This Colorado Hill Just Tested Guns for Its 60th Snowmaking Season
Loveland tested snowguns on Sept. 29 ahead of its 60th snowmaking year, still chasing a mid-October to early-November open for Front Range day-trippers.
Loveland Ski Area just put water through its snowmaking system again, and the milestone is the story. Trail Maintenance and Snowmaking crews led by manager Bobby Babeon tested guns on September 29, 2026, servicing equipment and running the network even though air temperatures were still too warm to make snow. When productive cold finally sticks, that start will mark 60 years since snowmaking began at the Continental Divide hill that keeps racing Colorado's first-open calendar.
Loveland usually lights the guns around early October once temperatures and humidity stay favorable. Last winter, crews fired up around midnight on October 13, 2025, ahead of the October 18, 2024 start the season before. The ski area is targeting a mid-October to early-November opening for 2026-27, weather and conditions permitting. It opened November 8 in 2025 and remains one of the mountains most likely to join the North America first-open scramble when the Front Range finally turns cold.
Why the 60-year mark still matters
Loveland began small-scale snowmaking in 1966. During the 1967-68 season it became the first major Colorado ski area with a real snowmaking plant, using diesel compressors left over from Eisenhower Tunnel construction. The system now covers more than 240 acres. Once conditions allow, crews work around the clock, building a top-to-bottom run tree to tree with about 18 inches of packed base before expanding coverage through early to mid-December. High elevation and that overnight crew habit are why Denver day-trippers still treat Loveland as a reliability bet when bigger destination hills are waiting on natural snow.
For trip planners stacking Front Range days against Summit County or Ikon weekends, Loveland's near-term signal is operational readiness, not a new lift map. Early snowmaking does not guarantee the earliest open in North America, but it does shrink the gap between the first cold snap and a skiable top-to-bottom surface. Soft close: start with the Loveland encyclopedia page for terrain and access notes, then cross-check Power Pass partner days if your Southwest circuit already includes Purgatory or Brian Head.