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Colorado ski areas close as March storm pummels mountains

For Colorado skiers, Thursday’s storm was a reminder that there is such thing as too much snow.

Citing the shutdown on U.S. 6, Loveland and Arapahoe Basin were among ski areas that announced closing for the day.

It was in vain that Denverites tried to reach those slopes and others off Interstate 70. Closures along the highway trapped cars for several hours overnight Wednesday into Thursday.

Shayna Silverman with Arapahoe Basin said: “We will see what we can do tomorrow, but just have to wait and see what conditions are like.”

Monarch Mountain also made the call to close in Thursday morning, posting on social media that “winds have picked up dramatically.”

Those locations went into the day expecting to measure snow in feet rather than inches. As did Boulder County, where Eldora Mountain Resort announced closing “for the safety of our staff and guests.”

The resort added: “The county plow and grader have not been able to penetrate the snow slides across Shelf Road yet, and there is a day’s worth of work to do to prepare the mountain to open.”

It was a no-go as well for Echo Mountain, the tiny destination above Idaho Springs where forecasters have predicted more than three feet piling up in the coming days. The ski area made the decision “due to extreme weather, worsening road conditions and multiple road closures.”

A snowboarder rides the Outback black run at Monarch Mountain Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, as another storm begins to hit the ski area in the Central Colorado mountains. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK/THE GAZETTE)
A snowboarder rides the Outback black run at Monarch Mountain Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, as another storm begins to hit the ski area in the Central Colorado mountains. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock) (CHRISTIAN MURDOCK/THE GAZETTE)

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