Northern Spy

Northern Spy is wide and in great shape. I did a blog post on August 26, 2015 about a new snowfence the Summer Trail Crew built on the traverse accessing this area. That fence has worked perfectly. It has created a big, wide snowy path into Northern Spy. The beauty of these permanent fences versus the roll up portable fences is that 1) they are bigger and catch much more snow, and 2) after construction they are working all time. Northern Spy is a sweet, little chunk of skiing and this fence just made getting there faster and easier.

Final Day of Kids Club

Yesterday was the final day of Kids Club for the season. They finished off with "Ski Patrol Day." The young rippers were given toboggan rides by the patrollers and participated in avalanche dog drills with Rio and Max. Not only is this program lots of fun, it is the future of the sport. It makes my day seeing the little vested guys cruising around the hill in packs. Whether they are playing in the snow or lining up to "send it" into North Fork, having the kids here is way cool.

Special thanks to all those instructors that made this happen. Awesome job.

Grooming The Spine and The Face

No, no, no, we did not groom The Spine and The Face with our snowcats. Mother Nature groomed The Spine and The Face with kind wind and transported snow. The skiing is sweet and we could not be better positioned for a snowy spring. I kind of like the "No Mogul Thing."

Parking Tips

So I am guessing some of you have noticed that we have had some fairly busy Saturdays. I have a few suggestions to avoid parking problems. It is always a good idea to ride the Summit Stage or carpool. Most importantly, on our busiest days, our parking can be full from about 11:00 AM to about 1:00 PM. I encourage you to avoid arriving during those hours. These days can be Saturdays, January through April with an occasional day in May. With just a little bit of foresight, it is very easy to avoid the most congested times.

Know Before You Go

For more information:
http://bit.ly/KBYGFeb26

I hope you can attend.

Jump

Jump, named after first A-Basin President Larry Jump, is a great trail out in West Zuma. It has the steepest pitch in Montezuma Bowl. To access the area, ski out the Zuma Cornice. After making the small uphill climb, slide Southwest a few hundred more feet. When the cornice drops super steeply to your left you have arrived. This trail faces Southeast and can be a temperamental with the sun so choose your timing wisely. It is one of my go to runs on a powder day.

Y Chute

Enjoy the view from a hike out in Y Chute over the weekend.

Full Moon At The Basin

Foods of the Pacific Rim

Enjoy these photos from Foods of the Pacific Rim. This past Saturday night Chef Rybak and his crew hosted another spectacular evening at Black Mountain Lodge. A full moon night with foods from Japan to Thailand made for a very special evening.

Getting To Be Deck Season

It has been a week of beautiful weather. The deck scene has been going off at Black Mountain Lodge, the A-Frame deck and the Perch (above The 6th Alley). While we may see a bit of snow and cooler temps this week, the last several days have given us a hint of what is coming in March, April and May.  Spring is our time for lots of warm, sunny days and, surprisingly to some, the snowiest time of the day. I love spring.

Just Another Basin Day

Just another stunning, gorgeous, perfect, fun day at the Basin.

Lower Elephant's Trunk

Another A-Basin Adventure Tour. I skied Lower Elephant's Trunk about mid-day. It is another fine tour. I wandered out Zuma Cornice and skied the main part of Elephant's Trunk. I went through the Lower Elephant's Trunk gate and enjoyed some nice turns in some small/medium sized spruce trees. The vertical part of the ski is followed by a nice traverse getting a good look at The Crags and the Lightning Trees. The loop finished with a 10-20 minutes hike up the Hike Back Trail and a ride out Zuma Lift. It was an enjoyable tour with some exceptional views of Porcupine Peak and the Snake River Valley.

West Zuma Views

I always enjoy wandering out on the West Zuma side of the mountain. Good skiing. Good views. Always fun.

Y Chute

This morning Ski Patrol opened up the hiking staircase in the Tree Chutes and Y Chute(s). Y is on the right side of this photo. With a little creative thinking, it looks like a Y.  It is actually composed of North Y, Middle Y and South Y. The Tree Chutes Staircase is not open as much as North Pole or Willy's Wide, but when it is good, it is really good. I did not get to ski out there today, but a couple of guests told me it was quite good.

