Nice practice area at the base, but not enough family-friendly slopes!
Arapahoe Basin is often advertised in American ski magazines as one of the most challenging ski areas in North America. And we can definitely confirm this claim. For families with small children, the selection of suitable trails is disproportionately smaller. Directly at the base, the Molly Hogan lift and a magic carpet lift access an approx. 300 meter long bunny slope where kids can practice their first strides on the snow under the supervision of either their parents or their ski instructors. The ski school is located in the Snow Sports building at the base. But after the kids have had some time to practice, they will unfortunately not have much of a selection of beginner trails higher up the mountain (see Test Category “Beginners”). Sundance and Wrangler are the only two beginners’ trails leading back from the top terminal of the Exhibition lift to the base. Once your kids are able to take on some slightly more difficult slopes, we recommend the Lenawee Mountain runs. But with children, the black diamond runs on Pallavicini should be avoided at all costs.