Description

Summit County is a unique area that includes four world-class ski areas, Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper & Keystone Ski Resort The Legend In the twenty-first century, ski resorts are not built with tinker toy towers, Army surplus generators, and a wing and a prayer. In the mid-1940s, when skiing had all the appeal of a deep freeze, convincing investors that there was great fun in the snow on the snowy slopes of the Continental Divide, was a hard sell at best. Nonetheless, a hardy group of pioneers sold stock, cut down trees, put up "lifts" and voila – a legend was born. Simply Legendary Arapahoe Basin opened in December of 1946 with help from Larry Jump and his directors including Max and Edna Dercum. The inaugural season opened with a single rope tow and $1.25 daily lift tickets. Now at sixty-three years strong, A-Basin is just hitting its stride. How a Legend was born In 1945-1946, the Winter Sports Committee from Denver's Chamber of Commerce hired two men to make a statewide survey of potential ski area sites – Laurance "Larry" Jump, a Dartmouth grad and 10th Mountain Division veteran, and Frederick "Sandy" Schauffler, Amherst grad and member of the 1940 Olympic ski team. At the time, only Berthound Pass qualified as a winter sports area. After surveying, Jump and Schauffler's site recommendation was the west side of Loveland Pass. When they learned that the U.S. Forest Service considered issuing a prospectus for bids on the Arapahoe Basin site, the two pioneers recruited Olympic medalist Richard "Dick" Durrance for credibility. The three men formed Arapahoe Basin, Inc on May 14, 1946. On June 10, 1946, they submitted an application for a special use permit to the USFS. Eleven days later, the plan was approved. Wilfred "Slim" David, a ranger with the USFS, designed the trail layout. Larry met Max Dercum, a local resident who owned several mining patents on the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area site and who was a forestry professor from Pennsylvania. Larry immediately hired him to work on the mountain to utilize his forestry background. Arapahoe's directors had an initial plan for the ski area, stocks were sold for $1.00 but not enough shares were sold to develop the groups' initial plan. Arapahoe Basin opened for its inaugural 1946-1947 season with just a rope tow, which was located from midway to the top of the mountain. Skiers were transported to the base of the tow in an Army weapons carrier pulled by a four-wheel drive vehicle. During the first season the skier-day count was 1200. Skier-day visits jumped to more than 13,000 during A-Basin's second season. The area's gross income in 1947-1948 was reported at $30,000. Today's skier visits reach over 425,000. According to Larry Jump, Arapahoe's first single chairlifts incorporated some military surplus 'tinker toy' tows, but they also employed structural steel. These were the first post-war lifts ordered in Colorado. A 100 kilowatt army surplus generator and electr