Al's Blog

Nice Evening

2012-02-08T17:15:00.001-07:00

Had some very cool light just before it started snowing this evening.

Treeline Terrain Park

2012-02-07T16:44:00.007-07:00

Great day in the Treeline Terrain Park. The crew has built some beautiful features. Special thanks to all the Park Rangers and also thanks to Matt Hauke, Terrain Park Manager, for the photos.

A Night in France

2012-02-04T22:59:00.006-07:00

Saturday evening was another "Night in France" at Black Mountain Lodge. I am not sure what was better, the dinner party or the walk down. Chefs Chris and Paul prepared lamb, veal, quail, lobster bisque, crepes, escargot, frog legs, breads, cheeses, and whole bunch of stuff I cannot spell or pronounce. There was great music and lots of laughter. The walk down was extraordinary with a bright moon, dark trees, and brilliant white mountains. It was surreal. What an evening.

The Basin

2012-02-04T17:46:00.006-07:00

Geez. How can you NOT love this place?

Zuma Tour

2012-02-04T17:35:00.005-07:00

I did my first tour of the season in Zuma this morning. Tony C, Becs, Louie and I skied Columbine and Larkspur/Independence. Not bad. The photos show some good things. We are getting there. I can't say "almost there" just yet, but a couple good storms might do it. Today confirmed for me how much people really want to ski back there. We turned the lift just long enough for our group to ride up and out. In that time about 75 people saw the lift turning and came over to see if they could ski it. Sorry for raising false hopes. You know we will open just as soon as we can.

A Little Bit of Snow

2012-02-03T11:34:00.002-07:00

We didn't quite get the snow that the East side of the Divide did. I am hearing 2' in Idaho Spring and Black Hawk. Wow. Watching the maps, the storm never quite pushed over the divide the way NOAA forecast. It has been snowing lightly all morning. The wind is favoring Montezuma Bowl. Leigh, in Golden, just told me the snow on her porch was deeper than her 12" ruler. You might have more new snow in your yard than we have up here, but it will still be really good skiing here. Leave early and drive safely in the morning.

Punxsutawney Phil

2012-02-02T16:56:00.002-07:00

It is Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil says 6 more weeks of winter. Six weeks? Bunk! I am calling for four more months of winter; February, March, April, and May. This morning we had a few flurries. The middle of the day was partly cloudy / partly sunny. I had another fine day of skiing and a delicious bowl of chili at BML. A few minutes ago the storm rolled in and it started snowing. NOAA is calling for 6-11" by Saturday morning. Clear your schedule. I see some product testing in my future.

Humbug

2012-02-01T20:13:00.002-07:00

Nice photo taken by Jason Razzo of Eric McKenna in Humbug. Looks like it will start snowing tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Snow Later This Week

2012-01-31T13:45:00.003-07:00

Beautiful out there today. The latest forecast shows a better chance for snow starting Thursday. Pali trail is now open all day long. We are squeaking in a few more trails including East Gully near Lenawee Parks. I had a great morning skiing several runs off Lenawee Mountain, Black Mountain, and Pallavicini Lifts. Very nice surfaces. The best, of course, was The Spine with smooth, wind packed layer on the upper half.

Lynx Lane

2012-01-28T15:35:00.005-07:00

Another expansion to Ace's Wild Adventure. Scattered around the lower mountain we have prepared three new adventure trails in the woods. Not only are they fun for kids (and maybe some adults), they have nature based interpretive signs at the entrances. I hope all you kids out there (young and old) get a chance to spin through these fun spots. Look at our trail map to figure out just where these trails are.

Taking Shape

2012-01-28T15:32:00.003-07:00

She is really starting to come around. Each day is a little bit better.

Great Winter Day

2012-01-28T15:26:00.004-07:00

Just a great winter ski and ride day. The sun was out from open to close. It was breezy, but just enough to start filling in the sweet spots. I think people were extremely happy to be skiing The Spine, Main Street, and The Face. Two especially good skis today, Upper West Alley and a wind buffed West Wall.

More and More Pali Trail

2012-01-27T17:14:00.003-07:00

As expected, today's was fantastic. Snow, Pali, clouds, sunshine, good wind, you name it, we had it. Saturday and Sunday will be sunny and gorgeous. Pali trail will open about noon this weekend. Don't be late.

A Fat 6"

2012-01-27T06:53:00.002-07:00

Boy, does the snow look good this morning. Lots of it. A very fat 6". Who knows how deep it will be on the leeward slopes? The clouds are breaking away and the sky is starting to light up. Vintage Colorado today. And you will get Pali in the afternoon.

Pali Trail Opened Today

2012-01-26T16:10:00.003-07:00

Pali Main Street, The Spine, Pali Face, David's Run, and The 2nd Alley were open for directed skiing from 1:30 - 3:00 today. The same terrain will be open at approximately the same time tomorrow Friday. With a forecast of 4-8" for tonight and tomorrow, the timing of today's opening was ideal. The snow "you guys" compacted is ideally prepped for some freshies tomorrow.

It is always a pleasure for me to ski my favorite run on the planet, The Spine. Remember, these are still early season conditions and the entire Pali zone is Extreme Terrain for experts only. Today I saw a lot "ski everyday", local, expert, A-Basin skiers making nice controlled turns at a reasonable speed. That me feel good. This is not the time of year or the kind of conditions to be maching down Pali Face. Take your time out there and enjoy yourself.

