It was a great morning out on the hill. I rode BMX and hiked "Up At Arapahoe". Along the way, I encountered a couple dozen people, including some friends, hiking and riding their bikes. Everyone was smiling ear to ear and enjoying the trail. I was eavesdropping on one group and heard one of their bikers describe the trail as "amazingly rideable." It was a fun morning.
And there were about 15 mountain goats hanging on Little Lenawee Peak.
This morning was a great time for a bike ride at The Basin. With a couple friends, I rode to the Summit and down the Beavers Loop and Wheels Up trails. It was a little chilly, but that made it comfortable for climbing. The rain held off and we had the best time. The views were so dramatic, we forced ourselves to stop and enjoy them. Of course the ride was followed by lunch in the 6th Alley. I'd call it a successful morning.
The Via Ferrata will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through September 22. This is still an incredible way to see A-Basin from a completely new perspective. The climbing route goes up the ridgeline between Willie's Wide and North Pole. Steel foot and hand holds have been installed in the rock to make climbing easier. A cable safety line allows climbers to be "clipped in" at all times. Always exciting and always fun.
We are having a nice, steady rain this afternoon. We savor the summer rain storms. They bring life to the streams and everything that lives on the hill. Sometimes the rain interferes with our plans, but we are always happy to see it come down.
The late blooming fireweed flowers are at their peak. This patch is on Lower Sundance. I think fireweed growth is expanding across the ski area particularly on the Lower Mountain.. Great news for me. I think the flowers are very beautiful and I enjoy seeing the new growth.
It is now officially late August. As I wander around the hill, I am noticing that the willows are starting to turn yellow. We still have five good 3-days weekends of being open, but this is definitely a hint that Fall is coming.
I never get tired of this view. We have a few, but not many, of these summer images left before Fall begins.
September weekends are fun around The Basin. The very popular Cirque Series trail running race is September 7 and, everybody's favorite, Oktoberfest is September 21 and 22.
September 14 we are trying something new, A-Basin Boot Camp. Get yourself ready for the season with a free work out, ski and snowboard tunes and live music. Come check out the fun and join us for a special afternoon concert featuring Dave Watts and Friends featuring members of The Motet. Dave and friends are no stranger to Summit County and have been putting on fun and energetic shows for years. Hope you will join us.
Almost 50 people came to The Basin yesterday for our annual "Mountain Cleanup Day." The group wandered down through The Beavers picking up a few seasons worth of trash and other goodies. They even found the skull of one of our native ungulates. Thanks to everyone that chose to spend a day taking care of A-Basin.
Grizzly Peak, 13,427', is about 1 1/4 miles straight east of the base area. Check out The Basin from there.
Just like every other summer, there are loads of marmots running around The Basin. They are busy stocking their dens and eating as much as they can. By observation, when we first start seeing them in June, they are kind of skinny. As the summer progresses they just get fatter and fatter. They would eat 24 hours a day if they could. They are getting ready for winter.
The middle part of the summer has been warm all over the country. It was even a little warm by A-Basin standards. Recently we have seen some monsoonal type weather moving in and the temps have dropped a bit. Yesterday I woke to a temp of 39 F at my house. That was the coldest temp I had seen in many weeks. Fall is still a few snaps of the fingers away, but it is a little cooler.
Whenever we do a project on the hill, we try and keep our impact as small as we can. That said, sometimes we still have an impact and as the projects are completed, we try and return the site to as natural of a condition as we can. Installing Lenawee Express in 2022 was a big project. While we used a spider hoe to minimize heavy equipment impacts, there were still disturbances around the lift tower locations. As construction wound down, we re-established and re-seeding those locations, often using mats to hold vegetation in place.
Earlier this week I was hiking on the Half Moon Trail which brought me close to Tower 6, one of our bigger impact areas. I was excited to see how well the re-veg work was going there. Our growing season is quite short and with only 1 1/2 growing seasons since construction, the vegetation looks really great. In a few more seasons, it will be hard to determine where the disturbance limits were.
We have more good news on the Up At Arapahoe trail. We now have completed trail up to the Steilhang Hut. There is now more stunning, above timberline, alpine trail to hike or ride. Remember this trail is for two way hiking and uphill biking. I can't wait until the team finishes the trail all the way to the Summit. They are currently working on the trail in the Norway Face zone.
During my morning walkabout, I bumped into A-Basin skier and mountain biker Alex, who was having a blast riding Up At Arapahoe.
Up above timberline, commonly nestled in talus fields, the columbines are at their peak.
If you are doing the full Beavers Loop ride, there is a fine place to take a break and enjoy some quiet time. Just below the Beavers Loop Trail, just at timberline and just east of where the BLT crosses the winter ski trail, Loafer, and at the top of the ski trail Digger you will find the Digger Picnic Deck with a couple tables. On your next ride, bring a little food, bring a book if you are by yourself and bring an urge to soak in this great setting. Check it out.
