Colorado Ski Country USA has one of the longest ski seasons thanks to the high elevation of our mountains and the heavy snow from winter that sticks around through spring. Arapahoe Basin is the only resort in Colorado open now. But while there are only a few weeks left in A-basin’s season, neighboring Loveland just closed earlier this month. Last week on Loveland’s site they were already counting down the days ’till snowmaking for next season.
The one thing that everyone knows about A-Basin in the spring is the Beach. The Beach is a section of slope where the snow meets the Early Riser parking lot and backs up to three lower mountain lifts right at the base area. People can actually reserve a spot at the beach and hang out there all day. On spring days here in Colorado, when the sun is shining high in the blue bird sky, the beach turns into a quasi-tail-gate, pre-game, cook-out, aprs-ski, spring-break, happy hour scene.
Much like hiking Highland bowl, navigating Crested Butte’s North Face, propelling down Telluride’s Plunge or zipper lining Mary Jane, logging in a day at the beach is a right of passage for becoming a true local Colorado skier. Contrastingly, it’s one of the ways to earn slope-cred even though it’s not exactly on the slopes, but it still holds the same amount of value. It can easily be earned later in the season after the other feathers have been placed in your cap. Just remember when earning your beach cred to wear sunscreen. Lose your shirt and with out sunscreen, you could lose credibility.