Special kudos to Jamie Ober and the Ski Patrol for pulling off this opening. They have had a very intense week getting the terrain ready. Be sure and thank these guys and give them a pat on the back.

More Skiing

2012-01-24T19:31:00.002-07:00

It has been a very busy week for the avalanche crew. We have added skiing in Falcon and Dragon. The cat crew continues to buff out the Lenawee Parks zone and other nooks and crannies. There have been some limited openings in the Standard / 13 Cornices area.

I know the million dollar question is "When is Pali opening?" Of course my answer is that sort of waffling, "I'm not sure, but soon" b.s. that drives my wife crazy. Well, maybe I know a little more than that. There is still signifcant avalanche work to do. Pallavicini is a major avalanche path and opening it takes weeks of extensive work by the patrollers. Over the next few days, you will be hearing lots of very loud bangs coming from that area. We have a long list of procedures for explosives, ski cuts, ski packing, ski testing, snowpits and more. The good news is that we are getting close. Sometime in the next few days, we will likely open it for an hour or two one afternoon. A little bit of ski pressure packs the snow down. After the packed snow sits overnight it gets firmer. The next day we will open it for another hour or two and pack it some more. We will continue with this limited type of pressure and access until we think she is ready to be open all day. This way we build a good and durable pack out there. The snow is fragile. Opening it at 8:30 one day and skiing it into the ground is very short sighted. Our goal is to get it open soon and have it be good all season.

I know you want it. I know you want it now. It's coming. Give us a few more days.

Montezuma Bowl Update

2012-01-23T14:42:00.003-07:00

Many of you have asked questions about Motnezuma Bowl. We have not yet picked an opening date for the bowl. These past storms have been favorable back there. The snow farming at the Summit the last week was outstanding. The cat drivers, using our winch cat, have used that captured snow to establish the entrances to Larkspur and Columbine. They are heading back there again tonight and will continute to pack their way down the bowl. The ski patrollers were covering some ground back there this morning. So we have a ways to go, but have made some great progress. I am anxious to get that bowl open. Let's hope the next couple of storms are working in our favor there. I'll keep you updated.

More Beauty Shots

2012-01-22T14:23:00.002-07:00

It is hard to describe just how awesome today was. The North Side, The Upper Mountain, and The Lower Mountain all shined. A good time was had by all. The Ski Patrol has been hard at the avalanche work. I anticipate a lot of terrain to either open or have directed skiing this week. Stay tuned as the week progresses. Please be patient and stay out of closed terrain. We experienced a fair bit of avalanche activity this morning. There will be a whole lot more terrain soon.

Pali Is Good

2012-01-22T09:55:00.005-07:00

This is the way it is supposed to look.

Heavy Snow Last Night

2012-01-22T06:49:00.002-07:00

It didn't start until after dark. 6" new at report time and snowing heavily. Snowplows, snowcats, Bobcats, snowmobiles, shovelers, all busy as beavers this mornings. I couldn't think of a better first full day for Pali Lift. Come on out and enjoy the fun. You know it is going to ski a whole lot deeper than 6".

Pali Lift Open

2012-01-21T16:40:00.002-07:00

It is about bloody time. We opened Pallavicini Lift today about 1:30. We expect it be open for the rest of the season. Off the top you can ski West Wall, Slalom Slope, North Chute, Powderkeg, Scudder, Challenger, Radical, and Grizzly Road. I have to tell you, Slalom Slope was fantastic. Big snow and W-NW wind forecast for tonight. Tomorrow could be special. I would expect to see directed skiing on the North Side next week. Lots going on right now. Come enjoy it.

Great Snow

2012-01-20T14:29:00.001-07:00

Well, we keep getting more snow. Better break out those fat skis. We will have terrain to match the skis soon.

Slalom Slope Open

2012-01-19T15:41:00.008-07:00

Access Slalom Slope via Cornice Run. Pali lift will open very soon... stay tuned!

It Is Here

2012-01-19T12:50:00.002-07:00

Ok it keeps snowing. The forecast looks awesome. West Wall and Slalom Slope are now periodically open. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday look great. I think the "NEXT" lift might be VERY SOON.

Update

2012-01-17T23:45:00.001-07:00

4" new today with perfect W-NW winds. Ideal set-up. More snow in the forecast. I hope you know what this means. West Wall and Slalom Slope are better with each hour.

Snowing

2012-01-16T13:27:00.003-07:00

It is snowing. The forecast is coming true today and looks good again later in the week. The winds have been from the W-NW which is just perfect to fill that old Basin in. Let's keep it coming.

Last month one of you suggested opensnow.com for weather forecasts. I have been following it and really like it.

Kid's Club Arapahoe

2012-01-15T13:26:00.002-07:00

This time of year we host Kid's Club Arapahoe most Saturdays. These are great programs for youngsters to learn how to ski and to how to improve their skiing. Week after week, the kids develop a rhythym and have lots of fun spending time with the same instructors and same other students. It is also good fun for the parents who can enjoy a day of skiing while their kids are out having fun. I think these Saturdays have become major social get-togethers for many parents. Although my kids are grown now, I always liked letting someone else teach them to ski and I could just go skiing with them and have fun. I wasn't sure what the two kids in the bottom picture were doing, but it was worth a photo.

