DILLON — The Arapahoe Basin Ski Area announced Thursday that the mountain will close for the season because of a lack of snow.
A-Basin Chief Operating Officer Alan Henceroth said the mountain will close Sunday less than two weeks after reopening May 27 following the coronavirus shutdown, the Summit Daily News reported.
“Every season, no matter how hard we try and stop it, the snow still melts,” Henceroth said. “We think Sunday is a good day to close out the season. The snow is almost gone.”
Early closures are not uncommon, and the dates can fluctuate, spokeswoman Katherine Fuller said.
“It’s usually in mid- to late June. June 7 was always the date we were planning for, but considering we made it to July Fourth last year, this feels super early,” Fuller said.
The Pallavicini chairlift closed Sunday, subsequently closing two runs, Fuller said, adding that only seven runs were open on a 19-inch (48-centimeter) base as of Thursday. There were 20 open runs when the ski area reopened last month.
The ski area reopened with safety measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including limiting the number of skiers and snowboarders each day to 600.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover.
All 600 spots were filled daily but there was not a system in place to weed out people who already had a reservation for a previous day, Fuller said.
“We know it wasn’t perfect, the demand was extraordinary, and we learned a lot. So this is really paving the way for summer and next fall,” she said.