It's hard to imagine when it's 100 degrees in Phoenix, but Arizona's ski season is just a few months away. And now, skiers have a date to mark on their calendars.
Arizona Snowbowl, one of Arizona's most popular ski areas, announced last week that its 2016-17 season will start November 11 — several days earlier than last year, and one of the earliest openings in Snowbowl's history.
The Flagstaff-area resort is also working on a new ski lift that it says is the first of its kind in Arizona. The Grand Canyon Express — named because skiers will be able to see the Grand Canyon while riding it — is a high-speed lift that takes riders more than 1,500 vertical feet in six minutes. Snowbowl says the lift will be finished in time for this winter's season.
Snowbowl has been around since 1938, when it opened on national-forest land on the slopes of Agassiz Peak. And the area is an attraction year-round — a trail that starts at a Snowbowl parking lot leads to the summit of Humphreys Peak, the highest point in Arizona.