Saturday, June 30, 2018

Concert, Hiking, Eating and More

We have had a wonderful first Saturday of the Summer. Euforquestra had a fantastic performance in Mountain Goat Plaza. A number of people enjoyed riding Black Mountain Express. There were Gyros in the base area, BBQ and Black Mountain Lodge and Bloody Mary's in the 6th Alley. There were plenty of hikers and disc golfers about. A very good day



Friday, June 29, 2018

Beaver Bowl

Beaver Bowl is looking pretty good today !!!


Thursday, June 28, 2018

Saturday - Chairlift Rides, EUFORQUESTRA, 6th Alley, Disc Golf

Kick of the Summer this weekend. Saturday will be fun with EUFORQUESTRA (modern funk and roots with vintage soul) playing from 1 - 4 PM in Mountain Goat Plaza. Black Mountain Express will be open for chairlift rides Saturdays and Sundays all Summer (save a few bucks and buy your lift ticket online in advance). Enjoy a pint and a bite at the 6th Alley Bar and Grill after a round a disc golf. Avoid the holiday crowds elsewhere and experience a new and different mountain vibe.

Don't forget Yoga Fridays and Yoga Sundays.





Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Buffing Out Loafer

Last Summer we worked to prepare Loafer for the 2017-18 season. We had loggers drop the trees on the trail. Once the trees were down, we had choker setters bundle the logs. Once that was done, the helicopter flew the logs to the Early Riser Lot. Once the logs were gone, the cutters came back in and flush cut the stumps and piled the slash. Somewhere along the way, it snowed a couple of feet. With snow on the ground, we were able to burn the slash piles. Because of all the snow on the ground, we missed a bit of slash. This Summer we are doing another pass, clearing and piling the remaining slash. Once, either the monsoon hits and the forest gets very wet or snow flies in the Fall, we plan on burning the remaining piles and having a very, very smooth Loafer for you.

Yes, yes, yes, that is "Hobo Village" guitarist and singer Chris Wesson on the chain saw.




Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Summer Begins - Yoga Friday

Summer has begun at The Basin. The front nine holes of the Disc Golf Course are open for play (nine more will be available later this summer). The Argentine North Fork Trail is open to Black Mountain Lodge. The 6th Alley and Arapahoe Sports open this Friday and will be open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday through September 16.

Yoga Fridays and Yoga Sundays start this week. Sign up on line or just show up this Friday for yoga from 11 AM until noon. Follow that with a great lunch in the 6th Alley.


Woo Hoo, Summer is here.


Monday, June 25, 2018

Snowfields

We have a few snowfields still scattered about out there. The images below were captured from close to the top of Lenawee Mountain.

Looking south towards Montezuma

South Summit, Lenawee Mountain

Sunday, June 24, 2018

From Lenawee Mountain

A beautiful view from Lenawee Mountain on Saturday morning.


Saturday, June 23, 2018

A Little More

For the last couple of decades Norway only ran weekends and holidays. The Beavers Lift will run 7 days a weeks and we anticipate ridership on it to be much, much greater than ridership on Norway. The Beavers Lift will serve 339 acres of awesome gladed and bowl skiing along with a couple of fun and challenging blue trails. There are an additional 129 acres of double black diamond skiing (The Steep Gullies) accessible from Pali Lift that require a 20-30 hike following the ski. The Beavers addition will have as great or greater of an impact as Montezuma Bowl did.

More Norway Stuff

The crew continues to be busy working on Norway. Only Towers 7 and 10 and the top and bottom terminals remain standing. I do understand that some people struggle with the Norway removal. I enjoyed riding it also. There comes a time when any lift needs to be removed. Now is Norway's time.

With The Beavers project we are adding a chairlift with 150% of the capacity of Norway and we are adding several hundred acres. As we saw with the upgrade of Lenawee in 2001 and the addition of Montezuma Bowl in 2007, the demand for Norway Lift goes down and down. By adding this significant expansion, we think there will be a strong migration of skiers away from Norway just as there was on other big projects. Also, keep in mind we will not be adding parking. With parking lots already full on busy weekends we won't really be much busier. We'll just have a whole more terrain and uphill lift capacity to take care of the same number of people.

