Colorado ski area gains approval to grow lift-served terrain

After years of dreaming and more years of government review, Monarch Mountain is officially expanding its lift-served ski terrain.

"We're ecstatic," Bob Nicolls said Tuesday, soon after his ownership group received final approval from the U.S. Forest Service for the Chaffee County ski area to develop the mountain's backside.

Over the west side of the Continental Divide, No Name Basin for years has been the scene of guided, catski outings. Now, after a lengthy federal review, Monarch Mountain has the green light to build a chairlift and cut trails across No Name Basin — adding 377 acres to the 769 acres that have been under the Forest Service's special use permit.

The expansion was envisioned in Monarch Mountain's 2011 master plan. The vision long predates that plan.

"I won't even put it in terms of years," said Nicolls, whose LLC took ownership of Monarch in 2002. "It's going to be a tremendous addition to Monarch, while keeping Monarch in the same genre that it's always been."

Countering mega resorts near the Front Range, Monarch Mountain has built its brand on modesty and all-natural snow while reporting a steady increase of visitors over the years.

"When we bought the ski area (22 years ago), we were kind of averaging around 150,000 skiers, and last year we were close to 220,000," Nicolls said. "So the public likes what we're offering, and we want to offer a little bit more."

After recent years of expanded parking and lodge updates, now the focus is to spread people out to No Name Basin's north-facing terrain.

The Forest Service's review described the vision for the terrain as "low intermediate, intermediate and advanced-intermediate with a vertical rise of approximately 960 feet." The plan calls for 62 acres of traditional timber-cleared runs, with another 75 acres set aside for tree skiing.

The plan also calls for an 8,600-foot access road reaching the bottom of a three-person chairlift. The lift will rise to the top of the Continental Divide overlooking Monarch's front side.

The ski area aims to build the access road, extend power and start cutting runs this summer. Nicolls said the goal would be to install the lift and build a warming hut and restrooms in the summer of 2025, with the aim to open No Name Basin that winter.

And so the 2025-26 ski season is poised to mark the end of what Nicolls described as a "long, arduous and difficult process."

That might be gleaned from the Forest Service's 43-page environmental assessment and "finding of no significant impact" and some 292 public comments the agency reported receiving.

Released last spring, that assessment came about two years after the Forest Service launched its official consideration of the No Name Basin expansion — a decade after Monarch's master plan approval.

The official consideration meant "that our dream of introducing more terrain to our guests is no longer simply a dream," Monarch COO Randy Stroud said at the time.

Letters of support to the Forest Service indeed spoke to a dream coming true.

One spoke to improving "winter outdoor recreation for this region of the state and also ski safety by dispersing the skier volume across a larger footprint, instead of all the volume funneling to the base."

Read another letter: "The current ski/snowboard area is too small to be competitive with larger resort areas long-term. Skiers and snowboarders expect more skiable/rideable terrain and variety."

Another supporter credited Monarch for "invest(ing) significant capital in facilities and infrastructure that will accommodate additional growth that may occur with opening of No Name terrain." The Forest Service noted 10 years of parking expansions at Monarch, including most recently 385 spots acquired with the purchase of the Monarch Crest Visitor Center in shuttle distance.

"Maybe 30,000 more people are going to come to Monarch (every year), and to that I say, Why not?" Nicolls said. "We have the facilities to take care of them."

Several letters to the Forest Service expressed doubt.

"Access for skiing in No Name already exists today through Monarch's snowcat operations," one wrote, "and the additional infrastructure proposed in connection with the expansion stands to increase recreational access and (diminish) enjoyment."

More critics wished for the continued "backcountry/sidecountry area." They pointed to what they saw as environmental threats.

"Building roads and clearing/thinning trees in wetland areas seems pretty reckless. And building the bottom terminal so close to wetlands also seems reckless," read another comment to the Forest Service. "I’m willing to believe this is the most economical plan Monarch came up with, but I do not believe it is the most responsible plan."

The lift terminal locations "have been adjusted to avoid direct impacts to wetlands," the Forest Service replied, noting a benefit of beetle kill trees being removed.

"Based on the resource analysis conducted for this project, significant impacts to forest health are not anticipated," the agency emphasized.

Officials in May held what they called "a formal objection resolution meeting." That included a reported resolution with the Continental Divide Trail Coalition. Advocates had stated concerns over a 700-foot portion of the trail being rerouted for the lift's top terminal.