The summer view from the top of Mirk looks a lot different than it does in the winter. Beautiful view…but no skiing.;)

Monarch recently coordinated with GARNA and the USFS to plant 1400 saplings at the ski area. This revegetation effort focused on areas that have been thinned during the vegetation management project. A combination of Engelmann Spruce and Lodgepole Pine trees were planted as they are native to the area and have the ability to grow in this harsh environment and…

We are once again using the Pano Flats area as a deck site for this summer’s logging ops. The harvester has completed all the cutting work up on the mountain and now the forwarder (seen below) is bringing the timber down to the main deck site at Pano. There are two additional small deck sites that we are using elsewhere…

The crew from Miller Timber has been thinning tree stands on the Breezeway side of the mountain. Here is a before and after look at some tree islands adjacent to Snowburn, Outback and Shag. Should be some good skiing & riding!

We recently conducted some aerial mapping of our terrain in the cat skiing permitted area. Here is a great photo showing Mirkwood along with the top of Garfield and Pano Ridge in the background.

Here is a look at Pano ridge from the lush fields of green down along the Snowburn runout. Summer seems to peak up here in July. The grasses are thriving and the wildflowers are out in full bloom.

The retaining wall replacement is another project that is well underway. The railroad tie wall is being replaced by a professionally built Redi-Rock Ledgestone retaining wall. Should be a very nice upgrade and a much improved look for our guests approaching the plaza and ticket window area.

The team from Miller Timber is back for additional work at Monarch. This crew conducted the extensive thinning on Monarch Ridge during the last two years and handled some more subtle work for us last summer as described in this post. The guys will be handling some intense thinning work in a couple of tree polygons at the ski area…

Here is a look down Monarch Ridge as a storm rolls in. Mt Aetna, Taylor, Tabeguache and Shavano can all be seen in the background. US Hwy 50 is in the lower left of the image just downhill from the ski area.

The mountain is looking exceptionally green this summer. Could be all of the tree work we have done over the years removing dead standing spruce. It might also be all the moisture we have received over the last month. Or possibly the clean & crisp clean air after an afternoon T-storm. Whatever the reason, it sure looks nice.