Hugh Carey / hcarey@summitdaily.com
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area announced on its social media channels on Friday morning that its winter skiing and riding season will be extended through the weekend of June 14-16.
The Summit County ski area at the Continental Divide also teased that it may be open beyond mid-June.
“With more snow in the forecasts we could go even longer,” A-Basin said on its social media channels.
A-Basin is open each day of the week through the ski area’s originally-planned closing date of June 2. The ski area will then remain open for weekends-only on Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 9 and Friday, June 14 through Sunday, June 16.
As of Friday morning, A-Basin reported a base of 82 inches and powder conditions after three inches of snow fell overnight, 11 inches over the past three days.
In terms of open terrain, on Friday morning A-Basin had open for skiing and riding terrain off of all of its major lifts, including the Black Mountain Express lift, the Lenawee Mountain lift, the Beavers lift, the Pallavicini lift and the Zuma Bowl lift.
According to OpenSnow.com, the ski area as of Friday morning is at 197% — nearly double — its average snowpack for winter seasons.
“It’s still snowing and the conditions are superb,” A-Basin said on its snow conditions web page early Friday morning. “It feels like mid-winter up here. At this point the world (ski area) is your oyster. Everywhere you ski is going to be remarkable. I would say go ski Zuma for the views but its’ still snowing so maybe go ski Zuma for some great skiing.”
A-Basin isn’t the only ski area or resort still open in Summit County, as Breckenridge Ski Resort announced earlier this week it would extend skiing and riding availability on a pair of weekends beyond the resort’s previously-scheduled closing day of Memorial Day this coming Monday. As such, skiing and riding at Breckenridge based out of the resort’s Peak 7 base are will be open the weekends of June 1-2 and June 8-9.
All skiers and riders commuting to Peak 7 from downtown Breckenridge must use resort buses to and from Breckenridge Station, as the BreckConnect Gondola will not operate between downtown Breckenridge and Peak 7 for the remainder of the ski season.
Breckenridge will open its “Epic Discovery” summer season on-mountain offerings and activities on Friday, June 14, complete with the re-opening of BreckConnect Gondola transportation from Breckenridge Station to the base area of the resort’s Peak 8.