Arapahoe Basin Opens on Sunday for the 2022-’23 Season

Samantha Berman
·2 min read

This article originally appeared on Ski Mag

Arapahoe Basin announced today that its first lift of the season will start spinning on Sunday, Oct. 23. The mountain ops crew has been hard at work making snow and readying the slopes for this winter’s first skiers, no small feat during a mild Colorado autumn that’s been more conducive to hiking and biking than skiing.

A Basin opening day
The High Noon run, off of the Black Mountain Express quad, will open on Sunday, Oct. 23. (Photo: Courtesy of Arapahoe Basin)

Opening Day hours will be 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Black Mountain Express, the main feeder lift out of the base area, will be the only operating lift. There will be one run open: High Noon, an intermediate groomer. This is not beginner terrain.

Related: See Where Arapahoe Basin Landed in the 2023 Resort Guide

The resort began making snow on Oct. 9, but had to pause due to warm temperatures, resuming on Oct. 12. While this is well within A-Basin’s typical opening date range, it’s not particularly early. The resort opened last year on Oct. 17; its earliest opening was on Oct. 9, 2009. They will continue to make snow through the end of December. At press time, the base depth was 18 inches.

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We love opening day, but skiers might want to wait a bit before visiting to experience the ski area’s new lift this season, a replacement of the old Lenawee chair with a high-speed six-pack. The new addition is going to help reduce lines in this historically congested area. The resort will also continue to limit lift ticket and season pass sales to help preserve the skier experience.

As for Sunday, there will be no walk-up ticket sales, so be sure to purchase online in advance if you don’t have either an A-Basin season pass product, an Ikon Pass, or a Mountain Collective pass. Full Ikon Pass holders get seven days, Ikon Base pass holders get five day, and Mountain Collective pass holders get two days at the ski area, plus 50 percent off additional lift tickets. A-Basin tickets and passes are currently on sale.

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