Loveland Opens Today: Chet's Dream Starts Colorado's Third I-70 Ski Season

Colorado's ski season gets its third I-70 resort today. Loveland Ski Area opens for the 2026-27 season on Saturday, November 7, the resort announced, with the Chet's Dream lift running from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and top-to-bottom skiing on its opening-day route.

Loveland joins Arapahoe Basin, which took first chair on October 28, and Keystone, which followed on October 30 — while two neighbours that had targeted this weekend, Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, have delayed their openings with no new date set.

Chet's Dream begins turning around 10 a.m. on opening day and runs to 4 p.m., the resort said. Opening day promises fresh snow, live music, and what Loveland calls unforgettable first turns of the season.

After opening day, Loveland's 2026-27 hours settle in at 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and designated holidays.

Skiers and riders get Catwalk, Mambo and Home Run — a linked route from the top of Chet's Dream covering nearly 1,000 vertical feet, SnowBrains and POWDER both reported from the resort's announcement.

There is an honest caveat in the resort's own guidance: no beginner terrain is available on opening day, and the area notes that opening-day conditions are not recommended for first-timers or beginner skiers and snowboarders. Loveland Valley and the Loveland Ski & Ride School open later, on November 20.

Opening-day tickets are $60 for adults (ages 15 and up) and $40 for children (ages 6-14), available at the window and in advance at skiloveland.com. The price is deliberate: 2026-27 marks 60 years of snowmaking at Loveland, and the $60 ticket honours that anniversary.

Snowmaking is the reason this opening exists at all. Loveland officially began snowmaking operations for the 2026-27 season at 7:04 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14, building the base that carries Catwalk, Mambo and Home Run while natural snow accumulates.

The early season along the Continental Divide has split into haves and have-nots. Arapahoe Basin opened first on October 28, Keystone followed October 30, Wolf Creek opened October 31 in the San Juans, and Mammoth Mountain opened California's season on November 5, eight days early.

Loveland's November 7 start is, by its own standards, roughly on schedule — the area tends to open in late October or early November and is usually among the first in North America to offer lift-served skiing, POWDER noted. Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, meanwhile, announced this week they would delay past their November 6 target because temperatures have not been cold enough for efficient snowmaking.

WorldEye's ski webcams gather live mountain views so you can see the snow rather than read about it, and the season's full picture is in our running ski season opening dates coverage and the best ski webcams roundup.

Loveland sits at I-70's Exit 216, on the east side of the Eisenhower Tunnel — the closest major ski area to Denver. On an opening Saturday with live music on the Basin Patio, the webcams are the fastest way to judge both the snow and the scene before you commit to the drive.