Sunday, October 29, 2017

The Reservoir and The Wind

Snowmaking had been going really well up high. We did, however, bump into a couple of challenges. The ridgetops got a little too windy. The snowmaking reservoir got a little too low. The humidity got a little too high. So, after some phenomenal snowmaking, we had to slow things down just a bit. We are letting the wind die down, the reservoir recharge and the wet bulb drop. We don't have far to go to get Lenawee Face and Dercum's Gulch open, but we need those better conditions to return. Soon.




Saturday, October 28, 2017

Your Friendly Bar Staff

In addition to a rail jam and some great skiing, we are hosting a Halloween Party and costume contest in The 6th Alley. Your friendly bar staff is getting into the costume fun also. 


Friday, October 27, 2017

Walking Tour

I did a walking tour on the Upper Mountain this morning. I should have done a ski tour. The snowmakers had ANOTHER very good night. We have continuous snow coverage from the top of Lenawee to bottom of Lenawee. A handful of the spots still need more snow, but we are progressing very nicely. We have fan guns set up in the weaker spots and the snowmaking forecast looks good. We had several guns running all day today. I suspect we will be skiing off the Lenawee Mountain Chairlift pretty soon.


Thursday, October 26, 2017

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Terrain Update

Ramrod and High Noon are holding up nicely. Our terrain park has been very popular. The snowmakers are having good success on the Upper Mountain. We should see a few inches of snow Thursday and Thursday night. For the next several nights (and maybe days) we should see some very good snowmaking temperatures. I am not exactly sure when Lenawee is going to open, but we are getting much closer.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Chips To Electricity

All those chips are finally gone from the Early Riser lot. Parking is back to normal. Those chips, from the trees removed in The Beavers, will be consumed in the Gypsum Biomass Plant to generate electricity.


Saturday, October 21, 2017

Lenawee Snowmaking

It has been a good storm so far. With a few inches of natural snow and excellent temperatures for snowmaking, the crew is making great progress on Lenawee from the top all the way down to Lenawee Traverse. The wind has been a bit of a challenge, but not impossible. We are looking forward to another excellent night.




Friday, October 20, 2017

Loveland Opened Today

Congrats to our friends at Loveland Ski Area for opening this morning. I am so happy to see people sliding down the snow at both Loveland and The Basin. Here's to another great season of deep snow, blue skies and lots of fun. 


Wednesday, October 18, 2017

New Website

We launched a new website yesterday. There will be many more images reflecting The Basin's look, feel and vibe. The navigation should be a lot easier on the front side. The backside of the website is much easier to manage so we can adjust and change content to more rapidly reflect the latest action. Lastly, the new site will be much more friendly with mobile applications.

The next project is a new e-store slated for next year. I know our current store is a bit klunky, but more cool stuff is coming.

Enjoy.


Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Ramrod Is Open

Ramrod is open for the season. The cat drivers spread the piles last night and the trail is ready to go. This has been a very good snowmaking season for us so far. Lots of very pleasant and fair days, but good, cold nights. Today and tomorrow our snowmaking team will be transporting equipment to the Upper Mountain. Now our snowmaking focus zeroes in on Lenawee Face, Dercum's Gulch and Molly Hogan with a special objective of getting Lenawee Mountain Lift open. 


Monday, October 16, 2017

Slash Piles

We are burning slash piles along the proposed  Beavers lift line. We have already burned piles on The Steep Gullies Hike Back trail and plan on burning piles on Loafer and Davis.

There were multiple phases in our trail preparation work. First the loggers dropped the trees to the ground. Second, we used a helicopter to fly the logs to the parking lot. There the logs were chipped and transported to the biomass plant in Gypsum (that is another story). Third, a contract crew traveled the trails again flush cutting stumps and piling any remaining slash. That crew should be done this week. Fourth, our crews are burning those slash piles. Next season we may have to do a little more clean up and pile burning.

Our strategy for this entire process has been to minimize ground disturbance. Through this work, we have had no tracked or wheeled vehicles on these trails. While the trees have been removed, the ground has not been substantially disturbed. This has a significant and positive impact on erosion and water quality.

We will be burning as long as conditions allow or until we are done. I suspect we will be doing this for several more weeks.


Sunday, October 15, 2017

Outstanding snowmaking

With a mid-mountain wet bulb temperature of 13 F, last night's snowmaking was outstanding as shown on this morning's web cam images. We turned the system on Friday night and it has been running since. We anticipate a shut down soon as today's temps warm up. The major focus has been on Ramrod, but we also have guns running on the Upper Mountain and Molly Hogan. The forecast for tonight looks good. We may see more terrain soon.




Saturday, October 14, 2017

Opening Day Media

I thought this was a fun picture I took as first chair was getting ready to load.


Friday, October 13, 2017

We Are Skiing

We had a very fun opening day. People turned out and had a blast. Never underestimate people's desire to go skiing and riding. Thanks to all of our employees and guests that made today happen and thanks to Dave Camara for the photos.








