Squaw/Alpine Opens A Day Early, Several Other North American Resorts Open This Week
After originally planning to open on Wednesday, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows announced yesterday evening that they would be opening today, November 24. A handful of trails and chairlifts are open across both mountains today.
Several other North American resorts, including Beaver Creek, Telluride, Big Sky, Jackson Hole, Mount Snow, Stowe, Okemo, Tremblant, and Whistler Blackcomb, are also set to open for the 2020-21 season this week. In addition, Alta opened yesterday, November 23.
It’s also worth noting that a few other East Coast resorts, most notably Stratton, Sugarbush, and Whiteface, have delayed their openings due to unfavorable weather conditions. Before their announcements, each of these areas were set to open this week.
Access Details - Beaver Creek, Mount Snow, Stowe, Okemo, Whistler Blackcomb
At Beaver Creek, Mount Snow, Stowe, Okemo, and Whistler Blackcomb, only multi-day and season passholders will have access before December 8. Due to COVID-related capacity restrictions, all visitors must book their days in advance through the Epic website. For all early season visits, reservations must be made the week of.
At the time of this writing (5:30pm ET on 11/24), reservations for the upcoming week are already completely booked at Beaver Creek and Whistler Blackcomb. Only November 25 is available for Okemo, and only November 25 and 26 are available for Mount Snow. All days for the upcoming week are still available at Stowe. It’s worth noting that November 25 and 26 are holiday blackout dates for Epic Local and Summit Value Pass Holders. Week-of reservations for November 30 through December 6 will become available on November 25 at 4pm ET.
All core season days—December 8 to April 4—are still available for each of the above mountains. Along with week-of bookings, passholders can hold reservations for up to 7 of these days at one time.
All Beaver Creek opening week dates have now been booked. Core season days are still available.
Access Details - Big Sky, Jackson Hole
Multi-day and season passholders will have unlimited access to these resorts with no reservations required. However, Ikon passholders will need to make book their days in advance through the Ikon website.
Ikon spots for the upcoming week are still available at both resorts. Most core season dates are still available as well; however, Big Sky’s President’s Day week (February 13-20) is completely booked, as is February 6 for Jackson Hole.
Big Sky’s Ikon passholder bookings are now full for February 13-20. Season passholders can still show up on these dates without reservations.
Access Details - Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Telluride, Tremblant
Reservations are not currently required to access any of these mountains. However, lift ticket sales will be substantially limited at most of these resorts. See our guide on resort operations for specific policies set by each of these resorts.
Final Thoughts
As more terrain opens up across these resorts, we expect more spots to be available for the coming weeks—although we also expect higher demand. For those needing to make reservations for mountain access, we recommend booking as quickly as possible.
For more, see our reviews on Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Alta, Beaver Creek, Telluride, Big Sky, Jackson Hole, Mount Snow, Stowe, Okemo, Tremblant, and Whistler Blackcomb.
