Vail Mountain is scheduled to open for the 2026/27 season on Friday, November 13, 2026, conditions permitting. The 2025/26 season closed early, on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, instead of the planned Sunday, April 19. As of September 26, 2026, Vail Resorts has not announced a closing day for 2026/27; its August 18 announcement covered opening dates only.
Both ends of the season move with the snow. The mountain opened between November 10 and November 15 in each of the last five seasons, and closing day has usually fallen on a Sunday in mid to late April. Last spring's early finish followed the lowest snowpack on record at Vail Mountain's SNOTEL measuring site.
When has Vail opened in past seasons?
Vail Mountain opened between November 10 and November 15 in each of the last five seasons: November 12, 2021; November 11, 2022; November 10, 2023, its earliest opening in 25 years; November 15, 2024; and November 14, 2025. The planned November 13, 2026 opening falls inside that range.
| Season | Opening day | What opened first |
|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | November 12, 2021 | First rides on Gondola One; nearly 1,200 acres open by December 12 |
| 2022/23 | November 11, 2022 | Groomed Swingsville and Ramshorn, plus several ungroomed runs including Slifer Express and Cappuccino |
| 2023/24 | November 10, 2023 | 55 acres on two runs from two gondolas, the earliest opening in 25 years |
| 2024/25 | November 15, 2024 | 130 acres and five lifts |
| 2025/26 | November 14, 2025 | 80 acres on Ramshorn and Swingsville, plus a beginner area in Lionshead |
| 2026/27 | November 13, 2026 (planned) | Terrain is announced closer to the day |
When Vail opened in 2025 it was the seventh Colorado ski area to start the season, after Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, Breckenridge, Winter Park and Copper Mountain.
When did Vail Resorts' Colorado mountains close in 2026?
All five Vail Resorts ski areas in Colorado ended the 2025/26 season between March 29 and April 19, 2026, most earlier than planned after a warm, dry spring. Beaver Creek closed first, on March 29; Keystone and Crested Butte followed on April 5, Vail on April 8, and Breckenridge last, on April 19.
Vail Resorts announced its 2026/27 opening dates on August 18, 2026. Every date is subject to weather and conditions, and the announcement did not include closing days. The last column shows how the 2025/26 season actually ended at each mountain; after a warm, dry spring, most finished earlier than they had planned.
| Mountain | 2026/27 planned opening | 2025/26 closing day |
|---|---|---|
| Keystone | As soon as possible in October | Sunday, April 5, 2026 |
| Breckenridge | Friday, November 6, 2026 | Sunday, April 19, 2026, plus a one-day Peak 8 reopening on Saturday, April 25 |
| Vail | Friday, November 13, 2026 | Wednesday, April 8, 2026 (planned for April 19) |
| Beaver Creek | Wednesday, November 25, 2026 | Sunday, March 29, 2026, about two weeks before its target |
| Crested Butte | Wednesday, November 25, 2026 | Sunday, April 5, 2026 (announced closing day) |
Beaver Creek, Vail's neighbor down the valley, has the latest opening of the group. If you want to ski both, how far Beaver Creek is from Vail covers the trip between them.
What is open on Vail's opening weekend?
Opening weekend covers a small slice of Vail Mountain: 55 to 130 acres in recent seasons, out of 5,317. In each of the last three years it centered on the Ramshorn and Swingsville runs, reached by Gondola One and Chair 4, with lifts running from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in 2024 and 2025.
Opening terrain is a narrow strip, and it has centered on Ramshorn and Swingsville, reached by Gondola One and Chair 4, in each of the last three years. In 2024 Avanti Express (Chair 2) opened too, and the Eagle Bahn Gondola ran from Lionshead. In 2025 the Vail and Lionshead areas were not linked on snow, so anyone skiing in one village while staying in the other needed the free in-town bus after the lifts closed. Guests in both areas had to download the gondolas at the end of the day. Lifts turned from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in both 2024 and 2025, with dining at Mid-Vail and Eagle's Nest in 2024.
