Shutterstock/Pincasso It's happening! Ski resorts throughout North America are reporting their first snowfalls of the season. Up next is Vail Mountain, Colorado, which shared on Instagram today, September 19th, that it saw a high-altitude dusting of snow last night. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vail Mountain (@vailmtn) Enough to go skiing? No way. Enough to get stoked about eventually going skiing? Absolutely. Vail Mountain plans to open on November 10th this season -- its earliest opening since 1998. To facilitate such an early opening date, Vail has poured time and money into its snowmaking operations. Since 2019 -- a year in which the resort is expanding its snowmaking coverage -- Vail has gotten the lifts spinning before November 20th. Usually, when a resort picks a single, somewhat early date to claim as the first day of the season, I'm slightly hesitant to believe it -- Mother Nature always has the final say, and no one, despite their credentials, can say exactly what the weather will be doing a month from now. But Vail's snowmaking operations take some of the guesswork out of the equation, as evidenced by their post-2019 opening date record. And, as a skier, I'm not too inclined to look a gift horse in the mouth. If a resort says they're opening in early November, I want them to realize this ambitious goal. Pray for snow or, at the very least, temperatures cold enough for snowmaking. Don't miss another headline from POWDER! Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected with the latest happenings in the world of skiing. We're always on the lookout for amusing, interesting and engaging ski-related videos to feature on our channels. Whether you're a professional or just an amateur, we want to see your best footage and help you share it with the world. Submit your video for a chance to be featured on POWDER and our social channels. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch high-quality ski videos.