View From Lenawee Parks

We ended up with 7" out of this storm. 4" new yesterday and 3" new this morning. The skiing today was great fun. Touring the terrain off Pali, Lenawee and Zuma Lifts, I found plenty of good snow. I stopped for a few minutes in Lenawee Parks soaking in the views and snapping a few pictures.

Good Skiing Below The Traverse

Good skiing could be found on The East Wall this afternoon. Out below TJ's Cornice the snow was a little crunchy at the traverse. A couple of turns in was another story. This morning we had a very deep 4 inches of snow and it snowed off an on throughout the day. Turns below the traverse were soft and powdery. I just spoke with someone that skinned up this evening and she told me it was dumping. More good news.

Snowing

It looks like Mother Nature is freshening things up for us. We received 3" of snow this afternoon and are expecting a few more inches by Tuesday morning. There is a chance another little storm may rolling through Thursday and Friday. Keep it coming.

Today's Treat.....Dragon

Today was just a wee bit windy up high. Unfortunately, the winds were big enough that Zuma Lift had to be shut down for a while. Nobody likes it when that happens. Luckily, by early afternoon the wind abated enough to re-open the chair, get people back in the Bowl and spread everyone out.

The good news is that the wind is still delivering buffed conditions in certain areas, like Norway, The Knolls and The Spine. I found a real treat when I rolled over the breakover into Dragon. What, not that long ago, had been huge moguls was now completely smooth......and so soft. Beautiful.

This Place Is Smooth

The wind event of last weekend was kind to much of the mountain. Many places are buffed out and smooth. During a nice ski tour today I found these conditions on The Spine, Slalom Slope, Lenawee Parks and West Zuma. Schauffler was especially good. In the top picture I am standing at the top of the cornice looking down Schauufler. Not your typical skiing. Pretty cool.

More Cool Images

That new webcam at Snow Plume Refuge continues to create tremendous images.

Gumbo Winner

Chefs Rybak and Pauli headed down to River Run at Keystone for their annual Mardi Gras Parade, Party, Gumbo Cooking Contest. To no one's surprise they walked away with 1st Place in the Seafood/Exotic Gumbo category. They also managed to get the "Team Spirit" trophy. I had a bowl of the Gumbo today in The 6th Alley. Well done gentlemen.

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

This past Friday the Arapahoe Basin Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for several proposed projects was released. The document outlines our proposal for the Beavers and Steep Gullies, surface lift to Montezuma Bowl, summer activities and future lift replacement / retirement plans. Currently, we are in a 45 day public comment period. To review the entire DEIS and to comment go to the link below.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=41664

While this is a major step forward, we still have several months of process to go. Once the comment period is over the Forest Service will review comments and work with several other government agencies preparing their final decision. The Final EIS and Record of Decision will follow, perhaps this Summer or Fall. Thanks to all of you that have supported us. Exciting times.

A Little More East Wall

Yesterday, in addition to the Broncos winning the Super Bowl, our Ski Patrol was also able to open up the East Wall below the traverse. It is open again today. There is some very good skiing to be found out there. I offer a word of caution. The East Wall is a rough and rugged place covered with talus. While there is excellent skiing and riding, I encourage everyone to be prudent and be aware that hidden and unmarked obstacles do exist. It is a beautiful place to ski, but please ski responsibly.

WHAT A GAME LAST NIGHT !!!!!!!

Skiing Pali Today

This is what skiing Pali looked like today. The picture says it all. No adjectives necessary.

GO BRONCOS !!!!!!!

Broncos, Beacons and The Basin

Another stellar, near perfect day at The Basin. The skiing is over the top good with blue, blue, blue skies. The Beacon Bowl appears to be on its way to being a success. And the big game is tomorrow. Go Broncos.

Beacon Bowl - February 6

It is time for one of my favorite events, The Beacon Bowl. Come join us Saturday. Lots of fun. Lots of stuff to learn and practice. Beacon drills. Beacon competition. Food. Drinks. Silent auctions. Live auctions. Packs, shovels, beacons, gloves, skis and more. Old friends. New friends. A great cause. All proceeds from the event go to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. This is quite fun and should be a "must attend" day for you.