With­out the fan­fare that usu­al­ly accom­pa­nies a ski area open­ing, Ara­pa­hoe Basin qui­et­ly wel­comed skiers and rid­ers Mon­day after­noon with a three-word tweet: “WE ARE OPEN.”

The tweet fol­lowed a blog item post­ed at 1:46 p.m. by chief oper­at­ing offi­cer Alan Henceroth reveal­ing the open­ing. A sub­se­quent email from mar­ket­ing direc­tor Leigh Hier­holz­er called it a “soft open­ing” due to COVID-19 capac­i­ty issues, giv­ing that as the rea­son there was no press release to mark the occasion.

“We would like to see how these first few days go as we ease into the ski sea­son,” Hier­holz­er wrote.

Thus A‑Basin became the third Col­orado ski area to open for the sea­son, fol­low­ing Wolf Creek (Oct. 28) and Key­stone (Nov. 6).

RELATED: When Col­orado ski resorts plan to open this season

Begin­ning Tues­day, A‑Basin will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with one lift oper­at­ing from the base area to mid-moun­tain, serv­ing one run. Sin­gle-day lift tick­ets must be pur­chased online in advance and will be lim­it­ed due to COVID-19 capac­i­ty restric­tions. Tick­ets cur­rent­ly are avail­able for dates through Dec. 18.

Vis­i­tors with Ara­pa­hoe Basin sea­son pass­es or the Any Day Pass — a mul­ti-day pass good for three, four or five days — are wel­come. Ikon Pass hold­ers are allowed on the moun­tain Mon­day after­noon, but start­ing Tues­day, they must make reser­va­tions first.

No one will be allowed indoors except to use restrooms or pick up grab-and-go food. No tail­gat­ing is allowed, and no park­ing lot shut­tles will be running.

At rival Love­land, spokesman Dustin Schae­fer said offi­cials there hope to open lat­er this week.

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