Loveland Snowcat Expansion Ready To Go, 2020/21 Operations Dependent on COVID

Earlier this month, Loveland secured approval from the USFS to provide private snowcat tours in the Dry Gulch area adjacent to the lift-serviced resort terrain. These tours will allow snowcat-only access to 580 acres of avalanche-mitigated, sparsely-tracked terrain.

We reached out to Loveland’s marketing department to ask where operations stand for next season. The resort confirmed that since the new terrain won’t require any infrastructure projects (save a few adjustments to the terrain to create snowcat paths), these tours are theoretically ready to go and could start as soon as next January.

However, due to the continuing COVID situation, it’s unclear whether Loveland will be operating its cats at all. The resort says they may still be able to operate snowcats at significantly lower capacity, but they haven’t made any concrete decisions yet. We expect a firmer answer closer to the season start date.

Our Take

We look forward to experiencing these tours for ourselves. Loveland’s lift-serviced high-alpine terrain gets perennially wind blown despite generous accumulation each season, and if this snowcat-serviced terrain holds its snow better, it could make for phenomenal powder runs. Hopefully, Loveland can figure out a way to get the cats up and running next season.

We want to note that since these tours will cost extra and this terrain won’t be publicly accessible with a lift ticket, we won’t be factoring them into Loveland’s overall mountain score.

For more information on Loveland, read our review here.