The Beauty of Spring

"Drawing" Adjustments

We have identified some issues with the "Drawing" and have made some adjustments. This evening, when you enter the "Drawing", PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY. Thanks.

Thank You Jeff and Family

Jeff and his family hit the jackpot being the top bidder in our first Pali Chair auction. They picked up a gently used 1978 Lift Engineering double chair from the Pallavicini Chairlift for $16,000.  All proceeds go to local charitable organizations. I am sure the Summit Foundation, The FIRC and the Community Care Clinic will put the money to very good use. Thank you so much.

We still have three more chairs to auction. Tentatively, there will be one more online auction and two live auctions at times still to be determined.

Re-Opening Day

It was great to be on the hill today.

Drawing For Thursday

The drawing for skiing and riding Thursday is underway this evening until 9 PM. To enter the drawing, go to Arapahoe Basin Drawing .

Starting Wednesday night, we will be doing the drawing from 7:00 - 9:00 PM for skiing two days later. So, Wednesday night's drawing will be for skiing Friday.

Drawing Underway

We have a drawing underway to give 600 people access to skiing and riding at The Basin tomorrow. Many of you suggested we do a lottery type system over our first effort at reservations. We took you up on it. Until 5 PM today we are accepting names for the drawing. Soon after 5 PM, we will randomly draw people from the group for a Wednesday ski. For all the details and to enter the drawing go to Arapahoe Basin Drawing. Details on drawings for future ski days will follow later.

Sorry About The Crash

I took this photo about 3:30 yesterday from Black Mountain Lodge deck. The Upper Mountain looks great. The skiing will be especially fun up there.

We had a big system crash yesterday. I am sorry about that. We will be ready for tomorrow. Stay tuned for more details.

COVID Era Staff Meeting

Chair Auction - One More Hour

There is just over an hour left in the Pali Chair auction. Current bid is at $10,500. The auction closes at 5 PM this afternoon. Remember all proceeds from this auction go to three really outstanding Summit County charitable organizations. If you are Pali aficionado and a Summit County focused philanthropist, this a golden opportunity for you. Or maybe you just really want a Pali chair 👍

We Are Re-Opening - Wednesday, May 27

It is official. We are going to re-open Wednesday, May 27. As I mentioned a couple days ago, we will sell a very small number of lift tickets. Mostly this opening is for all of our pass holders. That includes A-Basin season passes, Any Day Passes, Ikon Passes and Mountain Collective Passes. We will be open 7 days a week from 8:30 AM until 3:00 PM.

This is going to be very different.

1. Reservations are required. DO NOT SHOW UP WITHOUT A RESERVATION.

2. Physical distancing will be enforced and guests must wear face coverings in designated areas.

3. Tailgating and other gatherings will not be allowed.

We have been given an extraordinary opportunity. We need to take this very seriously and we need to respect the guidance given by our Summit County and State of Colorado health officials. We have to open in a responsible way. We need everyone to help. 

Go to our website for all the details. A-Basin To Re-Open

Oh yeah, beginning Wednesday afternoon Uphill Access will be open for Uphill Pass holders from 4 PM until 8 AM. Users must be off the hill by 8 AM.

I am so excited we can offer the "A-Basin Tribe" a chance to ski and ride again this season. This will be cool.

If We Can Re-Open.............

We have not stopped trying to re-open. We think doing so would be awesome for Colorado, Summit County, Arapahoe Basin, our guests and, especially, our employees. There has been some encouraging news about the possibility. Let's hope that we get positive news soon.

If we do get a chance to re-open, all of our guests need to have realistic expectations. This potential re-opening will be different from anything you have ever experienced at Arapahoe Basin. To stay open, we will need the help, support and cooperation of every single guest. We are all in this together. If we get the chance to re-open you can expect:

1.  Skier numbers will be limited. RESERVATIONS WILL BE REQUIRED. DO NOT SHOW UP WITHOUT A RESERVATION. We will sell a very small number of lift tickets. The vast majority of the available space will be for pass holders. Not everyone will get the chance to ski every day.

2.  Tailgating and social gatherings will be prohibited. We can party next season. The re-opening is all about giving people a chance to ski and ride.

3.  Physical distancing will be strictly enforced. You will be required to wear a face mask in the base area, in the lift line, in restrooms and other places.

Again, we are doing our best to get the chance to re-open. If we get the chance, we all need to conduct ourselves in a responsible way to continue to stay open.

Pali Chair Auction

The first Pali Chair Auction is going strong. All proceeds from this sale will be split between three local non-profits, The Summit Foundation, Family Intercultural Resource Center (FIRC) and the Summit County Community Care Clinic. You can find the auction at Pali Chair Auction. Get your bid in before the auction ends at 5 PM MT on Monday.

