Summit County Citizens Voice

‘Every rope drop is a gift this year’

First-ever day of lift-served skiing in Arapahoe Basin’s Montezuma Bowl. Bob Berwyn photo.

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO — As a long-time western skier, I’ve seen several feast-and-famine snow cycles, when every rope-drop becomes a precious gift from the stingy snow gods. So my heart skipped a beat when A-Basin announced it’s opening Montezuma Bowl today (Wednesday, Feb. 13).

The big, generally south-facing cirque opens a whole new dimension at A-Basin, with long traverses and ridge-line glides leading to craggy drops, long fall-line gullies and a variety of  tree slots, with funky fall lines and hidden stashes. Down the center of Zuma Bowl, the cruisers come with wide views of the heart of Summit County, the trails of Breckenridge and Keystone visible in the distance.

A-Basin chief Alan Henceroth skied the terrain last weekend, reporting good conditions in his Sunday blog post, then announced the bowl will open at 12 p.m. with skiing on Columbine, Shining Light, Ned’s Cache, Independence, and Upper Larkspur.

In the past few weeks, snow has piled up at the Basin, with some of the most recent storms favoring the north-facing terrain along the Continental Divide, and another surge of moist air from the northwest could enable the ski area to open more Montezuma Bowl terrain soon, Henceroth wrote.

Filed under: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, recreation, Ski Resorts, skiing and riding, Snow and weather, Summit County Colorado Tagged: | Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, Montezuma Bowl, skiing