On another note, the forecast still says 1-2" tonight and 3-5" tomorrow. Good, good, good.

Patrollers and Cat Drivers

2012-01-14T17:54:00.004-07:00

The patrollers and cat drivers have done a fine job this week. Cornice Run grooming is outstanding. Itis ready to open. Grizzly is extremely close. The forecasted snow for Sunday night and Monday is very encouraging. The patrollers did a little directed skiing with the public on the West Wall. In anticipation of the upcoming storms, the patrollers have been all ove the North Side doing explosives work, ski cutting, and other various compaction. Stay tuned. Next week may be quite different.

More About "When?"

2012-01-13T16:22:00.003-07:00

Before I get to the meat of the "When", two quick things. 1) Skied several groomed runs this morning, awesome, you are missing out if you aren't skiing. And 2) The Prime Rib Sandwich special today in the A-Frame was incrdible.

OK on to business. Skied Cornice Run this morning. It is ready. Also skied Grizzly. It is close. They snowcats are heading to Grizzly tonight to spread some big drifts. Let's keep focused on this Monday storm. The four letter "S" word is mentioned in the forecast everyday Sunday thru Friday. This just might be enough to get West Wall, Slalom Slope, and Powderkeg open. Let's keep the fingers crossed. I am not saying when Pali Lift is opening, but I sure am thinking about it a lot. You should be too.

More Good Snow

2012-01-12T18:18:00.004-07:00

More good snow. The storm did pretty much what was forecasted, 2" and some good wind. Another good step forward. Upper Wrangler is open. The next stuff will be in the West Wall, Slalom Slope, Cornice Run, Powderkeg zone. Maybe Lenawee Parks too. It needs a little bit more snow, not a lot. I have been getting a lot of "when" type questions. They are hard to answer. The next snow in the forecast is Monday or so. We will keep plugging away. One thing I can say is the terrain we have open is in really great shape. The groomed terrain today was outstanding. Please come up and enjoy it. We are getting there, 2" at a time.

The Ski Patrol was busy doing avalanche work on the North Side and in Zuma Bowl. We had a pretty big slide in Max back in Zuma. The key word is compaction.

Very Positive Terrain Update

2012-01-10T13:25:00.005-07:00

Just took a ski tour with Tim, Mark L, and Tony C. In addition to skiing some groomers, we went out the Cornice Run, up and over the top of Pali, and down Slalom Slope. Lots of great news. The Saturday storm has been a really big boost. The cat drivers have covered a lot of ground packing all the runouts in Lenawee Parks as well as driving down the Cornice Run, over the top of Pali, and down Griz Ridge. With a forecast of 1-3" for tomorrow's storm, we have a very favorable W-NW wind predicted. Since there has been no wind since the last storm, there is lots of loose snow to our West in The Beavers. I think the good wind with a little new snow could really help Cornice, West Wall, Griz Ridge, Slalom Slope, Powderkeg, and Lenawee Parks. I know the snow this winter has been a little discouraging, but we have taken some positive steps recently. The Ski Patrol has opened Upper Powerline and they did some quality directed skiing in Lenawee Parks and Upper Exhbiition. The groomed surfaces today were outstanding. Slalom Slope was really good although not quite deep enough for the masses yet. A little bit of snow and it will be phenomenal. Hang in there. We are not too far from making a very positive turn in lifts and terrain.

Last Day Holiday 3-Pass

2012-01-09T07:45:00.003-07:00

Today is the last day to pick up a Holiday 3 Pass. You can get 3 days of skiing for the price of 2 for the remainder of the season for $148. There are no restrictions or black-out days. Perfect for the friend coming out for a spring ski trip. Purchase them at arapahoebasin.com.

New Snow

2012-01-08T10:41:00.003-07:00

5" new this morning. The place always looks great with a blanket of fresh snow. The ski patrol is hard at work ski cutting and packing. The snowcats will have some big nights. We'll keep you posted on trail updates.

Zuma Webcam

2012-01-07T15:25:00.003-07:00

Just the kind of Zuma Webcam shot we need. Snowing and socked in so much you can't see anything.

Snowing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-07T15:04:00.004-07:00

The forecast was 1-3" today. We are at about 4" right now and it is still snowing reasonably well. NOAA says 3-5" tonight. That feels good. The ski patrollers are out covering some ground now. I know they have been packing Lenawee Parks and The West Wall. When will the next terrain open? We will get a good feel for things in the morning, but this is just what we needed. Great news and lots of happy people out there today.

Back On Snow

2012-01-06T17:08:00.003-07:00

Sorry I missed a few blogging days there. I just spent too many days dealing with that cruddy sore throat, cold, sinus headache, foggy minded sort of badness. Got back out on the snow today and the fresh air felt great. Much better than laying around the house. Anyway, I don't have any good mountains photos today. I do, however, have a very unique shot of one un-named A-Basin employee wearing Yaktrax on his Birkenstock sandals at the NYE dinner. Very interesting set-up. Good grip with casual sandal comfort. I think that is a first.

