Arapahoe Basin


Arapahoe Basin is an alpine ski area in the Rocky Mountains of the United States, in the White River National Forest of Colorado. Arapahoe Basin is known for its extended season—usually staying open until early June, and sometimes into early July, whereas most other northern ski areas close in early April. Arapahoe Basin is located south of Loveland Pass on U.S. Highway 6 in Summit County.

Geography and climate

The Arapahoe Basin East Wall has a summit elevation of, which is among the highest in-bounds skiable terrain in North America. Due to its high elevation and its mostly north-to-northeast face, the Basin's ski season is much longer than most resorts in North America. It is often first to open mid-October and last to close in June.
Arapahoe Basin is located just below Loveland Pass and offers views of the Continental Divide from the lifts. From the top of the East Wall and the North Pole, there are great views of Lake Dillon, Breckenridge, Keystone, Montezuma, and Loveland Pass.
The Basin is located about west of Denver.

Ski area information

Lodges

A-Basin has three day lodges. At the base is a full cafeteria, bar, and coffee bar. There is also a grill outside for warm days, and a food truck style taco bar. The Black Mountain Lodge sits mid-mountain, at the top of the Black Mountain Express, serving Barbecue and a day lodge style menu. New for 2018-2019, Il Rifugio at the previously unused Snow Plume Refuge building is an Italian bistro, specializing in wine, cheese and charcuterie. Due to complex logistics, most cooked food would have to be brought up the mountain to the restaurant.
There is no overnight lodging at Arapahoe Basin. The nearest lodging is located at the Keystone ski area, 6 mi. west.

Terrain

Arapahoe Basin is mostly known for advanced and expert terrain, but also has runs for the novice and intermediate skier, as well as a children's program. The Black Mountain Express, Molly Hogan, and Pika Place & Hogan's Magic Carpet lifts, service easy runs.
Pika Place is conveniently located close to the base area lodge and is a carpet conveyor for tykes and never-evers.
Hogan's Magic Carpet, on the bunny slope, is conveniently located adjacent to the closest base area parking area. It is for beginners getting prepared to ride the nearby Molly Hogan chair lift.
Molly Hogan is a slow lift running over the bunny slope, for use by those just learning to ride a chair lift.
Black Mountain Express services greens, blues, and four blacks: The Gulch which runs parallel to Black Mountain Express; Exhibition which runs under the chair and features bumps, steep terrain, and a fair number of jumps; "Lower Standard", & "Lower International" which can be accessed from the standard race traverse.
The Pallavicini lift services mostly black and double black terrain on the west side of the mountain, though it is possible to take some difficult blues back to the base and to ski the "WestWall". The Pallavicini face itself, a group of very steep and seemingly endless mogul runs, is rated double black diamond extreme. It provides gated access to Steep Gullies.
The Lenawee lift takes skiers to the top of the mountain, where they can access blues, blacks, and the East and West Walls. On the West Wall there is a blue called Cornice Run where skiers can take leaps from windblown cornices. The East Wall has some of the most difficult terrain at Arapahoe Basin. The Lower East Wall is rated black diamond and can be reached without hiking. Open primarily in late winter and spring, the Upper East Wall is rated double black diamond extreme and is only accessible on foot. A hike of approximately 30 minutes will take guests to the North Pole, a very steep descent through rocky terrain over avalanche-blasted territory. Along the ridge prior to the North Pole is a group of chutes accessed through notches in the cliff band. One chute actually requires some rock downclimbing to reach skiable snow, an interesting experience in ski boots while holding a pair of skis. These chutes are often only a couple of ski widths wide and require mountaineering skiing ability. Most of the terrain is prone to avalanches and is regularly blasted by the ski patrol before they declare the wall open. The Lower and Upper East Wall is bisected by the East Wall Traverse which is quite long and accesses a lot of difficult-to-reach territory from above and below, leaving prime snow conditions available for those willing to make the trek. The entire East Wall is not groomed and should not be taken lightly since evacuation by the ski patrol in this area is a difficult undertaking.
The Zuma lift services blue, black and double black trails over the backside of Arapahoe Basin in "Montezuma Bowl". Montezuma Bowl offers everything from groomed intermediate runs to advanced cornice runs. It has mostly southern exposure.
The "Beavers Area" is 468 acres of terrain serviced by a fixed grip quad. It is a bowl to the northwest of Pallavinci, with blue and black rated runs. The full terrain includes open powder bowls, tree skiing, and rocky chutes, as well as two intermediate groomed runs.
The Steep Gullies was included in the opening of the "Beavers Area" and has the most challenging skiing at Arapahoe Basin. These steep, narrow chutes vary in pitch and width, and are rated as "extreme". All terrain in The Steep Gullies is designated as "hike back," meaning that guests must hike or skin back to the bottom of the Pallavicini Lift upon completion of their run.

History

Larry and Marnie Jump, Dick Durrance, Thor Groswold, Max Dercum, and Sandy Shaufler started Arapahoe Basin in 1945. The first year it was open for skiing was 1946. Since then, it has expanded to include 147 trails served by 9 lifts. The ski area was sold in the 1970's to Joe Jankovsky. He in turn sold the area to Ralston Purina.
Arapahoe Basin became the first ski resort in the United States to open for the 2006–2007 season on October 13, when it opened one lift and one run.

Statistics

Elevation

Arapahoe Basin and Loveland compete yearly for the #RaceToOpen. Ski enthusiast from around the world watch to see who will open first. Below are the opening dates during the Snowmaking Era.
Season Open Date
Season Open Date Close Date Total Days Open