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The power of four

Allyn Harvey

ARAPAHO BASIN SKI AREA – A-Basin is sucking wind for the second season in a row. Tagged “Agony Basin” last spring, the popular Front Range resort is living up to its new moniker again this season.Yesterday, the Agony Basin website was boasting 40-inch bases at both midway and the summit. Five of six lifts and 88 percent of the terrain are open. The website is claiming conditions of packed powder, but anyone who’s skied there in light cover knows just how much damage that “powder” can do to a pair of skis.CRESTED BUTTE MOUNTAIN RESORT – The Teocalli Bowl, located in the Extreme Limits terrain of Crested Butte Mountain, opened Monday for the first time in 11 years. Teocalli Bowl, previously opened for guided tours, is now open to the public.Crested Butte has had almost 200 inches of snow so far this season. But that somehow doesn’t do much to lift it out of the second-class quaintness that’s been its problem all along.WOLF CREEK SKI AREA – As of 2:24 p.m. on Jan. 27, the ski patrol at Wolf Creek in southern Colorado was reporting a 131-inch base at the summit and 122 inches at midway. Conditions are powder and packed powder.The last storm to come through the area dumped 10 inches on top of the 262 inches that have already fallen at the resort this season. All 1,600 acres are open. Sounds enticing – if you’re willing to drive a full day each way to get there.STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – With just 44 inches at midway and 51 at the summit, Steamboat promises a mediocre skiing experience no matter which way you look at it.Like A-Basin, Steamboat’s marketeers are claiming that conditions are “packed powder.” Add in a little rain, which appears to have been in the mix the last day or so, and you’ve got the perfect conditions to pull a garbage bag over your head and go slushing.Aspen’s 5 a.m. snow report: After a prolonged dry spell, local slopes are boasting 2 to 3 inches of new snow this morning.

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