Park Scene

The Park Scene is going strong.

 

Another Beautiful Spring/Summer Day

 

Honoring Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a time to honor and mourn those who lost their lives in the United State Armed Forces. A-Basin's founding and history will be forever connected to those who served in World War II. Marnie Jump served in the Navy in Pearl Harbor while her husband Larry served with the 10th Mountain Division. 10th Division soldiers were trained in skiing and winter mountain warfare at nearby Camp Hale, recently designated a National Monument.  

Nearly 1,000 10th Mountain soldiers were killed fighting in Europe. The Division was most famous for their battle victory over the Germans on Riva Ridge in Italy's Apennine Mountains.

Following the war, many 10th veterans went on to play prominent roles in the ski and outdoor industry including: Slim Davis a US Forest Service snow ranger and ski resort pioneer, David Brower with the Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth, Pete Seibert, Bob Parker and Bill "Sarge" Brown, Vail Resort founders and trail blazers, and of course, Larry Jump, Arapahoe Basin's first President.

Please take today and every day to honor those that have served and those that have died so we can enjoy freedom in this great country.

Larry and Marnie Jump circa 1947 at Arapahoe Basin

 

Day 1 Pride and Pond Skimming

 

Lake Reveal

 And so it begins......................

Sunshine, Mountain Goats and the Cornice Run

I was out on the hill skiing yesterday between 10 and noon. The conditions were perfect. The snow was very soft, but the slush wasn't too deep yet. As everyone in Colorado knows, the last couple weeks have been overcast and even smoky from the Canadian fires. The sun was out yesterday and it felt great. The Cornice Run and the West Wall, in particular, were outstanding.

I even spied my first mountain goat of the season up on the Little Lenawee ridge. I know it is not an incredible photo, but it was nice to see the big guy wandering around up there.

Right now there isn't a cloud in the sky and I am heading up the hill for a repeat of yesterday.

Summer Skiing

Technically, it isn't summer yet, but this is definitely summer skiing.

 

Be There

Tomorrow is "Festival of the Brewpubs." This guy says, "Be There."

 

May Snow Showers

 

Spring Skiing and Season Passes

Yesterday I was skiing the front side and Montezuma Bowl between about noon and 2 PM. Sweet skiing. The time of day with spring snow can be a little tricky as it ranges from frozen to perfect to a little sticky. Yesterday I nailed it. The snow was soft and perfect. Skis were gliding. Simply, really, really fun.

A final reminder from me. Today is the last day day to buy your 2023-24 unrestricted Season Pass. It is the last day and they will not be available in the future. Of course, the Midweek and Value Passes will continue to be available, but this is the last day for unrestricted season passes.

For details or to buy, go to A-Basin Season Passes

Clarifying Unrestricted Passes

 

Please take a moment to read and understand this message about unrestricted passes.

We are limiting the number of unrestricted season passes that we sell and Thursday, May 18 will be the last day to buy unrestricted season passes for the 2023-24 season. That includes the standard Unrestricted Season Pass as well as the Military and Senior Season Passes. Unrestricted Passes will no longer be available and they will not come back on sale at a later date. 2023-24 Unrestricted Passes will not be available in Ocotber or December or any other time.

The only exception to this is the Child (ages 6-14) Unrestricted Pass. This pass will still be available.

We will continue to sell the Midweek Pass and the Value Pass, which is good for the entire season except for 18 blackout days.  At this time there is no plan to stop selling these two passes.

If you want an A-Basin Unrestricted Season Pass, buy it by Thursday, May 18.

State of The Basin - Numbers and Comments - Volume 3

Welcome to the 2023 State of The Basin blog post. We continue to focus on providing incredible experiences at The Basin for our guests and employees. It has been a very good season and we have a few things to work on. We popped out of the gates early with an October opening. The completion of the new Lenawee Express was five weeks late. That was a tricky period, slow with guest visits and crazy difficult with final lift construction. The new lift opened in mid-December to rave reviews from guests. A-Basin life has been rocking since then. It is hard to believe that snowfall was a little below average this year, but cooler temperatures and favorable winds created plenty of A+ skiing.

For the first time since 2019, COVID did not play a major role in our ski season. Both the Steilhang Hut and Il Rifugio had their first full seasons since the connstruction/remodels. The alternative, smaller, on-mountain dining outlets were successful. We continue to make strides on Sustainability and DEI issues. Our employee compensation and housing plan was completely overhauled and, as a result, we were fully staffed all season with an outstanding team.

Through April 30, our skier visits this season are up 9% over last season, but still only 75% of the 2018-19 season, our last on the Epic Pass. In March 2022, I wrote extensively about comfortable carrying capacity(ccc). While I won't repeat myself this year, last year's post is still accurate.  You can view it at State of the Basin - 2022. CCC is very complicated, but for us, parking is the best measure to see if we land within the range that is comfortable. Of the 204 days we have been open, we did have 9 days when parking was a challenge. 

A major goal for next year is to lower that 9 number. We will continue to limit daily ticket sales. We will limit season pass sales and we have added the Value Pass for next season to drive people away from our busiest days. We will continue to limit Ikon Pass visits to 5 or 7 days. We will expand our employee parking carpool programs and will continue the Early Riser carpool/pay parking program.

Giving up the Taos and Bridger Bowl days was a bummer, but like us, those resorts are focused on providing a fantastic experience for their guests and had to re-evaluate their comp programs. We will still offer 3 days at Monarch for Unrestricted and Value Pass holders.

We have an opportunity to grow our business in the Fall so we will, again, offer a $99 Fall 3-pack and a $279 Fall Pass.

Thursday, May 18 will be the last day to buy an unrestricted season pass for the 2023-24 season. 

