain, about 75 miles from Denver, has an unusually tidy layout, with beginner runs on the west side, intermediate in the middle and advanced terrain to the east. Keystone covers three mountains, Dercum Mountain, North Peak and The Outback, and is known for night skiing and its terrain parks. Arapahoe Basin, just south of Loveland Pass on US 6, is the highest and steepest of the group, with much of its terrain graded black or double black, including the Pallavicini face and the East Wall. Thanks to snowmaking and altitude it often opens in mid-October and can run lifts into June.

Vail, in its own section about 100 miles from Denver, is one of the largest single ski mountains in the United States, with groomed front-side runs, the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin. Winter Park, reached over Berthoud Pass on US-40 or by the Winter Park Express train through the Moffat Tunnel, links Winter Park, Mary Jane (known for moguls and trees) and Vasquez Ridge.

Because the resorts sit close together but on different peaks and passes, snowfall from the same storm can vary a lot between them.