Vail Mountain opened up more terrain this week following a massive storm system that brought 37 inches of fresh snow to the slopes, including a 20-inch dumping in a 24-hour report on Wednesday morning.

Vail, on Thursday, began running Chair 11 and 14 for the season, including the runs Boomer, Flap Jack, Sourdough, Timberline Catwalk, Tin Pants, Northwoods, Snag Park, Timberline Face, Whiskey Jack, First Step, Gandy, Dancer, North Rim, Northstar, Pronto and South Rim.

The new openings brought Vail’s total terrain offering to 887 acres as of Friday.

At Beaver Creek, the Bachelor Gulch Express and Haymeadow lifts are now operating, along with the runs Booth Gardens, Centennial, Cinch, Mystic Island, Piney, Powell, Red Buffalo, Sheephorn, Haymeadow, 1876, Assay, Barrel Stave, Bear Trap, Big Bark/Little Bark, Gold Dust, Gold Rush, Harrier, Latigo, 4 Get About It, Addy’s, Bootleg, Buckboard, Fools Gold, Gary’s, Helmut’s and Moonshine.

Beaver Creek is now offering more than 500 acres of skiable terrain.

Cold temperatures on Friday hardened the base and kept the snow on the mountains fluffy. Vail Mountain is now boasting a 46-inch base at mid-mountain and Beaver Creek is reporting a 39-inch base. There’s no more snow in the forecast for the coming days, and temperatures are expected to warm up heading into next week.

The settling snow and cold temps have made avalanche conditions considerable; 17 different avalanche reports were filed with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center for the Vail and Summit County area this week, with no injuries or fatalities reported. 

A Special Avalanche Advisory is in effect across much of the state through Sunday evening.

The unusual conditions of one slide near the Grouse Creek area of Beaver Creek prompted the center to post a warning on social media, as a skier remotely triggered the avalanche from 200 feet away. 

“It broke to the ground and sympathetically triggered an avalanche on the adjacent slope,” the center reported. “Similar incidents are being reported across the state.”

Avalanche danger is currently rated as considerable (3 of 5) in Eagle and Summit counties. 

“Avalanche conditions are more dangerous than we’ve experienced all season,” the center reported. “In most mountain areas, triggering large and dangerous avalanches during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend will be easy. Avalanches will be large enough to injure or kill you.”

Get the most up-to-date forecast at colorado.gov/avalanche.

This story is from VailDaily.com