NYE @ BML

2011-12-31T23:16:00.006-07:00

For the second year in a row a whole lot of people brought in the New Year (Manhattan time) at Black Mountain Lodge. The food was great. The music was fun. People were dancing and singing. All and all a good time was had by all. And I am here to tell you, that ski patroller, Louie, can sure cut the rug.

Nice Photo

2011-12-31T16:32:00.002-07:00

Cool 2010-11 photo sent in from George Heron.

Another A-Basin Fan

2011-12-31T15:37:00.001-07:00

BMX Is Open -NYE Dinner Is A Go

2011-12-31T12:14:00.004-07:00

It is a little windy up here today. I think everyone in Colorado knows that. Black Mountain Express was closed for about 1 1/2 hours because of the wind. It has now re-opened. Molly Hogan remained open the whole time. Lenawee Mountain Lift has not yet opened today. The lift guys are continually monitoring the summit. If the winds die down enough we will try and open Lenawee.

The forecast is for a pretty significant drop in the winds late afternoon. The New Year's Dinner at Black Mountain Lodge is still on and we are not anticipating any wind issues after dark. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

Weather Forecasts

2011-12-30T12:12:00.003-07:00

I was just asked some good questions about weather forecasts. While some of my peers are actually pretty good forecasters, I am not. I don't try and interpret raw data, but I check the weather forecast several times a day and primarily use two sources. The first is from NOAA and I find it at weather.gov. There is a space to type in a zip code or city. I actually type in Loveland Pass, CO and get a pretty good forecast. In the bottom right hand corner of that page is a tab for "Forecast Discussion." It gives some pretty good detail about the forescast. The other forecast I regulary use is from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center at avalanche.state.co.us/. It offers a very good weather and avalanche forecast for a number of regions in the state.

How far into the future do I look? Usually the 24 hour forecast is pretty good. The 48 hour forecast is OK to good. The 2-5 day forecast is OK for what kind of trend to expect. Beyond 5 days I take the forecast with a grain of salt only. As far as long term forecasts go, I pay attention to them, but my expectation for accuracy is pretty low. When someone tells me about the big storm 1-2 weeks from now, I chuckle to myself.

So what are my thoughts on A-Basin specifically? Well, it looks like Saturday is going be wintery with a little bit of snow. The first half of next week looks like nice days and cold nights. Beyond that........................................? When someone asks how the winter will be, my business, marketing, and optimistic side always comes out and I say "Lots of Snow."

Lower Wrangler Is Open

2011-12-30T11:02:00.003-07:00

The new snow and a wind favorable to the Lower Mountain allowed us to open Lower Wrangler this morning. The Cat Drivers made some beautiful corduroy. Nothing like soft natural snow for skiing and riding. Wrangler is the ideal trail for learning green skiers and families. It has a very gentle pitch and great views of Lenawee Mountain, Black Mountain, and the Top 'O Pali.

Snowing This Morning

2011-12-29T08:20:00.003-07:00

It is always refreshing to see it snowing in the morning and to see Mr. T heading to work.

Sunrise at The Basin

2011-12-28T07:34:00.002-07:00

I sure enjoy watching the place wake up each morning.

Over The Hill Gang

2011-12-27T08:14:00.002-07:00

The "Over The Hill Gang" is a group of skiers 50+ years of age that meet every Monday at The Basin. They start gathering in the A-Frame at 8:30, hit the snow at 9:00, and eat lunch at Black Mountain Lodge at 11:30. I am not sure which activity they enjoy more, skiing, sociailizing, or eating. Whatever the answer, they always appear to me to be having a great time. Fun can be had by skiers of any level. Whether you are from Summit County or from out of town, if this sounds like fun, come join this very special group of of people any Monday between now and early April.

Xmas Day With Tim on the Summit

2011-12-25T17:06:00.003-07:00

New Uniforms!!

...And For Xmas, A New Terrain Park

2011-12-24T16:05:00.005-07:00

Today is the day. The Treeline Terrain Park is now open. The shape was good when I went through Saturday afternoon. Matt and Asa were getting ready to till the surface. I am sure it will be fantastic Sunday. Enjoy.

Holiday and 65th Anniversary Cheer

2011-12-24T14:52:00.008-07:00

Happy Holidays

2011-12-24T10:33:00.003-07:00

It is a beautiful Christmas Eve at Arapahoe Basin. Again, the sun is out and the sky is blue. Everyone is in good spirits and enjoying the day. In about an hour we will be celebrating the Arapahoe Basin 65th Anniversary. That involves Chef Rybak cake and a few other goodies. My friend, Dave Pines, sent a very nice holiday email along with his five favorite photos from 2010-11 (you can tell Dave likes hiking the East Wall). All of us at The Basin are thankful for being able to work in such an extraordinary place in such a fine community with so many wonderful people. Thanks for being part of A-Basin tribe, enjoy Dave's photos, and have a great holiday. Take care. Al

Construction Zone

2011-12-23T15:28:00.004-07:00

The Terrain Park crew is getting after it. The Treeline Terrain Park will open Christmas Day with a fair sized jump and 7-10 rail and box features. The snowmakers have done their duty. The park rangers are shaping it up. Two snowcats with operators are pushing, dozing and placing features. Two more guys are raking and shovelling and putting the finishing touches on. Features include the "buttery" C-Box, the picnic table, and lots more. Be sure and give the park crew a big thanks when you see them. They have invested a lot of sweat equity in this project. Good work guys.