Now, when the skiing is good in Lenawee Parks and on the East Wall, there will always be a demand for Lenawee Mountain Lift. Your question to me shouldn't be "Why aren't you replacing Norway?" The question should be "When are you going to upgrade Lenawee?"




Friday, June 22, 2018

Norway Removal

The Norway removal is well on its way. All of the carriers (chairs) have been removed from the haul rope. The haul rope has been removed. A couple of the towers have now been cut down. Once all the towers are down, they will be flown out by helicopter. The terminals and bullwheels will be removed last.



Thursday, June 21, 2018

Snow - After It Melts

Snow. We ski it. We float it. We drink it. We irrigate it. We eat it. After our snow melts it flows into the Snake River, the Blue River and, finally, the Colorado River. Along the way it passes through Glenwood Canyon, Westwater Canyon, Cataract Canyon and the Grand Canyon. It spends a few years in our reservoirs, Lake Dillon, Green Mountain Reservoir, Lake Powell, Lake Mead. It grows most of the produce we eat. It is the lifeblood of Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson and L.A. Rarely does it reach the Gulf of California anymore. And it all starts in dozens and dozens of little Snake River like basins at the headwaters of the Green and Colorado Rivers. 

It really starts with all those powder days we enjoy each winter.

Westwater Canyon - Tuesday night

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

The Summit

Check out The Summit from the North Pole hike. This week, we are ramping up to get very busy here. The Leitner Poma team will be starting The Beavers Lift top terminal foundation and they will begin removing Norway Lift. Last I heard more than 2,000 people had entered the drawing for a Norway chair.


Tuesday, June 19, 2018

A Very Rugged Lenawee Mountain

You can tell I spent a bit of time last week wandering around on the East Wall. It is dramatic in winter as well as Summer. In the top image, you can see Lenawee Mountain has both a North and South summit. The bottom three photos are looking up the very rugged walls and buttresses of the South summit between North Pole and Willy's Wide.





Monday, June 18, 2018

Mining Activity

Some regions of Summit County saw a tremendous amount of mining activity. The Basin saw a little bit of activity. There were a few mines high on the East Wall and on the far East side of Montezuma Bowl. The miners' left a few cabins and structures for us to enjoy. The structure pictured below is found near the top of North Pole. I believe that is the mine entrance, but it appears to have caved in. I don't get too close. I continue to be amazed at where these guys traveled and worked.


Sunday, June 17, 2018

Little Lenawee - Left and Right

That is Little Lenawee Peak on the left in the top photo and on the right in the bottom photo. The photos were taken near the top of North Pole. The top photo is looking North towards Loveland Pass. The bottom photo is looking South with the Town of Montezuma visible in the bottom of the valley. Typically, there would be more snow than this most years.



Saturday, June 16, 2018

1st Notch

1st Notch looks pretty good also.


Friday, June 15, 2018

Looking Down 2nd Notch

Looking down 2nd Notch in the Summer is an impressive sight.


Thursday, June 14, 2018

Norway Chairs

Tomorrow, June 15, is the last day to enter the drawing to purchase a Norway chair. A mere $5 gives you a chance to purchase one of these very cool pieces of history. Ornaments that your backyard absolutely needs. All of the $5 entry fees will be donated to the Summit Foundation, our local community foundation (summitfoundation.org). Details can be found at the link below.

shop.arapahoebasin.com/chair-sales


Smokey Sunrise

This morning we had a smokey sunrise over The Basin. The Buffalo Mountain Fire has been substantially knocked back. Amazingly, no homes burned. The fire crews did an extraordinary job. The big air tankers and helicopters and ground crews really slowed down a fire that had an explosive start.  From my backyard, it was an impressive sight seeing a DC-10 air tanker directly overhead lumbering towards the fire, seemingly very low and very slow.

