The only difference is the grunt work of getting to such pristine riding terrain has been subtracted. The dangers and concerns about avalanches have been mitigated. Ride the backcountry within the safe confines of a ski area. Welcome to the Montezuma Bowl at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

Calling it a bowl doesn't truly do it justice.

When Arapahoe Basin began operating the Zuma Chair three weeks ago, it was more like the opening of a new ski area.

"It's big. That bowl is amazingly huge," Arapahoe Basin's director of marketing Leigh Hierholzer said. "That's the first thing people say, 'I can't believe how big it is.' It's not just a wide-open bowl. It has all of the different features and terrain variety in it. We opened another mountain basically."

It's also not your run-of-the-mill concave open bowl.

The biggest drawing point of the 'Zuma' bowl is it's untamed terrain. Arapahoe Basin removed only one percent of the trees when constructing the chairlift this summer. Aside from a few groomed runs which run down the middle of the area to the chair lift, it's untouched and exactly what backcountry skiers have been dropping into for years. A lot of the run names are what backcountry skiers have been calling them for years.

Opening up Montezuma Bowl has always been in the vision of the founders of the ski area, over 50 years ago. That vision started becoming a reality in the past six years with negotiating between the ski area and the U.S. Forest Service.

In what has essentially become opening up another ski area, Arapahoe Basin is banking on being a bigger draw to tourists who might otherwise not take the longer drive off of the I-70 corridor to visit. But Hierholzer says while the addition gives A-Basin better footing to compete against the larger neighboring resorts, the ski area still maintains a vibe of a local's area where the interaction is more intimate and laid back.

"People are always looking for something new," Hierholzer said. "Maybe now when the destination visitor comes into Summit County we might be more attractive to them now because there is more to ski and ride and something new for them to experience."

Arapahoe Basin's expansion is part of a trend that Troy Hawks of the National Ski Area Association is seeing in Colorado ski areas; creating a safe backcountry skiing experience.

"Certainly they are catering to more niche demographic markets," Hawks said. "And they are adding to the experience s they provide, not only to backcountry folks, but to teens, women, seniors."

Breckenridge Ski Resort added the Imperial Express SuperChair- the highest lift in North America at 12,840 feet - last year, opening up access to what used to be historically "hike-up" terrain. It wound up being more popular than they could have envisioned as the resort doubled up the capacity of its lift for this season.

Also this year, Breckenridge allowed access to expert terrain which used to be roped off in years past. Now off the north side of Peak 8, riders and skiers can test their mettle in the Lake Chutes.

Breckenridge Ski Resort's Nicky DeFord said the resort is catering to what the demand is out there.

"People have wanted more of that backcountry experience," she said. "And they are going to go where they can find that."

Keystone and Copper Mountain have historically offered Cat skiing, shuttling skiers to the neighboring backcountry in essentially snow tractors.
But the taste of the untamed isn't only for the intrepid expert skier.

'I think it's neat for the intermediate skier to go back there and experience it because it's no problem getting from top to bottom," Hierholzer said. "Back there it's quiet and the views are amazing. You feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, which is what you feel like when you're in the backcountry."