Hesperus, Colorado- After a mechanical issue forced Hesperus Ski Area to remain closed this ski season, it sounds like they’ll be shuttered again next winter too.
The Durango Herald reports that Hesperus Ski Area doesn’t plan on opening for the 2024-25 season. Back in December 2023, Hesperus Ski Area announced that they wouldn’t open for the 2023-24 season due to a gearbox failure on the Bighorn chairlift.
Two major projects need to be done before Hesperus can reopen. The first is a new gearbox for the mountain’s lone chairlift, which will cost at least $200,000. Before they take on this project though, Mountain Capital Partners wants to see if they can install snowmaking at the ski area. When they purchased Hesperus in 2016, they planned on adding snowmaking to the ski area. This hasn’t happened yet, and with shortening seasons and a lack of natural snowfall, MCP has only had more revenue than expenses for one winter since they bought the ski area. To invest in making the necessary repairs to the chairlift, MCP wants to determine if they can add snowmaking to the mountain.
According to Dave Rathbun, who’s the GM of Purgatory Resort and Hesperus Ski Area, a permanent closure isn’t out of the equation if they can’t figure out the snowmaking issue, but they’re aiming to reopen the ski area:
“We’re not hanging up our spurs here, so to speak. We’re taking a pause. Let’s keep working on it. Let’s keep thinking about alternatives and options. But until we figure this out and get some kind of snowmaking out there, we’re gonna take a pause.”
Mountain Capital Partners has grown quickly over the past few years, becoming operators of mountains like Lee Canyon, Sandia Peak, Valle Nevado, and Willamette Pass. Unfortunately, the growing ski conglomerate has been dealing with a handful of issues this season, including a broken chairlift at Nordic Valley, and this situation at Hesperus.
Click here to read the full article from The Durango Herald.
Image Credits: Hesperus Ski Area, Mountain Capital Partners
