MONARCH PASS — Wolf Creek is not the only ski area hoping to expand. After a decade of larger resort expansions, smaller resorts like Eldora and Monarch also are pushing to grow.
Surging visitation has prodded the smaller resorts to aim higher, with plans that include growing permit boundaries to add new terrain and upgrading existing facilities. Aside from the contentious plans to grow onto Peak 6 at Breckenridge, the smaller hills seem ready to expand after years with only minor adjustments.
At Monarch, that would require a rare permit-boundary adjustment to give the high-altitude ski area 1,144 acres of permitted ski terrain. The push into No Name Basin would add 139 acres of skiing served by a fixed-grip double chair. (While the Forest Service has approved the general concept of the plan, the project would require federal environmental review.)
The Monarch plan also includes a 3,420 square-foot upgrade to the area’s day lodge – scheduled to begin this month – and construction of new base-area buildings for ski school, ski patrol, administrative offices and snowcat tour headquarters. A new tubing facility is in the plan for the ski area that has seen visitation climb from 142,000 in 2004-05 to more than 170,000 in recent seasons.
“Our hope is to get to 175,000 as a new plateau,” said Monarch owner Bob Nicolls . “Maybe we get to 200,000. We’ve already seen new lodging and new jobs. We are trying to help each other out in this region and raise the plateau of net income.”
At Eldora,. The plan would add 104 acres of new terrain below the Corona lift, which now serves four advanced and expert trails. The hope is that the fast-growing Eldora, which posted a record year for visits in 2011-12, can grow its peak-day visit capacity from 4,250 to 6,580.
Both Monarch and Eldora have seen strong growth in recent years, supporting their efforts to add more amenities.
“At the heart of what they are doing is improving services for people who visit the resort,” said Ken Kowynia , winter sports administrator for the Forest Service in Colorado. “I think that generally these smaller areas haven’t seen a lot of development. There is community support for economic reasons and the Forest Service is interested in resorts – whether small or big – that improve their service to the public.”
In the wake of, ski-area expansion plans in Colorado have been scarce.
But two years later, the first to formally float significant expansion plans are Breckenridge — — Monarch and Eldora, which have drawn little opposition.
The Forest Service recently has focused on working with resorts to address environmental restoration, restoring watersheds, sustainability initiatives and summer activity growth. While not deterring expansions, agency attention is aimed toward enhancements within existing resort footprints.
“I think the industry, working with the Forest Service, enjoyed large expansions in the ’70s and ’80s and the era we are in now is going to be focused more on improvement of existing facilities and infrastructure,” said Kowynia. A 30-year veteran of the agency, he has
Growth of boundaries is based on purpose and need for expansion, which can be supported with increasing visitation. But not the other way around: the desire to spur visits is not reason enough to grow larger.
“The approach we have generally taken is that we look at improvements to the facilities,” Kowynia said. “We look at resorts and master plans in a way that considers improving the services for people who are coming to a national forest, not to grow a ski area’s numbers. We don’t authorize development on national forest in speculation for future growth.”
Ralph Bethea has been coming to Monarch ski area for 20 years; the last 12 with his kids. The Missouri skier, packing up after a four-day ski vacation, worried that growth at his favorite ski area could push him out.
“I love this place. I ski here with my whole family for the price of one ticket at Vail,” Bethea said as he loaded a Suburban with kids and gear. “I’d be interested in something new, but that probably means prices going up and I’d hate to see that. I mean someone’s got to pay for growth right?”
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com