Into The Night

The Park Crew worked into the night and this morning will be offering a 20' Down Rail, a Down Flat Down Rail, a Hitching Post Spine, a 20' Flat Rail and a Down Tower Tube. I think we can have some fun with these features.





20’ Down Rail
Down Flat Down Rail
Hitching Post Spine
20’ Flat Rail

Down Tower Tube

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Terrain Park

We will have a terrain park for opening day. As I look out my office window, I can see the Park Crew with their snowcat getting it ready. I am not sure what features will be in it, but I will try and post some pictures Friday after the park opens.


High Noon Is Ready

The cat drivers are just about done. Gerry will be in early putting a final touch on High Noon. Both the drivers and the snowmakers have done an exceptional job. The groomed surface is superb.

All kinds of stuff happens on opening day, first turns of the season, picking up your pass, joining the Mug Club, getting the latest, coolest A-Basin gear, etc. There is still construction activity in Early Riser Lot so people will have to park in High Noon or Last Chance Lots. We will be stuffing some employee vehicles in and around the construction equipment in Early Riser. Hopefully, we only have about a week of that left. Other than that, Summer is buttoned up and we are ready to roll. Let's go skiing.

See you in the morning.


Basin Faces

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Friday - Ski Day


Friday, October 13 will be opening day for the 2017-18 ski season. Our snowmaking efforts have gone very well with cold temperatures and high streamflows. I just walked High Noon. The snow coverage is really good. The snowmakers are already moving fan guns to Ramrod and Dercum's Gulch. Two snow cat drivers will be in Wednesday to start pushing the snow around. 





Welcome to ski season.















Incredible Night


The last 36 hours, especially last night, have been incredible for snowmaking.







Monday, October 9, 2017

A Very Good Day

Today was a very good day for snowmaking. The morning started out cold, snowy, overcast and windy. As the day progressed, the wind died down and the sun came out. The high temperature at mid-mountain was only 21 F. The snowmakers have capitalized on the ideal conditions. Tonight, the temperatures may drop down to single digits. We have whales. Good. Good. Good.


Snowy Morning


Sunday, October 8, 2017

Sunday Evening Update

The Saturday night snowmaking turned out OK, actually a little better than I expected. Sunday was just a gorgeous, breezy, bluebird Colorado Fall day. I spent a little time at The Basin and had a great bike ride around Lake Dillon.

The forecast still looks strong the next few days for snowmaking. Right now the air temperatures are dropping slowly. Supposedly sometime after midnight, the air temps are supposed to nose dive and stay that way until Tuesday. Can't wait to see what morning brings.


Saturday, October 7, 2017

Snowmaking Update

The snowmakers had a very productive session Friday night. The forecast for Saturday night looks so-so. Beyond that, Sunday afternoon through mid-day Tuesday looks very cold. If the forecast holds true and if all the equipment works properly, we could be sitting on a very large pile of snow by Tuesday. .............................That would be good.


Friday, October 6, 2017

Wet Bulb 23 F

The wet bulb temperature at Mid Mountain is 23 F and falling. The snowmakers just turned the system on. We are hoping and planning for a good night. We are hoping and planning for a good week. The forecast is still favorable.  Sooner or later we are going to have to start talking about getting this place open.


Thursday, October 5, 2017

Basin Morning

The place looks delightfully white.



Wednesday, October 4, 2017

October 3

Can you believe this photo was taken October 3?


Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Uphill Access Closed

Uphill Access is now closed and will remain closed until sometime in November. Currently, we have snowmaking equipment, power cords, hoses and fan guns scattered around the Lower Mountain. With just a bit more man man made and natural snowfall, we will have over snow equipment moving around. For safety reasons, on hill traffic doesn't mix all that well with the process of getting the place open. I appreciate your patience on this. Like you, I am excited to start skinning once more terrain opens.

On another note, last night was very good for snowmaking. Tonight we might see some good temperatures and, right now, early next week is looking very good for snowmaking.



Monday, October 2, 2017

Power / Phone / Cellular Outage

It is certainly awesome to get this much snow, but sometimes these big early or late wet storms cause utility problems. Much of Summit County has had a power outage today including A-Basin. Schools were cancelled because of the outage. Our phones, both land lines and cellular are also down. We do have some limited auxiliary power generation capabilities, but not a lot. As a result, some of  our systems are kind of working, but many of them are not. One of our webcams is updating, the others are not. Surprisingly, the blog is working. So, bear with us. We look forward to getting everything going again.      Al

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Winter Weather Advisory


Yesterday afternoon and evening's storm was kind to us. The pictures below are from the webcams this morning. We are in a Winter Weather Advisory until Monday evening with some pretty good snow expected.   ..................And we have unsettled weather forecast for a few days beyond that. Late September and early October are looking pretty good.











Winter Weather Advisory

Yesterday afternoon and evening's storm was kind to us. The pictures below are from the webcams this morning. We are in a Winter Weather Advisory until Monday evening with some pretty good snow expected.   ..................And we have unsettled weather forecast for a few days beyond that. Late September and early October are looking pretty good.