I was able to get out for my first chairlift rides of the season today.  I spun  a few laps on Pioneer and Panorama to check on snow conditions and to see how our grooming and opening efforts were coming along.  The team is absolutely crushing it and the mountain looks incredible.  We are in for a very special opening…

The Mountain Ops team has been working diligently to get the mountain ready.  We have snowcats out track-packing, pushing piles, and grooming slopes.  The snow removal team is harvesting huge piles from the lot that are used for building up areas around the lodge and bottom of the ski lifts.  The patrol crew is stringing boundary rope, placing pads, stocking…

This is just what we needed.  This storm is coming through in a big way with 25″ of snow so far with more on the way.  With this significant storm’s arrival, we are happy to announce that we will be opening the mountain for the 2023-24 winter season on Wednesday-December 6th.  Our VP of Guest Services sent me this photo…

We will be closing all public uphill access on Saturday-December 2nd until further notice to allow our Slope Maintenance team free reign of the base area and mountain with their machines.  This closure is approved by the USFS and is included in our annual operational plan.  This will allow our team to prep the mountain while ensuring public and staff…

The upcoming forecast is starting to look interesting!

I hope that everyone is having a nice holiday with friends and family.  As you know,  we have had some snow but not quite enough to be open this year for the Thanksgiving weekend.  However, this is not all that unusual.  Looking back on our history we have had an opening date after the Thanksgiving holiday about one-third of the…

We may not have enough snow to open up quite yet, but there sure are some nice looking spots out there on the mountain.  Here is a photo of some surface hoar glistening in the afternoon sun.  Surface hoar is formed on cold and clear nights.  This occurs when moisture within the snowpack travels upward from the warm basal layers…

We continue to watch the weather forecasts while we wait for snow.  This includes both the short-term and long-term forecasts.  My go to sites for the weather forecasts on Monarch Pass include NWS, Open Snow, CAIC Point Forecast, and the Climate Prediction Center.  There are a few others out there that I also put into the mix.  We have seen…

One of our projects during the off-season involved adding new EV chargers here at the mountain and up at the Crest.  There are now six individual (three-dual port) JuiceBar EV charging stations at Monarch Mountain.  These stations are located in the Lower Lot on the west side of the WW Treatment Plant.  Additionally, there are two individual (one-dual port) charging…

We picked up a few additional inches of snow last night.  We are still waiting for the game changer round of storms to roll through.  The second half of November is looking interesting and hopefully will have more snow for all of Colorado.  Stay positive and stay tuned.