Ski areas that open this week include: Breckenridge, Keystone and Copper Mt. will open this Friday, Nov. 7.

Loveland and Arapahoe Basin have been operating for a couple of weeks.

The big news at Keystone is the upgraded River Run gondola, with a relocated base terminal closer to the village and a midway unloading station. A ribbon-cutting is planned for 8:30 a.m. on Friday and the mountain will open for skiing at 9 a.m.

Breckenridge will open the Colorado SuperChair on Peak 8 at 9 a.m. with top-to-bottom skiing on Springmeier. The traditional opening-day pancake breakfast is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to about 10:30 a.m. on the deck of the Bergenhof.

In years past, the resort traditionally has opened on Peak 9 first.“Opening Peak 8 first this year gives our mountain operations team every advantage to prepare the mountain and venue for our largest event ever, the AST Winter Dew Tour,” said Breckenridge spokeswoman Kristen Pettit.

The Dec. 18-21 event features freeskiing and snowboarding with live coverage on NBC and additional coverage s on the USA network and MTV and MTV2.