Monarch expansion

From the Snow Industry Newsletter:

MONARCH SKI AREA ADDS 130 ACRES OF EXPERT TERRAIN
Colorado's Monarch ski area will expand its ski terrain in March,
marking the second time the 66-year-old ski area has opened new ground
for skiers, according to the Denver Post. The area has won approval from
local Forest Service officials to expand its territory by 130 acres. The
expansion, which opens March 3, will let skiers hike to steep, expert
chutes and glades once accessible only via the area's Sno-Cat operation.
The expansion signals another step in a new ownership team's effort to
develop the area into what co-owner Bob Nicolls calls "the best ski area
in Colorado."

All I can say is Woo-hoo!
This is Murkwood (sp?) bowl, which I used to ski quite a bit when I was
a snow packer for Monarch Sno-Cat Tours and it's bad-ass! One thing I
would change about that area is more steep challenging terrain and now
it's coming. I'll try and get some photos on Friday if I make it up!
They are also talking about putting a high speed quad to this area after
next season. This is an idea that's been talked about for a decade or so
and it's nice to see some actual progress in that direction. I'm just
psyched about being able to (legally) hike it and have patrol and
control there! Wee!

Matt

MattB wrote:
From the Snow Industry Newsletter:

MONARCH SKI AREA ADDS 130 ACRES OF EXPERT TERRAIN
Colorado's Monarch ski area will expand its ski terrain in March,
marking the second time the 66-year-old ski area has opened new ground
for skiers, according to the Denver Post. The area has won approval from
local Forest Service officials to expand its territory by 130 acres. The
expansion, which opens March 3, will let skiers hike to steep, expert
chutes and glades once accessible only via the area's Sno-Cat operation.
The expansion signals another step in a new ownership team's effort to
develop the area into what co-owner Bob Nicolls calls "the best ski area
in Colorado."

All I can say is Woo-hoo!
This is Murkwood (sp?) bowl, which I used to ski quite a bit when I was
a snow packer for Monarch Sno-Cat Tours and it's bad-ass! One thing I
would change about that area is more steep challenging terrain and now
it's coming. I'll try and get some photos on Friday if I make it up!
They are also talking about putting a high speed quad to this area after
next season. This is an idea that's been talked about for a decade or so
and it's nice to see some actual progress in that direction. I'm just
psyched about being able to (legally) hike it and have patrol and
control there! Wee!

Matt


Correction - it's spelled Mirkwood. I'm still excited though!

Matt

On Tue, 01 Mar 2005 16:05:49 -0600, MattB
wrote:

They are also talking about putting a high speed quad to this area after
next season. This is an idea that's been talked about for a decade or so
and it's nice to see some actual progress in that direction.
-----
Is there already a high speed quad lift(s) at Monarch?

I haven't skied there since the early '90s. I always enjoyed Monarch,
but the 2 longest lifts, the one on the far right from the base and
the one on the far left from the base, often seemed slow and
ass-bitin' cold when the wind was up. I think one of those lifts was
named Breeze Way, or something like that.

Which direction is this new steeps area? Off to the far left (skiing
down toward the highway) or beyond the top on the other side of the
Continental Divide?