Matt Lit Photography

2011-12-23T10:31:00.003-07:00

Matt Lit is a Summit County photographer that has taken several outstanding photos at Arpahaoe Basin. Currently we are displaying five of his photos in the A-Frame on the stairway landing just above the Coffee Corner. He has created several very nice images using a Holga camera. Be sure to check them out or visit his website at www.arapahoebasinphotos.com. My personal favorites are "East Wall" and "Pallavicini Lift". I purchased the "Pallavicini Lift" photo at the Leif Borgeson Enduro Fundraise last spring and it is on my living room wall.

December at the Basin

2011-12-22T16:53:00.002-07:00

Had a great little afternoon ski. Wrangler is really close to being open. REALLY CLOSE. We ended up with 2-3" out of the storm. The Upslope didn't spill over as much I would like. In the top photo you can see it on the other side of Loveland Pass. The snow this afternoon was quite nice. Looking forward to a great holiday and more snow to get the rest of the terrain open. After Wrangler, the next areas on the list will be Lenawee Parks, Cornice Run/West Wall, Powerline, and Slalom Slope. The patrollers are doing a great job packing it all down. Come to us La Nina.

Good Forecast

2011-12-21T15:17:00.002-07:00

Well it has been snowing lightly all day. The forecast is for 3"-7" tonight and 2"-3" tomorrow. Let's hope that upslope spills over even more than that. I am shooting for a very white Christmas.

Snowmaking and Treeline TP

2011-12-17T15:49:00.005-07:00

The snowmakers are working on their last project for the 2011 snowmaking season, the Treeline Terrain Park. They have made a significant amount of snow in there. Matt and his crew are going to really start dozing Monday, the 19th. The last morning of snowmaking will be Friday the 23. Look for a park with bigger features by Christmas. We seem to have increased visitation in the new High Divide location. Please, let me know your park thoughts.

Next Avalanche Dog?

2011-12-17T15:44:00.004-07:00

"Rio" just started the Arapahoe Basin Avalanche Dog Boot Camp. Right now the training is pretty basic. I am still try to get her to respond to "Rio, come." We'll see how she does. Either way, she is really cute and fun to play with. You might want to stop by Patrol Headquarters and see if she is working that day.

Basin Faces

2011-12-16T18:49:00.003-07:00

I am not sure how many of these perfect days I can handle. It is tough out there.

That Is A Bluebird Sky

2011-12-14T15:35:00.003-07:00

Check out the email and photo I received today.

Alan,

A friend and I who were visiting from Illinois over the weekend skied at the Basin on Saturday. After a nice morning of blue bird skiing we headed up to Loveland Pass with our cameras to get some shots of the beautiful scenery. I thought you might enjoy this shot taken from Loveland Pass. My telephoto lens captured a great vista of Lenawee Face and Humbug with skiers and riders enjoying the afternoon. I'm back home in Illinois where it's cloudy and gray and I miss those blue skies!

-Paul Nicol
Frankfort, IL

Cornice Run

2011-12-13T10:18:00.003-07:00

Check out this Heather Hansman photo of a couple patrollers getting to work on the Cornice Run.

Lenawee Mountain Lift

2011-12-13T07:53:00.003-07:00

Matt Vellone sent me this very nice photo of Lenawee Mountain Lift. Lenawee Mountain is the ridgeline on the East side of the ski area. Its Western flank is the East Wall.

They Did It Again

2011-12-10T22:51:00.005-07:00

Just walked down from Black Mountain Lodge. They did it again. Chef Rybak, Meredith, Paul, Matt, and the whole Food and Beverage crew just hosted another beautiful dinner at mid-mountain. The food, lamb, pike, rabbit, pork, and more, was incredible. Leon Littlebird played his tunes all night. Our guests walked up the mountain to enjoy the dinner (no lift for this one). A good time was had by all and it was topped with walk to the bottom under as bright a moonlit night as you can ever enjoy.

New Park Photos

2011-12-10T15:41:00.002-07:00

Lunar Eclipse

2011-12-10T09:30:00.002-07:00

I hope you had a chance to see the lunar eclipse this morning. I saw it start about 5:45 while I was walking my dog. As I left for work about 6:45 the moon was almost completely obscured as it was setting over the Gore Range. Way, Way Too Cool. Becs took this photo of the full moon eclipsed over Snow Plume Refuge.

New Park Is Open

2011-12-09T17:07:00.002-07:00

The new High Divide Terrain Park is open. Skied through it this afternoon (no feature riding for this old guy). It looks really nice. There is a very good small jump, a couple of nice easy boxes, and some cool rails. My camera battery died this afternoon so no pictures. I'll be sure and take some tomorrow. The snow surface and skiing continues to be awesome. There is no new snow in the forecast the next few days. It looks like we are in for some cloudless bluebird days and brilliant full moon nights. Hope to see you tomorrow skiing or tomorrow night enjoying your Swiss delicacies at Black Mountain Lodge.

