Liftblog.com

One of my favorite websites, liftblog.com, is featuring "Building Pali: Sounds of Pali" this week. Enjoy.

Tree Skiing

Tree Skiing in The Beavers is something special. The area is primarily north facing. It is favored by incoming storms and the snow stay soft for a long time. Every ski day at The Basin is a worth a few runs out here.

 

Beautiful

Now that is what I call beautiful.......and smooth skiing.

 

From Upper Last Chance

There is a particularly nice view of The Basin from the Upper Last Chance Parking Lot. You can find something pretty cool just about anywhere you go at Arapahoe Basin.

 

Marmot

Most of Marmot is really good skiing. The top part is still a little wind blown and requires some extra caution. Once you approach timberline, the coverage is excellent and the snow quality even better. Today I also spent some Beavers time wandering through the Faceshot Gully / Thick and Thin zone. That was good.

 

Now You Can Ask The Question

I took several runs on Slalom Slope this afternoon. The snow was ideal - soft and carvable. The skiing was really fun and the view wasn't too bad either.

Take a look at the East Wall. The snow is starting to fill in and the Ski Patrol is covering some ground out there. Now you can start asking the East Wall question.

 

4th Steep Gully

After a really good session skiing the classic Pali terrain, Kay and I had an excellent ski in the 4th Steep Gully today.  The approach ski down Upper Castor was fun and in good shape. We entered at the Steep Gullies 3-8 gate. The 4th is directly in front of skiers at that point. As is typical, the entry is pretty rocky and takes some tip toe-ing. Once in the chute proper, the snow was great with a little soft powder remaining. The narrow cliff walls add to the adventure. At the bottom of the chute we traversed to Rendezvous Point and enjoyed a 20 minute hike back to the bottom of Pali Lift.

You just don't get experiences like this at many places.

The North Side

The 9" of new snow that was reported today made for some excellent skiing. The North Side is in particularly good shape. I continue to like what I see in the forecast. Regarding conditions, for a while I had been saying, "We are almost there." Now I am say, "We have arrived."

 

Her "Normal Place"

I had a great last lift ride on Black Mountain Express near closing time today. I shared the chair with a woman that was an A-Basin season pass holder. Of course we wore masks and kept our distance. She and I knew each other a little bit. A couple of things she said really impacted me. First, she thanked the entire staff for how they have handled the COVID era and especially how the team has handled season passes. Second, she emphasized that A-Basin has been her "Normal Place" through COVID. Visiting A-Basin and skiing felt like a very good and very normal experience. It was a very important part of her life right now. She made my day.

Riding Pali 2.0 this afternoon.

Go Ahead And Jump

I had a beautiful couple hour ski this morning. The snow was fun everywhere I went. The best run was right down the pipe in Jump. It was awesome. I had to be careful through the rocks at the moraine exit, but the snow in Jump was soft, supportable, a few inches deep and just generally superb. I think that is the steepest zone in Montezuma Bowl especially on the far right side. Great skiing.

 

Ikon Reservations

As most of you know, we have some very specific guidance to operate in the COVID era. Some of that guidance includes having Skier Visit Targets for each day. Some days we come pretty close to the targets. Most days we miss the targets by a fair bit. It has been quite the chess game to balance the number of A-Basin pass holders, Ikon Pass holders and lift tickets holders each day while trying to hit the target.

We just made some adjustments to the under utilized days which are just about every day except Saturdays. For the remainder of February, we have added 3000 Ikon Pass reservations to the system. So if you are an Ikon Pass holder and have not been able to snag a reservation, be sure and check again. There are more spots available.

BTW, the skiing is great today.

 

I Was Wrong

I was wrong this morning.  I said it would be a phenomenal day. I think that was an understatement. I went out for a 2 PM Power Hour of skiing.  Spine. Rock Garden. Standard. All incredible. I know a lot of us have been waiting for this. The good stuff has arrived.

4th Steep Gully

 

4 Inches On Velvet

We have 4 inches of new snow this morning that fell on yesterday's velvet........and it is still snowing. This will be a phenomenal day. February is looking like a great month. We are up to a 48 inch base and the skiing is, seemingly, better every day. We love the wind and the snow.

The Kind Wind

It was the perfect combination, new snow followed by the kind wind. From North Glade to The Rock Garden to The Spine to The Face - the surface was flat and smooth just like velvet. Perfection.

 

7" New Today

Today's 7 inches of new snow made for some fine skiing.

 

An A-Basin 2 Inches

I had a tremendous afternoon of skiing today. I rode all of the lifts and I rode the Pali and the Beavers Lifts many times. The skiing was beautiful. We reported 2 inches of new snow at 5 AM and it has been snowing most of the day since then. It was not a 2 inch powder day. The morning report is great, but there is a lot more of the ski day story to be told. Be sure and watch our webcams particularly the time lapse sequence on the "Divide" and "Snow" Cams. The 10 day forecast on opensnow.com continues to look very promising. Things are shaping up.

 

Snowy Morning

That was a good burst of snowfall yesterday and into the evening. We reported 6" of new snow. It was nice to arrive early and see the loaders and bobcats plowing the snow around. There was a snowcat buffing out The Beach. After a little shovelling, I rode Pali a few times to see how the snow landed. I liked what I saw and felt. Looks like we may see new snow every day for a while. That would be good.

 

Shhhhhhh...........

 

The Summit

I always enjoy the view from the weather station. The mountains are stunning and it is fun to take in the activity at the three Summit chairlifts, Beavers, Zuma and Lenawee Mountain. The biggest Summit building, Snow Plume Refuge, houses the Il Rifugio restaurant and Ski Patrol Headquarters. I look forward to the post-pandemic world when we are serving Alps inspired fare at Il Rifugio. For details on the renewable energy components of this building, check out our latest Sustainability Sunday video.