Loafer and Davis ????

OK, some, but not all of you, have to be wondering where the names Loafer and Davis came from. When Ralston Purina bought A-Basin in 1978, they did a wonderful job overhauling the lifts, renovating the buildings and, generally speaking, giving The Basin a great boost. They also caused a little grumbling by changing a lot of trail names including all of those on the Lower Mountain.

Wrangler was Lark. North Fork was The Brook Trail. Sundance was Davis. High Noon was Loafer. Ramrod was Molly Hogan.  Being nostalgic and tipping our hat to the original founders, we are bringing back some of those original names with Loafer and Davis. I am not sure the origin of Loafer, but Davis is named after Slim Davis. He was one of the original Forest Service Rangers at A-Basin and he was very involved with ski area development throughout Colorado. He was a true Colorado Ski Pioneer.

Below is a 1965 Ski Patrol Work Map showing many of the old names. And, yes, the T-50 Poma ran from near mid-mountain, up Radical to near the top of Pali. Enjoy the map.