A-Basin Afternoon

2011-12-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

E-Store 4-Pass Problems

2011-12-06T08:47:00.003-07:00

We have been experiencing e-store problems selling The Legends 4-Pass. We think about 20% of the sales processes failed. As a result, we are extending The Legends 4-Pass sales until midnight Wednesday night. You can still purchase the pass on our website. If your attempt fails, log out and try again. If it still fails, call 1-888-arapahoe or 970-468-0718 to place your order. I am very sorry for the inconvenience. This kind of problem drives me nuts and I know it is major headache for you guys. Again, I am very sorry.

Webcam Sunset

2011-12-05T20:50:00.003-07:00

Couldn't resist posting two of the final webcam shots today.

A-Basin Moonlight

2011-12-05T08:52:00.002-07:00

Saturday night Kay and I skinned up to the top after work. It was one of those cold nights with a bright half moon and very light snow flakes falling. Really cool. Anyway, our first Moonlight Dinner is this Saturday, December 10. It is the Swiss Randonee Evening. There will be no chairlift for this one. Participants will skin, snowshoe, or hike to Black Mountain Lodge, enjoy a Chef Rybak Swiss dinner, and head down the mountain under a full moon. I am really looking forward to this one. It will be a night to remember.

(I think the moon might be "photoshopped" a little in this one)

More Terrain

2011-12-02T14:38:00.002-07:00

We opened up a little bit more terrain today. In Dercum's Gulch, just below the bottom of the West Wall you can now take a left, ski along the top of a little ridge by "Lone Tree" and ski down "Tower 3 Pitch" coming into the top of High Noon on the West side of the top of Black Mountain Express. The snowmaker lingo for this route is "The Highline." The snowmaking piles for the new park are starting to stack up.

The Legends 4 Pass

2011-12-02T09:51:00.004-07:00

The Legends 4 Pass offers 4 days of skiing for the price of 2. The $148 pass is non-transferrable, but has no restrictions on dates of use from now until we close. No Black-Out days. The Pass is only on sale through Monday. It is available on our website. Tell your friends.

Late Day Light

2011-12-01T16:34:00.004-07:00

I have to say the weather this morning was a little rough around here. It was snowing (horizontally), chilly, and breezy. After a tough start though, most of the clouds blew out, the sun popped out, the wind died down and we had a beautiful afternoon. Great early evening light on Black and Lenawee Mountains.

New Terrain Park Location

2011-11-30T08:36:00.004-07:00

We are moving The High Divide Terrain Park. Over the years we have received feedback telling us two things, 1) A lot of people like the smaller features in the High Divide Park and 2) We should move the High Divide Park off of Sundance to give more room for beginner skiers. So... we are moving the park to the area around Towers 9 and 10 of Black Mountain Express. This area is easily accessible and currently lightly used. It will be completely off of Sundance. We are making snow there right now and anticipate the park moving sometime before Christmas. I took these photos yesterday. This morning I skied by the snow guns and we made a couple of very nice snowmaking piles there last night. The High Divide Terrain Park is designed to have small, entry level park features.

By the way, the skiing and grooming this morning was awesome. From late Thanksgiving to mid-December tends to be a very quiet time up here so come on up and enjoy the lack of lift lines and the un-crowded trails.

Skinning and Snowmaking

2011-11-29T08:39:00.002-07:00

Skinner and Uphill Traveller Update. For the next week or so there will be some snowmaking going on at the top of High Noon just below Black Mountain Lodge. Use extra caution when travelling on Upper High Noon. You may want to use Upper Sundance instead of Upper High Noon.

Aspen World Cup

2011-11-27T07:54:00.002-07:00

I am over in Aspen for the weekend to watch the women's alpine World Cup races. Yesterday Julia Mancuso skied superbly in Giant Slalom taking 3rd Place. Those women, and particularly Julia, blew me away with their ability to make such amazing clean turns in really tough conditions. Later this morning Kay and I are walking over to watch the Slalom race. Like so many sports, television does not capture the drama, intensity, power, and speed of these extraordinary athletes. If you haven't yet, I encourage each of you to attend one of the World Cup held in Colorado each year. The Europeans watch these races the way we watch football. We are lucky to have these events at our doorstep.

Bacon Bloody Mary

2011-11-24T13:42:00.005-07:00

I hear new ideas and suggestions almost every day. I do my best to be open minded as people share their thoughts. To be honest though, when Chef Rybak came up with the Bacon Bloody Mary, my response was "yeah, yeah, whatever." Needless to say, the BBM has become fairly popular in the 6th Alley. There is a lesson here somewhere.

New Park Features

2011-11-24T13:38:00.005-07:00

For your riding pleasure, Terrain Park Master Extraordinaire Matt Hauke, has added two new boxes. One of them is so wide and flat that even I can enjoy it.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T13:33:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving is always a very nice day at The Basin. I must have seen 30 skinners heading up this morning. People came out and enjoyed another beautiful day. Smiles were and are abundant. It is mid-afternoon now and people are heading home for the evening feast. I am thankful to be at such special and powerful place with so many good people. Enjoy your holiday.

Humbug is Open

2011-11-23T13:47:00.003-07:00

Humbug is now open. I skied it about 10 AM this morning prior to open. Very nice corduroy on all natural snow. I am running out of superlatives to describe this weather. Just incredible out there.

