Monday, March 18, 2024

Early Spring Skiing Week

Spring is starting to arrive at The Basin. Early Spring that is. The forecast this week has sun in the forecast every day and high temps in the low 30's. The north facing slopes should still hang on to winter conditions while spring conditions are starting to be found on the south facing slopes. This afternoon, about 1 PM, I found perfect early spring conditions on Jump. No deep slush, but soft on top. Really fun, playful turns. The mornings will still be fairly cold, but late mornings and afternoons will be ideal. This is a great week to get on the hill.


Saturday, March 16, 2024

March Days

March skiing can be so incredible. Today was nearly perfect. We are coming off a big storm that has packed out nicely. There is still a chill in the air so we are not into spring slush yet. Today saw partly sunny skies. The ski surface is soft and carveable. The picture says it all.

 


Friday, March 15, 2024

After The Storm

That was quite the storm. Usually the decision to remain closed is extremely difficult. The decision to remain closed yesterday was a relatively easy one. It was not about the snow. It was about the wind. There was no way to safely operate the lifts in that kind of wind.

After 18 inches in two days, and to no surprise, people were eager to get out and ski today. It was a good crowd for a Friday. From the wind, the snow was just a bit stiff first thing. The more it was skied, the better it became. I was kind of busy until about 2 PM when I finally got out skiing. The snow was incredible. Completing my 6 lift tour, I found sweet skiing everywhere I went. The next couple days are forecast to be partly sunny with temps in the 20's. Saturday and Sunday will be beauties.



Thursday, March 14, 2024

Expect An Almost Normal Opening Friday

The good news is that we received a lot of snow over the last 24 hours. The bad news was the wind. There was no way we could have operated the lifts most of the day today. Luckily the wind is dying down and is expected to be quite reasonable Friday. We anticipate an on time opening tomorrow. The back lifts, Zuma and Beavers, may come on line a little later in the morning.

Thanks for your patience today. Someone once said A-Basin belongs to Mother Nature. She just lets us use it. She took it back for a while today.



We Will Not Open Today.

With the intensity of this storm, snowfall rates, high winds and avalanche concerns, Arapahoe Basin will not open today. At this time, we are unable to operate our lifts because of the high winds. We do have patrollers, lift mechanics, snowcat drivers, plow drivers and our base area crew on site working to get the place ready for tomorrow. Throughout the day, I will try and post photos. For now, we have to wait for this weather to die down.

The highway to A-Basin is closed. Please, do not attempt to come up here today. We will have some great skiing - just not today.








 

Snow Stake

The Snow Stake at 3:30 AM Thursday.


 

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

It Has Started

The snow has started falling at The Basin. We are right on the edge of this monster Front Range storm. It is going to snow a lot........somewhere. Over the next 48 hours, it should be dumping in the foothills. We shall see how much of that spills over the Divide and lands on A-Basin.



Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Random

Every once in a while I am just wandering and some random image really captures my eye. I am not sure what to call this one, but it definitely grabbed my attention. I think this is why I never get tired of The Basin.

Stay tuned for the storm brewing Wednesday and Thursday.