Geneva Basin Ski Area
A high, snowy Front Range ski area near Guanella Pass that opened as Indianhead in 1963 and was shut down by the state tramway board in 1984 after a chair fell off its main lift.
- Region
- Colorado
- Country
- USA
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1963
- Year closed
- 1984
- Reason for closure
- During the 1984 season an empty chair fell from the cable of the Duck Creek lift. The Colorado Tramway Board suspended operations until the maintenance problems were put right, and the operators had neither the money to comply nor the business to justify it - skier visits had fallen to 24,490 in that final season. A replacement Borvig triple was started in 1985 but never finished.
History
Geneva Basin lay off the Guanella Pass road in Clear Creek County, Colorado, less than an hour from Denver, and opened in 1963 under the name Indianhead with a Heron double chair on Duck Creek and a T-bar on Sundance. Two Poma lifts followed during the 1960s for the beginner terrain and the bowl, and in 1974 the Sundance T-bar was replaced by a Heron-Poma double. It ran from a 10,500 ft base to an 11,750 ft summit for 1,250 ft of vertical, took around 300 inches of snow a year, and offered runs including Knicker Knocker, Tomahawk, Sundance, Cristy Canyon, Jolly Time, Silver Stream, Henry's Holler and Jerry's Rock. Its problem was never snow but money and maintenance. In 1984 an empty chair came off the cable on Duck Creek; the Colorado Tramway Board closed the area until the lift was made good, the operators could not fund the work, and with only 24,490 skier visits that season the area never reopened. A Borvig triple named Phoenix was begun in 1985 to replace Duck Creek, but the drive unit and chairs were never fitted and it never turned. The Forest Service burned the lodge down in November 1993 to remove the liability, the lifts were taken out, and the ground reverted to National Forest - it is now used for backcountry touring off the Guanella Pass road.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duck Creek | Chairlift - Double - Fixed | Heron | The area's main lift from 1963. An empty chair fell from the cable in 1984, triggering the shutdown |
| Sundance | T-Bar | Original T-bar, replaced in 1974 by a Heron-Poma double chair of the same name | |
| Sundance | Chairlift - Double - Fixed | Heron-Poma | Installed in 1974 in place of the original Sundance T-bar |
| Unnamed lift | Platter | Poma | One of two Poma lifts added during the 1960s for the beginner terrain and the bowl |
| Unnamed lift | Platter | Poma | The second of the two 1960s Poma lifts |
| Phoenix | Chairlift - Triple - Fixed | Borvig | A Borvig triple intended to replace Duck Creek in 1985; towers went up but the drive unit and chairs were never installed and the lift never ran |
Runs
- Knicker Knocker
- Tomahawk
- Sundance
- Cristy Canyon
- Jolly Time
- Silver Stream
- Henry's Holler
- Jerry's Rock
Sources and further reading
More in USA
Location
39.5683, -105.7252