Just Weeks From Summer, Colorado Ski Season Continues At These Ski Resorts

<p>(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)</p>
<p>In this Dec. 11, 2014 photo, snowboarders ride a lift at Breckenridge, in Colo. </p>
Photo: Breckenridge ski area (AP Photo)
In this Dec. 11, 2014 photo, snowboarders ride a lift at Breckenridge, in Colo.

Four Colorado resorts are hanging onto the last few weeks of the ski and snowboard season after this year’s late-spring snow storms.

Aspen Snowmass is one of two now-closed ski areas that will reopen for Memorial Day weekend beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday. This ski area expects to have 130 acres of terrain open that skiers can access by Ajax Express chairlift. They will be offering discounted fares for adults and children.

Purgatory, in southwest Colorado near Durango, will also offer holiday skiing Saturday and Sunday on Lift 1. This will be open for front-side skiing on 130 acres from 11a.m. to 5 p.m. Anticipated open trails and parks will be announced Friday. This bonus weekend is only for passholders for this season and next season. There are discounted lift tickets available.

Breckenridge Ski Resort’s previously scheduled closing day was Memorial Day with skiing available seven days a week until then. They have extended that schedule for weekends only for the first two weeks of June.

Lift service and riding operations for the two additional weekends will continue to be based out of the resort’s Peak 7, with access to primarily advanced- and expert-level terrain, via the Independence SuperChair.

Arapahoe Basin, which typically has the longest ski season in Colorado, will keep its lifts running through June. The ski area will be open seven days a week until June 2, then reopen on weekends until June 14-16. The A-Basin website says that if conditions permit, chairs might still be running for additional weekends

More than half of the terrain is open.

Those with proper gear, training and experience can still ski and snowboard in the backcountry, but avalanche danger has remained high across all of the state’s regions.