Arapahoe Basin closing day Front Range Ceramic Art Tile
— — sunburn at the Beach, snow still on the boots.
Not only on a wall.
“One of the last ski areas in the country to close each spring. The base sits at 10,780 feet; the summit reaches 13,050. By May the snow has softened to corn, the south-facing pitches give up their cover one by one, and the Pallavicini face holds longer than anything around it. Closing day is its own ritual. Grills go on the lower lot they call the Beach, t-shirts on the lifts, hot weather and last laps. Locals call it the Legend. The 2025-26 season ran 194 days, the longest in Colorado.
Arapahoe Basin closing day Front Range Ceramic Art Tile, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
The place, in three passes.
Arapahoe Basin sits on the western flank of the Continental Divide in Summit County, Colorado, about 68 miles west of Denver and just downhill from Loveland Pass on U.S. Highway 6. The base lodge stands at 10,780 feet (3,286 m); the inbound summit at Lenawee Mountain reaches 13,050 feet (3,978 m), one of the highest skiable summits in North America. The mountain operates inside the Arapaho National Forest. Larry Jump and a small group of returning veterans opened it in 1946, the first ski area built in Colorado after the Second World War, and the oldest in Summit County. Alterra Mountain Company took ownership in November 2024.
The base elevation puts Arapahoe Basin among the highest ski areas in North America, and the season runs proportionally long. The mountain regularly turns lifts through May, and the latest closing on record was August 10, 1995. Closing day shifts with the snowpack: May 17 ended the 2025-26 season after 194 days, the longest run of any ski area in Colorado that winter. By the final weekend the south-facing groomers have softened to corn snow, the East Wall releases in spring chunks, and the upper Lenawee chairs run in t-shirts. The line for first chair still forms before sunrise.
Closing day at the Beach is its own communal scene. The lower lot, which locals call the Beach, opens at 7 a.m. and fills in by mid-morning. Reservations went on sale October 1 for the 2025-26 season and ran out the same day. House rules ban glass, open fires, and overnight camping, a tightening that followed years of looser tailgates after the Pallavicini Lift opened in 1978. Lifts spin until close, usually 4 p.m. The drive in from Denver runs about 68 miles on Interstate 70 to U.S. 6 over the pass. Chains or 4WD are routine through May.