Monarch ski area, Colorado

I had just finished a scrumptious dinner at the Himalayan restaurant in Big Bear Lake, CA when I got a lovely call from my mother. We chatted about what was going on lately and then she said she had an ambitious idea for a Christmas present for me, but I would have to wait until I got home to find out. I scarcely got inside the house before she spilled it out; "Would you be interested in skiing in CO for a week while I attend training for work in Lakewood?" No one in their right mind would turn that kind of an offer down!

Some days later and I had contacted my old friends Dan and Tyler who live in the Front Range and we were on! I would fly in on a Monday and leave on Friday, carefully coordinated with my mom's schedule for work so we could carpool. Despite our best planning intentions all kinds of things went wrong. I had my first 1 hour-long formal conference call for work immediately when I arrived (because my plane was 1.5 hours late to arrive) and had to take it in the baggage claim area. Our whole trip was hectic from the get-go. Thrifty rental car was all out of compact cars, so they gave her a black Hummer H3, which coincidentally was the same one my dad rented 2 years ago when he came to Denver for business. Needless to say the H3 was pretty lame; cramped interior, unfunctional small windows, underpowered and it just had an overall cheap feel to it. But, for some reason it is still a head turner, I think it is all hype.

Dan scooped me up in his Tacoma and after stopping at REI for some Telemark knee pads, we headed south to stay in Colorado Springs for the night. I went to bed early with some jet lag while they deliberated about which ski area to go to in the morning. We all decided the big resorts along I-70 were lame; exorbidant high prices, no new snow and of course crowding. Farther south, conditions were much more lucrative at Monarch ski area, which had gotten 30+ inches of fresh in the last 3-4 days. They get some of the most snow in the state, after Wolf Creek and it was clear that was our destination.

Monarch did not dissapoint! Although the runs were a bit tracked out, we seeked out little pow spots, especially ones where I could drop my knee a bit further to push it though!



The scenery was a part of CO I had not witnessed before, the Sawatch Range was pretty new to Dan and Tyler too. We all felt pretty spoiled to be skiing these conditions this early in the season. Our accomodations worked out well too, I was able to use my reward points to get us a free night and the place we stayed had a choice hot tub.

Monarch ski resort sits near Monarch Pass, which is a highpoint on US 50 where it crosses the continental divide and provides a unique vantage point to view the Sawatch range. This range and south to the San Juan range are I think among my favorite ranges in CO, and yet they are the ones I have least explored. I cannot confirm this, but Monarch ski area seemed to follow the Continental Divide, which is probably the reason why they get so much pow. A summit elevation of 11,300 feet (3,448) also helps too, everybody knows the higher you go the better everything is anyway.

Monarch was such a beautiful location, you really cannot deny the allure of the wild west if you're an easterner like me.


The last run of the day I told Tyler I would film him going along, so I did and it started off well, until I paid more attention to the camera. Watch for when I catch an edge and eat shit at the end!



Getting home after a wonderful ski week turned into a yard sale because of the blizzard that engulfed the east coast. My poor mom, all week she worked 11-12 hour days with a colleague to learn this new method in the lab. My 2 planes made it on American, she flew Frontier and hers got canceled. It took her 2 full days to finally get home. Then she had baggage issues because of checking her cooler full of critical samples and it had to be re-routed. Fortunately we all made it home safe, and for the first time ever at my home in Northern Virginia we got more snow than the wild west!