This year, after many years of skiing Arapahoe Basin, we switched to Loveland Ski Area. This was partly due to wanting new terrain, and a lot due to the awful traffic on I-70. In the 11 years we’ve lived in Denver, the traffic has grown progressively worse. When we first moved hear, heading out of the house by 6:45am meant you beat traffic. Now, it’s generally 5:45am, or earlier. If it snows, getting to Arapahoe Basin means driving past Loveland, through the Eisenhower Tunnel, in metered traffic, down to Silverthorne, turn around and head back the way you came, through the parking lot formerly known as Keystone, and back up Loveland Pass in stop and go traffic to the Arapahoe Basin parking, hoping it’s not full.
What should be an hour and fifteen minute drive, can easily become three or four hours. After looking at the Loveland parking lot while sitting in traffic on a regular basis, we finally made the decision to leave Araphahoe Basin. ABasin, is awesome. It has some of the best terrain in Summit County, but was no longer worth the effort. So, this year was spent at Loveland Basin. I’d skied there on several occasions prior, and always enjoyed it.
After spending the season exploring Loveland, I’ve come to love the ridge from the top of Chair 9. Here are a few panoramas from this season.
