September 19, 2011

Silverton, Colorado — After a series of snowy nights at Silverton Mountain, Colorado, a few lucky ski patrollers jumped on the chairlift Sunday morning and headed to the top of the mountain to make the first ski turns of the 2011-12 ski season. A fresh blanket of snow covered the upper mountain making for some fun ski turns, Silverton Mountain reports.  The weather has been extremely wet the entire summer and that continued into September in what could mark the start of another very snowy winter ski season.  Silverton Mountain received record breaking snowfall during the 2010-11 winter with approximately 600 inches of snow through May 2011. La Nina and El Nino tend to bless Silverton's microclimate, which tends to make Silverton Mountain a reliable snow location.

Silverton Mountain has been averaging 500 inches of snow for the last five years. The official start of the ski season is slated for December 3, 2011, but if the snow keeps up that date could be pushed up. Silverton Mountain is the highest ski area in North America with a peak of 13,487 feet, providing for skiing on all natural snow as early as August in previous years. 

Photos Courtesy of Silverton Mountain.