US Ski Resort Opening Dates for the 2026/27 Season
Opening days for the 2026/27 season started landing on August 18, when Vail Resorts published its calendar, and they have been trickling out ever since. This is where the 25 US resorts on Caranva stand as of September 17, 2026 — split by who actually published the date, because "reported by a ski site" and "announced by the resort" are not the same promise.
Ski rental in the United States
Published by the resort (or its owner)
These 14 dates come from the resort's own site or its group's press release. All of them are conditions permitting — an opening day is a plan, not a guarantee.
- November 6 — Breckenridge
- November 13 — Vail, Mammoth Mountain
- November 20 — Heavenly, Northstar California, Park City
- November 25 — Beaver Creek, Crested Butte, Big Sky, Palisades Tahoe
- November 26 — Aspen Snowmass, Taos Ski Valley
- November 27 — Jackson Hole
- December 5 — Deer Valley
The anchor announcement is Vail Resorts' August 18 release, which set Breckenridge on November 6, Vail on November 13, Park City, Heavenly and Northstar on November 20, and Beaver Creek and Crested Butte on November 25. The rest published theirs one by one: Mammoth on its opening-day page, Palisades Tahoe on its events calendar, Big Sky on its season-pass page, Jackson Hole on its, Aspen Snowmass mountain by mountain, Taos in a press release, and Deer Valley on September 16.
Two of those need a footnote. Aspen Snowmass opens Snowmass and Aspen Mountain on November 26; Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk both list December 12. And Crested Butte appears as November 27 in several ski-press round-ups — we use November 25, which is the date in its own group's release.
Reported, but not on the resort's own site
These 6 have a date circulating in the specialist press that the resort has not published itself. Useful for planning, not something to book a flight around.
- Copper Mountain — November 6, Unofficial Networks, reporting the resort’s own announcement. The resort has not published the date on its own opening-day page.
- Steamboat — November 20, UncoverColorado. Unofficial Networks reports November 21 instead, and steamboat.com blocked every attempt to check the date at the source — treat it as a November 20-21 window until the resort publishes it.
- Telluride — November 26, Unofficial Networks, as a target date. Telluride’s own site still says “Winter 2026-27 Dates TBD”.
- Snowbird — November 27, Unofficial Networks, as a reported target. Other round-ups project December 11 instead, and Snowbird itself has published neither date.
- Brighton — November 27, Powder. Brighton itself has not published a 2026/27 date.
- Snowbasin — December 5, Powder. Snowbasin's own site only says winter operations run from late November to mid-April.
Steamboat is the one to watch: two round-ups give two different days, November 20 and November 21, and steamboat.com blocked every attempt to check it at source. Until the resort says so, it is a window, not a date.
No date published yet
- Keystone — Vail Resorts says it will open “as soon as possible in October”, with no day attached.
- Winter Park — no firm date published; the resort is listed as opening “as soon as possible”.
- Alta — alta.com still reads “2026-27 projected opening day: TBD”. Secondary reports cite December 6, which the resort has not confirmed.
- Stowe — Stowe was not given a date in the Vail Resorts release, and we found none published on its own site when we checked.
- Killington — killington.com states it does not set a fixed opening date, and describes the season as early November to early June.
We are not going to guess on their behalf. Killington is a deliberate case: it says it does not set a fixed opening date at all, and it opened on November 12 last season.
What this means if you are booking now
Mid-November is when the season really starts: counting only the officially published dates, 10 resorts are open by November 25 and 12 by Thanksgiving. If your dates are fixed, see which resorts are open for Thanksgiving 2026. If your dates are flexible, the early-season list is short and Colorado-heavy.
Two things worth doing early: check the resort's own snow report before you commit to a first-week trip, and book rental gear ahead so you are not queueing on opening weekend. Every resort page on Caranva links both — start at ski season opening dates, the directory we keep updated resort by resort, or go straight to ski rental in the United States.
Canada announces its season on a different calendar, and several resorts there publish a closing date too: that list is in Canada's 2026/27 opening dates.
Frequently asked questions
Which US ski resort opens first in 2026/27?
Breckenridge, on November 6, 2026, per Vail Resorts. Copper Mountain has announced the same day, though the date reached the press through the resort’s own social announcement rather than its website. Keystone says it aims to open "as soon as possible in October" without naming a day.
Do these dates change?
Yes. North American opening days are announced as targets and are always conditions permitting. Resorts have opened early in a big snow year and slipped a week in a dry one.
Why do so few resorts publish a closing date?
Because the end of the season depends on the snowpack. Of the resorts here, only Big Sky, Aspen Snowmass and a handful in Canada publish both ends of the season in advance.