This Colorado Ikon Hill Has Fan Guns Ready for the First-Open Race
Arapahoe Basin has every fan gun on the hill, four new snow guns, and no locked date yet as it races Keystone and Loveland for Colorado's first turns.
Arapahoe Basin is not waiting on a calendar. Chief operating officer Alan Henceroth said this week that every fan gun is already on the hill and crews are watching temperatures day and night, the clearest signal yet that Colorado's perennial first-open contender is ready to make snow the moment wet-bulb readings cooperate. The mountain added four new guns to a still-small system built to open Front Side terrain fast, then lean on natural snow rather than blanket the whole hill.
That posture puts A-Basin back in the October duel with Loveland across I-70 and with Keystone, which used automated snowmaking to open Oct. 25 last season and still lists an as-soon-as-possible October target on the Epic side. Loveland marketing notes the ski area usually aims to start snowmaking around Oct. 1 and prefers sustained overnight cold over a single snap. A-Basin, Keystone, Loveland, and Winter Park all remain weather-dependent while neighbors such as Breckenridge and Copper Mountain already sit on early November dates.
Why Ikon Base holders should watch this mountain
New for 2026-27, Ikon Base Pass holders get unlimited access to Arapahoe Basin, which changes the early-season math for Front Range day skiers who skipped full Ikon. A-Basin also marks its 80th winter with $80 lift tickets and free skiing for guests who are 80, a community framing that fits the no-frills high-alpine brand. Industry projections still float mid-to-late October opens for A-Basin when cold holds, but the resort itself has not locked a public date. The bottleneck is wet-bulb temperatures near 26 to 28 degrees Fahrenheit long enough to build a durable opening ribbon.
A-Basin sits above 10,700 feet at the base, which is why it can make snow earlier than lower Summit County hills when the air finally dries out. For trip planners, that means refundable lodging and flexible midweek travel beat fixed October weekends until the first productive snowmaking nights stick. Soft close: start with the Arapahoe Basin encyclopedia page for elevation and pass notes, then compare Ikon and Ikon Base access against Epic's Keystone race if your calendar is built around Colorado's first turns.
Source: Steamboat Pilot reporting on Colorado snowmaking readiness.