Arapahoe Basin Ski Area
Summit County, Colorado is home to numerous quality ski resorts that boast good snow and a lot of sunny days. One of the most attractive resorts in the area is Arapahoe Basin Ski Area mainly because of its family friendly terrain, laid back mountain town feel and close proximity to Denver. The resort is an ideal place for beginner skiers and snowboarders to expert shredders alike and offers everything from quite getaway spots to extremely sociable bars and restaurants. But, A-Basin, what the area is called by locals, shouldn't be taken lightly because despite the variety of terrain it offers the ski resort is quite demanding.
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A-Basin has five lifts servicing 30 trails on 490 mostly above-treeline acres. Its 360-inch annual average snowfall, coupled with its 10,780-foot base elevation and 13,050-foot summit ensures a long, leg-burning season that can last through June and sometimes into July during big snow years. In fact, in 1995 A-Basin was not only open for skiing on July Fourth but its slopes received seven inches of new snow that day! Pallavicini is A-Basin's trademark steep trail. During powder days, this is the place for experts to ski and ride. The easiest way down the steeps is to take Main Street. If it is your goal to sample the range of American skiing than you owe it to yourself to hit A-Basin, where you're as close to the top of the world as any chairlift will take you.
Being the smallest ski resort in Summit County, A-Basin harbors more of a friendly feel than some of the other resorts in the area. Skiers who don't care about its size know it's the best and most likely wouldn't ski anywhere else. A-Basin is also the least accessible of the four Summit County ski resorts, ultimately making it more remote and less crowded. Sitting high on the west side of Loveland Pass, skiers approaching the resort from the east must either drive through Eisenhower Tunnel to Dillon and then turn around and head east again via U.S. 6, or they must drive over the top of the pass, a harrowing but awesome scenic road, and drop down to the base of the lifts.
Regardless of your skill level and dedication to skiing and snowboarding, spending time at A-Basin and the surrounding quaint mountain town is a fun and relaxing experience. Complete with ski and snowboard instruction, equipment rentals and accommodations that run the spectrum from four-star plush hotels to small bunkhouses for those traveling snow sliders on a budget, A-basin is a top notch ski resort that has a respectable reputation which will never tarnish.
Arapahoe Basin, CO Weather
Currently Outside 46FMostly cloudy. Cool. |
