On Monday, Jan. 23, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area opened up access to all of Montezuma Bowl. The opening includes the double black, hike-to terrain below the bottom terminal of the Zuma lift as well as runs like Davo, Crags and Lightning Trees.

According to A-Basin senior communications manager Katherine Fuller, last week’s consistent snowfall and work from ski patrol helped dramatically in fully opening Montezuma Bowl.

With the opening of the Montezuma Bowl, A-Basin creeps closer to being 100% open for the season, but the ski area is still awaiting enough snowfall to safely open A-Basin’s steep and rocky extreme terrain.

“Our extreme terrain is what we’re waiting on: stuff that you have to hike to or hike out of,” Fuller said in an email. “That includes the East Wall and the Steep Gullies, which require significant snowfall and avalanche mitigation work to open. Those terrain areas have an opening window anywhere from January to March, depending on conditions.”

Although A-Basin is still in need of more snow to be 100% open, the ski area’s lifts and on-mountain restaurants are all open for the ski and ride season.

In terms of current conditions on the mountain, Fuller said a daily refresh of snow has helped keep runs skiing and riding smoothly.

“The daily refresh of snow has been very nice,” Fuller said. “Two inches a day is generally enough to keep things consistently skiing well.”