Arapahoe East Ski Area

Trail Maps & Articles:
(Click for larger views!)

Operation Dates: 1972 - 1984
Lifts: 1 double (removed in 1996; Built by Miner-Denver), 1 surface, 1 to
Stats: Vertical Drop 600 ft, Base 6,800, Summit 7,400
Facilities: snowmaking, night skiing, base lodge
History: The area was owned by the founder of Arapahoe Basin, Larry
Jump. It opened in 1972 with a new Riblet double chair and a whopping 8"
base. In 1978, the area sought to add an alpine slide, but the permit was
denied. The area was renamed for the 1982 season to Ski Golden. Its final
straw was when the Tramway Board listed numerous violations including
the staff drinking while on the job.
Location: This could be considered one of the easiest "lost" resorts to find
in Colorado. It is located off of I-70 near Genesee.
Please Note: This area is on private property!

Pictures:

Here are a couple overview pictures of Arapahoe East.
The picture on the far right shows the double chair line.
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Have you ever skied Arapahoe East?
If so, contact us with your memories!
Memories:
"I skied at Arapahoe East only once... that was night skiing in
1973. They had a hard time with snow." - Lee
****
"While attending college in Denver and Boulder, I became an
instructor at Arapahoe East. Originally, Arapahoe East was
owned by A-Basin, (the Jumps') before A-Basin was purchased
by Joe Jankowsky.

The original concept was to have a facility close to Denver to
attract evening business and private functions. Additionally, the
facility could be used by area race teams to facilitate close to
town training.

The original ski school directors were Dave Durrance, son of
Dick Durrance, and Larry Nicholson, a PSIA certification
examiner. I was one of the supervisors in the school. As I
recall, Dave and Larry left the following season and were
replaced by "Wild Bill Channel" from Mt. Snow, Vermont. Bill
only lasted a short while as director. In 1974, I took over as
both ski school director and race program director for the
remainder of that season and the following season, before going
back to A-Basin.

Frequent visitors to Arapahoe East were the Denver Playboy
Club bunnies. One of our instructors, Mike Stevenson, was
married to a Denver bunny. I remember many parties after the
slopes closed at 9:00 pm with several bunnies in attendance.
Larry Jump and Dick Durrance would join the socialization, and
reminisce about how the sport was in 'the good old days,' as in
1930's and 40's."
-Tommy P.

"I skied Arapahoe East - it must have been right before it closed, because I'm pretty sure it was in Feb
or March of 1984 (and it looked to be hanging on by a shoestring). We went night skiing there (my first
night skiing experience ever) to get some extra training in before the JO's at Winter Park. It was
challenging skiing - the snow conditions were tricky (icy, very thin coverage) and lighting was
sparse...but we were skiing at night, and on a weekday! Quite a thrill for us youngsters."
- Charlie

I grew up a few miles from A-East. It rarely had much snow, but I must have night skied there in the
70s a couple of dozen times. The lodge was an old house and was alway full. They used to take
tokens for the lifts, two for the chair and one for the poma. The tokens cost $.10 each so one could ski
for a couple of bucks for hours.
-Paul K.

"I barely remember Arapahoe East- I was 6 or 7 at the time... My dad and I were on the main lift (I'd
never be able to remember the name)and I forgot to stand up at the mid-mountain hut to get off with my
padre. I remember a screaming ride to the summit, where I swore that the lift was at least a thousand
feet off the ground. A kind old man brought me to my waiting dad on a old school ski sled. I was in
shambles."
- Joe

"When I was a kid I lived in Genesee and had full reign Arapahoe East ski area. I had a season pass
and was able to ski almost every day when they were open. I remember night skiing, and helping out at
the pizza shop, along with the rental dept. They also had ski bike for rent and luge sleds that we could
take out on the mountain. After they closed down I was often the one making ski tracks down the hill
and hiking back up to my car."
- Dan L.

"I worked construction at Arapahoe East in the Fall/Winter of 1971 while going to school at the
Colorado School of Mines. What a comedy of errors we had! I worked on the PVC pipelines for the
snowmaking equipment. We had to assemble the pipes in lengths of about 200' in the garage at the
base where it was warm enough for the glue to set and then drag the sections up the hill and complete
the final joints in the field. All went well until the dozer came to backfill the ditches where the pipes
were to be buried. Well - the dirt was frozen and when it fell onto the PVC pipe, the pipes shattered
from the impact of the frozen dirt! That project wasn't completed until the following summer.

On the next project - my brother and I installed every chair on the lift during Christmas vacation. It was
bitterly cold and it was a miserable job having to handle the bolts, springs, washer and nuts without
gloves to attach the chairs. A couple of days after Christmas we were all called together and were given
our walking papers since the money had run out for the time being. There had been a big storm that day
and most of us went ahead and hiked up the hill for a final run down the mountain being going our
separate ways.

I never had an opportunity to ski there once the area opened but I do have fond memories of the
A-East. Thanks for the opportunity to share."
-Tom P.