MONARCH MOUNTAIN, Colo. — Boasting all natural snow, and plenty of it, Monarch Mountain is a favorite place to ski for Southern Colorado.
When big storms threaten to dump heavy snow on the ski area, the avalanche risk can go way up.
The avalanche mitigation team at Monarch Mountain works hard to ensure that their guests have a safe and enjoyable time on the mountain.
They tend to the mountain daily, often times producing man-made avalanches to prevent a bigger, more significant slide from happening.
Austin Divesta, Monarch Mountain's Assistant Ski Patrol Director says it's wise to carry a beacon, a shovel and a probe when doing backcountry skiing. These backcountry locations, although beautiful and often untouched because of their remote access, are more hazardous because of a higher potential for naturally occurring avalanches.
Monarch Mountain ski patrol encourages backcountry skiers and boarders to take an avalanche training course, and to pay close attention to the forecast.
In addition, Monarch's team also has three avalanche dogs that are trained in avalanche rescue.
With almost 200" of snowfall so far this season, Monarch Mountain is expected to stay open through April 5, 2020. For more information, visit their website: https://www.skimonarch.com/
