Who’s
First?
There
is still some prestige attached to the feat of being the first ski area(s) to
open for the new season.
But the bitter rivalry that used to be associated with
the race isn’t what it used to be now that American Skiing Company has broken
up, and the new Killington owners don’t seem to concern themselves with the
bragging rights.
Now the field is wide-open.
The real rivalry will be found in the
west, specifically
Colorado.
Arapahoe Basin and Loveland find it good-natured fun to duke it out, and try to beat each
other to opening each year. This season is the second one in a row
that A-Basin has come out first in North America. It’s official opener was October 10th. Loveland was on the
slopes on October 16th . Keystone
and Copper have also been in the scuffle in prior
years. This year’s season started on November 2nd for both areas.
And
believe it or not, ski areas in the Southeast
have battled for first-out rights in recent years. This season, Sugar Mountain and Cataloochee
in North Carolina opened their slopes on November 7th. Sugar
beat out the Cat by mere hours.
Midwest areas are also contenders. Wild
Mountain in Minnesota rounds out the early season opening list. Wild opened
November 9, skiing weekends to start.
Back
on New England soil, Woodbury in Connecticut has laid claim
to opening first in the East. However, Sunday River, Maine, a Boyne
USA resort, perhaps
merits more substantial recognition as the first Northeast ski area to open for the 07-08 season with a Halloween
pre-season ski, followed by its official opener on November 8th. Sugarloaf,
Maine
another Boyne USA resort, opened on Friday, November 9th.
Southern Vermont’s Mount Snow opened its season on
November 7th of this year and has the distinction of being the first
New England area to open with
top to bottom skiing and 7 runs in all. This is its earliest opener since 1998.
Let
the Skiing Begin!
