Summit Daily file
DILLON – Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Chief Operating Officer Al Henceroth said in a blog post Friday morning that the ski area’s Beavers lift and terrain will open for the season at some point Saturday morning.
Henceroth said the ski area has received a foot of new snow since the latest storm rolled in Thursday, with another foot, or more, on the way.
“Mother Nature has provided,” Henceroth said in the blog post.
“The Beavers will open Saturday morning,” he continued. “The exact time will be dictated by weather events the next 24 hours. We will start with (ski runs) Loafer and Davis and, I suspect, additional terrain will follow. The skiing out there is awesome.”
The COO added that the current weather event Summit County and Colorado is experiencing has been good for the ski area’s north side, or front-side, terrain. Henceroth described the scene at A-Basin Friday morning before 8 a.m. as one where several of the ski area’s snow safety teams were out running routes while, looking out his window, the snow was coming down so hard the COO could barely see the Black Mountain Express’ fourth tower up the hill.
“As the morning progresses,” the COO said, “more snow falls and the patrollers complete their work, a few treats may be available.”
On Wednesday, Henceroth wrote on his blog that the ski area was “poised to have all kinds of skiing available very soon.”
“Already, the quality of the skiing is outstanding,” Henceroth said in the Wednesday blog post. “Much of the terrain available from the top of (the) Pali (lift) has been skied and is packed. The patrollers are working in the Steep Gullies (terrain) today. All the lifts are ready to go. The snowmakers are finishing up a stellar job on Norway. Trevor is track packing Davis with the winch cat for the second time. Loafer is not far behind. We have a really good forecast for snow Thursday night thru Sunday. Conditions wise, we are in the perfect spot, ready to receive and capitalize on this next storm. … And the cat drivers are already 80% of the way down (the) Columbine (run) to the bottom of Zuma Lift (on the ski area’s back side terrain).”
As of Friday morning, A-Basin was reporting a 37-inch base with powder conditions after 10 inches of new snowfall in the past 24 hours. Uphill access was closed at the ski area Friday morning due to the storm.