East Wall

A few of you have been hitting me up about the East Wall status. When "The Wall" is ready, it is one of the finest ski experiences anywhere. Whether you are catching a nice powder run below the traverse, turning around boulders in Land of the Giants, scrambling into 2nd Notch, or dropping through the Snorkel Door, The Wall offers a vast variety and skiing and riding experiences. She typically opens when the base is in the 50-ish inch range. Once we get Montezuma Bowl open, you can really start asking "When" for The Wall.

Norway Lift

We run Norway Lift on busier days typically weekends and holidays. She is a classic 1978 Lift Engineering fixed grip double chairlift. The lift offers beautiful views on a sunny day and provides good access to much of the Upper Mountain. While most people ride Lenawee Lift on the Upper Mountain, there are definitely a few ardent Norway fans out there.

Treeline Terrain Park

The Treeline Terrain Park is now open with half a dozen features. The picnic table has always been one of my favorites. DQ and the gang have done a fine job getting the park ready. Enjoy.

More Basin Images

Check out these images sent in by Scott Carlson a few days ago. This morning we had a very nice 3" of new snow. Go Broncos.

Crystal Clear

Geez, what an afternoon, absolutely crystal clear. Spent about 1/2 hour at The Summit late in the day. Looking all directions, North into The Basin, South into Montezuma Bowl, and West/Northwest towards Tenderfoot Mountain and the Gore Range, the views were outstanding. That time of day, the colors of the shadows, the sky, and mountains are really cool.

Montezuma Bowl Tour

I took a spin in Montezuma Bowl this afternoon skiing Columbine top to bottom. Sorry, I forgot my camera. The snowcats have track packed portions of Upper Larkspur as well as Columbine and Shining Light all the way down to the top of Columbine Step. Columbine Step is that short, steeper pitch a few hundred yards above the bottom terminal of Zuma Lift. The Ski Patrol has deployed numerous snowfences and the avalanche team is still doing extensive work in MGD and West Zuma. Track packing is a term used to describe the snowcats driving and packing down the snow without using the tiller. Simply put, the cats leave a very rough surface instead of one with corduroy. The rough, uneven surfaces are great for catching wind blown snow.

So, we are getting closer. The base is 34". History tells us, we can open Zuma with a 40-ish" inch base. Let's closely watch each weather event. There is a disturbance heading our way for the weekend and some of the longer range forecasts look promising for early January. As Joel Gratz said this morning,"Do your snow dance!"

Going To Be A White Christmas

This continues to be a really good storm. Check out these photos. It is really snowing. The forecast for the day was 2-4". We have had at least that and it is still snowing. NOAA is calling for the next three days to be sunny. So, it looks like Christmas Day will have a few new inches of snow and be a Colorado bluebird day. My favorite. Come on up. Enjoy the holiday at The Basin.

8" So Far

We have 8" from this storm so far. We may get a few more by Christmas Day. The winds have been very favorable. I took several runs on Pali today. The terrain is filling in nicely. Great conditions on The Spine, Rock Garden, Standard, Lower International, Slalom Slope and more. The wind at A-Basin is just as important as new snow. So, with 8" of new snow and a kind wind the skiing is awesome. Today is the best kind of day to be skiing Pali with a bit of blowing snow freshening up each run.

Field Trip

About 10 days ago I spent a morning with Alan Hanson of Summit County government, Joe Foreman of the US Forest Service, and Joe Moylan of the Summit Daily News. We did a mountain tour looking at the various proposals in our Master Development Plan. It was a good day to discuss the various projects and peer into The Beavers.

The Forest Service is accepting comments on the proposal until January 17, 2014. To review the Master Development Plan, the USFS Scoping Notice, and for information on how to share your comments go to:

http://www.arapahoebasin.com/ABasin/mountain/master-development/default.aspx

To review Joe Moylan's recent article in the Summit Daily News go to:

http://www.summitdaily.com/news/9433952-113/basin-expansion-terrain-henceroth

Tele Santa and his Elf

It is that time of year when Santa comes roaring into The Basin for a few tele turns before the big night of work. I think he and his ever faithful elf enjoyed some fine skiing.

More Bavaria Photos

Jeff Holland took these photos last Saturday at "A Night in Bavaria".

It snowed a bit more today than was expected. The forecast the next few days could be pretty good. I know the skiing Saturday morning is going to be quite fun. Kick the holidays off with a powder day.

Good Skiing

There continues to be plenty of good skiing and views out there. We might see a few inches of new snow this weekend.

Moonrise Over Torreys

Kay and I went for a fun skin this evening. We went up High Noon, up Griz Ridge to the top of Pali, and then up the Cornice Run to the Summit. On the Cornice Run, a few hundred yards from the Summit, we watched the near full moon pop up over the Southern shoulder of Torreys Peak (14,275'). The moon and Torreys were framed in the rugged skyline between Black Mountain and Lenawee Mountain. It was stunning. I did not have a camera with me that would do it justice. You will have to let your imagination run with this one. Very cool.

High Tech Lens

This afternoon I had some old friends in town and we skied a few runs on the Upper Mountain. No surprise, but Slalom Slope, Falcon/Dragon, and the Upper Right side of West Wall were exceptional. Down near the bottom of Falcon, we found some really cool light just as the sun went behind the ridge. Using my uber, high tech lens (actually it was through Patio's goggle lens), I took this fun shot.

A Night in Bavaria

 Hard to believe, but we managed to have a little fun at "A Night in Bavaria". It was a beautiful walk (or snowshoe or skin) to Black Mountain Lodge. The moon was bright. Those "Austrian Guys" played some great music. The wiener schnitzel, grilled sausage, and apple strudel were awesome. The laughter was constant. And the walk down may have burned off a few calories. Whew and cool.