ARAPAHOE BASIN IS CUTTING TIES WITH VAIL RESORTS
Operators of Arapahoe Basin — the modest Summit County mountain nicknamed “The Legend” — have decided to sever their relationship with Vail Resorts and the Epic Pass, citing crowded conditions in parking lots and other mountain facilities.
The announcement was posted to the Araphoe Basin website Monday morning.
Current Epic Pass holders with access to Arapahoe Basin will be able to use those passes through the end of this season, but the partnership will end when the season does.
“We’re feeling a pinch in parking lots for sure,” said chief operating officer Alan Henceroth. “We’re feeling it in our other facilities, too, especially food and beverage and restaurant space. We’re trying to address those conditions. Many people bark at me that we need to build more parking lots. Well, there’s not room to build more parking lots here. We’re high in a narrow little mountain valley. We like being full (but) we don’t like turning people away when they drive up here to park. We’re trying to find the magic number and what kind of products to sell.”
Business at Arapahoe Basin is thriving, with consistent growth in skier days over the past several years. Its owner, Dream Unlimited Corporation of Toronto, has invested $40 million in onmountain improvements over the last 15 years. And while A-Basin is walking away from Vail Resorts, it will explore pass partnerships with other players in the industry. Henceroth said the range of possibilities is wide open for that.
“Not all pass arrangements are the same,” Henceroth said. “Some drive lots and lots of visits, some drive less visits. If we did find another partnership that worked for us, works for our guests, works for our employees, we’d seriously consider doing that. It is going to take us months to work through another pass deal, if we were to make another pass deal.”
Efforts to reach officials with Vail Resorts for comment were unsuccessful, but the company’s publications department did send out a news release shortly after the announcement.
“We want to thank Arapahoe Basin for their partnership for over 20 years,” said Kirsten Lynch, chief marketing officer for Vail Resorts, in the statement. “We are disappointed, but given the success they have had and their recent investments into the resort, we respect that this is the right time for them to move in a different direction.”
In place of the former Keystone A-Basin Pass, Vail Resorts will create a Keystone Plus Pass that will include unlimited spring skiing at Breckenridge. Breck- enridge has traditionally closed in April, but last month, resort officials announced that it would stay open until Memorial Day. Breckenridge plans to offer skiing through Memorial Day in future years as well.
Arapahoe Basin and Breckenridge figure to be dueling for high-altitude spring skiers after Loveland closes, which typically happens the first week in May. Arapahoe Basin’s lift-served terrain tops out at 12,460 feet and Breckenridge will offer skiing on Peak 7 with a lift topping out at 12,840 feet.