Sunday will be the season’s last day for Beavers and Pallavicini lifts at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area
Ian Zinner/Arapahoe Basin Ski Area
The snow keeps on coming, but the temperatures haven’t been as cooperative over the past few weeks. As a result, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area officials have decided to stop spinning the Beavers and Pallavicini lifts after Sunday, May 14, according to a Saturday blog post from COO Alan Henceroth.
While the ski area has gotten a boost from late-spring snowstorms, including one earlier in the week that dropped 13 inches, the temperatures have not been cold enough to bring significant freezes to the western areas served by the two lifts. Looking at the forecast, Henceroth wrote that the area didn’t expect any of the runs to freeze solid over the next 7-10 days, and the lifts will most likely remain closed for the rest of the reason.
The ski area will be shifting its focus to areas served by the Black Mountain Express, Lenawee Express and Zuma lifts. These areas have more heavily compacted snow, which brings better late-season conditions, according to Henceroth.
A-Basin is one of state’s four remaining open ski resorts, and when Purgatory Resort closes at the end of the day Sunday, that number will be down to three — Breckenridge Ski Resort and A-Basin in Summit County and the Mary Jane slopes at Winter Park in Grand County. None of the remaining open areas have announced a closing date, but Henceroth wrote that A-Basin hopes to remain open into June if conditions allow.
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