Going Out West to Monarch

[Whiteface Willy]

& I havent skied there yet. I heard it's great and close to the other popular areas in Colorado. I rented a house in Salida for the month of March. I'd like some feedback on the ski area and the town if anyone has been there. I also want to get down to Wolf Creek Ski area. They boast 420 inches a year and I talked to someone who says the steeps are great.
Also does anyone know of a website like this for the Colorado ski areas.
Thanks

 

[snoseek]

Monarch is definately one of my favorites little areas anywhere. It is a short mountain, skiing Monarch isn't about the verticle drop but the terrain is damn fun and it is not stupid busy like summit county. The bar is a gem and runs some great draft bargains. If you like low-key hills it is great!

From Salida I would highly reccomend getting over to Crested Butte as Monarch will get a little old after a few days. Crested Butte is a great mountain....also away from summit shitshow with good terrain for all abilities (if open the double black stuff is crazy!), this should be under two hours from Salida. Other than that Monarch is the only area I would consider close to Salida, other areas are a haul I pretty sure.


P.S. phillips 66 fill up=twofer @ Monarch


Coors 12 pack in Gunnison=midweek twofer @ Crested Butte (at least it did two years ago)

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I heard it's great and close to the other popular areas in Colorado.

Huh? Crested Butte is the closest area to Monarch and that's more than an hour away. If you stay in Gunnison, both places are equidistant. Monarch is fun... I'd go back.
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6553&p=31633

 

[jamesdeluxe]

The bar is a gem and runs some great draft bargains.

Forgot to address that ^^... ditto on the bar/restaurant. Great beer selection and we had two of the best sandwiches ever there, and it didn't cost any more than at a joint in town.

 

[Geoff]

I discovered Monarch during a Crested Butte trip where I wandered over for a day. I did a week at Monarch the next year. I really like the place.

The mountain:
The best thing about Monarch is the snow surface. Other than a fixed-grip quad for the Texans, everything is double chairs. Minimal skier traffic. 2 or 3 days after a storm, you can ski the steeper trails and the troughs will be tracked up but there will be nothing but pole plant marks on the tops of the bumps.

There are three distinct trail pods.

The one on looker's right has sun baking issues but that's the lift you take to get to the sidecountry. It's a modest walk from the top of the lift up the ridge line to some pretty steep & technical terrain. You only have 600 to 700 feet of vertical to work with before you traverse back but it's fun terrain. Beyond that, they run a small cat skiing operation.

The other two trail pods have short but interesting advanced terrain but it tends to flatten out fairly quickly. There are also groomed wrap-around trails for the Texans but you won't use those.

I really like the bar/restaurant in the base lodge. I ate there pretty much every day. Good food & friendly service at modest prices.

I was there during March "spring break" (Texas school vacation week). I don't think I've ever seen so many white full-sized vans with Texas plates and Baptist Church markings. They tow little trailers where people put their skis & luggage. It's a real slice of 1960's Americana. You have non-skiing small town moms guarding picnic tables on the deck. Big wheeled coolers filled with 1960's lunch food. White bread, bologna, american cheese, miracle whip, the little shrink wrapped baked goods that never go stale... It was like my brown bag school lunch 40 years ago. I saw a lot of carhartt overalls and guys who looked like Chris Penn in Footloose. Everybody is super-friendly. A totally different universe from the northeast.

As others have said, you are not close to much of anything. Crested Butte is an hour from Monarch and 90 minutes from Salida. Wolf Creek is a haul to the south and must be at least 2 hours. I like Wolf Creek but you're likely not going to do too many day trips given the drive time. Going north, Ski Cooper is the first thing you hit. The back side will keep you entertained for a few hours but my driveway is steeper than the front side.

 

[filejw]

Hi Monarch is a great place and the closest to Salida. I spent a night in Salida on my way CB last yr and had a blast skiing at Monarch the next day. Wolf Creek is a nice day trip and has some of the best snow anyplace in the world and lots of it. CB is one of the best places I have ever skied , great big mt with lots of back country type skiing and worth the trip but bring your wallet. Monarch lift ticket was say 45$ and CB 85$.....

 

[snoseek]

I was there during March "spring break" (Texas school vacation week). I don't think I've ever seen so many white full-sized vans with Texas plates and Baptist Church markings. They tow little trailers where people put their skis & luggage. It's a real slice of 1960's Americana. You have non-skiing small town moms guarding picnic tables on the deck. Big wheeled coolers filled with 1960's lunch food. White bread, bologna, american cheese, miracle whip, the little shrink wrapped baked goods that never go stale... It was like my brown bag school lunch 40 years ago. I saw a lot of carhartt overalls and guys who looked like Chris Penn in Footloose. Everybody is super-friendly. A totally different universe from the northeast.

Hahaha funny but true.

 

[Whiteface Willy]

Thanks all. I appreciate the info. I live in Lake Placid and we are going to rent our house for the month of March if anyone is interested. It's a 4 bedroom 3 bath home 1 mile outside of the town and 10 miles from Whiteface. It comes with 2 ski lockers in the members only area to keep your skis & stuff at the Mt. PM me for rates if interested

The season pass at Monarch was only $319 and a locker was $125. Season pass included like 20 more days at other areas with no block out dates for free. The house we rented is 5 miles away from Monarch. We decided to go there because the weather in Salida is so good. We want to ride our bikes also. I also want to do a few 14K mountains. My childhood climbing buddy lives in Pueblo so we want to knock a few of those off.
Has anyone driven to A-Basin & Copper from there. They are the only 2 summit county areas I want to ski, been there already and love it. Copper includes cat skiing with lift ticket at least they did 2 years ago. Will go to CB, Wolf Creek and any other area I can get to.
I'm sick of the weather in the DAKs and want to move. The skiing at Whiteface is the best in the east when the Slides are open but when not it's just a big tease.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

Monarch rocks. No lift lines, untracked available a week after a storm, steep lines, easy BC access, etc.

Salida's a bit boring, but it's alright.

 

[BushMogulMaster]

You'll be a solid 2-3 hours from Copper/A-Basin, but it's doable.

 

[Razor]

Make sure that you check out Leadville, a truly unique town. If you're into hockey, they have an outdoor rink that's lit at night for pickup games.