More and More Good Skiing

I had a wonderful day skiing. Headed out to The Beavers and skied Loafer, Davis and Jaeger. Beautiful. There could be some more terrain brewing West of Loafer. There is an additional 100 acres out there that we did not open last year.  Maybe we will start calling that the Western Territory. It is moderately steep, rolling, gladed terrain..........and very fun.

We had about an inch of snow during the day. Kay and I just skinned up to The Summit through heavy snowfall. We skied down in at least couple more inches. Very soft and sweet. The skiing will be exceptional in the morning.

Beavers' Snow Conditions

Snow conditions in The Beavers were pretty darn good this morning (actually all day long).

Getting Rolling In Zuma Bowl

Zuma Bowl has fared well with all this snow. Our snowfences are phat with snow. The cat drivers have been down Columbine getting close to Tower 14. They have also been out Zuma Cornice. Prior to the 22" inch storm, the snow safety crew and cat drivers had used the Disruption Roller in West Zuma. The Ski Patrol has done extensive explosive work in West Zuma. The Winter Trail Crew is moving and wrestling with the buried fences. With unsettled weather beginning tomorrow, we will get Zuma shaped up quickly.

Grooming Loafer and Davis

Loafer and Davis will be groomed on a regular basis. At this point they are not groomed all the way to the bottom of the lift. That should happen with the next week or so. Using the winch cats, our drivers are working their way down these trails. They will be leap frogging their way down from winch anchor to winch anchor. That will give us two groomed, challenging blue trails with lots of black skiing on either side of them.

Just as an aside, you can see some smoke in the top right hand corner of this picture. Across Highway 6 from Keystone, the Forest Service is burning some slash piles. Those piles came from dead lodgepole pines killed by the mountain pine beetle.

Opening Day

We ended up with a nearly perfect opening day. There wasn't a cloud in the bluebird sky. The skiing and riding was fantastic. We ended opening Loafer, Davis, Jaeger, Thick and Thin, East Woods and Castor.  I think just about everyone out there had a terrific day.

.......And there is more to come !!!!

Beavers Opens Monday

This weekend's 22 inches of snow has been a real treat. The Beavers terrain and chairlift will open Monday mid-morning. We will start with Loafer. As the day progresses, we will likely get some of the Dog Woods open. Sometime later tomorrow you should see Davis (and maybe a few more gladed trails) get open.

We definitely got buried by this storm. It has been a great deal of work getting all the puzzle pieces together. Lots and lots of shoveling. Be sure and thank your favorite lift op, lift mechanic, cat driver and ski patroller next time you see them. They have had some long, long days getting the Beavers ready.

On top of this great news, we had a limited opening on Pali Face and The Spine today. That should happen again tomorrow around the middle of the day.

I am just beside myself with all this fun.

Lower International

Lower International sure skied nicely Saturday.

Tough Photography Conditions

When it is snowing this hard and the snow is this deep, it is hard to capture good images.

We had a very good Pali Lift opening day. In addition to great skiing on Slalom Slope, some people were able to make some turns on Standard and 13 Cornices. It was deep everywhere.

I did ski Loafer and spent some time at the bottom of The Beavers Lift. There is plenty of snow now to get The Beavers open. We do have a TON of work to do to get that area open.  We are working hard at it. I suspect you will see some new terrain opening every day for the next several days.

Pali Lift Opens Today

8 inches new today. 10 inches so far with this storm. Snowing heavily this morning. Mid to late morning today, Pallavicini Lift will open for the season. Initially, that will be for West Wall, Slalom Slope, Grizzly Road, Powderkeg and Radical. With the snow continuing, I suspect more terrain will follow soon.

Beavers Lift isn't far behind.

Disruption Season

Winch roller, compaction roller, I think we are calling it the "Disruption Roller." This machine is lowered down some of our steepest terrain by a winch cat. It is a very effective tool for breaking up the snow. Again, it interrupts propagation pathways, breaking up slabs and reducing avalanche hazards. And, it is good for the skiing.

Operating this machine is a collaboration between our Snow Safety Team and our Trails Maintenance Team. Last week the crew worked Pali and West Zuma Bowl with the "Disrupter."

