Dave Camara, Arapahoe Basin
Winter is officially here, and Arapahoe Basin Ski Area (A-Basin) celebrates today by announcing that Montezuma Bowl will open for the 2015-16 season around mid-day on Wednesday, December 23, 2015. This is the second earliest opening for this terrain in its nine year history, opening five days earlier than last season. The Montezuma Bowl terrain and Zuma lift opened in the 2007-08 season; this expansion contains some of the most varied terrain at the ski area, including long intermediate groomers, natural tree skiing and extreme steeps.
Over 107 inches of snow has fallen at Arapahoe Basin this season, with 33 inches falling during the month of December. The abundant snowfall and dedicated work by mountain operations will allow approximately 175 additional acres of terrain to open for skiing and riding this week.
Open runs include the intermediate groomed trails Columbine, Larkspur and Shining Light. Powderhounds can find wide-open powder skiing in Northern Spy and Tiezes Claim. Guests can also find tree skiing in Miners Glade and the 14er Trees, three tree-skiing runs named for nearby 14ers: Bierstadt, Grays and Torreys. A complete list of open runs can be found on the A-Basin Terrain Status webpage. More trail openings will be announced on the Arapahoe Basin Facebook page as well as Als Blog as they occur.
