Expanding parking, building a small gondola and a pedestrian bridge from parking lots over U.S. 6 to the base area, and creating a new on-mountain learning area are among improvements Arapahoe Basin officials are considering, according to a new master development plan submitted to the White River National Forest.
The 122-page document had been in the works two years ago, but it was put on hold for seven months after A-Basin’s previous owner, DREAM, announced it was selling the area to Alterra Mountain Company pending U.S. Department of Justice approval. The sale finally closed last November and planning resumed.
Ski areas update their master plans with the U.S. Forest Service every decade or so. But even after the agency officially “accepts” those plans — a process that can take up to a year — individual projects must be approved on a case-by-case basis.
As expected, no terrain expansions are being planned, but an additional 395 parking spaces would be added and two small gondolas would be built — one from the upper parking lots to the pedestrian tunnel that accesses the base area, and the other from the base area to a building supporting a new learning area at Sawmill Flats. A detachable quad chairlift would be built from that building to mid-mountain, providing access to the Lenawee Express lift, which runs from mid-mountain to the summit.
Moving ski school operations to an on-mountain beginner area would reduce congestion in the landlocked base area. The current ski school facility in the base area could be converted to accommodate restaurant seating.
Other improvements would include adding 65 acres of terrain covered by snowmaking, which would nearly double A-Basin’s snowmaking acreage, and installing new avalanche mitigation hardware for remote operation that would be safer for patrollers to operate.
Improvements for summer operations would include the addition of 10 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails and four tiny 150-square-foot cabins with outdoor decks at midmountain that would be available for day-use rental. A-Basin could also add summer camping in its parking lots. Campsites would include picnic tables and RV hookups with vault toilets and trash removal.
“More than anything, we’re really focused on fixing the guest and employee experience in our existing area,” said chief operating officer Alan Henceroth. “I’m excited to be able to park a few more people so a few more people can have a good time. I’m excited to help our avalanche program. I’m excited that we can be a little more responsive with snowmaking and get more terrain open a little faster.”
He’s also looking forward to serving beginners better with the new learning area.
“We don’t have a lot of green terrain,” Henceroth said. “The proposed gondola and the proposed detachable quad will optimize the ideal teaching terrain that we do have.”
