Beartooth Basin Ski Area Confirms Early Closing Date

Compared to major ski resorts, Beartooth Basin’s digs are minimal. It features two platter lifts and no base lodge. 

The terrain, however, is plenty serious, with a collection of looming cornices and rock features that satisfy the hardcore crowd. As the ski area notes on its website, “You could call it backcountry skiing with a lift.” In an era of high-speed heated chairlifts and bloated parking lots, that has a powerful appeal. So does skiing in June or, in some seasons, even later. In 2019, Beartooth Basin kept its lifts spinning until early July.

With its June 15 closure announcement, Beartooth Basin will join two other ski areas in closing shop this weekend: Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, and Mammoth Mountain, California.

Once the weekend passes, the pool of public lift-served skiing in North America will shrink dramatically—only Timberline Lodge, Oregon, will carry the torch deeper into the summer.

Still, a few odd opportunities to keep skiing persist. Jay Peak, Vermont, is hosting a rail jam with leftover snow on June 21. Copper Mountain, Colorado, plans to keep its hike park open as long as possible this summer on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Then, of course, you could always head into the backcountry in search of snow, provided you know what you’re doing.

Taking a break is an option, too. We’re skiers first and foremost, but giving the sticks some R&R never hurts.