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Colorado, United States

Arapahoe Basin ski resort

Skiers, chairlifts and slopes at a Colorado ski resort
A Colorado ski resort in winter. Photo: Quang Vuong / Pexels.

Good for

  • Experts57% of mapped runs are difficult
  • Snow-sureLifts up to 3,815 m

From OpenSkiMap piste data, SnowTrex’s stay listings.

The short answer

Arapahoe Basin has about 49 km of mapped runs and 9 lifts, with skiing from about 3,194 m up to 3,815 m (12,516 ft), a vertical drop of 621 m. By mapped runs it is number 47 of the 137 United States ski areas in our list. The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rocky Mountain Metropolitan (BJC), about 72 km away in a straight line.

Where to stay

Hotels in Arapahoe Basin

Hotels, apartments and chalets in and around Arapahoe Basin, with prices for your dates.

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Arapahoe Basin 7-day mountain forecast

At about 3,505 m · updated 13 Nov, 04:41 UTC

About 3 mm of precipitation as likely snow in the next week (water equivalent).

  1. Fri 136°-4°0 mm
  2. Sat 140°-5°1 mm
  3. Sun 15-1°-5°0 mm
  4. Mon 164°-8°0 mm
  5. Tue 173°-5°0 mm
  6. Wed 18-4°-12°2.1 mm
  7. Thu 19-3°-14°0 mm

Forecast data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). "Likely snow" = precipitation with the temperature at or below 0.5 °C; resort snow reports and avalanche bulletins are the authority on conditions.

Arapahoe Basin: runs from 3,194 m to 3,815 m, a vertical drop of 621 m3,2003,4003,6003,800Top of the highest mapped run: 3,815 m (12,516 ft)Top 3,815 m · 12,516 ftBase 3,194 m · 10,479 ft621 mvertical drop
Illustrative profile. Top and base are the highest and lowest mapped runs (OpenStreetMap via OpenSkiMap).
Arapahoe Basin logo

Arapahoe Basin logo from arapahoebasin.com. Logos are trademarks of their owners, shown for identification; no endorsement implied.

Ski area facts

Top elevation
3,815 m12,516 ft
Vertical drop
621 m2,037 ft
Mapped runs
49 km103 runs
Lifts
9mostly chairlifts

Runs by difficulty

Run length by difficulty: Easy 6% (3.1 km), Intermediate 36% (17.9 km), Advanced 47% (23.2 km), Expert 10% (4.9 km), Extreme 1% (0.3 km)Easy: 3.1 km, 6 runs (6%)Intermediate: 17.9 km, 32 runs (36%)36%IntermediateAdvanced: 23.2 km, 51 runs (47%)47%AdvancedExpert: 4.9 km, 13 runs (10%)10%ExpertExtreme: 0.3 km, 1 runs (1%)

About 6% of the mapped run length is novice or easy, 36% intermediate and 57% advanced or harder. Difficulty follows OpenStreetMap’s international scale (in Europe, easy ≈ blue, intermediate ≈ red, advanced ≈ black).

DifficultyRunsLength
Easy63.1 km
Intermediate3217.9 km
Advanced5123.2 km
Expert134.9 km
Extreme10.3 km

Lifts

9 mapped lifts, most of them chairlifts.

Lift typeCount
Chairlifts6
Magic carpets2
Rope tows1

Piste map

For the current official piste map, open the resort’s website. You can also explore every mapped run and lift on OpenSkiMap’s interactive map.

Nearest airports

Airports with scheduled flights, by straight-line distance (road distance is longer).

AirportCityStraight-line distance
Rocky Mountain Metropolitan (BJC)Denver72 km
Eagle County Regional (EGE)Eagle89 km
Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (Sardy Field) (ASE)Aspen97 km
Denver (DEN)Denver106 km

Frequently asked questions

What is the elevation of Arapahoe Basin?

The highest mapped run starts at about 3,815 m (12,516 ft) and the lowest ends at about 3,194 m (10,479 ft), a vertical of 621 m (2,037 ft).

How many km of ski runs does Arapahoe Basin have?

OpenStreetMap maps about 49 km of downhill runs and 9 lifts. The resort’s own figure may differ because it measures runs differently.

What is the nearest airport to Arapahoe Basin?

Rocky Mountain Metropolitan (BJC) is the closest airport with scheduled flights, about 72 km away in a straight line.

Where can I see the Arapahoe Basin piste map?

Use the resort’s official website for the current piste map, or view the mapped runs and lifts on OpenSkiMap.

Ski area data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), processed by OpenSkiMap; airports from OurAirports. Retrieved . Elevations are those of the highest and lowest mapped runs; run lengths are measured from the map and can differ from the resort’s published figures. Check the official website before you book.