Monarch Snowcat Tours

JANUARY, 2007
SKIING MAGAZINE

Source: PIETER VAN NOORDENNEN

THINK BIG LAWYERS HAVE KILLED off all the powder cowboys? Well,you haven’t skied with Monarch Snowcat Tours. The 17-year-old, one-cat operation, tucked in central Colorado’s Sawatch Mountains behind Monarch Resort, takes skiers into 900 acres of vertigo-inducing chutes, forests so dense they shut out the light, and bowls covered in more chalk than a math teacher. MST’s guides continue to search for new lines in the operation’s ever-expanding permit area and push clients into little-explored backcountry pockets. What they don’t do is cater to pansies, so make sure you’re not in over your head. When I visited last March, one guy tumbled off a 20-foot cliff. Later, my brother took a 300-foot pinballer through Chute 3, a narrow, near-vertical gully with a two-turn crux. We were gripped for sure, but we’ll also remember the hero turns we left in a foot of Sahara-dry snow. Like any good cowboy operation, MST knows how to keep the cattle movin’.

SNOWPACK

Monarch’s nosebleed elevation (11,950 feet) makes for drier, often deeper snow than at nearby resorts like Crested Butte and Aspen. But a feast-or-famine storm cycle creates a notoriously layered and unstable snowpack. That’s why MST does two weeks of avalanche-control work before opening, patrollers bomb routes when necessary, and all MST clients wear beacons.

TERRAIN HIGHLIGHTS

Waterdog Ridge has a good mix of scary and sane. Head left for the tight, thigh-deep, 25-to 35-degree lines in No Name trees. Go right and slice 10-foot-wide, 40-plus-degree Chutes 1 through 5 – some of the Sawatch Range’s finest. Traverse farther down the ridge and arc through No Name bowl, a southwest-facing powder catch that drops a healthy 1,200 feet.

WEATHER

Monarch gets both kinds: snow and sun. Centrally located in the state, it benefits from storms tracking out of the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. Come in February for deep cold and blower, March for blinding sun… and more blower.

GUIDES

At least two guides accompany each group and all have Level II avy certification and training with Monarch Mountain’s ski patrol. Guide Gail Bindner has been with MST since its inception; the youngest guide, Chad Hixon, DJs on the cat, taking requests for everything from Johnny Cash to Gnarls Barkley.

LODGE

No glitzy condos, après parties, bacteria-filled hot tubs, or cheeseball bands here. In fact, there’s no lodging at all at Monarch’s base. Across the street from the resort, Monarch Mountain Lodge (monarchmountainlodge.com) offers newly renovated rooms with kitchenettes starting at $89. Otherwise, you’re staying in Salida, 15 miles down the eastern side of Monarch Pass, or at the five-star Hotel F-150.

CHOW

You’ll break for lunch (included) in a private room at Monarch’s lone restaurant the Sidewinder Saloon. Order a soup and sandwich with coleslaw to keep you charging until 4:30 P.M. Wash it down with the local tap water – Coors Light – or better yet just water. Bring plenty of snacks and Gatorade, too. You’ll want them on the cat.

BANG FOR BUCK

Get your friends together and rent the whole cat (12 spots for $183 each). You’ll save $440 and won’t get stuck with the usual assemblage of fat guys who can’t ski. Unless you brought them with you, of course.

MAX ELEVATION: 11,950 feet; MAX VERTICAL DROP: 1,400 feet; AVERAGE VERTICAL LOGGED PER DAY: 16,000 feet; PRICE: $220 per person; $150 early or late season. GETTING THERE: From Denver, head south on Highway 285 (or south on Route 91 from Copper Mountain), and turn right toward Gunnison on Highway 50 in Poncha Springs. Monarch Mountain sits at the top of the pass. INFO: skimonarch.com