Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Information

Besides being one of the premier ski resorts in the western United States and certainly one of the top areas in Colorado, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area attracts hundreds of thousands of skiers and snowboarders to its slopes annually for sunshine and great snow. Rooted in a history that has seen heavy expansion and modifications over the past several years, A-Basin, as it is called by locals, has continued to remain one of the best places to ride snow in the lower 48 states.

A-Basin first opened to the public shortly after World War II, when members of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division improvised a cable ski lift using old mining equipment. With its inaugural season in 1946-47, A-Basin consisted merely of a sole rope tow which ran from mid-mountain to the 13,000-foot plus summit. Skiers were transported to the tow rope location by four-wheel drive vehicles and tickets during the first season were only $3 per day. For the following season, a single chair was installed which consisted of metal parts. According to area records, the new lift was the first metal chair installed in post-war times. During the second season, skier visits topped more than 13,000 people – a huge increase over the previous year. As the years passed, the resort remained small and low-key even as many of the state's other ski areas were being developed into major destination resorts.

Big changes took place at A-Basin when Ralston Purina brought the area in 1978. One triple chair and three double chairs were installed, eliminating all surface lifts and single chairs. By this time, skier numbers increased to 250,000 per season. After brief ownership by Vail Resorts, today A-Basin is owned by Dundee Realty Corporation of Canada. Recent improvements to the ski resort included a new triple chair in 2001.