It’s nearly our favorite time of the year: the time where we purposefully neglect all of our adult responsibilities and obligations in the hopes of chasing massive powderlines on arbitrary pieces of laminated wood down the Rocky Mountains. If you’re new here, you should know that we’re talking about the ski season. Then again, you probably used your context clues when you read that the title mentioned A-Basin. Shit, it kind of feels like we’re blowing this introduction. Let’s talk about A-Basin and Keystone.

 

Arapahoe Basin

A-Basin has a little over 1,400 acres of skiable terrain. With a base elevation of 10,000 feet and a close proximity to Denver, this ski area has some great lines, some relatively affordable lift tickets, and they’re often one of the first resorts to open every season. Indeed, everyone creamed their pants this fall when A-Basin’s snow making efforts began on September 23. 

 

We’ve traveled out to A-Basin’s opening day before, and if we’re being completely candid with you, sometimes it’s fucking scary. Oftentimes, if the resort doesn’t get dumped on prior to opening day, the mountain opens one run that we’ve always just referred to as “The White Ribbon of Death.” This is where every man, woman and child from Summit County and the front range all find themselves on the same ski run regardless of ski level.

If you get out on a nice powder day in the middle or latter half of the season, go check out the East Wall. That’s where all the tasty shit is.

 

Keystone

Keystone will always have a special place in our heart. When we were wee little kids, our fathers would take us here so that we could snake in front of people as they were about to launch off of giant kickers. It truly was a cornerstone of the experience that is growing up in Colorado.

 

On top of that, we’re pretty sure that Keystone is number one ski area named after our favorite white trash beer to consume thirty of every 4th of July, but don’t quote us on that one.

 

Keystone has a base elevation of 9,280 feet, with around 3,100 acres of skiable terrain. If you’re looking for run recommendations, we’re big fans of Starfire and literally all of their alpine bowls, but let’s be honest, you’re just going to lap the park all day, aren’t you?

 

Eats: Dos Locos

Dos Locos is probably our favorite restaurant to hit in the area after a hard day of shredding some sicky gnar-gnar, and that’s not solely based on the fact that they sell margaritas by the liter, either.

This place has a fat menu and more alcohol than you can drink, and that’s honestly all you could ask for after a day of taking ridonkulous face shots while you were nips-deep in pow.

We’d tell you to go with the fajitas or the fish tacos, but honestly, we’ve only ever ordered the chicken fingers.

Just kidding! Chile Relleno and Tamale combo with a liter of house margarita on the side is our go-to move.

 

Rest: Find the Cheapest Hotel. Who Cares? You’re Skiing.

Yes, you’re right. A-Basin is technically only an hour and fifteen minutes from the Denver Metro Area. Why would we look for accommodations when we could just drive back to our house? Well, let’s not shit ourselves here, an hour commute from the mountains to Denver in the middle of ski season actually equates to about three or four hours in I-70 time.

 

When we go out to the Keystone area, we typically just find the cheapest hotel or motel that we can find. By the time we get back to our room, we’re usually too drunk from mass margarita intake that we don’t care where we lay our heads for the night. Usually, the 3 Peaks Lodge is our cheapest bet for finding a bed for the night.