Colorado — One of the most anticipated additions in North America’s ski industry for the 2025-26 season will be the expansion at Monarch Mountain.
The 377-acre expansion into No Name Basin will add new intermediate and advanced trails and glades to the ski area. In addition, the base area of No Name will feature a warming hut, vault toilets, and a ski patrol building.
“Besides just the seven runs, the woods are huge,” said Scott Pressly, the Director of Mountain Operations at Monarch, to the Colorado Spring Gazzette. “You could keep busy all day back there.”
The expansion will be serviced by a new Skytrac fixed-grip triple chairlift. The Tomichi chairlift will have a vertical rise of around 1,000 feet. This is Monarch’s first new chairlift since the addition of Pioneer in 1999.
“This lift is going to be a game changer and open up the option to drop off either side of the Divide and catch a ride back to the top,” said Pressly.
Work has been focused this summer on completing the chairlift in time to have it inspected in the fall. This offseason, work has been underway on installing the lift. Last month, helicopter crews installed the lift towers.
The latest step completed was the installation of the haul rope, which is now on the lift. The rope splice is scheduled for next week.
An opening date for the terrain expansion has yet to be announced. Monarch Mountain has no snowmaking, meaning it relies on natural snowpack to open. However, depending on where the snow lands, it could be a part of the opening day lineup.
“It depends on which way the wind is blowing for those early-season storms,” said Bob Nicolls, the owner of Monarch, to the Colorado Springs Gazzette. “It could be better snow back there than the front side.”
For the latest developments on Monarch Mountain and its expansion, check out Scott’s Blog.
Image/Video Credits: Monarch Mountain, KOAA News 5
