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Colorado 2021-2022 Colorado Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

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nay

dirt heel pusher
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Some major potential changes for us this coming season. We are hopefully buying a place in Gunnison (not moving full time, kids in school there for next 5+ years) and we’re seriously considering Monarch passes as our home mountain.

That would be 3 days @ LL, A-Basin, and Copper looking back to I-70 and I have a season pass at A-Basin. There are also days in other SW resorts - a pivot to skiing more new resorts. It looks ideal for skiing less on I-70 with more variety.

Not fully committed but it’s making an awful lot of sense. And maybe Epic longer term for CB….
 

djetok

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Some major potential changes for us this coming season. We are hopefully buying a place in Gunnison (not moving full time, kids in school there for next 5+ years) and we’re seriously considering Monarch passes as our home mountain.

That would be 3 days @ LL, A-Basin, and Copper looking back to I-70 and I have a season pass at A-Basin. There are also days in other SW resorts - a pivot to skiing more new resorts. It looks ideal for skiing less on I-70 with more variety.

Not fully committed but it’s making an awful lot of sense. And maybe Epic longer term for CB….

Randy just sent this out on how Monarch will operate this season.

To our Monarch Family,

I hope this finds you all doing well. Last season was certainly one for the ages. With all the rules and regulations that were implemented to help protect one another from the pandemic it was quite a dance not only within our workforce or between guests but also between guests and our work force. By the end of the season, I was thrilled we pulled it off successfully, and ecstatic to not have to do it again. Or so I thought. Last season we had some pretty restrictive protocols and thankfully some of those have been lifted for now, but some protocols will still have to be implemented due to the current surge in the pandemic. Without a doubt there were numerous things we learned and we will continue to implement some of our changes from last season because they were beneficial on many levels. Most importantly, we will be keeping changes that improved the guest experience.

So, yes, you will see that we still have plexiglass dividers and hand sanitizer everywhere. We will continue to provide a touchless environment the best we can, and all employees will be wearing masks while indoors in public facing areas whether they have been vaccinated or not. We are doing so not because we are being forced to by our local health department, but because we strongly believe we need to do whatever we can to protect those who have not been vaccinated. We all know that children under the age of 12 cannot get a vaccine yet. They are the lifeblood of our community, and we must protect them. In this light I recommend that everyone wears a mask indoors for now. It would be a good show of community pride whether you have traveled from afar or live nearby.

About vaccinations, we are not mandating that all employees be vaccinated since over 65% of our employees work outdoors. Currently there are no restrictions outdoors regarding distancing or mask wearing. We are mandating some departments who work closely with the public, especially with those who are age 12 and under, to be vaccinated. Ski School Instructors, Ski Patrollers, Cat Skiing Guides, and Administration all must be vaccinated.

Last season we restricted the number of tickets we sold on the weekend and during the holidays. This season we will not be doing that, per se, but may have to if crowding and/or parking becomes an issue. There is still only one way to ensure that you can ski any day you like and that is to purchase a Monarch season pass … which, mind you, is the best season pass in the industry. The value of our pass is unmatched with unlimited skiing here and over seventy days of skiing at our partner resorts.

To improve your experience here we have increased our parking by several hundred spaces and made some improvements to the lodge to help consolidate the Food and Beverage venues and increase space in the retail shop. We are also introducing RFID gates at the lifts. Your passes and tickets will no longer need to be visible for us to scan. As long as you have it in a pocket on your left side somewhere between your knee and shoulder the gate will automatically open for you. Don’t worry - we will still have a Liftie there to greet you, view your digital photo, and help should anything go awry. Many resorts are using this technology so you may already be familiar with this kind of ticketing, but for those of you who are not, feel free to hit us up with any questions you may have.

Lastly, contrary to my hopes, we need to remember that this pandemic is not over. As such we still need to hunker down and get this right. At the very least, we know that outdoor recreation is a great way to enjoy sharing our passions. It will be comforting to be able to see everyone’s smiling faces in the lift lines again and indoors we can get back together more so than last season.

So if I may one more time? … and at risk of repeating myself, I ask you to consider the following:

  • Avoid weekends when possible. If given the choice, we strongly recommend skiing the weekdays; continue with the “Weekday Warrior” movement. We know this is not possible for everyone, but those who can and do will be helping those who cannot.

  • Avoid historically busy days. This season these days are December 26 through January 2, MLK weekend, and Presidents Day weekend. Let’s let our more holiday constrained visitors have some fun during this time.

  • It is still important to “know before you go” so keep checking skimonarch.com for developing stories and updates or stay in the loop to all our offerings by joining our newsletter from the website.

**Of course, should we need to adjust as the environment either worsens or improves we will.



Warm Regards,
 

nay

dirt heel pusher
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Randy just sent this out on how Monarch will operate this season.


Always a fan of emotionally intelligent communication:beercheer:. All the more reason to buy, and in the purest sense of our times, lots there about crowding in a place that doesn’t day trip well from any place big…
 

djetok

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Always a fan of emotionally intelligent communication:beercheer:. All the more reason to buy, and in the purest sense of our times, lots there about crowding in a place that doesn’t day trip well from any place big…
Yeah he seems like a well grounded person.
 
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mikel

mikel

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Seems like VR is embracing the "who will open 1st" race.

