Electric Vehicle Charging Station is Live

The EV Charging Station is live and ready for electric vehicle users. The station is in the Northeast corner of the Early Riser Lot and can accommodate 10 vehicles. For the inaugural season, charging will be free.

Tree Chutes

The Snow Safety work continues on the East Wall. Saturday there was a particularly productive and noisy session in the Tree Chutes. A lot of snow was moved from "up high" to "down low". As the next storm or two moves through, we will be watching the East Wall very closely.

Marketing Team Had Some Fun

This week we had to deal with a public plea for us to change some of what we do. Gabe Robinson-Lynch used Change.org to start a petition to have The 6th Alley start serving the In The Steep beer from Outer Range Brewing Company in Frisco. Gabe also wrote a letter to the editor at The Summit Daily. Apparently Gabe is both a rabid ORB fan and a rabid A-Basin fan

Facing a potential public relations nightmare, our Marketing Team chose to have a little fun with the suggestion. They contacted ORB, did a silly instagram post, took some great photos and got three kegs of In The Steep in The 6th Alley

So if you are either an ORB or Gabe fan, treat yourself to a glass at The 6th Alley............and don't start any more petitions.

More New Webcams

John, our IT Director, just got two brand webcams up and running at Black Mountain Lodge and at Il Rifugio. Check them out at New Webcams

You may think I am sounding like a broken record, but we had a couple plus inches of snow this week and the forecast this weekend is, again, nearly perfect - bluebird skies with highs in the 20s. The snow surface is ideal. I just spent an hour skiing and enjoying that ideal snow surface with some old A-Basin friends that lived in Summit County 30-40 years ago. We had a ball. 

Looks like we are in for another brilliant, brilliant Saturday and Sunday. Have I mentioned we limit season pass and lift ticket sales?

BCA Beacon Park

We are very lucky to have a BCA (Backcountry Access) Beacon Park over near the bottom of Lenawee Lift.  In the Park, avalanche rescue beacons are buried in the snow. Backcountry users need to be very skilled with the use of their beacons and the park provides them an excellent opportunity to practice their craft. BCA has been on the forefront of avalanche equipment and education since their founding in the 90's. Kudos to them for having a park at A-Basin. Check out their video.

Beacon Park

Good Weekend

As I wander around the ski area, I have many encounters with skiers and riders. Almost always people have smiles on their faces (like some of my friends in the photo below). Many people ask me fairly serious and focused questions about how the business is going. So much of what we have done the last 3 years has been very public like leaving Vail, joining Ikon, dealing with COVID, limiting pass sales, limiting daily tickets and selling tickets only online. As I have said many times, our biggest objective is to create an incredible experience for skiers and riders at The Basin. If we can do that, business will be good. And, I think we have been doing that this season. In our perfect world, we would like to just fill our parking lots without turning anyone away. Saturday and Sunday were pretty close to perfect. Beautiful weather, great snow, people having fun and plenty of parking. Those were very good days for everyone involved with The Basin.

   

                   

 

Long Chute and MGD Open

The mini-hike to Long Chute as well as the West Gate to Montezuma Bowl are now open. I found some sweet skiing in Long Chute and Max. Mix that up with bluebird skies and I think today was just about perfect.

As Forecast

We are having a very nice day. The skiing is excellent. As forecast, it has been snowing off and on all day. We reported an inch new this morning, we have had an addition two inches since then and we may get another inch or two this afternoon/evening. The next couple days should be perfect with blue skies, temperatures in the 20s and light wind. We are in for some "A-Basin Kind of Days."

Managing The Numbers

This will be a beautiful weekend in the mountains. We should see a little bit of snow Friday and then Saturday and Sunday should be sunny with highs in the 20's (near perfection). We have been closely managing our lift ticket quantities to deal with a weekend just like this. We will have a good turnout, but not those crazy big days of a few years ago. So.........I have a couple tips for you this weekend.

-Because we are expecting a really nice weekend, we are going to keep the ticket inventory small. I suspect we will sell out. If you need a lift ticket or have a friend that needs a lift ticket, BUY IT NOW before they are gone.

-If we can keep a few cars off the highway and out of the parking lots, that is always good. CARPOOLING OR RIDING THE BUS IS STRONGLY ENCOURAGED.

Hope to see you on the hill this weekend. It is going to be a beauty.

 

New Webcam(s)

For the last few months we have been working on the next generation of webcams. The first one was installed today. I think you are going to like it and there are more coming. Click on the link below.

 New Webcam(s)

Also, tonight I had to include this image from the Montezuma Bowl webcam even though it looks a bit chaotic. There are a few flurries flying and if you look close, you can see the lights of the snowcat working down on Lower Larkspur.

Time To Starting Talking About The East Wall

It is getting to be that time when we start talking about the East Wall. We do have snow out there. The Snow Safety Team has begun their work. They have shot the avalauncher several times. There has been quite bit of work done in the Hidden Chute / Humbug region. So, it isn't opening any time too soon, but the crew is working on it and, not so patiently, waiting for the next good storm.

Martin Luther King Jr.

As a ski area guy, when I think of Martin Luther King Day, I think of all the impacts to our business. I think about holiday ticket sales, parking issues, having enough employees, keeping all the restaurants open, etc., etc., etc. To me that is  important stuff that I can’t ignore, but regarding the holiday, there are bigger things to be talking about. 

