jamesdeluxe
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
For my final ski weekend of the season, I headed back to Colorado to get a few more days on my Loveland season pass. After a couple hours on Route 285 through expansive unpopulated valleys, you turn right onto Route 50 and head up toward Monarch Pass, in the distance on the left:
Even though all of the snow in the Front Range has melted, including the storm in mid-March that dropped up to two feet on Denver, here at 11,000 feet there's still 100% coverage.
The people in the SUV next to me had this cute pitbull, Ollie, who quickly made friends with the parking attendant:
Similar to Loveland, Monarch has had a subpar winter and is 50 inches below its annual average:
Monarch is located right on the Continental Divide, which separates water flowing into the Atlantic and Pacific ocean basins, so a fair amount of the terrain is directly east-facing:
With a majority of intermediate terrain, trees that go to the summit, and no rain ever at this high elevation, conditions are almost always nice here. With temps in the low 40s and blue skies, we were lined up for excellent spring skiing:
Even on a busy Saturday, there was plenty of elbow room. Impressive how Monarch spreads people out across its relatively small footprint, less than 700 lift-served acres:
Little Mo is a beautiful rolling trail that I did eight times in a row to start the day. By 9 am, the sun had softened it up perfectly:
A tele girl on the Turbo trail:
I've done this hike a few times before and it was absolutely worth it but during spring conditions, if the snow hasn't been compacted by skiers, it's tough going so I took a pass --
-- and headed over to Outback Bowl, straight ahead, which is always fun:
I skied basically nonstop from 8:45 to 2:15, at which time my legs said no mas, so I headed back into Salida to check out the cute town with lots of brick buildings. Monarch ski area has its own store, on the left:
There are snow-capped mountains in virtually every direction, including from the town park:
The Great Divide restaurant, where I had drinks and an early dinner on their outdoor stage:
The Arkansas River is a big attraction around here for all sorts of recreational pursuits, including right in town, where people were swimming, rafting, fishing, boogie-boarding, biking, walking, playing fetch with their dogs, etc.
Even though all of the snow in the Front Range has melted, including the storm in mid-March that dropped up to two feet on Denver, here at 11,000 feet there's still 100% coverage.
The people in the SUV next to me had this cute pitbull, Ollie, who quickly made friends with the parking attendant:
Similar to Loveland, Monarch has had a subpar winter and is 50 inches below its annual average:
Monarch is located right on the Continental Divide, which separates water flowing into the Atlantic and Pacific ocean basins, so a fair amount of the terrain is directly east-facing:
With a majority of intermediate terrain, trees that go to the summit, and no rain ever at this high elevation, conditions are almost always nice here. With temps in the low 40s and blue skies, we were lined up for excellent spring skiing:
Even on a busy Saturday, there was plenty of elbow room. Impressive how Monarch spreads people out across its relatively small footprint, less than 700 lift-served acres:
Little Mo is a beautiful rolling trail that I did eight times in a row to start the day. By 9 am, the sun had softened it up perfectly:
A tele girl on the Turbo trail:
I've done this hike a few times before and it was absolutely worth it but during spring conditions, if the snow hasn't been compacted by skiers, it's tough going so I took a pass --
-- and headed over to Outback Bowl, straight ahead, which is always fun:
I skied basically nonstop from 8:45 to 2:15, at which time my legs said no mas, so I headed back into Salida to check out the cute town with lots of brick buildings. Monarch ski area has its own store, on the left:
There are snow-capped mountains in virtually every direction, including from the town park:
The Great Divide restaurant, where I had drinks and an early dinner on their outdoor stage:
The Arkansas River is a big attraction around here for all sorts of recreational pursuits, including right in town, where people were swimming, rafting, fishing, boogie-boarding, biking, walking, playing fetch with their dogs, etc.