In summary, we are still committed to providing an experience for our guests and employees found no where else. We will continue to control daily access on the mountain to comfortable and fun levels. The atmosphere, culture and vibe will continue to shine. I look forward to seeing all of you for a few weeks skiing this spring, on the mountain this summer and skiing again next winter. Enjoy the ride.

 

Festival of the Brewpubs - May 21

Festival of the Brewpubs is coming up this weekend, Sunday, May 21. We are actually holding the event a week earlier than we have in the past. Mark in on the calendar.

There will be a dozen or more Colorado breweries including Summit County favorites, Angry James, Outer Range, Steep and Baker's. This will be about as scenic of a beer sampling has you will ever find. There will be live music from Eyes Wide Open. The A-Basin family has always made this event a very special celebration. It is certainly one of my favorites. To add some extra fun, it is also "Swimwear Day."

For details, check out Festival of the Brewpubs

 

Closing Day Sunday Pali and Beavers

Tomorrow Sunday, May 14, will be the final day for the Beavers and Pallavicini Lifts. While we have had some very good snowfall and the temperatures have cooled down, it really hasn't been cold. We have not seen a significant freeze in over a week. Looking forward there are not really any cold nights in the forecast. The areas serviced by these lifts are not going to really freeze solid in the next 7-10 days. We do not anticipate a re-opening of these lifts this season.

Each spring, usually in May, we go through this transition closing those lifts and concentrating our efforts on Black Mountain Express, Lenawee Express and Zuma Lifts. These areas are not quite as steep. They are more heavily skied and packed. More of these areas are groomed. The more compacted the snow is, the better it is for late season skiing. BMX, LenX and Zuma have much better late spring and summer conditions. We will continue with excellent, late season snow into June.

It is always a little sad to say good bye to Pali and the Beavers, but the time has come.

Powder Day Images

 Enjoy these images from Friday's powder day.

13 Inches And Some Headaches

The new snow was tremendous with The Basin receiving 13 inches from this storm. The skiing was super fun and people loved skiing the spring powder. The storm however, wasn't without headaches. About 6ish this morning, caused by the heavy wet snow, a powerline feeding The Basin snapped causing a partial outage. It wasn't a total outage, just all the things that are important (chairlifts, networks, etc). We were able to run our front side lifts on auxiliary power and open at 9 AM. The lift crew did a great job keeping all those lifts open and loaded with skiers.

Our local energy provider, Xcel came right away and started trouble shooting the problem. The crew narrowed it down to the 5-mile stretch of powerline between Keystone and A-Basin. That zone is very difficult to access in winter. Louis engaged our Marketing photographer, Ian Zinner, to use his drone to fly the line. With the drone camera, Ian spotted a broken line about a mile below the ski area, off the highway in the deep snow. This saved the Xcel crew hours and hours of searching to find the problem. They went to work splicing and rigging. By mid-afternoon, full power was restored, all of our systems were running and we opened Zuma Lift and Bowl.

We anticipate all lifts and systems to be operating normally on Saturday.

It was definitely a "Serenity Now" kind of day.

About 9:30 PM 😁

Season Pass Extension To Thursday, May 18

OK, here is another change. We are extending our current season pass pricing and products through Thursday, May 18. After May 18, unrestricted passes and renewal rates will no longer be available. Pricing on other restricted products will go up. The last few days have been a bit hectic and we are making this extension for several reasons.

One, we have had technology problems that affected season pass purchases. We want anyone that wants an unrestricted season pass to have the opportunity to get one, without tech snafus getting in the way.

Two, we realize we could have done a better job explaining the changes we were making when we switched from the pass deposit we offered in the past, to the payment plan option we are offering going forward.  Starting this year, we are offering a true "payment plan", powered through Affirm, that allows guests to spread out their payments over time. There is no longer a single product to pick - just choose whichever pass fits you best (as long as it costs at least $149), and instead of entering your credit card information on the payment screen during checkout, choose "Pay over time with Affirm."

Although there could be an interest amount charged (determined by Affirm), there is also a 0% interest option available to many customers. This eliminates the big lump sum payment in the fall that many guests found challenging in earlier years.

And three, we are well on our way to selling out the unrestricted passes. We will be done selling them after May 18 and we want to give anyone that wants an unrestricted pass a chance to buy an unrestricted pass. After May 18 we will continue to sell the Value and Midweek Season Passes, but at a higher price.

Thank you for your patience through these dynamic times. Like I always say this time of year, if you want the best deal on a pass, buy it now.

And, it is snowing.

Up And Running

OK, that was a pain in the neck. Our computers are back up and running. I am sorry for the headaches we may have caused you. In lieu of the challenges, we are going to extend the season pass deadline through  May 11. Thanks for your patience.

BTW, the forecast looks pretty good the next couple days.

Now That Was A Crash

OK - Right after I did the posts this morning about pass sales, our e-commerce platform crashed badly. I probably caused that. As soon as we are up and running again, we will let you know. If you are a season pass purchaser, don't worry. We will take care of you.

I wasn't able to go take a good photo so I used a favorite old photo, me enjoying a beer at The Bavarian at Taos.

Payment Plans

I should have included this in the last post. We have modified the payment plans for season pass purchase. The $49 down payment is gone, but there are other simple payment plans starting at $59/month.

For details go to Season Passes

 

Season Pass Changes - May 10

Just a quick reminder, this Wednesday, May 10, is the last day for early 2023-24 season pass deals. Early pricing goes away. May 10 is the last day for the season pass renewal rate.

Each season since we started limiting the amount of unrestricted season passes that we sell has been a little different. It is very hard to predict when we will sell out, but we will sell out. No surprise, I encourage A-Basin skiers and riders to buy their passes now.

For details go to Season Passes