Description
So fresh powder makes you swoon, and your destination of choice is stretch of the Rocky Mountains where the selection of skiable slopes is downright dizzying. But what to do if you work days? Or don’t find daylight hours long enough to finesse your form on said slopes? Happily, there are a handful of Colorado ski resorts ready to oblige with, yes, night skiing. If you’re not from the area, you might be surprised to learn that most of the many big resorts do not, in fact, offer this service. So if you like the comparative quiet of night-skiing, or just groove on the way artificial light refracts off moguls, then listen up, this is for you.
Topping the list of after-dark options is Keystone Resort. Their trail and terrain selection is some of the best you’ll find when it comes to nighttime activity; keep an eye on their calendar and the weather, as night skiing hours can vary. This one is only 90 miles from Denver, which makes it an option if you care to cut out of work really early, but closer still is Echo Mountain. At just 35 miles from downtown Denver and regularly open until 9 pm, this is usually the night ski option of choice for Denver residents with a compulsion to test the powder outside of office hours. SolVista Basin, roughly 85 miles northwest of Denver, also offers night skiing on a limited basis. Come Saturday nights from January to early April if you want to hit their trails or test out the tubing hill.
More into rollers and rails? Head for Telluride Ski Resort. They don’t illuminate their slopes but they do have a lighted (and top-rated) intermediate terrain park that opens several nights a week. Eldora Mountain is where snow bunnies from Boulder go for a good time. There’s no night skiing here in the strictest sense, but for a short season they host a once-a-week race series for skiers, snowboarders and even snowshoers.
And finally, though neither one will blow you away in terms of size, the proximity of Ski Hesperus to Durango and Howelsen Hill Ski Area to Steamboat Springs make both of these good options if you happen to find yourself in the southwestern or northwestern corners of the state respectively.
So Colorado ski resorts might not have the best night skiing in the country - but let’s not look a lighted lift horse in the mouth.
