We received our first dusting of snow on the high peaks on Wednesday afternoon and hints of fall are in the air.

The trail network within No Name Basin is coming together! The crew from VM West has been clearing the trail corridors and forwarding this timber up and over the Continental Divide. These trails drop into the Basin and have around a 1000′ vertical drop to the bottom terminal. We have been hiking these newly cut trails and they all seem…

The crew from VM West recently brought in a new machine to assist with the steep slope logging work that is taking place in NN Basin. They purchased a T-Winch that works to tether machines so that they can more easily lower and climb the slopes as well as reach further down into the Basin on each pass. These machines…

The new high voltage power line and transformer have been installed and fully energized. The power line in conduit is buried in the ground and runs up the B’s Bash ski trail. This updated line links this new transformer to the one at the base of the Panorama Lift and the Xcel Energy high voltage loop. The new transformer is…

The crews from VM West and Lowry Contracting are making incredible progress out in No Name Basin. In just a little over a month, the trail network is coming together and the long anticipated dream of developing this area for lift-served skiing is becoming more and more of a reality every day. These guys have been working tirelessly to clear…

A crew contracted by XCEL Energy has been working to replace thirty power poles along the powerline that supplies the historic town of Whitepine, CO.  This powerline runs alongside the Waterdog Lakes trail and crosses the Continental Divide near the apex of our Cat Skiing terrain.  The crews have been based out of our upper parking lot for staging materials…

The timber from the trail development in No Name Basin is making its way down the mountain.  This is a multi-step process that our team from VM West is conducting with great efficiency and skill.  The process begins with the Ponsse harvester machines felling and processing the timber within the trail corridors.  This timber is stacked in mini bunks along…

The crew from Lowry Contracting has been hard at work dozing in the ski-ways on the western side of the Continental Divide.  These will travel in opposite directions from the top lift terminal and provide access to the additional trail network that drops off below these groomed cat tracks.  This is a look at the skier’s left ski-way with the…

I recently made a trip into the nearby Collegiate Peaks Wilderness here in the Sawatch Mountain Range.  This is an absolutely beautiful spot right here in our Chaffee County backyard.  There is a cluster of some of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains located here along with an amazing display of flora and fauna. I scrambled up to the…

Monarch held our annual tree day this week.  A combination of Engelmann Spruce and Lodgepole Pine saplings were planted at the ski area.  Both of these species are native to the area and do well at our elevation of 11,000′-12’000′. These latest efforts focused on planting trees in areas that had been recently thinned due to the spruce beetle endemic. …