Melting Fast

The remaining snow is melting very quickly. Once the drivers stop working the snow and we get into those warm, long days of June, we see a rapid transformation. Time to start thinking about hiking, biking, Via Ferrata and the Aerial Adventure Park. Our scheduled opening for summer operations is June 24.

 

Cat Drivers Keep Us Going

Arapahoe Basin is able to stay open late for many obvious reasons. The front side of the mountain is North facing and at a very high elevation. To top that off we gets lots of snow and we have a small, but very good snowmaking system. What is not quite so obvious is all the work that our team of cat drivers do. For the last several weeks of the season, they diligently doze, push and consolidate the trails that we finish the season with. These also happen to be the trails with snowmaking. Every year, the drivers are solely responsible for extending the season a few weeks. They are magicians with those blades.

Flying Lenawee Towers

As I write, the old Lenawee towers are being flown from the chairlift site to the Early Riser Parking Lot. A blue civilian version of the Blackhwak is flying the tower tubes and the tower heads out in separate picks. The black communication line was flown out in lots of smaller pieces. It blows me away just how much work that helicopter can do in a short period of time.

The towers will be loaded on a truck and shipped to Sunlight.

 

Thank you

Despite all the challenges of the world, we have had a great season at Arapahoe Basin. And what makes it great is the tremendous mountain and the even better people. We have so much to look forward to this summer, the Aerial Adventure Park, the Via Ferrata, mountain biking, hiking, disc golf, 6th Alley, building Lenawee Express and more. And in 4 to 4 1/2 months, we will open again for skiing.

Thank you for spending your time at the Basin.

The Basin from a Denver to Vegas flight.

Closing Weekend

Today was fun. It was a good morning with carving turns followed by afternoon slush bumps. The local "Strung High String Band" put on an awesome show in Mountain Goat Plaza. There was a party of Banana People down on The Beach. The vibe was so A-Basin and people were having a blast.

This is it. Tomorrow is closing day and it will be even more fun. The "Frisco Funk Collective" will play from 1-4. Tomorrow is the metaphorical sunset of the 2021-22 season. Come join the action.

 

More Pieces On The Way

 A friend of mine just spotted this rig in Frisco.

My Last Ride On Lenawee

Tuesday I took my final ride on the Lenawee Mountain Triple Chairlift. We ran the lift for Ski Patrol and Lift Operations so they could complete what we call "Breakdown" (not the Tom Petty song). The crew pulls all the pads, signs, ropes and other equipment and puts the gear away for the summer. On Wednesday the Leitner Poma group and our Lift Maintenance team starting taking chairs off old Lenawee. 

Installing Lenawee back in 2001 was a fun and big project for us. It was the first new lift installed at A-Basin since 1978. At the time it was a major upgrade for A-Basin. Up to that point it was also the biggest construction job I had ever been Project Manager for. Good times. I can't wait to ride the Lenawee Express.

Happy Snowy June 1

Always nice to start June with new snow. We reported 4 inches of new snow this morning. The storm is breaking up and the sun is popping through the clouds. We may have a bluebird afternoon. June skiers are a very special breed. They love being out on the snow.