Details on these charitable organizations can be found at:

Summit Foundation

Summit Community Care Clinic

Family Intercultural Resource Center (FIRC)

She's Gone

No more Molly Hogan.

Timberline Lodge, Oregon

Timberline Lodge in Oregon re-opened for skiing and riding last Friday. Josh Malczyk, of Freeskier Magazine, wrote a very nice article, with excellent photos, of re-opening day.

https://freeskier.com/stories/my-first-day-on-a-chairlift-after-the-world-shut-down

From The Divide

Brandon Eby took this photo of The Basin from The Divide yesterday.

Dragging Towers

The Leitner Poma crew dropped the Molly Hogan towers today. Using a snowcat, we pulled them to the parking lot. We will cut the big pieces into small pieces and send them to Denver for recycling. Just about all of the lift will be recycled.

Selling Pali Chairs

Pallavicini Chairlift (Pali) is the Black Jewel of Arapahoe Basin. Installed by Lift Engineering (YAN) in 1978, Pali will be removed in June 2020 and replaced with a brand new Leitner Poma double chairlift, ready for the 2020-21 season. 

The actual chairs or carriers are a hot commodity. We had a great plan and schedule to sell the Pali chairs this spring. The COVID-19 closure changed all of that. We are going to kick start that program again this month.

We are going to take four of the chairs and auction them off, raising money for good causes. Proceeds from three of those auctions will be split with three local non-profits, The Summit Foundation, The Community Care Clinic and The Family and Intercultural Resource Center (FIRC). The fourth chair's auction will benefit a couple of our employees with medical needs.

The first auction will occur on eBay from May 18-25. Again, all the proceeds will be split with the three non-profits above. Later in the summer and fall, we will announce the other three auctions. Being the top bidder is one way to guarantee you will get a Pali chair.

On top of the auctions, we will be selling another 100 Pali chairs. Thousands of people are interested in these 100 chairs. When finished, 100 people may love us and a few thousand may be a little sad. For a chance to purchase one of these chairs, you can buy a $50 ticket to enter a drawing. A portion of that $50 goes to the Summit County Care Emergency Fund. Tickets will be available June 1-22. On June 24, we will randomly draw the names of 100 lucky people who can purchase a chair for $2500.

For auction and sales details, go to Pali Chair Info

For email updates, sign up at  Pali Chair Email

Molly Hogan Demolition

The Molly Hogan demolition and removal has begun. Our crew has removed all the chairs, the wire rope, the lift shacks and the auxiliary motor room. In the coming days, the Leitner Poma team will remove the towers and the terminals.

We have not touched Pali yet. Like many of you, I still hope to get another ride.

Herd of Bighorns

Driving home from The Basin yesterday I encountered a herd of bighorn sheep about a mile below the ski area. Like clockwork, they show up in this same area every spring. A mile below this point, a moose ran across the road in front of me as I was driving to work Monday morning. They are reminding me to slow down a little bit when I am driving. It is spring time and the animals are on the move.

Pushing Snow Around

The Snowcat Operators are pushing some snow around on the hill. We are doing this for a couple of reasons. One reason is to help with runoff. When the snow starts really melting, we need the water to go to the right places. We are opening up water bars in that effort. The second reason is trying to keep snow where we need it in case we get the chance to re-open. Our next best chance of re-opening is late May. Keep your masks on and stay away from each other.

One Year Ago

Jose Gutierrez shared this photo of the two us one year ago.

Spring Snow

The snow certainly has the look and feel of Spring. There is no sign of Lake Reveal.

Looking Down Zuma Cornice

That cornice is HUGE !!!

Season Pass Renewal

We have not given up hope on re-opening. Governor Polis extended the Colorado ski area closure through May 23. Our next best chance of re-opening is late May. Stay tuned. Stay apart from each other. Wear your mask.

We just announced a new season pass renewal rate. People who purchased a full season pass for the 2019-20 season can purchase a 2020-21 season pass, including unlimited skiing at A-Basin, 3 days at Taos, 3 days at Monarch and 1 unguided day at Silverton, for $349. The is a SMOKING HOT DEAL and good through June 7, 2020. We are deeply committed to and incredibly grateful to those of you that buy a season pass with us. I hope you will join us again next season.

For details, go to Arapahoe Basin Season Passes

Slalom Slope

I think some of those lines still look pretty good.

Upper Mountain

Still looking good.

Wet Slides

Over the last several days we have seen some warm weather. The last couple of nights it rained down valley, but snowed at the ski area. With that new, wet snow and warm temps, we saw some natural wet slide action on the East Wall.

Top Pali

Louis was out on the hill yesterday doing some snowcat work. He shared these images from the top of Pali with me. Plenty of snow up there.

As previously mentioned, the Pallavacini chairlift will be replaced this summer. We will be selling and auctioning some of the chairs. Stay tuned to the website for details and sign up for email announcements at Pali Chair Sales.