High Points: The most wonderful day of the year

There is something so special about the first day of ski season that it makes folks giddy.

I have been writing this column, High Points, since the early 2000s, which means I have been noting the opening day of the season for more than two decades now. Yep, every year since its inception, High Points has recognized opening day. It is always one of my favorites of the year to write. The enthusiasm for getting the lifts rolling and getting first tracks is palpable — not just for me but for readers.

So here we are again. This year, as has been the case for many seasons in this century, the Aspen Skiing Company has found a way to open early. While Thanksgiving was the scheduled first day of the season this year, we are going to get a little bonus as both Aspen and Snowmass will have lift-served skiing beginning Saturday, Nov. 23. That’s five extra days of turns. Lucky us.

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“We’re thrilled to kick off another season early, thanks to our dedicated teams and some fantastic early snow,” said Geoff Buchheister, CEO of Aspen Skiing Company, in a press release.

We’re glad he’s glad.

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As I sat down to write this, I went to the archives to review some past High Points opening day columns and, through the magic of digital backlogs, I came upon the one published in 2006 that resonated a bit. It, too, featured an early season opening and some familiar names from the past. With your indulgence, I thought it would be fun to run it back one more time:

“Open Season“

One man, two skins, and a pair of skis. That’s all it took to open America’s best ski mountain this week.

While we were originally scheduled to get our first turns on that most appropriately named day, Thanksgiving, skiers throughout the valley can offer their appreciation to both the weather gods and the Aspen Skiing Company (in that order of course) this Saturday. And this is not just a one-shot — the mountain will remain open for good. If the forecast holds true, we may well get some additional snow before the official opening on Thursday.

The early opening will require a group effort by SkiCo, involving extra time and resources from lift ops, ski patrollers, ticket sellers and takers, snowcat drivers, and others whom I’m sure I have neglected to mention. But this is the kind of thing that company employees live for. You move to a ski town and take a job on the mountain, after all, for the love of getting people up on the hill. Early and often.

This year’s opening, of course, had its genesis in the storms that ripped through the Rockies this autumn. It’s not unusual to have an early flow of Pacific moisture, but this year, we were inundated with upwards of six feet of snow. Put it this way, if we have this much snow in January it will be considered an epic month. When another system blew in this week, creating havoc for a Coke truck and canceling flights, hope rose that this could be a good thing.

Enter the man and his skins. Tuesday morning, amid the big blow and snow, SkiCo VP Rich Burkley decided he could do his best work on the hill. He started hiking up Aspen Mountain shortly after 10:00 a.m. Once he got to the top of Little Nell, he stopped to make a call on the patrol phone to mountain manager Peter King, announcing “It’s pretty good out here.” By the time he got to the next patrol phone, his enthusiasm had elevated a notch, and he placed another call, saying “Let’s pull the cats and get ’em all over to Chair 3.” And so began the process of getting us all up the hill on Saturday.

Further conversations ensued. One with Patrol Director Eric Kinsman confirmed that the mountain would be skiable. A discussion with the executive committee gave the final approval for the early opening. While it may not have been new Aspen Skiing Company CEO Mike Kaplan’s first major executive decision, it is a good one out of the gate.

Make the 2024-25 ski season your best one yet.