Durango, Colorado — Purgatory Resort has had a strange 2025. A less snowy winter resulted in underwhelming visitation, which led to layoffs of seasonal staff. There were also rumors regarding the ski resort’s future due to the need to bridge a $900,000 gap in order to refinance a loan.
Those future fears were partially lifted when the ski resort announced a terrain expansion and a new fixed-grip triple chairlift (from SkyTrac, but also technically the old Lift 8 at Purgatory) for the 2025-26 season. The problem with that plan is that it meant Purgatory Resort thought that it had the permits before this summer, leading to an unfortunate series of events. As a result, the expansion has now been pushed back by a year.
Yesterday, Purgatory Resort officially announced that it won’t be opening the Gelande chairlift during the 2025-26 season due to permitting delays. According to the Durango Herald, Purgatory has been unable to get the needed regulatory approvals from the local county. However, if conditions permit, there’s a possibility that the trails could open for guests if there’s sufficient snowpack.
There are still a lot of improvements on tap for Purgatory next winter, as Mountain Capital Partners has spent over $1.25 million on projects this offseason. This includes expanding snowmaking in the Legends terrain pod, the addition of a heated bathroom trailer at the Columbine beginner area, and new equipment and systems at Purgatory’s rental department.
If Purgatory receives the necessary approvals, construction will commence during the 2026 offseason, with the potential opening scheduled for winter 2026-27. For next summer, Purgatory does plan to operate its mountain biking park.
The one head-scratching thing for me about this situation is that Purgatory actually had a terrain expansion that they got the thumbs up on. The Ice Creek expansion would add new beginner and intermediate terrain to the ski resort. It was approved by the US Forest Service in 2022, but Purgatory has put that project in… well, purgatory. No clear reasoning has been given why this expansion hasn’t moved forward.
Overall, the whole ordeal is just an odd situation. Hopefully, we’ll see Purgatory have a better winter than last time around, and the chairlift gets installed next year.
Image/Video Credits: Purgatory Resort
