No Name Expansion probably coming. It is posted on FS USDA site. “Monarch Mountain is proposing to expand its special use permit boundary by approximately 377 acres to develop 139 acres of new terrain. The ski area also proposes a new 2700 foot long chairlift, a warming hut, restroom, and access road.” https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=61373
New documents posted. Plans looks about the same as what was originally outlined in the 2011 MDP with just some minor tweaks on the trail alignments and slightly more acreage. This will be a great addition and would add more intermediate, advanced, and glade runs. This will actually be the steepest and largest vertical lift (960 feet) at Monarch. The terrain has less runout and more consistent pitch than the existing areas. https://usfs-public.app.box.com/v/PinyonPublic/folder/158230288108
Not where I thought the lift was going to go. I figured it would top out further up the ridge from Breezeway, maybe on that first bench on the cat road. Either way, should it get approved, it’ll be a fun addition.
The inefficient lift system is an unfortunate weak point of an otherwise fun mountain. All lifts constantly slow down and stop frequently sometimes more than 5 times each ride. Not sure if it is clientelle not using the lifts correctly or inefficient lift operations policy (I have noticed the chair slows every time a child loads or unloads regardless of ability), not sure if they have been sued at some point or just going over the top to try to prevent it. I realize Monarch probably doesn’t have $20 million lying around but if they did, a great way to use it is:
Replace Garfield with HSS and regrade top area improving the section where one must hike above the current lift shack to access many of those runs such as Lobo and No Name, move Pioneer to become the No Name bowl lift (already approved and tentatively scheduled to have a FGQ of some sort installed in 2025. Install a Curecanti rope tow running from near top of new Garfield to top of current Pioneer
Replace Panorama with HSQ
Use current Garfiled (due to the newer drive terminal) to reinstall at the beginning of the runout at bottom of Mirkwood to the top of Orcs enabling one to lap Mirkwood once they are in the bowl without making it too accessible to those who might be “over their heads”
Meanwhile, I look forward to exploring the No Name bowl in 2025 but hope they can improve the efficiency of the lifts in someway meanwhile. Apart from this issue, the mountain has a great vibe with many fun trails.
Monarch has no desire to install high speed lifts. Their much more expensive to maintain with all the added moving parts that need replacement periodically. And they don’t really have enough vertical drop to justify having a high speed lift anyways, would kinda just be a waist of money. Even with a slower fixed grip lift the ride times aren’t very long. They’ve already replaced all the drive terminals with newer and faster skytrac terminals to increase the speed of the lifts and keep the old Hall double chairs spinning for many years to come. The only lift without a new faster drive terminal is the CTEC quad. The new lift will be a skytrac fixed grip triple chair. Not sure how fast it’ll be but probably pretty comparable to breezeway and the Garfield lifts speed.
Lift Blog 
Chairlift was first installed in 1960 on Gunbarrel from Pioneer
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Garfield*
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No Name Expansion probably coming. It is posted on FS USDA site. “Monarch Mountain is proposing to expand its special use permit boundary by approximately 377 acres to develop 139 acres of new terrain. The ski area also proposes a new 2700 foot long chairlift, a warming hut, restroom, and access road.”
https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=61373
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New documents posted. Plans looks about the same as what was originally outlined in the 2011 MDP with just some minor tweaks on the trail alignments and slightly more acreage. This will be a great addition and would add more intermediate, advanced, and glade runs. This will actually be the steepest and largest vertical lift (960 feet) at Monarch. The terrain has less runout and more consistent pitch than the existing areas. https://usfs-public.app.box.com/v/PinyonPublic/folder/158230288108
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Not where I thought the lift was going to go. I figured it would top out further up the ridge from Breezeway, maybe on that first bench on the cat road. Either way, should it get approved, it’ll be a fun addition.
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Monarch posted on their Facebook page today that this expansion was approved and will start cutting trails this summer with opening 25/26 season.
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I think all math is fun, not just addition.
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I think all math is fun, not just addition.
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The inefficient lift system is an unfortunate weak point of an otherwise fun mountain. All lifts constantly slow down and stop frequently sometimes more than 5 times each ride. Not sure if it is clientelle not using the lifts correctly or inefficient lift operations policy (I have noticed the chair slows every time a child loads or unloads regardless of ability), not sure if they have been sued at some point or just going over the top to try to prevent it. I realize Monarch probably doesn’t have $20 million lying around but if they did, a great way to use it is:
Replace Garfield with HSS and regrade top area improving the section where one must hike above the current lift shack to access many of those runs such as Lobo and No Name, move Pioneer to become the No Name bowl lift (already approved and tentatively scheduled to have a FGQ of some sort installed in 2025. Install a Curecanti rope tow running from near top of new Garfield to top of current Pioneer
Replace Panorama with HSQ
Use current Garfiled (due to the newer drive terminal) to reinstall at the beginning of the runout at bottom of Mirkwood to the top of Orcs enabling one to lap Mirkwood once they are in the bowl without making it too accessible to those who might be “over their heads”
Meanwhile, I look forward to exploring the No Name bowl in 2025 but hope they can improve the efficiency of the lifts in someway meanwhile. Apart from this issue, the mountain has a great vibe with many fun trails.
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Monarch has no desire to install high speed lifts. Their much more expensive to maintain with all the added moving parts that need replacement periodically. And they don’t really have enough vertical drop to justify having a high speed lift anyways, would kinda just be a waist of money. Even with a slower fixed grip lift the ride times aren’t very long. They’ve already replaced all the drive terminals with newer and faster skytrac terminals to increase the speed of the lifts and keep the old Hall double chairs spinning for many years to come. The only lift without a new faster drive terminal is the CTEC quad. The new lift will be a skytrac fixed grip triple chair. Not sure how fast it’ll be but probably pretty comparable to breezeway and the Garfield lifts speed.
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The fact that all it says is “No Name” is pretty funny
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Here is a video Monarch made about the making of No Name Basin. It shows some pretty good shots of the new Tomichi lift.
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