Alterra Bought Arapahoe Basin. Can the Resort Keep Its Soul?

Arapahoe Basin has always been about as far from a megaresort as a ski area can be.

It’s a place where the entire staff shows up at 5:30 a.m. to shovel snow on a powder day, where you’ll find the chief operating officer parking cars or taking out the trash, and where all proceeds from its most popular events go to a local charity or individual in need. During the week, you can park and walk to the chairlift in less than five minutes. You can grab a prime spot in the base area parking lot (“the beach”) by either staking a claim during the pre-dawn hours or reserving it and tailgating with a group of friends all day. Even on a busy weekend, you can park for free on said beach if you carpool, get on the chairlift in 10 minutes or less, and ski some of the steepest, most technical terrain in Colorado. It’s a place with a devout, multigenerational staff and loyal regulars who not only choose A-Basin over its popular megaresort neighbors—Keystone, Breckenridge, and Copper Mountain—but hold birthdays, weddings, and funerals there.

Every aspect of the Basin’s culture is anti-corporate. So, when news hit this February that Ikon Pass parent corporation Alterra was purchasing the place, there were some strong feelings among the Basin’s die-hards. And, well, some crying.

“When the headline came through, my visceral reaction was tears,” says Kim Jardim, an A-Basin passholder of 30-plus years. “It was just a few tears, but yes, I cried. It was like, oh no … the Basin. My Basin. My second home. It scared me that the place would change and the vibe would change.”

Nobody knows what’s to come under Alterra ownership. The acquisition is not yet complete and until it is (April at the earliest), Alterra representatives will not speak or speculate about plans. Arapahoe Basin leadership, however, is confident that the vibe—the warm and distinctive culture that makes A-Basin what it is—will not change.

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“I think Alterra is buying A-Basin because they understand what a Colorado gem it is,” says COO Alan Henceroth, who has worked at Arapahoe Basin for 36 years and who, in addition to still partaking in grunt work like shoveling, parking cars, and changing trash bags, also writes a blog almost daily with insider information for Basin followers.

“A number of their senior people ski here regularly. I think they know how special it is and they want to keep it that way.”

Although she reiterated that the company wouldn’t speak to plans until after the deal is finalized, Alterra Vice President of Communications Kristin Rust admits that she holds A-Basin close to her heart.

“I grew up skiing A-Basin in the ’70s and ’80s, so it is a special place to me, indeed.”

Embracing Its Natural Limitations

The biggest fear among long-time A-Basin fans is that Alterra will shift the ski area into the model of so many on the Ikon or Epic Pass, in which the aim seems to be to bring as many people onto the slopes as possible. Some of that trepidation was assuaged last week when Alterra shared access details on next season’s Ikon Pass, and that A-Basin will continue to offer five days on the Base Pass and seven days on the full Ikon Pass, as it has since it joined in 2019.

This is a huge relief to many diehard Basin fans. Due to its location (bordering the Continental Divide with a summit elevation above 13,000 feet) and limited parking, the Basin can only logistically accommodate so many visitors before it starts to feel overrun. The Basin’s parking lots accommodate about 1,800 vehicles. There are plans for next season (pre-dating the Alterra acquisition) to add about 350 more spots.

“I feel like it’s going to be preserved because you can’t expand it much,” says Tara Richard, who was in the midst of a Basin beach party with girlfriends in early March and was an “A-Basin-only” skier during the 10 years that her kids grew up learning to ski. “The only thing that keeps me from being devastated about the new regime is the fact that they can’t bring in condos. They’re not going to be able to bring in fur coats and shopping.”

Henceroth confirms that there are no condominium or base area construction plans in store. After all, the land on which the Basin sits is governed by the U.S. Forest Service.

“I don’t blame anybody for being uncertain or asking if things are going to change,” Henceroth says. “I think that’s totally fair. It’s such a special place. People want it to continue that way. We don’t want to go back to the days of being crazy overcrowded.”

He’s referring to when A-Basin was owned by Dream (formerly known as Dundee Resort Development) and partnered with Vail Resorts to allow unlimited access on the Epic Pass. For a few winters, especially from about 2015-’18, the Basin’s weekend parking was overflowing to the point that visitors were hitchhiking and parking illegally on U.S. Highway 6.

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Realizing that the overcrowding was cramping the Basin’s vibe, the resort cut itself loose from the Epic Pass. In 2019-’20, it joined the Ikon Pass with access limited to either five or seven days depending on whether you opt for the full or the Base Pass. That same season, the Basin also began limiting its own season pass sales with a cap of around 4,100. The resort recently announced that it will again offer a Basin-only season pass (plus a few days at Monarch) for 2024-’25, “priced very closely to this season’s pricing.”

