Sunday Skiing at Arapahoe Basin
Feb 12, 2007 · 09:15 AM · permalink
After nearly a month off the slopes, on Sunday I returned to ski Arapahoe Basin. Summit and Eagle Counties have not had any significant snowfall in about a month, and it shows. At this time last year, we had the brown snow, but this year, it’s just brown. And that, combined with a busy travel schedule, is why I haven’t skied in a month—I believe in skiing for enjoyment and inspiration, and dodging rocks isn’t either of those. But Sunday, we decided to give it a try, so we packed up our carving skis and hit The Legend.
I have a certain ambivalence about A-Basin. In many ways, it is a laid-back, unpretentious resort with friendly mountain staff; Pallavicini is one of the most challenging “trails” anywhere; there are rarely significant lift lines; and a day of hiking the East Wall will kick your ass.
But the mountain gets crowded easily; the lifts are slow; the din of Jimmy Buffet is tiresome; and the anti-establishment vibe affected by so many A-Basin skiers always strikes me as practiced and self-congratulatory. But, whatever: I go to ski, and the promise of being able to get on and off the mountain quickly is what attracted me Sunday—that and and a desire to avoid the kind of mob scene we observed driving past Keystone.
Sunday’s skiing was brief and adequate and by no means epic. The East Wall was closed, with good reason, which made the mountain feel cramped. We found some decent, relatively untracked mashed potatoes under Lenawee Mountain Lift, and the decision to bring the carvers proved to be a good one as the majority of the mountain was packed powder or hard packed.
It was surprisingly difficult to adjust to the carvers—2005 Dynastar Skicross 9s. I’ve been skiing my fat, light, and forgiving Salomons all season, and the Dynastars are twitchy and bone-jarring by comparison. On the other hand, they love to be on edge and reward commitment in ways the Salomons don’t.
After a few hours on the slopes, we went back to the condo, ate lunch, and puttered around. We had skipped the second day of a two-day Swing Dance Camp to go skiing, and we agreed: we would have had more fun on the dance floor.
We needed snow too here in Oregon until this weekend. Hope y’all get more soon. AK and B.C., and to a lesser extent WA and even lesser OR, seem the places to be this year. At least so far.
Thanks! I hope we get some, too. But, according to NOAA, we’re going to continue in an El Niño pattern which means Southern and Western Colorado will get snow, but Central and Northern Colorado are screwed.
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