The annual friendly competition to see which Colorado mountain starts up first is over for 2017-2018.

Arapahoe Basin expects to open Friday (Oct. 13) to officially ring in the new ski and snowboard season in the Rocky Mountains. The mountain that sits astride the Continental Divide traditionally races with neighbor Loveland Ski Area for the right to fire up the lifts before anyone else in the state.

Across the West, the very first to open was Timberline Lodge & Ski Area on the shoulder of Mount Hood in Oregon. Timberline began on Oct. 8 with weekend-only skiing and riding on the Palmer Snowfield.

At A-Basin, the Black Mountain Express chairlift will open at 9 a.m. deliver early-birds to the top of the High Noon intermediate trail for the first turns of the season.

“Mother Nature has been kind to the Basin,” said Alan Henceroth, Arapahoe Basin’s chief operation officer.

A combination of cold temps at night plus a couple of early snow storms in the highest elevations allowed A-Basin to open nine days before it began last season.

Adult tickets will be $79 until Dec. 15. Lifts will start spinning a half-hour earlier on weekends, beginning at 8:30 a.m.