Running Wild

Arapahoe Basin is often the first ski resort to open and the last to close each year, but five new summer events — starting with today’s Summer Trail Race and BBQ — are helping to make it more of a year-round destination. “The wildflowers are starting to pop right now,...

By Colin Bane

June 28, 2012

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Arapahoe Basin is often the first ski resort to open and the last to close each year, but five new summer events — starting with today’s Summer Trail Race and BBQ — are helping to make it more of a year-round destination. “The wildflowers are starting to pop right now, and the mountains here at the Basin look as majestic in the summer as they do in the winter,” says A-Basin events coordinator Will Bond.

Not that today’s races — there are two divisions — will be a bed of roses. The Mid-Mountain Division is the less demanding of the two, though still a “lung-buster”; starting at an altitude of 10,800 feet, the 1.8-mile race follows the Argentine-North Fork Trail to the Black Mountain Lodge. The 4.6-mile Summit Division, meanwhile, begins the same way but tests runners’ limits by climbing to the top of Pallavicini and then up over 0.6 miles of unmarked terrain to patrol headquarters at 12,474 feet.

The Black Mountain Express lift will also be running so that spectators can get to the top to cheer on the competitors; live music and barbecue will round out the fun. Both races start at 10:30 a.m. Registration is $15 for either route or $25 for a race/lunch package on race day, or in advance at www.arapahoebasin.com.
Sun., July 1, 10:30 a.m., 2012

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