Which US Ski Resorts Are Open for Thanksgiving 2026

Thanksgiving is the first real ski weekend of the American season, and in 2026 it falls on Thursday, November 26. Going by the opening days the resorts themselves have published, 12 of the resorts on Caranva should be open by then. Everything below is an official date; nothing here is a guess.

Ski rental in the United States

Open by Thanksgiving, per the resort

• 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

Aspen Snowmass opens that very Thursday — and only Snowmass and Aspen Mountain: Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk both list December 12. Taos also opens on the 26th itself, so the holiday is its opening weekend.

The near misses

• Jackson Hole opens November 27, the Friday of the holiday weekend. If you can travel a day later, it counts.
• Deer Valley waits until December 5 — see its expansion and opening date.
• Steamboat, Telluride, Snowbird and Brighton all have dates on or before the 27th circulating in the ski press, but none of them has published one itself. They may well be open; we are not going to promise it. The detail is in the 2026/27 opening dates round-up.

What early season actually looks like

Opening week is rarely the whole mountain. Resorts open the lifts the snowpack supports, so in late November you are usually skiing top-to-bottom on a limited number of runs, often on man-made snow. Two consequences worth planning around:

• Check the resort's own snow report before you travel, not a forecast site. Every resort page on Caranva links straight to it.
• Book gear before you arrive. Opening weekend and Thanksgiving are the two busiest rental days of the early season.

If you want the most terrain open that week, the biggest mountains on the list are Park City (7,300 acres, open since November 20), Palisades Tahoe (6,000 acres) and Big Sky (5,850 acres), both opening on November 25. Bear in mind that acreage is the whole mountain, not what will be open in week one.

Rental for all of them is at ski rental in the United States.