Happy Thanksgiving

We are all so lucky to work and play at The Basin. Thanks for our great staff. Thanks for our great guests. Thanks for this great mountain. I am thankful for all the powder days in the past and all the powder days yet to come. The coming week is going to be lots of fun. Happy Thanksgiving.

Ski Cutting Pali Lift Line

The Ski Patrol has been all over the steep terrain on the North Side and in the Steep Gullies. They try and beat up the snow, breaking all the propagation pathways. This prevents larger slabs from forming and weaker lower layers from collapsing. They use explosives, they ski cut, they side step down the slopes. Not only does this reduce the chance of avalanches, it makes the skiing a whole lot better with subsequent snowfall.

This is text book ski cutting on the Pali Lift line.

Alpenglow

Nothing like a little Black Mountain / Marjorie Bowl / East Wall alpenglow.

Beavers Stuff

The Beavers Chairlift is now licensed with the State of Colorado. We will continue to tinker with it and familiarize ourselves with the new equipment. It is a beautiful ride. The skiing in The Beavers is so close. Yesterday's small storm helped a bit more. There may be a couple of storms heading our way later this week. We could see some fun and excitement in the Beavers and Pali zones pretty darn soon.

If you look closely at the top photo, bottom right corner, you can see one of the picnic table decks.

Pali Outpost

Ski Patroller Dom Vellone enjoying the new deck at Pali Outpost.

Beavers - Steep Gullies Connect

The Beavers and the Steep Gullies are two distinctly different areas. For the most part, as you ski one of these areas, you will feel very far from the other. An exception is Lower Loafer. As you are skiing down Loafer, almost to the bottom of the Beavers Lift and especially from the left side of the trail, there is an excellent view of The Steep Gullies.

Molly Hogan Open

I suspect that if you are reading this blog, you don't ski much on Molly Hogan. In case you have that beginner friend or relative that has been waiting for a beginner chairlift, Molly Hogan is open. As always, I encourage you to put that beginner in Snowsports School. This way, the beginner is taught by a professional and you can go have fun skiing. This strategy is especially good for boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives and your kids.

Beavers Timing

I recently took a lap on Loafer and Davis. The skiing is sure good on both of those trails. We are very close to getting some of this terrain open. I think a good solid storm could be enough to make it happen. We are still dialing the chairlift in and waiting to get its license. That should happen soon. 

So, overall, The Beavers is quite good and we are getting pretty close to getting it open.

Uphill Access Open - with exceptions

Starting this afternoon, Uphill Access is open during non-operating hours. As of now, Uphill Access is still closed during ski lift operating hours. Before you go, be sure and get a FREE Uphill Access Pass in Guest Services. Information on Uphill Access can be found on the Terrain Status page of our website.

Uphill Access

The picture below has nothing to do with Uphill Access. This is the new picnic deck we built in The Beavers at timberline just east of Loafer. It is a very nice place to enjoy the view and take in a new perspective at The Basin. I took the photo yesterday. We need to shovel the deck.

Beautiful Basin Day

Today was a beautiful Basin sort of day.

First Rando Race

100 people came out this morning in 0 F temperatures to take in the first Rando Race of the season. Spirits were high and climbing speeds were fast.

We are making snow on Sundance right now and that should last for a few days. We did tweak our plan just a tiny bit. We were able to get Sundance open with natural snow, but it needs just a little more "frosting" to keep it going. Molly Hogan is next on the snowmaking agenda. The objective is to have more beginner and teaching terrain available by Thanksgiving.

And A Lift Evacuation Test

In addition to checking on equipment for the Acceptance Test, the Ski Patrol had to display competency evacuating the chairlift. The Patrollers used a variety of ropes, pulleys, harnesses, figure 8's and other equipment to evacuate four people. Yours truly was part of that "select ballast" being lowered from the lift.

Skiing The Upper Mountain

Saturday will be an awesome day to ski the Upper Mountain. Lenawee Lift will be open. Not bad for November 10.

Beautiful November

What a great way to get the ski season rolling.

Lenawee Mountain Lift Opens Saturday

The news you have been waiting for, Lenawee Mountain Lift will open this Saturday. Obviously, Lenawee Face and Dercum's Gulch will be open. There may be a few more surprises to go along with those trails. The snowmaking and grooming process has been going extremely well. There will be loads of fun to be had.