Thursday I was with some people a bit wiser than me. They reminded me the holiday is not just about work, but it is meant to recognize and celebrate one of the greatest leaders of the 20^th century, Martin Luther King Jr. King worked tirelessly to advance civil rights. He participated and led marches for Blacks’ rights to vote, desegregation, poverty,  labor rights and other basic civil rights. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. His “I Have A Dream” speech during the March on Washington is still an inspiration 59 years later. He was threatened, his house was bombed, he was stabbed and he was arrested several times. He never gave up and, for his convictions, he paid the ultimate price with his assassination  in 1968. 

I hope you have been able to enjoy the holiday weekend. I hope you enjoyed some skiing and riding at Arapahoe Basin. I also hope you have taken some time to recognize how this great American has impacted all of our lives.

Check out his speech during the March on Washington  I Have A Dream

From Upper Last Chance

This may sound a little goofy, but I really enjoy the view from the Upper Last Chance Parking. In particular, the Top of Pali looks very cool.

 

3" New And Sunny Skies

On a forecast of trace-1", it snowed heavily late yesterday and we reported 3" of new snow today. This is an excellent frosting on what was already great skiing. The forecast thru Monday is sunny to partly sunny creating beautiful times at The Basin.

As a reminder, the Ikon Base Pass is blacked out Saturday and Sunday. As I mentioned this before, thoughts about being busy are totally counter intuitive. While most places will be jamming today and tomorrow, this is a good time to come to The Basin. 

Best Thing About The Basin

The best thing about The Basin is you get to hang out and eat and ski and visit with your best, old, old friends.

 

View From Beavers Lift

 

Brilliant, Bluebird

Today was a brilliant, bluebird day. Kay and I enjoyed the afternoon sliding around the North Side with a couple friends. There was good skiing to be found everywhere. You know, there are days out there when Pali Lift is all you need.

 

Pali Chair - Marshall Fire

Something amazing happened this week. Someone that purchased a Pali Chair from us a couple years ago reached out and offered to donate it back to us to use as a fundraiser for the Marshall Fire victims. And it was an anonymous offer.  So we are using ebid to auction off a Pali Chair and all proceeds will go to the Community Foundation Boulder County Wildfire Fund. The auction is open now and will be open through the early evening of Saturday, January 15.

For all the details and to bid go to Pali Chair - Marshall Fire

Montezuma Bowl Open

Montezuma Bowl opened this afternooon. We started with Upper Larkspur and all of Columbine as well as Shining Light. It was a stormy day with new snow falling much of the time. Needless to say, there were many big smiles around. Over the coming days the Ski Patrol will be busy working on the rest of the terrain. Before too long we may see The 14'ers, Indpendence, Miner's Glade and more of Larkspur open. Long Chute and MGD look pretty darn good.

 Montezuma Bowl Friday 

About 5 Feet Of Snow

Since Christmas Eve, The Basin has reported new snow 13 of the last 15 days. With nearly 5 feet of new snow in this time period, the skiing is phenomenal. After two snowy weeks, today was a beautiful bluebird day. More and more trails are opening in The Beavers and we are on the cusp of opening Montezuma Bowl. And we might see a couple of inches of snow on Saturday.

 

Today

This is what The Basin was all about today.

 

Correction - Very Big Powder Day

13" of new snow this morning and it is still snowing. We are approaching the "about as good as it gets phase." Lots of serious smiles down in the Pali maze this morning. This bodes well for Montezuma Bowl.

 

Powder Day

It has been snowing all day long today with a forecast of heavy snow tonight. Today is incredible. I think tomorrow might be better.

 

Snowmaking - That's A Wrap

This morning the snowmakers turned the guns off for the final time this season. They have spent the last few weeks finishing off a lot of very valuable snowmaking terrain including the base area, Molly Hogan, the Void, bottom of Pali Lift, Treeline Terrain Park, Norway, Powerline and fattening up High Noon and Sundance, Their job is so important to us. Their work is literally and figuratively the foundation of our ski season. They make snow in our core zones and we grow from there. Thanks for a great season.

Marmot

Marmot opened Saturday with some sweet powder skiing. There was fine skiing down the left side and down the center. It was probably good on the right too, I just never got that far over. 2/3 of the way down we snuck left and caught some turns on the lower right side of Beaver Bowl. We are going to catch our breath for another day or two and then, hopefully, the next storm rolls in.

 

Zuma Tour

Friday, I took a spin in Montezuma Bowl with Louis. We mostly skied Columbine.  The 3 feet of snow that fell from this storm was especially good in Zuma. Trevor has done a great job with the snowcat managing the snow. For the Cat Drivers, it is a building exercise, connecting snowfence to snowfence and drift to drift. As we got to the bottom terminal Taylor was working the snowblower. The place was buried. Let's see what the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday storm does for the backside.

3 Feet For The New Year

Happy New Year. We reported 6 inches of new snow today. It is the 9th day in a row that we have reported new snow. It has been a heck of a weather event with a storm total of 3 feet of new snow - coupled with kind winds (minus some blustery hours). The change to the skiing and riding has been extraordinary. Great skiing can be found off both the Pali and Beavers chairlifts. The Front Side is really good. This snow event was managed superbly by our Grooming, Ski Patrol, Snowmaking, Base Area and Lift teams.

As I write, a few snowflakes are still falling, but this storm is winding down. We should see 2-3 days of fair weather before snow begins again Tuesday night. Looking at what our teams have done, knowing what the teams can do with more snow and looking at the forecast, I am getting excited about Montezuma Bowl.