New Snow and Sunshine

2011-11-22T19:00:00.002-07:00

Today was just an all around beautiful day. We started the morning with 2" new. The sun popped out late morning. Had a great bowl of chili at Black Mountain Lodge. Took a few runs. Hung out with a couple of patrollers. Watched the spindrift flying off the top of the East Wall. Enjoyed the sun and snow. Kay and I finished it off with a skin to Summit after work. Pretty cool day.

Still Snowing

2011-11-19T10:22:00.002-07:00

Beautiful Saturday Morning

2011-11-19T08:06:00.005-07:00

We have a beautiful Saturday morning here. Yesterday was another bluebird day with awesome skiing. At report time this morning we had an inch new and it is still snowing. I am expecting 2-4" more by tomorrow morning. I think the skiing will be outstanding today. The Molly Hogan Teaching Arena and the Snowsports School are now open. Black Mountain Lodge is open in full capacity. Skinners are heading up the hill. We have live music in the 6th Alley this afternoon. Chris will be running the Raw Bar. This is a really good day to visit The Basin.

Ski Magazine

2011-11-18T07:30:00.002-07:00

I just read the Ski Magazine 2012 Reader Resort Survey. A-Basin was ranked # 6 for "Character" behind Alta, Sun Valley, Telluride, Jackson Hole, and Crested Butte. I thought that was pretty good company to be with. We have had a lot of nicknames about our character over the years, "The Legend", "The Island of Misfit Toys", and "The Traveling Circus That Isn't Going Anywhere" to name just a few. This place will always be that fun, funky, and colorful place you have always loved. It was nice to see someone else noticed.

Ditto

2011-11-17T10:32:00.003-07:00

Everything I said about yesterday is true again today and Molly Hogan will definitely open Saturday.

Best Skiing of the Season

2011-11-16T10:18:00.002-07:00

Just spent an hour skiing this morning. That was definitely the best skiing of the year. Fanstasic. The grooming was perfect. Clear, sunny, and cold. We have had 9" of snow over the last four days. Not a dump, but enough to soften things up and make for some great turns. Very good snowmaking last night. The prognosis for Molly Hogan for the weekend has been upgraded to "very likely."

Molly Hogan Update

2011-11-15T16:45:00.003-07:00

The plan is to open Molly Hogan this Saturday. This storm gave us a few setbacks. We lost snowmaking time due to the excessive wind for a few days and we lost snowmaking time to the power outage and we lost snowmaking time fixing the glitches caused by the power outage. (That wind storm was the gift that keeps on giving). Anyway, we are still hopeful for the weekend, but are not totally certain we are going to make it. Stay tuned to the website for details. As soon as we know, you'll know.

Unfortunately, I did not get to ski today. The hill looked great though. I watched a lot of folks on Ramrod, High Noon, and Sundance and the turns looked quite good. Note the mountain professionals below.

Power Outage

2011-11-14T10:44:00.003-07:00

That was quite a weather event. If you followed the news, you heard there were tremendous winds in Colorado. Saturday night /Sunday morning was particularly brutal on the ski area. We lost electric power from about 3 AM until about 9 PM Sunday. Personally, I got stuck Saturday night in Idaho Springs with the I-70 closure. While we were able to keep the lifts running on auxillary power, there were significant impacts to the other services. Essentially all of our behind the scenes stuff, credit cards, email, e-store, phones, wifi, heat, etc., have some link to electricity. Part of what makes The Basin cool is that we are a funky ski area tucked in a high mountain valley between 10,800' and 13,050'. Part of what makes The Basin a challenge is that we are at the end of a long, above ground powerline and are susceptible to these big wind storms. The mountain pine beetle outbreak has excacerbated these problems over the last few years. Although most of the time it is easy to either acutually or virtually visit the Basin, we are still a remote place way up in the mountains and susceptible to some of the challenges of remoteness. So....I apologize for the headaches this storm caused to many of you. We frequently discuss a bigger auxillary power system for these occasions. You can be assured we are trying to improve this difficult situation and will be doing a lot of talking about this.

Thanks to all of you that made it up Sunday and endured the limited base area services and I am sorry to you folks that tried to communicate and work with us in one way or another with limited or no response.

Brooke Carson's Lemon Bar

2011-11-12T12:13:00.003-07:00

OK, here is Chris' latest treat from the kitchen. He and Brooke were on a river trip last summer. Apparently, Brooke brought these lemon bars and Chris loved them (me too) and asked for the recipe. Get'em while supplies last.

Uphill Access is Open

2011-11-11T20:01:00.002-07:00

Uphill access is now open. As a quick reminder, when heading uphill you are still considered a skier and all the same rules apply. You must stay out of closed areas. Stay away from snowmaking equipment. Ramrod may be closed for race training. Each morning the ski patrol weather person posts uphill access status on The "Runs Open" page of our website.

Most importantly, skinning, hiking, and snowshoeing uphill is a very, cool fun way to enjoy The Basin. By respecting the few rules and guidelines we have, everyone can enjoy earning your turns. I'll see you up there.

