A-Basin looks for higher profile

Resort goal: more out-of-state visits, less crowding

Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, September 21, 2007

ARAPAHOE BASIN - This high-elevation ski area has never lacked for steep terrain with stunning views of the state's highest peaks. This winter, it's about to get a lot more of the same.

As A-Basin prepares to almost double in size this winter, ski area officials here hope the $3 million expansion will raise the area's profile among out-of-state visitors and address some of the crowding it has experienced as it becomes more popular among local residents.

"More and more people are discovering Arapahoe," said Alan Henceroth, chief operating officer of the 61-year-old ski area. "But if you go out of state, people don't really know about us."

With 400 acres of new trails on the backside of its summit, the area could prove an even stronger draw this season for Front Range residents. Its location on the western side of Loveland Pass makes it one of the closest ski areas to Denver.

Its perch along the Continental Divide allows it to stay open far longer than most ski areas, and its introduction of snowmaking a few years ago helps it with its annual race to open ahead of most rivals.

The eight-month season boosts its visitor count.

A-Basin attracted more than 360,000 visitors in 2006-2007, more than any of the other smaller, "gem" ski areas and almost as many as the 366,000 who went to the bigger Crested Butte.

But with all of its skiing concentrated on 500 acres, A-Basin is getting cramped. Henceroth said the area had to get bigger to "preserve that small ski-area feel."

He predicts the expansion could bring a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in the number of skiers who visit this season.

A-Basin's eclectic base shares little in common with the more modern and upscale facilities at neighboring ski areas to the west, including Vail Resorts Inc.'s Breckenridge and Keystone.

The decades-old A-frame lodge once served as a missile-testing facility in Colorado Springs until it was brought up in pieces and reassembled at the foot of the slopes.

"We aren't like other places, and we don't want to be like other places," Henceroth said.

But there have been improvements recently. The old rental shop has been replaced. And a new lodge complete with Kobe beef burgers and grilled salmon opened last spring midway up the mountain. A deck that seats 112 people was added to Black Mountain Lodge this summer.

Also new this winter is the Snow Plume Refuge at the summit, where gas grills will be available to those who want to bring barbecue fixings and cook for themselves.

Still, A-Basin has invested most heavily in one thing: skiing.

It's well-known for its double-black-diamond fare, particularly the Pallavicini run that looms just above the parking lot at the area's base.

This season's expansion into an area known as the Montezuma Bowl will reduce the percentage of easy runs to just 10 percent but only because the number of intermediate, advanced and expert runs will jump significantly.

Making it all possible is the addition of the new Zuma lift, which represents a big chunk of the millions of dollars the ski area invested in the expansion project.

It will eliminate the need for skiers to get back to the top under their own power.

That has irked backcountry skiers, who have long favored the relative solitude on the backside of A-Basin. About 50 acres below the bottom of the lift have been reserved for that purpose.

Much of the expansion will offer the kind of expert runs A-Basin is best-known for, but it also includes several groomed "blue" trails for intermediate-level skiers.

Expert runs pay tribute to the ski area's founders and offer views west to the 14,005-foot Mount of the Holy Cross.

Some of the advanced-level trails carry the names of the 14,000-foot peaks - Grays, Torreys and Bierstadt - that sit along the Continental Divide just above A-Basin.

The top offers open bowl skiing, and much of the lower portion offers tree skiing. Only 1 percent of the trees in the vicinity needed to be cut to accommodate the lift and trails, which helped minimize the expansion's impact on the environment.

"Their goal really was to clear as few trees as possible and still have it function well," said Joe Foreman, winter sports administrator for the White River National Forest's Dillon Ranger District. "It's really kind of an ideal scenario.

More terrain

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area will almost double in size when it opens for business this winter on the backside of its summit.

• What's new: An extra 400 acres expands the high-altitude ski area by 80 percent to 900 acres. A new Zuma lift, which is scheduled to open in December, means that skiers won't have to trek up 1,100 vertical feet to get back to the ski area.

• Project cost: About $3 million.

• Terrain: An additional 36 intermediate, advanced and expert trails in an area known as Montezuma Bowl. The top of the bowl sits above timberline and most of the trees at the lower elevations were left untouched. Intermediate runs will be groomed nightly. Those who want a more remote backcountry experience will find about 50 acres of skiing below the bottom of the lift.

• Of note: The expansion makes A-Basin bigger than Aspen Mountain, Monarch, Eldora and Powderhorn.

kelleyj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5068