Changes at A-Basin

As I was editing my blog header with some utilities I discovered on the Mac, I noticed that there are tracks coming down one of the chutes above A-Basin.

When you click on the picture, you'll see them. It's fairly normal at A-Basin to ski the East Wall but to ski above it, as those tracks show, is pretty extraordinary and probably would result in jail time.

These pictures were taken during Sky's 14th birthday party. He invited several friends and once we arrived, they promptly ditched me. That was fine since I wanted to take some pictures with my new Canon DSLR. The agreement was to meet at the mid-mountain restaurant for lunch. When they didn't show up for an hour or so (no cell service on the front side), I skied a bit more and then ran into one of the Moms who said that Sky had taken a jump and hit his head and blacked out. The ski patrol would not release him from the clinic until I checked him out. It didn't occur to any of his friends to come up to the restaurant and find me, or ski around to see if they could find me. Oh well, I checked him out and he was fine.

I was amazed at the party scene on "The Beach" which is the front row of parking at A-Basin. As I skied over to the Palavachini lift, I looked down this snow bank and there playing at 11, was a full band. When Tamra and I skied there, people would drink and BBQ, but it was really tame compared to what they do there now.

A-Basin has changed a bit over the years, but essentially, everything is as it was in the spring of '78 when I took Katherine there to ski. She had just come back from England and probably was amazed by all she saw that day at A-Basin.

The top of A-Basin is just a few feet shy of 13,000 but oddly enough, I don't get headaches skiing up there. What could explain the fact that I get Altitude sickness hiking fourteeners but not skiing at 13,000.

It's hard to get a photog that shows how steep this side of the mountain is. If I had a pitch meter, I'd take it to Palavachini. You start up on a ridge and are funneled down into some fairly narrow chutes, exiting out through the woods to a double chair which I think they are proud to still operate; it goes almost straight up from the bottom to the ridge. A wait at the bottom is a welcome rest.

I just read on their web site that they are adding a quad to replace the 1978 triple that has been in service all those years. Again, a major change for this area that prides itself on not changing.

I think that's Breck in the distance. A-Basin opened up Montezuma Bowl off the backside. The biggest change in their history and it increased the area's size by 80 percent, adding 400 acres.

I have very fond memories of A-Basin, skiing with Peter, Phil, Mr. Mark, Other friends and of course Tamra, Sky and Sierra. It's included in our pass this year, so I'm excited to go back for more... great days, great runs and drink in all those wonderful mountain views.

View in Montezuma Bowl which opened in the '07/08 season, my 30th season.