Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort opening plans follow Loveland Ski Area by just hours

Las Vegas residents celebrated a freak natural
snowstorm last December. Thanks to man-made
snow, Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, 45
minutes from the city, plans to open Wednesday,
Oct. 7.                                                     Photo: AP

Las Vegas Resort opens Wednesday at noon

Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, located only 45 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip, plans to open at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 7, only a few hours after the lifts will start turning at Loveland Ski Area in Colorado.

Click here for Colorado resorts' opening news

Bunny slope ready to open

Appropriately named Rabbit Peak, the bunny slope at the ski area is the only run scheduled to open. Serving the run, Chair 3 will be the only lift in operation on opening day. Unusually cold temperatures have allowed unprecedented snowmaking efforts.

“Since we’re so close to an urban center, we have many young skiers and snowboarders who love to jib on our freestyle terrain features and, we expect many families to take advantage of this great opportunity to learn the sport and have fun so early in the season,” said Craig Baldwin, base operations manager for the ski area. “We are extremely excited to open over seven weeks early, a record early opening by far. Kudos to our snowmaking crew for making this possible, they deserve a ton of credit.”

Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort plans to open Chair 3
on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
                          Map: Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort

After the noon opening on Wednesday, resort hours will be 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Sunday. The area is scheduled to open on weekends only until conditions allow additional terrain to open. Lift ticket prices are $20.

Base elevation sits at 8,510 feet

Unlike the Colorado ski areas opening this week, Loveland and Arapahoe Basin, that are at elevations of almost 11,000 feet, the base of Las Vegas Ski Resort is at an elevation of only 8,510 feet.

With just 120 inches of average annual snowfall, the resort relies heavily on man-made snow throughout the season. Snowmaking covers 75 percent of the terrain.

View Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort in a larger map