This Resort Is the First to Open for Lift-Served Skiing This Winter

After Massachusetts’s tiny Ski Ward opened a magic carpet-served strip of skiing last weekend, Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin was finally able to take advantage of the cooler Rocky Mountain weather and really get the snowguns blowing this week.

The ski area will open on Sunday morning with base to mid-mountain skiing served by the Black Mountain Express chair along the High Noon intermediate trail. There will be no beginner runs open.

Opening day festivities will include donuts for the first people in line, a costume contest with prizes, and a Halloween-themed band playing from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The lift will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., which are normal winter weekend hours (it’s 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays).

       Also Read: See Where Arapahoe Basin Ranked on the 2024 Reader Resort Survey

A-Basin plans to stay open daily, conditions permitting, and will open more terrain as weather and snowmaking allow. Portions of the mountain most likely open next are Lenawee Face and Dercum Gulch, which just might get a little help from Mother Nature thanks to a snowstorm forecasted for this weekend. It could bring over a foot of snow.

If you don’t have an Arapahoe Basin season pass or an Ikon Pass, buy your lift tickets online in advance here. Prices are steep for the experience of skiing on opening day ($129 per ticket at press time), but specials like the Fall Friday Afternoon Club offer $39 lift tickets to knock off work for a few hours and get some turns in during the early season. We like the sound of that.