I think a little of today's smoke is coming from the Buffalo incident, but most of it appears to be coming from other fires scattered around the Southwest. Weather wise, we are in a Red Flag Warming today. Hopefully, this weekend we see some moisture from Hurricane Bud to wet the place down.


Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Lenawee Goats

Lots of mountain goats around this spring.



Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Buffalo Mountain Fire

We have a very scary event going on at Buffalo Mountain right now. Ground crews, air tankers and helicopters are working diligently to slow this fire down. Right now almost 1400 homes in Wildernest and Mesa Cortina have been evacuated. Please send your very best thoughts to all the friends, family and co-workers impacted by this fire. Up to date information can be found at http://www.co.summit.co.us/Blog.aspx?CID=4.






Sunday, June 10, 2018

Hiking Season

It is definitely hiking season. We enjoyed a beautiful hike in the Gore Range today. Trails have been opening up quickly and we should have 2-3 extra weeks in the high country this summer. Get out there and enjoy it.



Saturday, June 9, 2018

Summer Is Taking Hold

No surprise to anyone, the snow is going fast. Even Sundance and High Noon, which the cat drivers had been holding together, don't have much snow. The willows are starting to leaf out. Plowing on the Summer Road is done. We just have to let it dry. Weddings begin in slightly less than two weeks. The rest of Summer Operations, chairlift rides, 6th Alley, Arapahoe Sports, Disc Golf, hiking, etc, begin June 29.


Friday, June 8, 2018

Snowmaker Of The Year

Several of us spent yesterday in Denver at the Annual Colorado Ski Country USA Meeting. It was an interesting day discussing issues affecting Colorado skiing. We also heard from the eight candidates for governor.

The highlight of the day was the Double Diamond Awards Ceremony. Several ski area employees were recognized for outstanding achievement throughout the season. Congratulations to our own Sean Mase (pictured on the right) who received the award for the Colorado Snowmaker of the Year. Sean is a tremendous, smart, dedicated and hard working leader for A-Basin. We are lucky to have him working those tough nights back in October, November and December. His hard work becomes the foundation of so much of the great skiing we enjoy all the way into June.

Louis Skowyra, Bill LeClair, Sean Mase

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Summer Is Coming Fast

Much of our ability to stay open late in the Spring (sometimes Summer) is due to the outstanding work our snowcat drivers do. They really manage the snow and put it where we want it to last the longest. Now that they are no longer grooming, our remaining snow will melt very quickly.

Our teams are scattered across the resort closing out Winter. The F & B crew is doing major cleans at their facilities. The Ski Patrol and Lift Teams are putting all their gear away. The snowcat drivers are plowing our summer service road. With a couple blinks of the eye, we will be hosting weddings at Black Mountain Lodge, offering weekend Black Mountain Express Chairlift rides and hosting a variety of concerts, running races, yoga luncheons, disc golf tournaments and more. Summer, here we come.


Sunday, June 3, 2018

That's A Wrap

A couple thousand people joined us today to close out the 2017-18 ski season. It has been quite a year. Despite only having 85% of normal snowfall, we had a lot of great ski days. Adding The Beavers and The Steep Gullies offered exciting and thrilling skiing. As always, my favorite experience was going through The Snorkel Door.

We are all lucky to be able to spend time in this magical place we call Arapahoe Basin. I would like to thank all of our guests that chose to spend a little time here. I especially want to thank all our employees that keep this place running. It has been a great season. We are in store for a very exciting Summer. In about 4 months, we will be preparing to re-open.With a new lift and 468 acres in The Beavers and Steep Gullies, next season will be even better.

Thank you so much.


Saturday, June 2, 2018

You Couldn't Help But Smile

I don't think there was a single cloud in the sky today. It is closing weekend. We had a good turnout today and I think everyone was having a good time. You couldn't help but have fun and smile. The novelty of June skiing is a treat. High Five played on the Black Mountain Lodge Deck. The Burroughs entertained in Mountain Goat Plaza. The pond skimming was in top form. The Park Crew delivered some fine feature. Very, very nice.