Vail Resorts plans to open Keystone Resort ‘as early as possible in October’


 
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Eagle93

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Was it last year (or maybe two years ago) that A-Basin opened for 2-3 hours the afternoon prior to Keystone's previously announced opening? VR spent a ton of money on the automatic snowmaking expansion on Schoolmarm, with each gun having it's own weather station to kick on/off individually. So it's dips down cold enough at 2am, the guns startup themselves, without someone having to be there. Or at least that is how I understand it. Probably somebody sitting in a control center watching a dashboard of KPIs in case of failures.
 

Tonyr4

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Some major potential changes for us this coming season. We are hopefully buying a place in Gunnison (not moving full time, kids in school there for next 5+ years) and we’re seriously considering Monarch passes as our home mountain.

That would be 3 days @ LL, A-Basin, and Copper looking back to I-70 and I have a season pass at A-Basin. There are also days in other SW resorts - a pivot to skiing more new resorts. It looks ideal for skiing less on I-70 with more variety.

Not fully committed but it’s making an awful lot of sense. And maybe Epic longer term for CB….

Congrats on the new home, Gunnison & Crested Butte are awesome areas!

Have you ever driven on the road from Gunnison to Monarch? It's call the Monarch pass and it has to be one of the most terrifying roads that I've ever been on. If it snows alot they close the pass otherwise the road twists and turns and there are no guard rails. If your car slips it goes right over the edge of the mountain. I'd seriously consider sticking with the half hour drive to Crested Butte.
 

nay

dirt heel pusher
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Congrats on the new home, Gunnison & Crested Butte are awesome areas!

Have you ever driven on the road from Gunnison to Monarch? It's call the Monarch pass and it has to be one of the most terrifying roads that I've ever been on. If it snows alot they close the pass otherwise the road twists and turns and there are no guard rails. If your car slips it goes right over the edge of the mountain. I'd seriously consider sticking with the half hour drive to Crested Butte.

I do stuff like this, Monarch is just a highway.:P

 

Jack skis

Ex 207cm VR17 Skier
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Fidalgo Island, WA
Opinions vary. I got my first drivers license in Colorado 71 years ago and have since driven many mountain miles summer and winter. So my opinion of driving Monarch Pass? It ain't so bad. Though the Gunnison - CB drive is roughly half as far and pretty flat.
 

djetok

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Edmond, OK
Congrats on the new home, Gunnison & Crested Butte are awesome areas!

Have you ever driven on the road from Gunnison to Monarch? It's call the Monarch pass and it has to be one of the most terrifying roads that I've ever been on. If it snows alot they close the pass otherwise the road twists and turns and there are no guard rails. If your car slips it goes right over the edge of the mountain. I'd seriously consider sticking with the half hour drive to Crested Butte.
US 50 Monarch pass can be bad on the western side. I have never driven it and regretted it. There was one time that a dump was occurring the night before we left Mt. CB. By the time we got there it was plowed already. Those road crews do a great job imo.
 
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Eric@ict

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Como, Colorado.
Was it last year (or maybe two years ago) that A-Basin opened for 2-3 hours the afternoon prior to Keystone's previously announced opening? VR spent a ton of money on the automatic snowmaking expansion on Schoolmarm, with each gun having it's own weather station to kick on/off individually. So it's dips down cold enough at 2am, the guns startup themselves, without someone having to be there. Or at least that is how I understand it. Probably somebody sitting in a control center watching a dashboard of KPIs in case of failures.
I think it was a couple of years ago. Time slips, but I remember laughing when it happened. A-Basin always the rebel.
 

weatherman

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Was it last year (or maybe two years ago) that A-Basin opened for 2-3 hours the afternoon prior to Keystone's previously announced opening? VR spent a ton of money on the automatic snowmaking expansion on Schoolmarm, with each gun having it's own weather station to kick on/off individually. So it's dips down cold enough at 2am, the guns startup themselves, without someone having to be there. Or at least that is how I understand it. Probably somebody sitting in a control center watching a dashboard of KPIs in case of failures.
That automated system on Schoolmarm is impressive. Last year opening day (November 9?) was declared months in advance. That day Schoolmarm was buried with wall-to-wall coverage serviced by three detachable lifts. A-Basin right next door and even higher was struggling with a WROD.
 

Eagle93

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MN
That automated system on Schoolmarm is impressive. Last year opening day (November 9?) was declared months in advance. That day Schoolmarm was buried with wall-to-wall coverage serviced by three detachable lifts. A-Basin right next door and even higher was struggling with a WROD.

Yes it is, but it's really only possible because Keystone has the advantage of much more water availability than A-Basin. I think I read somewhere that Keystone actually pumps water from Lake Dillon, so essentially has a limitless water supply. A-Basin only has whatever falls and melts above their own little reservoir and even then can only divert so much.

I enjoy skiing at both, but always root for A-Basin more. I'm influenced by the underdog syndrome to some extent, but beyond that A-Basin just has that something extra in its atmosphere.
 

BTaylor

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I think I read somewhere that Keystone actually pumps water from Lake Dillon, so essentially has a limitless water supply.

Keystone has a long-standing agreement with Denver Water to pump 1,500 acre feet of water directly out of the Roberts Tunnel each ski season. The Roberts Tunnel is Denver Water's 23-mile tunnel under the Continental Divide that moves water from the Dillon Reservoir to the Front Range. The resort sits almost directly over the Tunnel (900 feet below), so it's a sweet deal for the snow-makers at Keystone.

1,500 acre feet of water is almost a half billion gallons H20!
 
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