Good To Us

This storm was very good to us.

 

To Summit County Residents

Like much of the rest of the country, COVID rates are going up in Summit County. Over the last two weeks, Summit's cumulative rate of cases was the 6th highest in Colorado. If this rate doesn't go down over the next two weeks, more severe restrictions will be put in place, hampering our ability to ski, work and enjoy life. 

Conventional wisdom tells us that these cases are being brought in by outside tourists. Turns out that is almost completely false. Contact tracing has told us Summit County residents are spreading COVID to other Summit County residents. Nearly all of this is happening through socialization - an evening party, drinks after work, hanging too close with too many people. Many of the transmissions have occurred in the late evening, after partying, when peoples' guards are down. If we want to enjoy winter in Summit County, we are going to have to turn things around quickly. Keep your face coverings on. Maintain your physical distances. Keep your groups small. The time to act is now.

 

Approved To Open

Since last Spring, we have worked diligently on our opening plan for the 2020-21 Ski Season. That has involved numerous discussions with all kinds of stakeholders. That means Zoom call after Zoom call after Zoom call. We worked very closely with Summit County and State of Colorado governments to develop a safe and appropriate operating plan. This involved a lot of listening and a lot of exploration as to ways The Basin can be opened. Over the last week, the State has released its guidance for ski area operations. We submitted our proposed operation plan to both the State and the County. I am pleased to say that on Friday, we were notified that our plan meets the Guidance for Colorado Ski Areas. We have received clearance to open the ski area this season.

Details about operations can be found at COVID-19 Operations.  Opening in the COVID-19 era involves a lot work for A-Basin staff. It also involves the need for appropriate behavior by our guests. In essence, we all have to minimize our exposure to others. We need to wear our face coverings, maintain our distances and keep our groups small. At its most basic level, this is not that complicated. If we are all a little more careful and a little conscientious, we can ski and ride with minimal exposure to COVID-19 transmission. Every one of us has to do their part for us to enjoy the ski season.

Friday night Summit County issued a new public health order. The most notable impact to Arapahoe Basin is the reduction of indoor group sizes from 10 people down to 6 people from 2 different households. We will be making this change in our dining and other retail outlets.

With an excellent weekend forecast for snowmaking and natural snowfall, the outlook for opening just got a little brighter. We do not have an opening day set yet, but the outlook is definitely a little brighter.

East Troublesome Fire

This afternoon our A-Basin Divide cam caught this photo capturing smoke from the East Troublesome Fire. On the left side of the photo, just above Loveland Pass, you can see the smoke. This is a very dire situation for our friends and neighbors to the North. The town of Grand Lake was forced to evacuate yesterday. Today, an evacuation order was issued for Estes Park residents Please send all your good thoughts to the residents and rescuers caught up in this disaster.

Another Weekend

We won't be open for skiing this weekend, but the Ticket Office, The 6th Alley and Arapahoe Sports will be open again Saturday and Sunday. The Ticket Office is actually open seven days a week. So come on up, pick up your new RFID pass, grab a bite, check out all the groovy stuff at Arapahoe Sports and watch the snow fall.

We just might have a pretty good storm heading our way this weekend. Stay tuned for weather updates.

Pallavicini Acceptance Test

The Pallavicini acceptance test has been going on the last couple of days. There were a few little items caught in the test and those will all be fixed. Like on Molly Hogan, the engineers loaded up the lift with water to simulate a load of people. Again, they stopped, started and slowed the lift. They did everything they could to trick and outsmart the lift. The lift won. 

The Ski Patrol had to show that they were proficient at evacuating the lift. They were dressed up in harnesses and other gear and sliding down the wire rope and lowering "volunteers" to the ground. It was fun.

Check out this VIDEO produced by Ian Zinner and starring Louis Skowyra.

Ski Magazine

Nice article in Ski Magazine.

Ski Magazine

 

Alpenglow Today