Day 93
Location: Dillon, CO
Ski Areas: 46 out of 50

Back when I worked at Keystone and got a pass to all five Vail Resorts, I frequently found myself up at A-Basin. It was much smaller than Keystone, but there were also way fewer tourists, a population that I absolutely wanted to avoid on my days off. And I loved “The Beach”, an epic party spot for RV campers right on the slopes.

Needless to say, A-Basin was at the top of the list for this adventure. Then I found out that The Beach now costs $150 to park to your RV. Are you fucking kidding me? $150?! And you can’t spend the night there. Boo! So we skipped the Basin on our first pass through, but here I am, sans RV and with less than a week to knock out five ski areas. Also, my sweet, sweet, sweet Descente jacket is still kicking out free lift tickets.

Like Keystone, major expansion has happened at A-Basin. They finally got the Montezuma Bowl opened (it was just a rumor when I  lived there). See the trail map below. The old A-Basin is just the top map so you can see that Zuma completely opens up the backside.

It’s pretty fawesome with lots of fun lines. At least, they looked fun. My day at A-Basin was bulletproof hardpack and high winds so I had to settle for just scoping out the terrain for my next trip — and digging the views from the highest lift accessed terrain in North America.

The Cheat Sheet:

Arapahoe Basin
28194 U.S. Highway 6
Dillon, CO 80435

Mountain Stats