Arapahoe Basin is usually the first Colorado ski area to open for the season, and when the big day arrives, there’s always a long lift line with a party vibe and plenty of wacky costumes.

It isn’t the only long line filled with antsy skiers and snowboarders, though.

For some A-Basin regulars, their top priority isn’t getting a seat on one of the first chairs up the mountain. It’s snagging a coveted mug, which will hang from the ceiling of the 6th Alley Bar & Grill in the base lodge for the duration of the season.

It’s no easy task getting into the Mug Club. Only 473 mugs are sold each year, the limiting factor being the number of hooks in the ceiling above the horseshoe-shaped bar. There have been times when the line to buy mugs seemed longer than the lift line.

“You need to get there early if you want one, that’s for sure,” said longtime chief operating officer Alan Henceroth.

Henceroth can’t recall when the Mug Club started, but he figures it was about 20 years ago.

“There already was a de facto club going, so someone came up with this Mug Club idea and it has been nonstop since it started,” Henceroth said. “My best memories were from talking to a group of 100 people at 5 o’clock in the morning on an opening day who were in line to buy their mugs. I asked them, ‘Are you all skiing today?’ (and they replied), ‘No, I’m here to get my mug.”

The mugs cost $50 and entitle the owner to $1 off drinks throughout the season, but they represent a lot more than discounted beer and bloody marys. They signify the owners as part of A-Basin’s devoted ski culture.

“It’s like a collector’s item,” said A-Basin regular Billy Edwards. “It’s yours; you go to 6th Alley, and it’s up there hanging above the bar. It’s part of the community and culture. It’s more about the community than drinking. We’re there to celebrate skiing at the end of the day.”

Edwards displays mugs from previous years on a shelf above his ski tuning bench at home. He met his now-fiancée in 2017 through a fellow Mug Club member. “Now she is part of the club as well,” Edwards said.

Chris Caldwell is about to begin his sixth year as a bartender at 6th Alley. If history is any guide, A-Basin will open in two or three weeks, and Caldwell knows what will await him when it does.

“Driving into work on opening day, we get here pretty early because we’re getting the bar open,” Caldwell said. “It’s about 6 o’clock in the morning, and there’s already a line all the way down the outside of the building (to get mugs). The first impression is, ‘Here we go again.’ You’re looking to see how long the line is and you wonder how long people have been there. Quite often, people get there way before sunup, you know, 4 o’clock in the morning.”

Existing Mug Club members can renew their memberships beginning Oct. 1 so they don’t have to stand in line on opening day hoping to get one of those 473 mugs before they sell out. Last year, about half of the mugs were sold through online renewals, and the rest were sold on opening day. They were gone by 11 a.m.

“It’s quite sad when you see people coming in on the second or third day, asking if any mugs are available for sale, and we have to tell them that we’ve sold out,” Caldwell said.

Henceroth said the two most common questions posed by people calling A-Basin this time of year are, “When will you open for the season?” and “When can I buy a mug?” Each mug has a number, and they are hung sequentially. Members often add stickers to personalize their mugs.

“People get attached to certain numbers,” Caldwell said. “They get in line as early as possible to make sure they guarantee that same mug number they’ve had in previous years. They’re hanging there right above the bar, so they become recognizable. People know exactly where it hangs.”

Caldwell knows when he opens the bar on opening day, a throng will be waiting. Some of them will have been imbibing well before the bar opens.

“The main entrance to 6th Alley is a sliding door, almost like a barn door,” Caldwell said. “You have people pretty much champing at the bit, waiting for that barn door to slide open. It’s almost like a mad dash to get your position at the bar. Sometimes our guests get a little excited and get ahead of themselves. I’m still opening the door and they’re sitting at the bar. I’ve had to push through the crowd to get to a position where I can help them.”

Graphic designs on the mugs change every year. When A-Basin celebrated its 75th season in 2021-22, that was reflected in the mug’s design. When it expanded into areas of the mountain known as The Beavers and The Steep Gullies in 2017, the mug reflected the addition. In 2020-21 during the pandemic, the design depicted the Arapahoe Basin logo wearing a surgical mask.

“That might have been the only fun thing we had with COVID,” Henceroth said.