The Monarch team spent another day planting trees on the mountain. The timber crew at the Salida Ranger District lined up 1600 Lodgepole Pine and Engelmann Spruce saplings for us to plant around the mountain. Efforts were focused within areas that have been thinned out since 2018 as part of the MPVMP. For us, it’s like planting a garden in…
No Name Basin. I haven’t sent out an update on this proposal since my last post on this topic back in February. The terrain expansion proposal is currently still working its way through the USFS review process. This involves a thorough analysis by a number of specialists and numerous steps to officially start the Environmental Assessment for this project. We…
Our lift maintenance crew once again teamed up with the pros from Knight Equipment for our rope splice project. This is a complicated and precise task that this multi-generational family business specializes in performing for ski areas around the country. The splicing process takes a lot of people to help weave the individual strands into place so that the Knight…
Our namesake Monarch butterfly makes its appearance in the area each summer. This one was recently seen feeding among the wildflowers next to the creek that flows through the ski area. The Monarch butterfly makes its way north and east during the spring and summer from the warmer climates of its wintering grounds of California and Mexico. It typically takes…
Our lift maintenance crew has been busy working on the Garfield lift project. The first steps involved removing all the carriers, dropping the rope off several towers to ground level, tagging out the haul line in both directions with heavy duty rigging before ultimately cutting the old haul line in half. We rented some specialized equipment for the next steps…
The mountain looks so different in the summer. Amazing sights that are buried in the winter come out for those of us still on the mountain to enjoy. We have several perennial streams that flow through the ski area. The main one on the front side of the mountain starts high near the base of Turbo. It flows down through…
The scenic tram has seen a steady amount of ridership to start the summer. A lot of travelers seem to stop at the top of the pass to get out of the car and stretch their legs. They swing into the shop, purchase an item or two, along with a bite to eat. Many of them are in Colorado to…
Access to the ridgeline and the high alpine is opening up. We are starting to see through hikers passing by that are traveling on either the Colorado Trail or the Continental Divide Trail. These two epic trails pass through the high peaks and cross the summit of Monarch Pass. Both trails traverse directly through the ski area and the Monarch…