I am not ready to test it with the skis before then, as I am not that good on crosscountry skis. Standby! But one of my favorite things about Colorado is that it’s the exact opposite! When a ski lift collapsed in 1984, the resort closed for good, and nature has taken its course in the intervening decades: an old patrol hut (backcountry skiers often spend the night here) and a couple of tiny storage shacks are the only hints that Geneva Basin saw nearly 25,000 skiers in … Additionally, Les Arcs has 262 runs over a multitude of pistes, making it one of the best ski resorts in April!. I read somewhere that the Forest Service originally planned to tear it down, but a group of locals got involved. To complicate our situation further, I realized I was an idiot. The Duck Creek Lift: Pictures From the 1980's: * Can’t wait to read it – thank you so much for writing a guide! Thankfully, it didn’t take us *too* long to get to the summit and I let out a gleeful whoop when I saw the little cabin. There were proposals to try and reopen the ski area, but none had taken hold and in the early 1990’s, the U.S. Forest Service demolished the lodge which sealed Geneva Basins fate as a lost ski area. The hut is a great spot to spend the night or have a snack/lunch. We ended up skinning/skiing 11 miles with a couple thousand feet of gain, which was definitely a big day. I tried pulling insoles out of the shoes I was wearing but they unfortunately did not fit. My wife and I had skied most of the other slopes in Colorado over the years, but executive unemployment forced us back east where we live now–Virginia, in the Piedmont region where our daughter goes out to ski in Massanutten and Wintergreen. There is even a Facebook page dedicated to it. I would like to offer you a correction though. This is the last place I skied in my life. How to get to Les Arcs I can’t stand those purpose-built French ski factories – it feels like man dominating nature, and you don’t leave the city to be trapped in a monstrous high-rise.” A typical Ecosign resort has underground parking, a village feel, accommodation right on the slopes, and none of his pet peeve – steep, icy, exterior staircases. Geneva Basin is accessed from Highway 285. But it doesn’t like you could beat the weather or the company How did you get into back country skiing? In December 1965, Walter Burke, then-manager of Geneva Basin ski area south of Georgetown, points to area where an avalanche came down on boys, killing one. Heather Balogh Rochfort is a freelance writer and author with a focus on outdoor adventure, travel, and fitness. It was eventually owned by former Governor Roy Romer and operated for some years until permanently closing in 1984. Around one o'clock we boarded the Mont Fort tram and headed up the mountain in order that we could ski down to the Mont Fort Hut (8107 ft) which is situated in the ski area. We originally planned to skin in on Saturday with some friends and camp out at the base of the ski area on Saturday night, leaving us with two solid days of skiing. The summit is a banal, fairly flat area though with exceptional views of Hagar Mountain and The Citadel.Trelease sits between Dry Gulch and I-70 and would probably not be your first choice of summits in this area but it makes a great start to a loop including the aforementioned 13ers. Even better. And for awhile that worked, but it became a “choose your own adventure” of sorts. There are two options when skinning into Geneva Basin: approaching from the north or the south. All the backcountry skiing adventures! Geneva Basin is an oasis for low-angle powder turns. Geneva Basin Ski Area ... Once we gained the main ridge we found the ski patrol hut at the top of the old lift line path where we stayed the night. Users can sleep in it if they want, but it is kinda dirty. Beneath our ski tips was a 2,000-foot ski run blanketed with nearly untouched powder even though the last storm had swept through nine days earlier. Equipment rentals and sales are available on-site on weekends and holiday weeks, conditions permitting, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thank you for the correction! Knowing […]. Great article Heather. It would be worth it for me too. When I get cranky, food is typically the answer, and if it’s chocolate? We will have almost everything you'd expect at a small ski area—a lodge and warming hut, on-site rentals, lessons, and ski patrol to evaluate avalanche terrain and respond to emergencies—but we won't have any chairlifts. Guests will use backcountry touring equipment to hike and skin uphill before transitioning to ski or snowboard back down. I will definitely share your article with him. Snow covered the road, we were steadily climbing towards the pass, and our spirits were high. I started skiing at age 10. The ski runs are still there– if you can get to them! WHAT. I remember the swishing sound as my skis drifted on the hard-packed powder. So glad I asked , Hi- never heard of this cabin, but it sounds like something fun to visit. During the 1984 season, a chair fell from one of the cables which lead to the closure of Geneva Basin by the Colorado Tramway Board (2). He plopped us down on a guard rail and dug through his pack to find some chocolate-covered anything snacks. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. We knew this would be sporting when we got a text from our friends on Saturday: “Heads up guys: there is a locked gate at the base of the pass. Do you ever have those moments where you just think to yourself, “What the F am I doing?” This was one of those moments. There isn’t anyone that takes care of it; it’s essentially an abandoned hut that visitors drop in on. And when I told my mom about it, she asked me if it was worth it, all that work for a single downhill run. I missed that place grew up and learned to ski there and had fun for years every weekend with the exception of the lift stalling they were gas and you could hear them trying to start the engine up again LOL once and a while they would flood the engine. After all, why did we get up at 4am?! Thanks so much for writing about this wonderful ski area. Blank patches of black pavement appeared and Will and I continued skinning towards the side of there road where the snow still lived. The climb from the base to the old ski patrol hut would have taken about an hour, with another elevation gain of about 1200 feet. You know, I’ve gotten quite a few questions re: how to start backcountry skiing, so I think a post will be coming on that very topic. On nice days there is a nice deck to sit outside and take in the view. I plan to return to complete that portion of the adventure in the near future. From 1955 until 1957, when the lodge burned down, Duck Lake operated as Geneva Basin Ski Area. Moments like this are what makes all the sweat and pain worth it. Hands down, this hut is my favorite part of Geneva Basin! This was my neighborhood range: I lived on Conifer Mountain and had arrived via 285, from the south. try to contact GEMS the Geneva Environmental Management Society their info is in the hut but you can probably find it on line somewhere, […] year was our first foray into these Colorado ski resorts {or powder ghost towns! There is a ton of terrain to be tracked here. I joined the Ski Team when I was a freshman at Platte Canyon High school. This was my first outing in them and I was psyched to give them a try…until I went to pull them on and realized they had no insoles. The pass was plowed on a regular basis due to the ski area and a woman who lived near the top. I was all by myself, but there were still one or two ski patrol on the run. Danny and Rachel skied back down to begin tearing down their camp while Will and I pulled a couple chairs out on the deck and basked in the sunshine {maybe a bit too much. After all, we still had the four miles of road. The mountain was run by Tom Creighton during this period and the ski patrol was headed by Fred Feller. When the resort was in operation, it was used as a ski patrol hut but these days, it is the only remaining structure from the resort’s glory days. I used to drive over from Georgetown to ski at Geneva Basin when it was open in the early 80’s. On the return we visit the old ski patrol hut of the former Geneva Basin Ski Area on a side trail. A-Basin has one of the longest ski seasons in Colorado, opening in October and closing as late as July. An Adventure Projects staff member will review this and take an appropriate action, but we generally don't reply. Finally, as a surprise, Will bought me a new pair of Salomon ski boots {yay!} Learn how your comment data is processed. Any day outside with my husband is a good day, yanno? Instead of scrapping the trip, however, we opted to wake up SUPER early on Sunday to skin into the base, run a lap, and ski back out. Georgetown, It has a laid-back local vibe centered around the love of skiing and snowboarding. Was there the last day it was open and was heart broken when it closed. It made for some heavy backpacks, but it was the only choice we had. Grew up in Conifer so it was close and was always excited when I heard rumors it was purchased and may reopen but nope… Still ski at the big resorts now but those were great memories If I was younger Id just hike and ski. Skiing Magazine Index includingRocky Mountain Skiing 1949-52 National Skiing 1949-52 Skiing Magazine 1958-1986 Rocky Mountain Skiing To search within this index, first call up the Text Find function (control-F). I just wanted to let you know you made me smile with the amazing memories I have about the best ski area that existed!