Against 5,317 acres in total, a first day of 55 to 130 acres is a small slice. In 2023 crews started the lifts early, at 8:40 a.m., because a group had gathered overnight. Parking is not free that weekend: in 2025 the Vail and Lionshead structures started charging on opening day, at $10 an hour up to a $50 maximum after five hours and $60 overnight. A lift ticket for that Friday was priced at $319, while a one-day Epic Day Pass cost $128, so buying ahead was the cheaper way in. For current rates, see how much lift tickets at Vail cost and the Epic Pass listing, and for garages see where to park at Vail.
How fast does Vail open more terrain?
Terrain grows with the snow, not the calendar. In a snowy early season, Vail reached nearly 1,200 acres by December 12, 2021. In the dry 2025/26 season, a few runs opened at a time through December, and the popular Lodgepole run first opened on January 9, 2026. The Back Bowls open on their own timeline.
In 2021 the Northwoods Express (Chair 11) and Sourdough Express (Chair 14) began running the weekend of December 11 to 12, and after 20 inches of snow in a week Vail was at nearly 1,200 acres. In 2025/26, a low-snow year, Avanti Express and the Meadows run opened the weekend of November 29 to 30, with only 15 inches of natural snow on the season by December 1, and the popular Lodgepole run first opened on January 9, 2026. The Back Bowls open on their own timeline; see when the Back Bowls open and the Back Bowls timeline.
What decides Vail's opening date?
Snowmaking temperatures set the floor and natural snow does the rest. Vail's crews can start making snow once the wet-bulb temperature, a mix of air temperature and humidity, reaches 28 degrees; snowmaking began on October 25 in 2024 and October 16 in 2025. Vail met its November 14 target in 2025 despite a warm early November.
Vail has more than 500 acres of snowmaking terrain after a 2019 project that moved snowmaking up to Mid-Vail, where cold air arrives sooner, and crews can start once the wet-bulb temperature reaches 28 degrees. Wet-bulb combines temperature and humidity, so the air temperature on a thermometer can be higher. Snowmaking began on October 25 in 2024 and on October 16 in 2025. In early November 2025, warm weather forced Colorado resorts to shut off their snowguns for long stretches, and Vail still opened on its November 14 target. For how early natural snow arrives, see how early Vail gets snow and when it snows in Vail.
When does Vail close for the season?
As of September 26, 2026, Vail's 2026/27 closing day has not been announced. Recent seasons ended on Sunday, April 21, 2024; Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025; and Wednesday, April 8, 2026, eleven days before the planned April 19 because of record-low snowpack. A Sunday in the third week of April is the usual pattern.
| Season | Closing day | Season length and terrain |
|---|---|---|
| 2023/24 | Sunday, April 21, 2024 | 164 days from the November 10 opening |
| 2024/25 | Sunday, April 20, 2025 (Easter) | 157 days; 61 percent of the terrain open on closing day |
| 2025/26 | Wednesday, April 8, 2026 | Planned for Sunday, April 19; the early closing was announced April 3 |
The 2026/27 closing day has not been announced yet; the August release covered opening dates only. Sunday closings in the third week of April are the recent pattern. The last week is a gradual retreat, not a single switch. In April 2025 Blue Sky Basin and the Cascade chairlift (Chair 20) closed about two weeks before closing day, China Bowl and Teacup Bowl closed in the last full week, and Sun Up and Sun Down Bowls stayed open into the second-to-last weekend. The finale is the "4 at 4" party at the top of Chair 4, before the mountain's 4 p.m. closure.
Last April showed how quickly a season can end. The mountain's SNOTEL site, which has records back to 1978-79, was completely melted out by March 31, earlier than in any previous year on record. On the April 8 closing day, guests could gather at the top of Chair 4 until 4 p.m., and no ski trails were open on the lower half of the mountain, so guests rode Gondola One down from Mid-Vail. That closing day was also the first in recent memory that did not fall on a Sunday.
How should you book around opening and closing day?
Treat both dates as targets. Refundable lodging is the safer choice for the first two weeks of November and the last two weeks of April, when terrain is limited and dates can move. Buying lift access ahead also paid off on opening day in 2025, when a window ticket cost $319 and a one-day Epic Day Pass $128.
The Vail hotels directory and the November guide cover where to stay and what else is open, how late Vail stays open covers hours, and when Vail Ski Resort opened covers the first opening day, in 1962.