The Future of Ikon

Currently on weekends, the beach parking lot is only available to those who have reserved (or staked out early morning) spots or vehicles with three or more people. The big question is whether, under Alterra ownership, Ikon Pass holders will eventually be permitted more days or even—gasp—unlimited access at the Basin.

“Looking back five, six, seven years ago, we were rough around the edges. We got a little busy. At that point, we didn’t have good controls to manage how many people were here at once,” Henceroth says. “We’re happy with the way we manage our weekends the last couple of years. We’re going to have to keep doing that. Regardless of this sale, we’d continue to do that.”

When asked how A-Basin could maintain its uncrowded, grassroots vibe under Alterra ownership, many loyalists believe continuing to limit access for Ikon Pass holders would be integral.

“I’d say they’d have to limit so many days for Ikon Passes—maybe just weekdays,” says longtime Basin passholder Tom Perry. “I don’t know what else they can do to keep the vibe the same, whatever they can to not impact its legendary status.”

“To keep A-Basin as the A-Basin we love, the limited aspects of Ikon Pass are great,” adds JR Nolan, an A-Basin passholder “off and on” since 1988. “I think because there are no condos and because parking is limited, the Basin can only take so many people. This hill can become as overcrowded as any of them, but I think keeping Ikon Pass days limited would be one of the major ingredients that would make the transition successful.”

Ron Rosso, a longtime Basin passholder who lives in the Denver suburbs and only skis on weekdays, doesn’t think A-Basin will have to limit Ikon Pass access to maintain its status.

“They have avoided the trap of the big resort thing and they should continue doing that,” Rosso says. “The stuff they’ve done in recent years is awesome—Montezuma [Bowl] is awesome. The Beavers are amazing. That needed to be done, but that’s all you need. If you need the big stuff, go to Copper Mountain. Go to Breck. Go to Vail.  From people I know who have Ikon, they want big mountains, but they like coming to The Legend.”

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Even then, Russo says, he doesn’t think that the average Ikon Pass skier wants to visit A-Basin more than five, six, or seven times. “They love Winter Park, Mary Jane,” says Russo. “When those areas close, a lot of people want to get away from skiing. They have kid stuff or they go golfing. Even if it’s still bashing [snow] up here in May, only so many people are into skiing.”

In addition to insinuating that the Basin already has all the weekend crowd it wants or can handle, Henceroth indicated that weekdays and early season (the Basin has historically boasted one of the world’s longest ski seasons, often lasting from late October through early June) were the only times the resort would be interested in bolstering crowds.

“We’ve got soft periods, but we’re doing fine,” he says. “We’re stable on our feet all the time, but we’ve been tinkering to figure out weekdays and how to get fall busier.”

A History of Corporate Ownership

As far as regulars panicking that the Basin is going to sell out or lose its soul under Alterra ownership, Henceroth reminds me that there have been other times throughout the ski area’s long life (dating back to 1946), that its die-hards were bracing for the worst. He pulls out an A-Basin history book and turns to a page depicting a sticker created in 1978 when Ralston Purina purchased the resort from former A-Basin operator Joe Jankovsky, who had purchased the area in 1972 from original owners/founders Larry and Marnie Jump.

The sticker names May 30, 1978 (the last day before the Ralston takeover) as “Desperado Day, the last of what will be ‘the good old days.’”

“A lot of people think it’s a mom-and-pop area, but it’s not,” Henceroth says. “We’ve been part of big corporations for a half-century.”

It makes the fact that the Basin has, despite its half-century corporate ownership and the terrain expansions, lift improvements, restaurant additions, and makeovers that came with it, always managed to pass itself off as a mom-and-pop sort of place that much more impressive.

The End of an Era? Unlikely.

“It’s just a really special place, especially when your kids grow up skiing there,” Jardim says. “I can’t tell you how many times my boys left a fleece behind in the lodge or skis on the rack. I’d get a call from an employee who recognized the fleece or drive back up to see if the skis were still on the rack and they were. That doesn’t happen everywhere. And it’s only part of what makes that place so special.”

It is of great comfort to many Basin-for-lifers that Henceroth and his team will likely continue calling at least some of the shots under Alterra ownership.

“I think those tears I cried were just hoping that this is not the end of an era,” Jardim says. “It’s no guarantee that it’s going to change or change for the worse. There’s a very good chance it could keep the vibe. With Alan leading the way, I feel like all of us who love that place so much have a voice through him. I know how passionate he is about the Basin. I know he’ll do everything in his power to keep it as much the same as he can.”

Standing firmly at the helm, Henceroth himself is optimistic.

“I do know that the folks at Alterra really care about this place and they’re buying it because they think it’s so special. They don’t want to blow it up,” he says. “From what I understand, they’re not a top-down organization. Each resort has a lot of autonomy. We’re in a period where we have to be patient.”

“I’m confident that the Basin is going to be as great if not better than it’s always been.”