Breckenridge Postpones Opening as Warm Temperatures Bar Sustained Snowmaking

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Fans of Breckenridge Ski Resort, Colorado, will have to wait a little longer before making their first turns.

The resort planned to open this Friday, November 6, but recently announced a delay.

While the snowmaking team has had a good start on the terrain Breck plans to open, a rep said in an email, overnight temperatures have hovered just barely too warm to run snowmaking at full power for sustained periods.

“To give guests the quality experience they expect,” the rep wrote, Breck is calling off the Friday opening. A new date hasn’t been announced, but the resort’s aiming to start the season as soon as conditions allow.

In Breckenridge, daytime temperatures are expected to be relatively balmy with largely clear skies in the coming days, according to the National Weather Service, with overnight temperatures dipping below freezing. Ski resorts need cold and dry temperatures to make snow.

Breck’s delay joins that of Brian Head, Utah, which also postponed its November 6 opening. This time of year, a few degrees can make the difference between opening and staying closed.

In other parts of Colorado, the ski season is already underway. Arapahoe Basin and Keystone—which, alongside Breck, is on the Epic Pass—opened late last month.

Elsewhere in the country, the 2026-27 season’s beginning to gather steam. Lake Louise, Alberta, fired up a lift last weekend and, this week, Mammoth Mountain, California, and Mt. Rose, Nevada, are welcoming the first skiers of the season.

For Western skiers, the early stretch of this season comes with something like a hangover—after a slow start in 2025 that became one of the worst ski seasons on record, it’s fair to say we’re all a bit nervous.

In that case, here’s our suggestion: give it a little time. It’s only November 5. A few delays for resorts with ambitious opening timelines aren’t cause for worry yet. There’s a lot of winter still to come, and with a very strong El Niño spinning up, it could be a big one for parts of the country.

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Related: The Freeride World Tour Is Headed To Snowbird, Utah

This story was originally published by POWDER on Nov 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add POWDER as a Preferred Source by clicking here.