We have been putting in a significant effort over the last few years to update our fleet of snowcats. Our latest addition was delivered last week from our friends over at Prinoth. This brand new Bison groomer will assist our slope maintenance team in laying down perfect corduroy on the mountain. This cat has all the latest features in technology…
The guys over at the shop have been hard at work during the off season. They spend months and months going through each implement, snowblower, snowmobile, car, truck, bus, snowcat, bobcat and loader. This is a dedicated team that puts in a ton of effort in the off-season making sure that everything will be ready when the snow flies. Kudos…
Our Lift Maintenance team has been hard at work all summer getting the lift fleet ready for the upcoming season. Each aerial lift undergoes a load test when there is a major modification and/or every seven years. This involves adding weight to each uphill chair to simulate a loaded lift. The Lift Maintenance team fills multiple bins of water on…
As we have done over the last few years, the Mtn Ops team has added a few more permanent snowfences this summer. These three new fences are located on the upper portion of the Great Divide trail. The skier’s right side of Great Divide has typically been a tough spot during the first half of the winter due to wind…
We picked up our first significant snowfall of the season. The earlier rounds of snow this fall seemed to come and go, but it’s likely that this latest storm will stick around on the north slopes for the duration of the season. Looking out at the long range forecast, it appears that there could be some more winter activity towards…
The retaining wall at the top of Pioneer is another project that you may notice upon your return to Monarch this winter. Our lift maintenance team built this to address a few issues up top. One was to increase the size of the downhill side of the unload ramp. This will better facilitate downloading guests and offloading those who may…
One other strategy we employ in the fall is to cut some of our tall grasses down on runouts, most beginner trails, and a few intermediate trails. This allows our early season snowfall a smoother surface to adhere to that is quickly covered. This helps to change the albedo of the surface which causes sunlight to be reflected while promoting…
It has been an amazing fall season this year. The colors have lingered for several weeks now. The weather has included primarily bright and sunny days with some snow events in the mix. It looks like we could see some more snow in the high country next week. It’s getting to be that time to start thinking about winter!
We will be hosting our pubic meetings this week to discuss the details within the No Name expansion proposal. We will meet in Poncha Springs at the Fairgrounds on Wednesday, October 4th from 6pm-8pm. On the following day (Oct 5th), we will meet in Gunnison at the Public Library from 6pm-8pm. Hope you can join us!
It’s that time of year again. The aspens and cottonwoods are turning and a golden hue lines the creeks and mountainsides. I love this time of year with the cool mornings and bluebird afternoons. The changing colors have been particularly good this year. Throw in a few days that have also had snow-capped peaks and it doesn’t get much better.…
