With the electronic stroke of a pen, the Forest Service green-lighted a 377 acre expansion of Colorado’s Monarch Mountain yesterday. The project will include 62 acres of cleared trails, gladed terrain, a fixed grip triple chairlift, restrooms and a warming hut in No Name Basin. “We are SO excited to actually get started on this project after years of planning and project review by multiple entities,” said Scott Pressly, Vice President of Mountain Operations. The basin’s 2,700 foot chairlift will rise 960 vertical feet and become Monarch’s first new lift in 25 years.
The no-frills ski area plans to begin work soon. “This project will involve two summers of construction (2024 & 2025) with the No Name Basin terrain scheduled to open for the 2025-26 winter season,” wrote Pressly. Monarch has not publicly identified the manufacturer of the new lift, though Skytrac built its very first lift drive terminal at the ski area, naming it the Monarch.
Lift Blog 
I think for Monarch to really break the mold, they would have to get an out-of-base detachable chairlift first. There are still a lot of slower fixed lifts at the mountain.
This is still a huge improvement though, and it is great to see an expansion project finally get a green light by the forest service.
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No need for a detach at Monarch. Nothing is long enough and they’re good abut running their lifts at full speed. They’re a great example of how newer and faster isn’t always better.
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No Name will be a great addition. It will actually have the most lift served vertical. Monarch is one of my favorite spots, I will have to head back once the new lift is added.
As for the other lifts, I really don’t see a need for a detachable. None of their lifts are over 4,000 feet long. Maybe the Pioneer lift could be high-speed quad to help beginners as it runs really slow. If they moved it down slightly and graded the catwalk a little better for the green runs on looker’s left it may get enough traffic to justify a detachable. I don’t really see any other lift being a possibility for a detachable.
My upgrades:
Garfield – The lift is old but believe has been upgraded a lot, I wouldn’t change it as I don’t want more people to use it.
Breezeway – This could use more capacity, probably a fixed grip triple or quad. It will probably be busier with No Name as people will most likely access it from here.
Panorama – Upgrade to a fixed grip triple.
Pioneer – Maybe upgrade to a high speed quad but probably not for a while. This is the newest lift outside of No Name.
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It’s very exciting to hear that the no name expantion has been approved… Locking forward to sking and snowboarding the new terane…. Love to all. John.
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