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Each year the lifts start turning earlier at Arapahoe Basin, and this year, they’ll stop turning on June 8, according to the resort.
SUMMIT COUNTY — With rivulets of water running between his boots in the roadside parking lot at A-Basin, Mike Lehrman describes his run down through some Loveland Pass backcountry powder as epic.
“It was knee-deep and face shots. Dude, it’s been just like that all season,” Lehrman crows, shaking some powder off his hat and swigging Gatorade before heading back to the lifts at Arapahoe Basin.
Lehrman, who just moved to Boulder from Boston, said, “I’d ski every day, all summer if I could. I wish A-Basin would stay open later,” he said, having heard legends of celebrating the Fourth of July with turns at Summit County’s oldest ski area.
As the last resort standing, The Legend is buzzing these days. The East Wall filled in nicely, the hike-to terrain is open and even the boniest chutes off the high ridge have been pummeled and packed by skiers and riders. Now it’s just a question of how long it will last.
“It would be cool if they stayed open as late as they can,” said Vujko Bultan. “I’d come up every weekend until they closed,” he said, on his way to snare a smooth bump line on Exo.
This winter’s big snows have spurred numerous comments from skiers in the region about early resort closing dates. Eight state resorts reported record snowfall and most are closing with their deepest bases of the season.
The same question comes up every year: Why focus on October when you can only open one run , often with a hard-packed artificial snow base.
The industry gives the same answer each year. The demand is in the fall, resort execs say. By the time the base at Breckenridge reaches 80 inches in mid-April, Front Range skiers — Summit County’s bread and butter — are polishing their bikes and buying new golf clubs.
Nevertheless, a short-lived movement bloomed in Vail, as locals tried to convince the ski area to keep a skeleton crew operating a few key lifts, at least on weekends. The above-treeline terrain on the Tenmile Range around Breck looks from afar like it’s offering some of the best skiing of the season, though the lifts closed last weekend.
And backcountry skiers are raving about about big, well-covered lines and a solid snowpack, promising good turns for many more weeks.
<b>Some people just can’t get enough</b>
Diehards won’t be able to feed their jones for July turns at A-Basin this year, or anytime soon. A-Basin’s is aiming to close June 8, with everything dependent on snow and weather, said spokesperson Leigh Hierholzer.
One of those weather factors could be a thick layer of mustard- and rust-colored dust grains deposited by fierce winds last week. Some science suggests that the dark-colored snow melts more quickly, shortening the snowpack season by 20 days or more in the Rockies. Scientists who track the dust and measure the effects say the storms have become more common with widespread agricultural development.
The start of snowmaking at A-Basin also affected seasonal operations.
“Things have changed since snowmaking started,” Hierholzer said. The trend has been toward opening earlier, extending the season at the beginning, she said.
Hierholzer said the last few times A-Basin stayed open into July were in 2003 (July 2), 1997 (July 6), 1996 (July 1) and 1995 (Aug. 10).
It might not be in the cards anytime soon, but staying open into early summer is still an option in the future, said director of mountain operations Tim Finnigan.
“Maybe once in a blue moon,” Finnigan said.
The key ingredient would be enough snow for top-to-botttom skiing, Finnigan said. In previous seasons, guests downloaded for the last few weeks for a slow ride down Exhibition Chair. Some people chose to walk down the lower slopes, creating erosion issues and concerns about natural resource damage, he said.
Finnigan said snowmaking could give the resort a better shot at staying open later. The man-made base helps the ski area feel confident it can reach this year’s targeted June 8 closing, according to Finnigan.
Soon thereafter, the resort will begin working on a parking lot expansion and a Highway 6 underpass, and thoughts will turn to next season.
<i>Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.</i>
“It was knee-deep and face shots. Dude, it’s been just like that all season,” Lehrman crows, shaking some powder off his hat and swigging Gatorade before heading back to the lifts at Arapahoe Basin.
Lehrman, who just moved to Boulder from Boston, said, “I’d ski every day, all summer if I could. I wish A-Basin would stay open later,” he said, having heard legends of celebrating the Fourth of July with turns at Summit County’s oldest ski area.
As the last resort standing, The Legend is buzzing these days. The East Wall filled in nicely, the hike-to terrain is open and even the boniest chutes off the high ridge have been pummeled and packed by skiers and riders. Now it’s just a question of how long it will last.
“It would be cool if they stayed open as late as they can,” said Vujko Bultan. “I’d come up every weekend until they closed,” he said, on his way to snare a smooth bump line on Exo.
This winter’s big snows have spurred numerous comments from skiers in the region about early resort closing dates. Eight state resorts reported record snowfall and most are closing with their deepest bases of the season.
The same question comes up every year: Why focus on October when you can only open one run , often with a hard-packed artificial snow base.
The industry gives the same answer each year. The demand is in the fall, resort execs say. By the time the base at Breckenridge reaches 80 inches in mid-April, Front Range skiers — Summit County’s bread and butter — are polishing their bikes and buying new golf clubs.
Nevertheless, a short-lived movement bloomed in Vail, as locals tried to convince the ski area to keep a skeleton crew operating a few key lifts, at least on weekends. The above-treeline terrain on the Tenmile Range around Breck looks from afar like it’s offering some of the best skiing of the season, though the lifts closed last weekend.
And backcountry skiers are raving about about big, well-covered lines and a solid snowpack, promising good turns for many more weeks.
<b>Some people just can’t get enough</b>
Diehards won’t be able to feed their jones for July turns at A-Basin this year, or anytime soon. A-Basin’s is aiming to close June 8, with everything dependent on snow and weather, said spokesperson Leigh Hierholzer.
One of those weather factors could be a thick layer of mustard- and rust-colored dust grains deposited by fierce winds last week. Some science suggests that the dark-colored snow melts more quickly, shortening the snowpack season by 20 days or more in the Rockies. Scientists who track the dust and measure the effects say the storms have become more common with widespread agricultural development.
The start of snowmaking at A-Basin also affected seasonal operations.
“Things have changed since snowmaking started,” Hierholzer said. The trend has been toward opening earlier, extending the season at the beginning, she said.
Hierholzer said the last few times A-Basin stayed open into July were in 2003 (July 2), 1997 (July 6), 1996 (July 1) and 1995 (Aug. 10).
It might not be in the cards anytime soon, but staying open into early summer is still an option in the future, said director of mountain operations Tim Finnigan.
“Maybe once in a blue moon,” Finnigan said.
The key ingredient would be enough snow for top-to-botttom skiing, Finnigan said. In previous seasons, guests downloaded for the last few weeks for a slow ride down Exhibition Chair. Some people chose to walk down the lower slopes, creating erosion issues and concerns about natural resource damage, he said.
Finnigan said snowmaking could give the resort a better shot at staying open later. The man-made base helps the ski area feel confident it can reach this year’s targeted June 8 closing, according to Finnigan.
Soon thereafter, the resort will begin working on a parking lot expansion and a Highway 6 underpass, and thoughts will turn to next season.
<i>Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.</i>
