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Sound the alarms! This is not a drill!
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area (A-Basin) is opening for the winter 26/27 season today, October 28, 2026, according to a press release obtained by POWDER.
“Black Mountain Express will spin at 11 AM TODAY, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, servicing High Noon, an intermediate run,” writes a representative from A-Basin. Ikon Passes will be accepted, and the 6th Alley Bar and Grill will open at 9 a.m.
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Parking Reservations are not required for opening day or the early season. Arapahoe Basin plans to require parking reservations only on Saturdays and Sundays between January 2 and May 2, 2027.
Arapahoe Basin, October 26
Riley Kisser/Arapahoe Basin
Neighbors Keystone and Loveland Ski Area are also pushing to open as early as possible, but neither has made an opening day announcement at the time of publishing this article.
Arapahoe Basin will be the first true lift-served ski resort to open in North America, a title they regularly claim, but they were technically bested by Ski Ward, a small ski area near Boston, last weekend.
Ski Ward used its Latitude 90 all-weather snowmaking system to open its bunny slope, which is impressive considering temperatures have been fairly mild in October, but the ski area is closed again until further notice.
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The opening at Arapahoe Basin, then, will signify the true start of the season, even if only one lift and one trail are open.
As POWDER contributor Hannah Trask coined in her recent op-ed, we’re dropping ‘The White Ribbon of Death’ for ‘The Slope of Hope’ this season, and we have a feeling there will be hundreds, if not thousands of skiers who show up to A-Basin today for their first lift-served turns of the season.
Happy winter 26/27, friends. It’s officially begun.
The 2026/27 print issue of POWDER Magazine is here. Click here to have a copy shipped to your front door. Copies can also be found on newsstands at major retailers like Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, and more.
Related: Don’t Call It the White Ribbon of Death, It’s The Slope of Hope
This story was originally published by POWDER on Oct 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add POWDER as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
