Skip to content
Parks & Trips
  • Explore the ParksExpand
    • Parks Everywhere!

      In North America alone, there are well over 390 million public acres to explore, comprised of 577 US national parks & forests, 6,600 state parks, and 141 Canadian parks.

      Learn

      Guides & Articles
      US National Parks
      Canadian National Parks

      Visit

      All Road Trip Itineraries
      Road Trips by State
      One-Day Trips

      Recent News

      • Parks with Timed Entries
      • National Park Visits up 75%
      • National Park Alternatives
      • Create More National Parks
      • Your Closest National Park
      • The Seasons of Yosemite
      • Hawaii Volcano NP Tips
  • Ski & SnowExpand
    • Ski North America!

      The over 600 North American ski resorts in total account for over 316,000 skiable acres, 22,000 trails and almost 4,000 lifts.

      Learn

      Guides & Articles
      All Ski Resorts

      Visit

      Winter Ski Trips

      Recent News

      • 2023/24 Epic Passes
      • 2023/24 Ikon Passes
      • Best Ikon Resorts in SLC
      • Best Epic Resorts in Tahoe
      • Epic Buddy Pass Details
      • Cheapest Colorado Resorts
      • The Largest Ski Resorts
Parks & Trips

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area

Home / Ski Resorts / Arapahoe Basin Ski Area

Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort, also known as A-Basin, is a popular ski destination located in Summit County, Colorado. The resort boasts over 1,400 skiable acres of terrain and offers a wide variety of runs for skiers and snowboarders of all abilities. The ski season at Arapahoe Basin typically runs from October to June, which is longer than most surrounding resorts due to A-Basin's higher altitude. A-Basin is known for being one of the first ski areas to open in North America, and one of the last ski areas to close, offering an extremely long ski season to enjoy.

In addition to its extensive skiing and snowboarding terrain, Arapahoe Basin also offers several other features for visitors to enjoy. These include numerous terrain parks, ski and snowboard lessons, on-mountain dining, and even events during the summer months like lift rides and an adventure park.

We recently ranked all of Colorado's ski resorts, so you can see where Arapahoe Basin Ski Area stacks up against all its nearby ski hills!

Season Passes

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area is a part of the Ikon Ski Pass network. This allows you to buy one lift pass, and ski at all or most of the Ikon-sponsored slopes with it throughout the year, depending on the type of pass you bought.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area is a part of the Mountain Collective network. This allows you to buy one lift pass, and ski at all of the slopes that are also a part of the Collective.

Lodging Options

There are numerous options to stay at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area around the resort. Check out the available options with the form below.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Terrain Overview

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area has a total of 147 ski trails, which are serviced by 9 ski lifts, gondolas and/or trams. The amount of skiable area in this park is huge, with a maximum of 1,428 acres available to skiers. This area is equivalent to 578 hectares, 2.2 square miles, or 5.8 square kilometers.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area's slopes see on average 350 inches (8.9 meters) of snowfall a year. That is almost 29 feet every year!

Trails
Total Runs
147
Ski Lift
Lifts
9
Skier
Skiable Acres
1,428(6 km2)
Snow
Annual Snowfall
350"(889 cm)

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Elevation

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area has a summit elevation of 13,050 feet, or 3,977 meters. However, not all of that elevation is able to be skied. The base of the ski slope sits at 10,520 feet above sea level, creating a ski hill that is 2,530 feet (771 meters) high. This is referred to as the slope's vertical drop - or a measure of how high the skiable hill is.

The summit of 13,050 feet makes this ski resort one of the highest in the country. The average ski slope summit is around 4,000 feet, so this is extremely high compared to its peers.

Mountain Summit
Summit Elevation
13,050'(3,977 m)
Vertical Drop
Vertical Drop
2,530'(771 m)
Mountain base
Base Elevation
10,520'(3,206 m)

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Difficulty Level

Score
Difficulty Score™
80.9out of 100
←  EasyHard  →
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area is one of the hardest ski areas in the country, with a difficulty score of 80.9. This mountain ranks in the top 10% of most-difficult ski resorts in all of North America, mostly due to the fact that it has 73% of its trails rated as expert-level, and a vertical drop of 2,530 feet.
 DID YOU KNOW?

At Parks & Trips, we've created a proprietary Difficulty Score that attempts to show how difficult a particular ski slope is. We get to this number by combining a number of metrics for each resort and comparing them to its peers. Most of the score is based off the amount of easy-intermediate-expert slopes by acreage and the maximum vertical drop of the overall resort, but also includes a few lesser-used metrics as well.

Our algorithm compares each resort’s metrics with all others in North America, then assigns each a Difficulty Score, which we use to rank them accordingly. Resorts with a lower score are easier to ski than those with a higher one. However, a high score does not mean that the resort does not have any easy slopes, or vice versa. This is just an overall score given to the resort based on all its metrics grouped together.

Skiable Terrain by Difficulty Level

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area has 1,428 total skiable acres, which can be broken down into the three main groups of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert.

Seeing as Arapahoe Basin Ski Area is one of the hardest ski areas in the country, it's no surprise that over 93% of its trails rated as either intermediate or expert-level. This leaves only 7% of its skiable acres as beginner terrain.
Green Circle
Beginner
7%(100 acres)

Beginner trails (identified by a green circle) are the easiest trails on the hill with a gradual 25% or less gradient, and are usually wide to accommodate beginner skiers.

Blue Square
Intermediate
20%(286 acres)

Intermediate trails (identified by a blue square) are usually the most popular and crowded runs, which have a slope of anywhere between 25-40%.

