Monarch Ski and Snowboard Area is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

located in the state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. It is twenty miles (32 km) west of

Salida, Colorado The City of Salida ( ; spanish language, Spanish: , "exit") is the Colorado municipalities#Statutory city, Statutory city that is the county seat and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, most populous municipality of Chaffee County, Colorado ...

, on

U.S. Highway 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

. The resort is situated on

Monarch Pass Monarch Pass (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in central Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as th ...

at the

continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

. It has 54 trails, two terrain parks, and an extreme terrain area called Mirkwood. The Monarch Mountain Lodge is located three miles (5 km) east of the ski area in the town of

Garfield, Colorado Garfield is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The population of the Garfield CDP was 27 at the United States Census 2020. The Salida post office ...

. Monarch is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from mid-November to early April. Monarch Ski Area is named after Monarch Pass and the associated Monarch Mountain. Monarch pass and Monarch Mountain themselves are named after the 19th-century town Monarch, which was razed by the

CDOT CDOT may refer to: *\cdot – the LaTeX input for the dot operator (⋅) *Cdot, a rapper from Sumter, South Carolina *Centre for Development of Telematics, India * Chicago Department of Transportation * Clustered Data ONTAP, an operating system from ...

to make way for

US Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic O ...

History

Monarch first opened in 1939, with one rope tow running up the run named Gunbarrel: a long, steep, heavily-moguled run on the south side of the area. The tow rope was powered by a Chevy engine when it was first opened. Monarch has been owned and sold many times and is currently owned by many separate parties, none owning more than 25%.

Ski School

Sprung building Sprung may refer to: *Sprung rhythm a poetic rhythm designed to imitate the rhythm of natural speech *Sprung mass (or sprung weight) the portion of the vehicle's total mass that is supported above the suspension *Sprung floor, a floor that absorbs ...

was built in 2007 to be the new home for the ski school and rental shop. The ski school offers lessons for all ages and abilities in all three disciplines (ski, snowboard, and telemark). All equipment needed for the three disciplines are available for rental on-site. The rental shop also has tune-ups and waxing.

Terrain parks

{{Unsourced, section, date=March 2019 The run formerly known as ''Slo-Motion'' was developed into the ''K2 terrain park'' in 2008. It is composed of all-natural features, including logs, stumps, and jumps. The run can be used by anyone, even if they have no intent of using any of the features. It is next known as the ''Never Summer terrain park''. As of 2021 it is now known as Steel City. There is a small park at the base of the panorama double chairlift called Tilt.

Snow Cat

Monarch Cat Skiing offers 1,635 acres of diverse expert terrain featuring wide open bowls, steep chutes, beautiful glades and tree skiing.

External links

Ski Monarch

Ski areas and resorts in Colorado Buildings and structures in Chaffee County, Colorado Tourist attractions in Chaffee County, Colorado