Arapahoe Basin Mountain Tour 6: The East Wall

Follow along with one of our avalanche techs, Tim, as he shows you around The Legendary East Wall.
The East Wall has some of the most challenging inbounds terrain in Colorado, if not North America. If you're up for the challenge, we highly recommend it next time you're here.

[@anthonybclimbin]

I was just in ABasin and stopped to talk to you guys about the east wall and the steep gullies. You guys rule and the terrain there is so rad.

[@mtadams2009]

Thanks for the video. I wish I would have watched this before I went out to Colorado. I only skied A Basin one day and had a great time. We did ski a bunch of double blacks and we did the traverse out in the east wall which was fun. Coming from the East coast it took me about five days to acclimate to the thinner air. I skied much better the last few days of my trip. Next time I will wait later into the trip to hit the Basin so I can hike the ridge. Again thanks and you have a great mountain. Endless great runs.

[@The_Wack]

That’s some crazy gopro effect

[@robcrowe]

Love it! Great job!

[@tylertutt3141]

I sure do miss beach parties..

[@squish1504]

Saving the best for last? ;)

[@ihavenoiqq]

2:15 what camera was use to get this shot?

[@STEEPPOW]

Stud.

[@ezpznoob8092]

I thought it was 50 degree

[@alexandergeorgiev2631]

It depends which degree measurement you use -- 90 - 50 = 40, so 40 degree terrain can also be called 50 degree terrain

[@lol-em6bj]

Which one is steeper? SG or east wall?

[@LongsYt]

sg

[@kavinski762]

steep gullies

[@noway5096]

how steep are these compared to a steep blue or an easy black?

[@arapahoe_basin]

To ski or ride it is to know this adventurous, challenging ski area at its core. Comprised of multiple hiking routes, two boot-packing routes and extra-spicy lines, you could spend days exploring the 500-600 foot, 30-40 degree chutes that fan out onto wide-open aprons.

[@arapahoe_basin]

Also, much steeper than a typical "steep blue" or "easy black" (which mean different things to different people, of course). But pitch isn't the only measure of a run's designation. East Wall hike-to routes are mainly narrow and rocky chutes with variable snow conditions and are for experts, only.

[@noway5096]

@@arapahoe_basin haaaa maybe I should just stick to jibbing around on the blues

[@kavinski762]

a steep blue is absolutely nothing compared to the east wall

[@thomasbuck303]

​@@noway5096you could always challenge yourself on single blacks for a while until you get comfortable with those, then work your way up to double blacks

[@STEEPPOW]

Stud