Cover photo: Tripp Fay/Copper Mountain

“Man that felt good,” Mike Malarky, mountain manager of Buck Hill in Minnesota told the Radical Radish after reacting to the news of Copper Mountain postponing their opening day due to warm weather. Malarky and Buck Hill’s official statement read “Suck it Colorado! How’s that warm November weather taste?” After watching Colorado ski areas like Copper Mountain and Keystone open early in November year after year, midwesterners have grown to dread the month. Jealousy levels often reach extremes as they wait for their chance at winter. While Minnesotans are known for being courteous Malarky couldn’t contain himself, continuing “they have it all out there, big mountains, lots of snow, legal weed… It’s just nice to see them suffer a bit of what we go through every season out here.”

Temperatures have been too high in Minnesota for snowmaking as well, but Malarky said that all they need is a couple nights near freezing, saying “shoot, I never thought putting a ski hill on a garbage dump would give us a leg up on the Rockies, but I’ll bet I can blow snow on my 50 acres before they can on their 2,000. Suckers” Minnesota skiers have rejoiced en masse, though most apologized shortly after.

Delayed opening days are forecasted to have a large impact on Summit County where temperatures have been nearing the 60s. These areas rely on early openings to draw skiers from around the world. Copper’ reputation has been built around being the first to open a halfpipe every year, according to Malarky Buck Hill is aiming to take down that honor as well. Their statement reads “a halfpipe will be no problem, we’ve got a pile of snow from the local ice rink, and I heard there’s some extra pipe laying around in North Dakota that they’re not using.” Several national teams have already cancelled their trips to Colorado, and will be now heading to the Minneapolis ski hill.