Treeline and High Divide Terrain Parks

One of the last acts of the Snowmakers was to make snow for the High Divide and Treeline Terrain Parks. The Cat Drivers and Park Crew put a lot of sweat equity shaping the snow. Riders will find some cool features including a down rail, whale tail step down, barrel bonk, tube spine, hourglass, quarter pipe / pole kick and down flat down rail. Sounds cool to me.

West Zuma Opens

The Ski Patrol did a limited opening in West Zuma today. There were a few rocks out there, but the skiing and snow were excellent. In the weeks prior to today's opening, the Patrollers had done extensive work with explosives and skiing and packing the snow. The compaction from skiers today really helps improve the snow quality. Looking forward several days, there is snow in the forecast almost every day. There are not big snow numbers in the forecast, but the continued new snow mixed up with limited openings and (hopefully) some kind winds will make for good, solid skiing. It is good to see the snow developing this way.

A Good Sticker

Sometimes a good sticker says it all.

Shaped Up Nicely

With continued work across the mountain, the skiing has shaped up nicely. Today should be a beauty. The recent opening of the MGD zone has been a treat. With unsettled weather in the forecast for most of the next week, I see additional improvement and fun in the skiing. We have more than 1100 acres of skiing open now. Three notable pods remain, Far West Zuma, Steep Gullies and The East Wall. We will keep plugging at those areas.

The Spine Was So Smooth

Yesterday I mentioned that we had experienced some kind winds.  A few hours of skiing today confirmed the winds were very kind especially on The Spine, Slalom Slope and Lenawee Parks. There just aren't that many places that get the high alpine, smooth, flat, buffed steep pitches like A-Basin. I enjoy skiing that condition as much as I enjoy skiing powder.

Steep Gullies and Widowmaker

The last couple of days we have had some pretty big winds. They have been very kind winds (minus a couple wind related lift closures) and have really filled in certain parts of the mountain creating some of that velvety, special skiing. The skiing today.....beautiful.

On a different note, here is a picture of a view I really enjoy. Skiing down the left side of Loafer, approaching the bottom of Beavers Lift, there is an excellent view of The Steep Gullies on the right and the Widowmaker (outside the ski area boundary) on the left.

Snowmaking Done For Season

Our snowmaking department has shut down their operations for the season. From pulling off a fantastic October 11 opening (In 2018 we were closed for skiing for 99 days) to steady and consistent work in November and December, the crew has had an excellent year. Their quality work sets the physical and metaphorical foundation of our snowpack and our trail system for the entire season. Looking at the snowmaking season quantitatively, this one was about average almost hitting our mean and median for acre feet of water converted to snow.

With our permitting, we are only allowed to divert from the North Fork of the Snake River to our reservoir through December 31. We can continue to make snow with whatever is left in the reservoir. New Year's Day the reservoir was virtually empty. The team shut the system down and won't be making snow again until October (maybe September). 

Happy Snowy New Year

We enjoyed a very snowy New Year's Day at Arapahoe Basin. I found particularly good skiing out in the woods west of Loafer. We are expecting a few more inches tonight. Thursday should be a very nice powder day.

Arapahoe Basin had quite a few things going on in 2019. It was a great year.  I think 2020 will be even better. Happy New Year.