CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. -- Arapahoe Basin Ski Area reopened two of its lifts Wednesday afternoon after the Colorado Department of Transportation reopens U.S. Highway 6.
The ski area wrote in its blog that the Pallavicini Lift and Black Mountain Express will be open Wednesday after the road reopens, which happened just before 3 p.m.
The ski area says "other ski services will be extremely limited," however. Adrienne Saia Isaac, a spokeswoman for Arapahoe Basin, said the ski area will be open to the public until 4 p.m., but that rentals, dining and retail services will likely not resume until Thursday morning, when the ski area expects normal operations to resume.
The ski area was forced to close and evacuate skiers Tuesday when CDOT closed down U.S. 6 from Keystone through Loveland Pass, which is just north of the ski area, because of avalanche concerns and mitigation work.
SKI AREA CLOSED WEDNESDAY MORNING
"This morning, January 11, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area remains closed to public," officials wrote on Facebook. "Mountain operations crews are preparing the mountain this morning, but the ski area will not open until CDOT re-opens U.S. Highway 6. Currently, there is a delay in opening the highway."
"We are still on stand by," A-Basin's COO Alan Henceroth wrote on his blog. "Our patrollers, snowcat drivers, lift mechanics and lift operators are on the hill doing all the work necessary to get the ski area open."
Henceroth said it is still snowing heavily.
"[Avalanche] Mitigation efforts are being slowed by the snowfall and the limited visibility," Henceroth wrote.
A-Basin closed Tuesday at 1 p.m. because CDOT closed Highway 6 between Keystone and A-Basin due to avalanche concerns.
U.S. 6 from A-Basin, over Loveland Pass, to I-70 closed Sunday afternoon because of adverse conditions.
Get the latest updates on the Colorado Department of Transportation's website and A-Basin's Facebook page.
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