Kauder: The A-Basin beach: Who needs an ocean?

May 23, 2003

By noon there are women lounging in bikinis, hamburgers on the grill, kegs flowing generously and the music blaring. When the sun goes down, the party will really get started: campfires, more music, more revelry until dawn.

It would be just another day at the beach, but this frolicking takes place at 10,800 feet. Since being at the ocean is synonymous with sea level, high-country denizens make do with a 71-inch snowpack.

"The Beach" at the base of Arapahoe Basin is getting into full swing as the warming spring temperatures beckon those who want to soak up the sun. Some make a day of it, some a weekend, some camp in the parking lot all week.

Mike Steinbach of Denver is using a small ax to drive a tent stake into the Basin's parking lot, at the point where snow meets gravel. Steinbach says he's camping at the Summit County ski area because "it's the only place open." Yet it's past noon, and despite excellent proximity to the slopes, Steinbach has yet to make any turns.

"I went to bed at 7 a.m.," he explains. "I got a keg over in the truck."

Tents speckle the parking lot, as do fire pits, which are extinguished for the time being. The massive tailgate party spills onto the bottom of the ski runs. Dogs wander between deck chairs. No one seems to pay any attention to a man milling about in a gold lam ski suit and cape.

[Obviously this author wasn't as observant as the other folks at A-Basin. See the Pictures]

"People come to ski and hang out. Some just hang out," says A-Basin spokeswoman Leigh Heirholzer. Because A-Basin is on U.S. Forest Service land, people are pretty much free to camp and party as they please, she says.

Rather than try to fight the raucous carryings-on, the ski area embraces the scene by providing live music on weekend afternoons, and it rents out prime "beach" sites — two parking spots and a picnic table — at $100 a pop. Reservations are required, and the sites often fill 48 hours in advance on weekends. Those seeking the prime non-reserved spots that line the base area typically park there the night before.

"This is the time of year we really shine," Heirholzer says.

On Saturday, the ski area is throwing its Memorial Weekend Beach Party and second annual Festival of Beers. A disc jockey will start spinning tunes at noon, with the band Opie Gone Bad taking the "stage" — the raised area near the ticket window — at 2 p.m. For $13, people ages 21 and older can sample beers from Summit County's five brew pubs.

Mike McCoi of Frisco says he comes to the beach "almost every day." He gets together with friends for "cookouts, kegs of beer, all that jazz," he says.

For Carrie Sterns of Mead, "spacin' at the Basin" is a rite of spring.

"We are enjoying the weather," Sterns says, taking a sip of champagne. "Everybody up here is having a good time."