For those who have been following our grading project on Mule Train, I wanted to give you the final update for the summer.  After Lowry Contracting got the grading knocked out our summer crew got the area seeded and covered with erosion control blankets.  These blankets hold the dirt and seed in place until the specialized seed mix can take…

We are very excited to announce that our 2025 Master Development Plan (MDP) has been formally accepted by the National Forest Service. The new plan combines previously accepted projects as well as introducing new mountain improvement projects such as expanded parking, lift upgrades, new lifts, trail grading, and some non-skiing centered offerings.  Other infrastructure improvements planned are buildings in Pano…

Today we celebrate 250 years since the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence; America’s Semiquincentinnial anniversary.  Richard Henry Lee formally proposed independence in front of the Continental Congress on June 7th, 1776, stating “that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown,…

As expected, the Pike-San Isabelle National Forest has joined Chaffee County and is now under Stage 2 Fire Restrictions. Highlights: No open fires of any kind unless they are in a device that is fueled by liquid or gas that can be turned off and in an area devoid of flammable material (cook stove/barbeque). No smoking outdoors: smoking is only allowed…

These two are my favorite people to ride with on the Crest Tram.  Who do you come up with to see the scenery?

One of our projects that will be a major improvement for the skiing experience is a grading project on Mule Train.  This area was identified, studied, and approved during with our No Name Construction Implementation Plan but due to the construction timeline we decided to hold off on it last summer.  For any of you who got to ski down…

Before any project breaks ground it is critical that we have our Erosion Control (EC) measures in place.  I talked a little about that some of these measures in a previous post but wanted to share this photo of them installed.  In this photo you can see the reinforced silt fence with it’s toe trenched in to prevent water or…

We received our final timber contract yesterday morning so our crew was able to officially start on the Paradise expansion.  While they weren’t able to start until after lunch, the crew was already moving forward full bore by the end of the day.  The first step in the construction process is to get the slash and timber cleared so that…

On Thursday the Monarch team met with the Forest Service and engineers from SE Group and Mountain Engineering and Testing for a pre-costruction site visit to look at the Paradise Lot expansion project.  Not only are these visits a great chance to all get on the same page prior to construction starting but they are also a requirement for our…

We have formally received approval for a 2.2 acre expansion on the Paradise Lot and are prepared to start construction early next week.  The Forest Service analyzed this under a Categorical Exclusion Review (CE) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  This review was summarized under a Finding of Applicability and No Extraordinary Circumstance (FANEC) and approved by the Forest…