Black Diamond
Expert
73%(1,042 acres)

Expert trails (identified by a black diamond... or two) are the hardest slopes on the mountain, and have very steep gradients over 40%.

Is Arapahoe Basin Ski Area good for beginners?

This is one of the hardest ski areas in the country to ski at, so it is not great for beginners. Arapahoe Basin Ski Area ranks in the top 10% of the most-difficult ski resorts in the country. It has 73% of its trails rated as expert, or black-diamond level.

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Location

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area is located in the state of Colorado, USA. This ski area is nearest the town of Dillon, CO.

Address:
Dillon, CO 80435 USA
View on Google Maps

Website:
arapahoebasin.com

GPS Coordinates:
39.72000, -104.79000

Getting to Arapahoe Basin Ski Area

By Car: If you are driving, you would set your GPS to either the ski resort's name (Arapahoe Basin Ski Area), its coordinates of 39.72000, -104.79000 (latitude, longitude), or simply drive towards the town of Dillon, CO to get close.

By Air: If you are coming in from across the country, then you may need to board an airplane to get here.

A large airport has scheduled major airline service with millions of passengers per year. This type of airport always accepts international flights. Here are the closest large airport(s) to Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

NameCodeCityDistance
Denver International AirportDENDenver, CO12 mi

A medium-sized airport has scheduled regional airline service. This type of airport may or may not accept international flights. Here are the closest medium-sized airport(s) to Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

NameCodeCityDistance
City of Colorado Springs Municipal AirportCOSColorado Springs, CO63 mi
Cheyenne Regional Jerry Olson FieldCYSCheyenne, WY99 mi
Pueblo Memorial AirportPUBPueblo, CO100 mi

There may also be much smaller regional airports next to Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, but we didn't list them here due to the fact that no major airlines go through them.

Other Nearby Ski Resorts

Skiers will - especially if coming from far away - try and visit a couple different slopes all in the same trip. Here are the closest other ski slopes within 100 miles of Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

NameLocationSummitDifficulty Score™Distance
ButtermilkLarkspur, CO9,900 ft34%34 mi
Echo Mountain ResortIdaho Springs, CO10,650 ft28%39 mi
EldoraNederland, CO10,600 ft50%44 mi
Hoedown HillWindsor, CO5,000 ft1%51 mi
Winter Park ResortWinter Park, CO12,060 ft86%52 mi
Ski Granby RanchGranby, CO9,202 ft32%55 mi
Loveland Ski AreaDillon, CO13,010 ft65%59 mi
KeystoneDillon, CO12,408 ft76%62 mi
BreckenridgeBreckenridge, CO12,998 ft83%68 mi
Copper MountainFrisco, CO12,441 ft69%76 mi
VailVail, CO11,570 ft79%84 mi
Ski CooperLeadville, CO11,700 ft56%84 mi
Beaver CreekBeaver Creek, CO11,440 ft64%93 mi

Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Mountain Stats

NameStatistic
Summit Elevation13,050 ft
Base Elevation10,520 ft
Vertical Drop2,530 ft
Trails147
(7% Beginner,  20% Intermediate,  73% Expert)
Lifts9
Skiable Acres1,428
Avg. Annual Snowfall350 inches
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area Mountain Stats
  • Travel Articles
  • National Park Road Trips
  • Winter Ski Trips
  • Find a Ski Resort
  • Our National Parks
EPIC Ski Pass

EPIC Ski Pass Resorts: 2023-24 (Updated)

Updated on March 21, 2023

Vail Resorts created the EPIC ski pass in 2008. Back then, passholders only had access to 7 partner resorts, and…

IKON Ski Pass

IKON Pass Ski Resorts for the 2023-24 Season (Updated)

Updated on March 21, 2023

The IKON ski lift ticket was created by the Alterra Mountain Company in 2018. What is the IKON Ski Season…

Canyonlands National Park

The National Parks of Utah: The Mighty 5

Updated on February 10, 2023

Utah is well known as one of the “must visit” states that national park enthusiasts need to travel to. Utah…

Crossing Berthoud Pass (US 40) in the Rockies

Crossing Berthoud Pass (US 40) in the Rockies

Updated on July 11, 2023

Berthoud Pass is a high mountain pass (11,307 feet) in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. The pass is located…

Parks & Trips was created to help guide those that want to travel the National Parks and ski resorts of the US and Canada. All of our travel itineraries have the exact details you'll need to create your next memorable family road trip.

About     Contact     Privacy Policy

Road Trips

  • Travel Articles
  • US National Parks
  • Canadian National Parks
  • National Park Road Trips
  • Road Trips by Region

Snow

  • Ski Articles
  • All Ski Resorts
  • Winter Ski Trips

National Parks

  • Acadia National Park
  • Arches National Park
  • Death Valley NP
  • Glacier National Park
  • Grand Canyon NP
  • Mount Rainier NP
  • Olympic National Park
  • Rocky Mountain NP
  • Yoho National Park
  • Zion National Park

Ski Resorts

  • Alta Ski Area
  • Aspen Snowmass
  • Banff Sunshine
  • Big Sky Ski Resort
  • Breckenridge
  • Heavenly Ski Resort
  • Keystone Resort
  • Mammoth Mountain
  • Palisades Tahoe
  • Vail Ski Resort

Parks & Trips makes money through affiliate partner links: If you click on a link, we may earn a commission. Our writers create all reviews, patterns, and other content to inform readers, with no influence from our advertisers. Learn more about our policies and disclosures.

© 2025 Parks & Trips, a Cagle Online Enterprises, Inc. Company

Scroll to top
  • Travel Articles
  • National Park Road Trips
  • Winter Ski Trips
  • Find a Ski Resort
  • Our National Parks
Search