Arapahoe Basin is now part of the IKON Pass

Arapahoe Basin photo: Dave Camara. Arapahoe Basin is now part of the IKON Pass.

Arapahoe Basin is now part of the IKON Pass

Arapahoe Basin has made the news recently for leaving the alliance with Vail Resorts and being part of the Epic Pass due to major problems with overcrowding, including parking on US6 that was making it just dangerous for visitors and drivers alike.

Arapahoe Basin Cam. Arapahoe Basin is now part of the IKON Pass.
Arapahoe Basin Cam. Arapahoe Basin is now part of the IKON Pass.

I guess it is difficult to be an independent resort in the current climate of concentration of the ski market in the US, so now A Basin will be part of the competitor of the Epic Pass – the IKON Pass. The IKON Pass can be used in 40 global ski destinations, including six in Colorado, now with A Basin:

Aspen Snowmass, Steamboat, Winter Park Resort, Copper Mountain, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, and Eldora Mountain Resort.

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Red, White and Basin: Ski the 4th of July at Arapahoe Basin!

Solstice Skiing at Arapahoe Basin. Photo: Arapahoe Basin Resort. How can we envision ski resorts opening with social distancing for the 2020-21 ski season?

Red, White and Basin: Ski the 4th of July at Arapahoe Basin!

Arapahoe Basin (A-Basin) will be open for skiing and snowboarding on Thursday, July 4, 2019. July 4 will be the official closing day for A-Basin’s 2018-19 winter season, capping off the longest ski season in Colorado that began October 19, 2018. The last time A-Basin was open on July 4 was 2011. Its longest season was in 1995 when the ski area stayed open until August 10.

Solstice Skiing at Arapahoe Basin. Photo: Arapahoe Basin Resort. Red, White and Basin: Ski the 4th of July at Arapahoe Basin!
Solstice Skiing at Arapahoe Basin. Photo: Arapahoe Basin Resort. Red, White and Basin: Ski the 4th of July at Arapahoe Basin!

A-Basin is able to stay open in large part thanks to higher-than-average snowfall totals and lower-than-average temperatures in the months of March and May, including nearly seven feet of snow falling during March. Even so, it was not a record snowfall year for the ski area. At the start of June, A-Basin was at 106 percent of average snowfall (about 375 inches). Other contributing factors to A-Basin’s late season are its northern-facing frontside slopes and high elevation (10,780’ base; 12,500’ at the top of the highest lifts; 13,050’ peak).

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A-Basin quits the Epic Pass cash cow due to their lack of parking.

Photo: Arapahoe Basin- Dave Camara. Matt and Rio on the lift. A-Basin quits the Epic Pass cash cow due to their lack of parking.

A-Basin quits the Epic Pass cash cow due to their lack of parking.

Arapahoe Basin revenues doubled during the decade it was part of the Epic Pass, but parking problems outweigh the benefits of cash flow

From The Colorado Sun

Too many Epic Pass weekend skiers have forced A-Basin to abandon its decade-long partnership with Vail Resorts.

“We are pretty darn full on weekends and we don’t need any more people on weekends. If anything, we could probably whittle those numbers down a little bit,” Arapahoe Basin’s longtime leader Alan Henceroth said Monday, the day the resort announced it had pulled the plug on the Epic Pass partnership for the 2019-20 ski season. “Our parking is our pinch point.”

Pond Skimming at the end of the season at Arapahoe Basin. Photo: Ashey Ojala. Arapahoe Basin. A-Basin quits the Epic Pass cash cow due to their lack of parking.
Pond Skimming at the end of the season at Arapahoe Basin. Photo: Ashey Ojala. Arapahoe Basin. A-Basin quits the Epic Pass cash cow due to their lack of parking.

Arapahoe Basin, a local’s favorite with a rowdy selection of daunting steeps and a rootsy vibe, has thrived for 10 years under a deal with Vail Resorts that included the 1,428-acre ski area on the industry-dominating Epic Pass. Last fall the company sold more than 825,000 of those passes, offering skiing at 65 different locations.

Vail Resorts once owned Arapahoe Basin for a hot minute. But the U.S. Department of Justice in 1997 forced Vail Resorts to sell the ski area near the summit of Loveland Pass, citing antitrust issues after Vail acquired Ralston Resorts’ Summit County ski areas: Breckenridge, Keystone and A-Basin.

Vail’s Summit County ski areas have partnered with Arapahoe Basin on various shared passes since 1998.

Arapahoe Basin, which is owned by Canada’s Dundee Resort Development, was Vail Resorts’ first partner resort on the Epic Pass, which now includes access to privately owned, independent resorts such as Telluride, Sun Valley and Snowbasin.

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