It was a mixed bag today.  Frozen mist on my windshield driving up in the dark.  Low fog hanging over the mountain with continued upslope flow.  Some good snowfall for several hours that was then followed by breaking clouds and the sun popping through.  The skiing was very good and the wild effects of the storm from a few days…

Today was a much more reasonable weather day.  We reported 3″ in the last 24 hours, although there was much more than that to be found out in the trees after this week’s tempest.  We picked up a bit of fresh snow today and it looks like there is even more in the forecast tonight and later this week.  We…

After an epic storm and a full day’s closure, we were able to open the mountain today.  It took a heroic effort, but we pulled it off.  We have an amazing and dedicated team that made it possible for our guests to get out to ski and ride the goods today.  Thanks to each and every one of you who…

All was well overnight in the lead up to dawn.  The storm came in soft and quiet with a few inches of snow by morning.  At 5am we had 11mph wind gusts on top of Mirkwood.  At 6am they suddenly ramped up to 52mph.  By the time the lifts were supposed to open at 9am the gusts had climbed up…

We are set up for a classic “Colorado Low” winter storm.  We see these types of events every few years, primarily in the spring or fall months.  In these types of storms, a closed low pressure system will swing east across the border of Colorado and New Mexico and produce significant upslope winds and snowfall.  As the easterly wind direction…

We have had some perfect sunny weather over the last few days.  Looks like that is about to change with a few days of stormy weather ahead.  This is the time of year where you can really start to see it all.  Bluebird, squalls, corn, powder, warm, windy.  Don’t put those powder skis away yet.

The Slope Maintenance team was hard at it last night.  On a random Wednesday night, the team was able to groom thirty-five trails!  This included five advanced trails on the list which was a boon to those that can love to rip those steeper trails.  The updated cat fleet played a role in this effort but it was really the…

Each season, we work with our industry partners to set up a demo of new snowcat models here at Monarch.  Recently, our team of operators have been trying out the Leitwolf snowcat from Prinoth.  This snowcat has a larger footprint and tiller than the rest of our Bison fleet.  So, each pass on the slopes covers just a bit more…

Winter has returned with a vengeance. We had some big winds overnight and blustery conditions today. The storm really kicked into high gear just before daybreak with intense snowfall rates for several hours. We were able to keep a few lifts spinning (kudos to Lift Maintenance) and the snow conditions were WAY DEEPER than what we had reported at 5:30am.…

The Slope Maintenance team wrapped up their Saturday morning in an echelon on their way back to the shop.  That’s how you get it done!  Fresh corduroy anyone?