Here is a look at the latest round of aerial thinning efforts to remove beetle killed trees from the Garfield side of the mountain. Enjoy the set of before and after shots below.

The Heli crew has completed flying all of the felled timber to the deck sites. In addition to the main deck adjacent to the bottom of Pano, we also have one across from the Tilt Terrain Park and another located on Lower Tango. Now it’s time to finish the processing and load up trucks to haul the merchantable timber, firewood…

The crew is making good progress flying trees to the landing. During this phase of the project, we are focusing on clearing out dead standing trees on the Garfield side of the mountain. Tree stands adjacent to Upper Christmas Tree, Upper & Lower No Name, Lobo, Examiner, Kanonen, Ajax, Cleanser and Pinball will be addressed. There is still quite a…

The helicopter and crew from R&R Conner has arrived. We will begin flying timber down to the deck sites tomorrow. We ask that everyone stay clear of the ski area during the helicopter operations over the next week or so as there are obvious hazards involved with flying beetle killed trees off the mountain.

The Tumbelina Lift is receiving a major mechanical upgrade this summer. We are once again teaming up with the crew from Skytrac for this project. The Garfield (2011) and Breezeway (2014) lifts have seen full bottom drive terminal replacements while the Panorama Lift received a full mechanical upgrade in 2018 (gearbox, main electric drive, controls, braking) and an independent hydraulic…

With the hazy summer, I almost forgot how blue the sky can be.

The new RFID gates are currently being installed at the base of our lifts. These units scan an RFID card placed in a pocket (on your left side and between the waist and shoulder) allowing streamlined access to the lifts. When using an RFID card, there is no more messing around while wearing ski gloves to present a barcode on…

In these photos, we can see changes underway on several projects. The Tumbelina mechanical upgrade is in full swing with the motor room, main electric drive, gearbox and auxiliary motor removed. We can also see that the new operator house and comm-line has been installed. Trenching and foundation work can be seen for the new RFID gates and fiber optic…

Of the thirty-two ski areas that are still operating in Colorado, Monarch is one of the originals. With an eighty-two year history (and counting), there are still some traces of the past from our earlier days to find out there. Hiking along the Garfield lift line, there are still some of the old foundations from the original Garfield Lift. After…

As the parking lot expansion project has unfolded, we have had to deal with a significant rock shelf in this area. Prior to the creation of the upper lot, we conducted a Geo-tech analysis and had expected to find some. However, the extent of this rocky area was a bit more extensive and deeper than originally anticipated. Fortunately, we had…