Jon Reveal

Sadly, the ski world lost one its finest stars this week. Jon Reveal passed away Thursday in Idaho. He had a 55+ year career in skiing with many stops along the way including Keystone, A-Basin, Aspen, Yellowstone Club and Tamarack. Being a buddy of Warren Miller, Jon skied in 15 of his movies. 

Jon was the General Manager at A-Bain from 1978 to 1983. Following Keystone and Ralston Purina's purchase of The Basin, Jon led the charge during the summer of 1978 as buildings and lifts were removed and remodeled. Four new chairlifts were installed that summer including the Black Jewel, Pallavicini Chairlift - version 1. While the Pali zone was already part of the ski area, Jon's effort and guidance in building the new chair allowed so many more people to enjoy this incredible terrain. A couple years ago Jon and I had a wonderful series of emails and phone calls that resulted in him sending me a couple hundred photos from that 1978 construction season. They are priceless. Most of you recognize his name from spring and summer pond skimming on Lake Reveal. He stayed at A-Basin until 1983 when he left to climb Mt. Everest. 

Jon had an enormous impact on Arapahoe Basin. While I never worked directly with Jon, I feel very lucky to have known and spent time with him. He will be deeply missed.

Jon Reveal (center) on the Lower Mountain in the late 70's.

 Jon Reveal (right) near the Top of Pali before there was a chairlift, 1978.

Why?

Why we love The Basin.

 

East Wall

The East Wall was skiing very nicely this afternoon. You still need to keep your eyes open for rocks, but the snow itself, with some pockets of untracked, was excellent. The EW Traverse is open about halfway across to the "Hot/Cold Closure." And for the most adventurous, there is still some very good skiing in Narrow North Pole. The day was mostly sunny and crisp. Nearly perfect. I think Saturday and Sunday will be even better.

 

Addressing DEI at A-Basin

We have always thought The Basin was an open and inclusive place. With George Floyd’s death and other events of the last couple years, we have taken another look at ourselves. A group of employees started tackling these issues and we realized that we were not as inclusive of a place as we thought we were. Our next steps involved hiring a consultant to  take a deeper dive by completing an audit.

It came as no surprise that our staff and guests were almost all white. What was a surprise was that our recruiting, hiring, retention and advancement policies needed some work. On top of that, an internal employee survey identified that not everyone on the team felt as included as they should have.

Moving forward, we have begun taking the following steps. We are creating a detailed DEI Action Plan. We are identifying Year One Priorities to keep our efforts highly focused. We are updating our recruitment policies. We are providing foundational DEI training for all of our staff from senior to brand new employees.

Arapahoe Basin has a tremendous impact on tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of people. It is time for us to do our best to include everyone as we share and work at this magical place.

To learn more about what we are doing go to DEI at A-Basin.

Photo credit - Try Cissell   We have welcomed Colorado Blackpackers to The Basin several times. Check out their website Colorado Blackpackers

Good Skiing

The skiing is so good. While we didn't get as much snow as other Colorado resorts, we did score a healthy 6 inches from this past storm. The skiing was good before the storm and really, really good after the storm. No surprise that North Side is a treat right now (actually, it almost always is). 

I probably publish a disproportional amount of photos from the location below. I can't help it. I am so often dumbstruck when I get off Black Mountain Express or walk out of Black Mountain Lodge. I never get tired of the view of the Upper Mountain.

 

Narrow North Pole

The open terrain on the East Wall is expanding. Today Narrow North Pole could be accessed from the North Pole gate. The entrance is a little better than usual. I do the East Wall hikes for two reasons. One, to get some really good skiing. And two, just to be there. Being up on the East Wall is such an uplifting experience.

This Is Not The Spine

This is not The Spine. It is the left side of Beaver Bowl. It has a similar aspect and slope to The Spine and is about 3/4 mile S/SW of The Spine. At times it catches snow just like The Spine. Today it was soft and buffed and offered sweet, arcing turns. It is another spot for you to keep your eyes and skis on.

Baby Booter

The East Wall hiking program has to start somewhere. This season it has started with a staircase up North Pole. As the pictures show, there is some nice skiing to be found up there. With a good forecast this week, this EW hiking program will be expanding soon.

And there aren't many things cooler than being up on The Wall.