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Arapahoe Basin will offer unlimited access for Ikon Pass skiers next season, a return to the unrestricted pass skiing that overwhelmed the Summit County ski area in 2019 and forced it to end a decade-long partnership with Vail Resorts.

But there have been changes at the ski area known as The Legend since the famous breakup. Arapahoe Basin has been acquired by the expanding Alterra Mountain Co. It deployed a parking reservation system that has reduced the weekend throng of cars that clogged the ski area under the Epic Pass. And since the 2019-20 season, skiers with Alterra’s Ikon Pass got only seven days at Arapahoe Basin. 

With parking under control and a new owner that really wants to sell millions of Ikon Passes like its competitor Vail Resorts, longtime Arapahoe Basin boss Alan Henceroth says his hill is ready for a return of unrestricted pass skiing.  

Starting next season skiers with the Ikon Pass will have unlimited access to Arapahoe Basin and the Ikon Base Pass will offer five days with no blackouts. 

“Back when we left Vail, we were really focused on keeping the quality experience and nothing about that has changed,” Henceroth says. “We never stop turning the dials and tinkering with things. We are always trying to make it better.”

It’s been less than three months since Henceroth and his team unveiled the parking reservation system for Arapahoe Basin skiers.

So far this winter, there have been zero days when skiers were turned away because Arapahoe Basin’s parking lots were full. Zero days when cars parked along U.S. 6 on the south side of Loveland Pass. (That compares with about 10 days when parking lots filled last winter and skiers were told to return a few hours later.) The number of skiers per vehicle is up to three, compared with 1.8 in the winter of 2022-23. Almost a third of the cars parking at Arapahoe Basin have four or more people and more than 40% of the resort’s visitors are carpooling or taking a bus. 

“We’ve done a lot of things in recent years. We limited ticket sales and limited season pass sales and we changed partners,” Henceroth says. “All of those have worked pretty well but they weren’t perfect. But once we implemented parking reservations this year, that has done an amazing job at controlling our numbers.”

Dig into complaints about crowds in mountain towns and cars are often the core of the concerns. A busy day at Vail sees skiers wobbling between miles of cars and zooming traffic on the Frontage Road. Traffic into Aspen and Telluride has become one of the most vexing challenges for those end-of-the-road communities. The Town of Crested Butte’s parking program requires careful reading to dodge tickets. 

And this winter’s clogs on Interstate 70 — caused by snowstorms and ill-prepared drivers spinning their tires — have revealed vehicles as a significant force in limiting mountain visitors. 

In January, after highway closures caused by more than a dozen semitrailers stuck in snow blocked traffic on Vail Pass, the mayor of Vail for causing highway closures, up from $500.

“I do think the highway plays more and more of a role,” Henceroth said. “The highway and parking hassles, I think they do impact people’s decisions about skiing.”

The parking reservations and seven-day access with the Ikon Pass has controlled Arapahoe Basin crowds on busy weekends and holidays. But the “quiet days have been too quiet,” Henceroth says, hoping that the unlimited Ikon Pass skiers can buoy slow times while the parking reservations keep the peak days in check. 

Henceroth, who has worked at Arapahoe Basin for 37 years, 20 of them as the chief operating officer, is expecting a bit of blowback from his loyal skiers. There was some angst when the ski area sold to Alterra Mountain Co. Arapahoe Basin was viewed as a leader among independent resorts, even though it was owned by a Canadian real estate conglomerate. Many feared the incorporation into the Alterra Mountain Co. corporate structure would tarnish its anti-resort vibe. The unlimited access will likely revive those fears. 

“Looking back,” Henceroth says, “whenever we did something bold like putting in snowmaking or putting in or adding , there’s always been blowback. We’ve weathered storms before.”

Henceroth says lifting the restrictions on his hill will make the Ikon Pass “the best pass ever made.”

“You get to ski A-Basin as much as you want and then you can go to Alta, Snowbird, Jackson, Revelstoke, Palisades and Mammoth,” he says. “I don’t think there’s been anything better than that.”