Around the ski world, more and more people have added uphill movement to their ski and snowboard vocabulary. Many people out there enjoy either hiking, snowshoeing or skinning up the mountain. A-Basin, in particular, has seen a ginormous increase in interest in this activity. While heading up the hill without a chairlift is a fun and healthy activity, there are concerns with integrating it into ski area operations.
We have embraced uphill access and have created a very good uphill access plan. We require people to obtain a "FREE" Uphill Access Pass at Guest Services. Getting the free pass involves reading a page of rules and signing a waiver. We do, at times, close the hill to uphill access. That typically occurs when we are doing avalanche work or there is a special event.
The other notable time uphill access is closed is right now, early season. With snow on a limited amount of terrain and with skiers, snowcats and snowmaking equipment all over that limited terrain, uphill access is not a good idea right now. As more terrain and snow come online, usually by mid-November, we will open the hill to uphill access.
At the bottom of the "Runs Open" page of our website, we post whether uphill access is open or closed. http://arapahoebasin.com/ABasin/snow-conditions/terrain.aspx
There are now thousands of people enjoying A-Basin for uphill access (me included). If interested, be sure and get an Uphill Access Pass and take the time to understand the rules. This is a great and innovative program, but it only works if the users follow and respect the plan. For those of you that are uphill users, thank you so much for working with us. After mid-November, I will see you on the hill a couple of nights per week.......... after the lifts are closed.
