Presidents Day powder piles up at Beaver Creek, Vail

With more snow in forecast for much of next week, Beaver Creek opens Royal Elk Glade

The Vail Valley got a fresh coating of new snow Thursday and Friday just in time for the busy Presidents Day weekend.

Both Beaver Creek and Vail reported six inches new in the last two days and more than a foot in the last week.

Sunny and dry weather moves in Saturday and Sunday before a new storm is expected to produce another three to six inches Sunday night into Monday. More snow is then expected Wednesday through Saturday of next week, according to Opensnow.com.

Conditions were ideal at Beaver Creek Friday, with short lift lines and untracked powder in Stone Creek Chutes (see photo).

Beaver Creek on Friday announced it will open its expert Royal Elk Glade terrain on Saturday, Feb. 16, making the mountain 100-percent open for the first time this season.

The last season pass restrictions of the 2012-13 ski season will be in effect at both Vail and Beaver Creek Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16-17.

That means anyone with an Epic Local Pass, Merchant Pass, Guest Fee Pass or a Community Relations Pass must pay for a discounted day pass in order to ski on those days. There are no restrictions on Monday.

All premium, school employee and student pass products are valid for skiing and snowboarding on Saturday and Sunday.

Restricted pass holders can ski or snowboard Feb. 16-17 by showing their pass and purchasing a discounted lift ticket at any ticket window. Restricted season pass holders with Resort Charge will automatically be charged the day rate on their credit card if their restricted pass is scanned.

Beaver Creek has lifted season pass restrictions for foot passengers only on the Strawberry Park Express Lift (Chair 12) Feb. 16-17. Snowshoe and cross country enthusiasts can stop by the Nordic Sports Center and get a foot-passenger ticket to ride the lift and take advantage of the 32 kilometers of trails in McCoy Park.

For more information, call the Vail Mountain Information Center at (970) SKI-VAIL (754-8245) or the Beaver Creek Information Center at (970) 754-4636.

	24hr snow	mid dpth	snow cond.
A-Basin	2.0"	55.0"	sp
Aspen	n/a	n/a	closed
BC	n/a	n/a	closed
Breckenridge	n/a	n/a	closed
Buttermilk	n/a	n/a	closed
Copper	n/a	n/a	closed
Crest. Butte	n/a	n/a	closed
Eldora	n/a	n/a	closed
Heavenly	n/a	n/a	closed
Highlands	n/a	n/a
Howelsen	n/a	n/a	closed
Keystone	n/a	n/a	closed
Kirkwood	n/a	n/a	closed
Loveland	n/a	n/a
Monarch	n/a	n/a	closed
Northstar	n/a	n/a	closed
Powderhorn	n/a	n/a	closed
Purgatory	n/a	n/a	closed
Silverton	n/a	n/a	closed
Ski Cooper	n/a	n/a	closed
Ski Granby	n/a	n/a	closed
Snowmass	n/a	n/a	closed
Steamboat	n/a	n/a	closed
Sunlight	n/a	n/a	closed
Telluride	n/a	n/a	closed
Vail	n/a	n/a	closed
WinterPark	n/a	n/a	closed
Wolf Creek	n/a	n/a	closed
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