La Veta, Colorado — A ski area comeback years in the making celebrated a historic milestone last Saturday.
On Saturday, Cuchara Mountain Park opened up for the 2025-26 season. For the past few years, operations revolved around bringing guests up on a carriage attached to the snowcat. For this ski season, they were able to reopen the chairlift that volunteers have been working on for years to get operational.
Those dreams became a reality on Saturday, as Lift 4 reopened to the public. Crowds gathered at the base of Lift 4 to watch a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Cuchara Mountain operated with various owners from 1981 to 2000. It sat abandoned for years, but the county purchased it in 2017 and converted it into a non-profit operation.
The old Lift 4 serves a small footprint of the old ski resort. Lift 4 serves 9 trails across 47 skiable acres with a vertical drop of 300 feet. The old Lift 4 is a Riblet double chairlift that was installed in 1981. The chairlift can carry 1,200 people per hour and is 1,400 feet long. The rest of the old skiable terrain is accessible via ski touring.
The ski area will be open here on out on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Lift tickets are very reasonable compared to other Colorado counterparts, as a day pass goes for $45.
Image Credits: Cuchara Mountain Park, Cuchara Hermosa
