Monarch Mountain will become one of the rare North American ski areas to offer skiing on both sides of the Continental Divide on Thursday when it debuts a 377-acre expansion onto the west side of the continent’s spine.
In Canada, the Banff Sunshine Village ski resort has skiing on both sides of the divide. Lost Trail Powder Mountain, a small ski area on the Montana-Idaho border, also spans the divide. In Colorado, the Berthoud Pass ski area offered skiing on both sides of the divide until it closed in 2003. It remains a popular destination for backcountry skiers.
Located near Monarch Pass between Salida and Gunnison, Monarch has offered skiing on the east side of the divide since 1939. The , so named because No Name Creek flows through it, will increase Monarch’s skiable terrain by 49%. It encompasses 12 runs and a new lift with nearly 1,000 feet of vertical drop overlooking the Gunnison Valley. A dream for the Monarch community for decades, it marks Monarch’s first major terrain expansion since 1980.
“I think it’s going to be real exciting for Monarch,” said Scott Pressly, director of mountain operations. “Itap got a really good fall line. Itap going to be some fun terrain over there.”
Pressly said the terrain is suitable for intermediate and advanced skiers. There are no green runs.
“I think itap going to be our core skier,” Pressly said. “We have a lot of intermediate or advanced intermediate skiers that come to Monarch. They’re looking for a mix of groomed and ungroomed powder experiences. We’re going to have some tree skiing over there, too. I think that intermediate to advanced skier and rider is going to really enjoy this terrain quite a bit.”
It also will be favored by upslope storms coming from the east which aren’t always beneficial to Monarch’s other slopes because they mostly face east and northeast.
“When we do get those storms that come out of the east or the northeast, those kinds of storms are really going to load the top of this terrain,” Pressley said. “Sometimes those storms can be a little bit tough on quite a bit of the ski area here. Those types of events, itap blowing up the slope, right in your face. On the other side of the ridge, itap going to be depositing that snow really nicely.
“Itap really cool to have different (directional) aspects at your ski area,” Pressly added. “There’s always something that is skiing well if you’ve got all of the different aspects of the compass.”
