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Monarch Mountain has opened No Name Basin, marking the biggest expansion in the resort's history and the largest ski terrain addition in Colorado this year. The new area adds 377 acres of skiable terrain and brings the mountain to 78 of its 80 trails open, giving it one of the highest open terrain percentages of any resort statewide.
I spoke with General Manager Chris Haggerty about what visitors can expect from this significant expansion.
"It's 50 percent more of what you love about Monarch right? So whether it's the trees, the intermediate and advanced terrain, the hike to terrain, like it's all there," Haggerty said.
The Monarch team spent the last several weeks preparing the new terrain for opening. No Name Basin features a vertical drop slightly greater than 1,000 feet with intermediate and advanced runs, including a mix of bowls and glades. With this expansion, skiers can now experience both sides of the Continental Divide in a single day.
"It gives completely different views, looking out over the Gunnison Valley and you can even see like the San Juans and stuff like that in the distance," Haggerty said.
Haggerty also pointed to the difference in terrain style with this expansion, noting that multiple runs have long direct fall lines.
Weather conditions look favorable and quiet for the weekend, with a warming trend expected between Friday and Monday. You can expect a chilly high of 18 degrees on Friday, with highs rising to the freezing mark by Monday. Since Monarch relies entirely on natural snow, these conditions are ideal for maintaining snow quality.
In the course of this interview, we also discussed Monarch's unique snow farming program. Using a series of permanent and movable fences, the resort uniquely in the state captures snow that is being wind drifted. This enables them to "harvest" snow, even when none is actively falling from the sky. This is partly why their base depths have remained as high as they have despite long dry stretches of weather.
Statewide, no major snow events are in the cards for this weekend. A few northern mountain snow showers are possible...significant snow is not likely. The next opportunity for mountain snow will come early next week from a northern clipper system.
This weekend promises to be quiet on the slopes - not as cold as last weekend's brutal arctic blast - making it a good time to experience Monarch's expanded terrain regardless of which day you choose to visit.
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