For the last decade, there have been three big questions that everyone asks about. The topics of these questions involve…beetle infested trees (What are you going to do about them?), mountain biking in the summer (Why don’t you have lift served MTB?) and the new lift off the backside (When is it going in?). Out of these three, the most frequent one we are asked about is the terrain expansion into the No Name Basin.

The 2011 Monarch Mountain Master Development Plan (MDP) detailed several future projects including the expansion onto the west side of the Continental Divide. The expansion would add approximately 350 acres of skiing/riding with about a thousand vertical foot drop. The terrain is primarily intermediate in nature with slopes of 25%-45% with the majority of this area having a west/northwest aspect.

We have recently initiated new discussions with the USFS and the SE Group about moving forward with this plan. We hosted a meeting last week and toured the area utilizing our MCS snowcat roads for access. Soon, we plan to formally propose moving forward with this project.

The project will begin initially with additional environmental studies and design work. We plan to be openly engaged with the public on this process and anticipate it being about a multi-year project prior to implementation. This is exciting news πηγή του άρθρου! Stay tuned for details as the process unfolds.