WOLF CREEK— The Wolf Creek Ski Resort closed out their 2017-18 season on April 1. The season was an overall success as the San Juan Mountains received more snow than many other Colorado mountains throughout the course of the year.

The resort ended the season with a total of 227 inches which is a 15 percent decrease from last year. “Last year was our fourth best season for the resort and even though snow was in short supply, we still had a really strong skier count overall,” said Marketing Director Sarah Stephens.

Wolf Creek Ski Resort opened strong on Nov. 11, which was only days away from the projected opening day, with 26 inches of snow for the month and by Thanksgiving, was 85 percent open. “We had a total of 171,886 skiers for the year, with our busiest day being March 13 over spring break with 5,400 people at the resort that day. Over all we had a really good year,” said Stephens.

“We had a really strong skier count throughout the holiday weekend and were running seven days a week with seven lifts open. That was better than some of our neighboring resorts,” said Stephens. The rest of the state continued to wait with bated breath for the first of the year snowfall that didn’t ever actually arrive until February.

By December, the resort was fully functional, including their new scanning system that allowed season pass ticket holders to skip the lines and go directly to the lifts where the new mobile scanners granted them access. “The system worked really great. The ticket office was so much quieter this season and people really liked that they could skip the lines and head straight to the lifts,” commented Stephens.

In addition to the new scanning system, the resort opened the first of two new lifts, the Lynx Lift. The lift was designed away from the base of the resort in order to offer an easier grade slope and quieter area for ski school students and educators. The resort hoped that the lift and building would allow beginner skiers a better experience by getting them away from the crowds of the main resort. “The lift worked out really great. We have a wonderful ski school program and now it’s even better because it has its own home. We even saw parents who had smaller children come over to the Lynx lift, and that is exactly what we wanted to be able to offer,” said Stephens.

The month of December was one of the worst months throughout the entire season with warm, dry weather and barely any snow fall. “We have pretty decent numbers for December because at that point most of our neighboring resorts in places like New Mexico, were closed. We were up and running at 100 percent and by the end of February, we reported in at 106 inches for the year,” said Stephens.

Late season snow storms that came across the region from February until late March helped get the resort to the end of the season with no issues.

The resort has a full docket of things to do this summer and will be installing the second lift aptly named the Meadow Lift. The resort had to wait for permission to be granted through the USFS before they could begin on the project. The lift will be going in near the Alberta area on the resort.