The Monarch Cat Skiing Operators continue to make substantial progress. We now have over the snow roads from the top of Mirkwood that lead to the top of the Waterdog Ridge, down underneath to the Dog Heaven Pick-up, down to the North Elation Pick-up and up to the top of No Name. They are now working on the next big drop…to the bottom of No Name Basin.

This is a multi-day project that involves several steps. Yesterday, they finished pushing the “tongue” of snow down the western side of the ridge-top to treeline. Now they have a steeper section that requires winch cat work before covering some side-hill terrain to the switchback. From there its some more winch work and fine blade skills to cover ground to the spur pick-up (Beasley’s) and down to the bottom of the bowl for the lower pick-up.

It’s a big task but the road opens up our skiing on the western side of the Continental Divide and down into the Gunnison National Forest. Our first scheduled tour is December 28th. More info on Monarch Cat skiing can be found here.