I Was Wrong

2011-11-10T16:33:00.003-07:00

Sundance will not open Saturday. It will open tomorrow, Friday. We will have a green trail and, now, 3 trails on the Lower Mountain. Today was another beautiful, sunny day. Looks we have more of the same for Friday and it is going to snow Saturday and Sunday. Bring it on.

Sundance Saturday (maybe sooner)

2011-11-09T11:32:00.004-07:00

Sundance looks great. The snowmakers have made a lot of snow there. I just skied the trail. Very impressive. Mother nature has been helpful with a nice little base of natural snow. Our snowmaking system on Sundance is a little more dispersed than other places. That means we make snow more in piles and the snowcats have to push it more than other places. That said, on Sundance I think we have to do a little bit more snowmaking and "A LOT" more snowcat work. Tonight we will have two snowcat drivers working the piles. Tomorrow will tell us a lot about which day we can get it open.

Sundance Progressing Nicely

2011-11-08T09:14:00.004-07:00

The snowmakers have been on Sundance for two nights now. Progress is going extremely well. With the cold evening temperatures, they have made some very large snowmaking whales. Look for that trail to open towards the weekend. Next step will be Molly Hogan with a targeted opening of November 19. After Molly, they are off to the Treeline Terrain Park which is scheduled to open between mid-December and Christmas. In between they will be filling a few nooks and crannies like Tower 3 Pitch and Burt's Bypass.

Moonlight Dinners

2011-11-06T14:57:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to give you folks that like the dinners a quick heads up. They are filling up quickly. The New Year's Eve dinner has about 60% of its reservations sold already. If you are interested in attending, I'd encourage you to make reservations soon. If you have no idea what I am talking about, go to our website and check out the Moonlight Dinner Series at Black Mountain Lodge.

Just Started Snowing

2011-11-05T16:30:00.004-06:00

It took a little longer to get here, but it just started snowing. Looks pretty heavy right now. We might have some soft stuff to turn in by morning.

Local's Day

2011-11-03T15:42:00.004-06:00

Sometimes it all comes together perfectly. Today's Local's Day was one of those days. Opened to the top yesterday. New snow yesterday. Perfect blue sky day today. Fun crowd. Rail Jam. Pretty short lift lines. The Jaeger Girls. Chef Rybak's pulled pork sliders. Great skiing and riding. About as good a ski day as you can find on November 3.

Top to Bottom Skiing

2011-11-02T14:35:00.003-06:00

Lenawee Mountain Lift opened at 11 this morning. Last night Mother Nature showed that she isn't always pleasant. We had some very big winds during the night and into the morning. Finally, about mid-morning the wind settled down, the sun popped out, and we opened all the way to the top. The rest of the day has been a mix of sunpatches and overcast skies. It feels good to ski the full vertical. Looks like snow on Saturday. The journey towards Pali continues.

Lenawee Opens Wednesday

2011-11-01T09:30:00.002-06:00

Lenawee Mountain Lift, Dercum's Gulch and Lenawee Face will open at 9 AM Wednesday, November 2. We will continue making a little snow up high and move other snowmaking resources to Sundance. Looks like we have a couple of decent storms heading our way. Stay tuned for lots of change.

Terrain Park

2011-10-29T16:27:00.004-06:00

The Terrain Park is a very popular place these days. I think the picnic table on steroids is the favorite. DQ seems to have it under control.

Ski Cutting

2011-10-28T16:24:00.002-06:00

The Ski Patrol was busy ski cutting in Lenawee Parks today. They have enough snow to make some headway in there. The early stages of trail preparation in avalanche terrain may involve explosive use, ski cutting, boot packing, and ski packing. The guys are off to a good start. The intention is to improve the skiing quality and reduce the likelihood of avalanche through snow compaction.

Yesterday's Photos

2011-10-28T07:43:00.005-06:00

Here are the photos I took yesterday. I think there was a problem with Blogger. They uploaded easily today. Anyway, more great news. The snowmakers were grinning from ear to ear this morning. That is not easy at 7 AM coming off an all night shift. Again, they had a great night. Snowmaking temps were near zero with light, ideal winds. I'll get up and take a look again today. We are in store for another brilliant, blue sky day. I need to learn to keep my camera's wrist strap out of the viewfinder.

Mountain Update

2011-10-27T17:16:00.003-06:00

Went to the Summit today with Mark, Patio, and Lizzie. I skied Lenawee Face and Dercum's Gulch. Very good. The snow is all connected and has been track packed. The cats have dozed out some of the piles. We do still have a little ways to go to open up there. I don't think we will see it this weekend. The opening is likely to be measured in a few days, maybe the number of days could be counted on one hand. Today was a perfect bluebird day with all the glistening new snow. I took some great photos, but can't seem to get them uploaded. I will keep trying.

Looks like a Foot

2011-10-27T06:16:00.003-06:00

The ski patrollers are saying 4" new today making it 12" for the storm. Napolean just said the snowmaking conditions are ideal and they are having a "big night." He also said the snowcats have now connected all the snow between Black Mountain Lodge and the Summit. With favorable snowmaking conditions (-2 this AM) in the forecast and a lot of water in the reservoir, we will make a big impact the next 48-72 hours. We have not decided on a Lenawee Mountain Lift opening time yet, but that should come together soon. Keep your eyes on the website. The new snow is simply beautiful.