In Colorado, the most definitive way to know that summer is over and winter is not long off comes when the high-country aspen groves put on their brilliant yellow coats.

The 2021-20 Colorado ski and snowboard season is just around the corner. See a full list below of when you can hit the slopes.

Despite Covid restrictions, the ski and snowboard resorts of Colorado had a hot summer season last year with hiking, biking, scenic lift rides, and other social-distanced activities. But one key attraction was missing: Music.

Aspen Snowmass will open for the summer season Memorial Day Weekend, May 29-31, at Buttermilk. This marks the first time Buttermilk will be open to the public in the summer. Guests can sightsee, hike, play disc golf and enjoy food and beverage options from the Cliffhouse restaurant, all accessed by the Summit Express chairlift. Summer operations at Buttermilk will continue weekends, Friday through Sunday, until June 20.

Thanks to a snowy March and persistent pent-up desire to hit the slopes, a slew of Colorado ski and snowboard resorts will keep their lifts spinning beyond original closing dates.

Now more than ever, people will require a real sense of seclusion while on their ski vacations. Gone for the time being are the après ski parties, the socializing in the lodge during a quick break for lunch and eight-passenger gondola rides. These have been temporarily replaced with such wellness guidelines as chair lift rides consisting of family members only, food trucks as opposed to eating in the lodge and private ski instruction instead of group lessons.

Whether it be Covid-distance crowds, the high price of lift tickets, or simply a need to breathe the Great Outdoors, the participation in uphill skiing has exploded in Colorado this season.

After the majority of the 470 ski areas in the United States closed in mid-March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Ski Areas Association reported skier visitor numbers dropped 14% compared to the 2018-19 season. It was a blow to the resorts, the towns they call home and a multitude of businesses that serve the industry with everything from gear and accessories to hotels, shuttle companies and more.

Health officials in eight counties have not traced positive tests back to lift lines, chairlifts or ski slopes.

COVID-19 is running rampant in Aspen and Pitkin County — unlike its neighbors — and members of the Pitkin County Board of Health knew Thursday that something needed to be done about it.

They just weren’t sure what.

Hoppin' a ride on a snowcat to get off the piste and into the powder stashes of the backcountry is a popular pastime at Colorado resorts. But this season, there are fewer options than normal.

Millions of Americans would love to bust out of pandemic isolation and go skiing.

Colorado resort officials acknowledge that brainstorming for the 2020-21 season has stretched their minds more than ever. With Epic and Ikon pass protocols in place, the more independent mountains are rolling out their plans.

Since Covid-19 hit, ski industry moguls have danced around what next season will look like. But at Aspen Snowmass, pressure from locals and media has brought some of management's ideas into the open.

Aspen Skiing Co. plans to proceed with multiple capital improvement projects this summer despite losing a significant chunk of revenue due to the coronavirus crisis.

Amidst the hoopla of Epic and Ikon pass marketing battles, the Mountain Collective -- the original multi-resort pass -- is still alive and thriving for skiers and snowboarders who can be on the move.

The multi-resort season pass gauntlet has been thrown down: The Ikon Pass goes on sale March 5 with a new four-day boutique "session pass" and additional East resorts coming into the fold.

We are all guilty of obsessing about "powder days" in the Colorado Rockies. But, truth be told, between big-pow' storms, there are more "mogul days" than anything else.

When the bus rolls up at 6 a.m. in the crisp mountain air, Christian Tichy often is among those who climb aboard to head to work, snowboard in hand.

As autumn arrives, the Northern Hemisphere tilts farther and farther away from the sun – a shortening of the day's light that curbs photosynthesis and produces the brilliant yellows and reds of aspen trees in the Mountain West.