Montezuma Bowl at Arapahoe Basin
The Montezuma Bowl was opened in the winter of 2007/2008 and it contains more than 1,000 feet of vertical skiing down the back side of Arapahoe Basin. You can see the Montezuma Bowl in the picture at the top of this page as it is seen from the Keystone Ski Resort.
This bowl has terrain that ranges from moderate to extreme. Skiers and riders can descend down the middle of the Montezuma bowl where there is usually groomed ski terrain. The Zuma Cornice is where you will find the steepest skiing in the Montezuma Bowl. This part of the mountain will usually open much later in the day than the rest of the bowl. This allows the ski patrol to control the avalanche danger of the slope.
The photos to the right and below show the skier’s-left side of the Montezuma Bowl. This terrain is more tame than the Zuma Cornice. Skier’s may traverse across the top of the bowl to access these runs.
You can see the Zuma Cornice in the two photos below. There is no novice terrain here and the cornice at the top of this side of the bowl is usually between 7 – 20 feet tall. This cornice is avalanche controlled on powder days; you can often see the scorched patches of snow here that result from the dropping of dynamite.
