New snow falls on Vail, Beaver Creek just in time for Christmas break

Season pass restrictions to remain in place

Fresh snow fell on Vail and Beaver Creek Wednesday evening just in time for the holidays, but it wasn't enough to get resort officials to lift season pass restrictions.

Vail officially received 4 inches of new snow, and Beaver Creek got 5 new. But once again the bulk of the snowfall fell to the east of the Continental Divide in the Front Range foothills. Echo Mountain, near Evergreen, was the big winner with 18 inches new, and Eldora, near Boulder, reported 10 inches new.

Up-slope storms so far this season have Denver and the Front Range above average in terms of snowfall, while the northern and central mountains (essentially the heart of ski country) are only about 75 percent of average. Forecasters say that pattern may start to change with a storm toward the end of next week.

Vail Resorts this week announced all Epic Local Passes, Merchant Passes and other passes such as Guest Fee and Community Relations Passes will be restricted Monday, Dec. 26, through Saturday, Dec. 31.

All premium, school employee and student pass products are valid between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Anyone with a restricted pass can buy a discounted lift ticket by showing their season pass at a ticket window. Prices vary according to the type of pass.

Beaver Creek has lifted season pass restrictions for foot passengers only on the Strawberry Park Express Lift (Chair 12) from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31. Snowshoers and cross-country skiers can pick up a foot passenger ticket at the Nordic Sports Center to ride the lift and ski or shoe 32 kilometers of trails in the mountaintop McCoy Park area.

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	n/a	n/a
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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