Warm temps close A-Basin lift
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area closed The Pallavicini lift and the runs beneath it for the season on Thursday.
Ski patrollers and mountain officials decided to close the area for safety reasons, because enough snow had melted on the advanced terrain to make conditions unsafe, A-Basin spokeswoman Leigh Hierholzer said.
To some local skiers and snowboarders, the closing of “Pali” means the ski season is over, even though much of the rest of A-Basin is still open.
“That’s so lame. I had set a goal of skiing Pali 10 more times this season. That’s like hearing my best friend just died,” said Johnny “Big Plans” Keefe, as he is known to fellow longtime A-Basin locals.
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Temperatures the past several days have reached into the upper 50s. At night, the spring snow has not been freezing, Hierholzer said.
Four lifts and dozens of trails are still open at A-Basin, which is often able to remain open until June or later because of it’s altitude. The goal is always the Fourth of July.
Nearby ski resorts Keystone, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Vail and Beaver Creek closed in April because of U.S. Forest Service permit regulations.
The East Wall also closed on Thursday, but A-Basin officials hope the closure is temporary. Eight recent wet snow avalanches caused ski patrollers to close the East Wall until it freezes again.
“We’ll need a good, solid freeze to open the East Wall again,” Hierholzer said. “We want to let everyone know so they’re not disappointed when they come out.”
