Monarch Mountain’s 377-Acre Expansion Clears Environmental Assessment
By: Heather Willard Posted: Mar 4, 2024 / 06:53 PM MST Updated: Mar 4, 2024 / 06:53 PM MST
DENVER (KDVR) — Monarch Mountain has passed a major milestone in its quest to expand.
The U.S. Forest Service conducted an environmental assessment for the proposed expansion into No Name Basin, which would add 377 acres of lift-serviced skiing to the area. The assessment found no significant impacts, and as of Feb. 22, a 45-day comment period about the proposed expansion project has begun.
Monarch Mountain ski area’s proposed expansion, if no one objects within the next couple of weeks, would:
- Expand Monarch’s special use permit area from 769 acres to 1,146 acres
- Construct a new 2,700-foot-long fixed-grip chairlift
- Construct up to an 8,600-foot-long permanent access road from the existing special use permit area to the bottom terminal of the proposed chairlift
- Develop about 62 acres of traditionally cleared terrain and 75 acres of gladed terrain, including low intermediate, intermediate and advanced-intermediate terrain
- Construct a warming hut and restroom at the bottom terminal of the chairlift
- Realign approximately 700 feet of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
This project has been years in the making. PowderMonarch LLC, which owns Monarch Mountain ski area, filed its application for the expansion on Oct. 6, 2021. Monarch is also one of the oldest ski areas in the state, having first opened to the public in 1939, according to the Forest Service’s environmental assessment of the project.
Overall, the Forest Service determined the project would have both short- and long-term effects, but no known long-term significant adverse effects to wildlife, botany, hydrology, climate change, scenery or recreation.
“Project activities are limited in scale, and design criteria has further reduced the impacts of the project. Effects are local in nature and are not expected to significantly affect regional or national resources,” the assessment reads.
On Sept. 22, 2023, Monarch began to advertise the project and seek public comment through a legal posting in the regional paper of record, the Pueblo Chieftain. The posting allowed for 30 days of public comment and garnered at least 292 letters. A new notice was published on Feb. 22 in the Chieftain, with a 45-day opportunity for residents to object.
If there are no objections within those 45 days, the Forest Service’s decision can be implemented, at least until the end of 2029, when the decision expires and Monarch must obtain a new one.