Conditions Report
Report From March 6-7
Monarch Mountain, Colorado, saw heavy snowfall throughout the day and into the night on Friday, March 6.
Only a couple of inches appeared on the snow-stake as I headed up Monarch Pass on Friday.
Another couple of inches fell before the lifts started spinning, though, and it continued to come down throughout the day.
Friday offered free refills and absolutely zero crowds—paradise!
With low wind and consistent snowfall, I was able to get fresh tracks across the mountain all day.
No Name Basin is looking great and has benefited greatly from this low-wind storm system.
The front side and Panorama ridge were also skiing great on Friday.
I spent most of my time on “Kanoken” and in “Geno’s Meadow” off the Breezeway Lift.
Turns in deep, soft snow were had on every run on these trails.
Fresh snow and empty slopes could be had across the mountain on Friday, but I decided to venture further up to Mirkwood as well.
The bowl was deep on Friday and continued stacking up through Saturday.
It was still nuking at last chair, and everyone knew that Saturday would be one for the books.
Our assumptions were blown out of the water (or powder!), though.
Monarch reported 16 inches of new snowfall in 24 hours on Saturday morning.
Crowds were much more substantial than on Friday, but the special Monarch charm prevailed.
With the addition of the brand-new Tomichi Lift serving No Name Basin, Monarch has plentiful uphill capacity.
The line for first chair grew long by 9 a.m., but I was able to ski right back onto Pioneer all day.
The Pioneer chairlift has become my go-to on busier days.
Although Panorama and Breezeway were also skiing great on steeper terrain, it seemed like Pioneer was bypassed by the crowd.
As the mountain’s only quad chairlift, lines rarely form at the base.
The lift also usually only runs on weekends, dropping guests off slightly higher than the adjacent Garfield lift.
Although it is slower than Garfield, there are two main advantages to the Pioneer lift,
I skied these two advantages all day on Saturday: Curecanti and Hollywood.
Curecanti is a trail best accessed from Pioneer, and always full of powder.
Hollywood, which is the hit right under the lift, saw tons of hooting and hollering this weekend.
I hit Hollywood three times before deciding it was time to explore the rest of the mountain.
The Panorama Ridge was firing, but people were mostly flocking to the new No Name Basin.
Northstar Glades has been accumulating incredible amounts of powder.
I had a lot of fun traversing the “White Pine” trail and finding the right fall line through the Northstar Glades.
Other runs, such as “Ambush” and “Muletrain,” skied well, but “Bonanza” and “Riches” remain closed.
With light flurries still coming down on Saturday morning, the rest of this weekend is sure to be a blast at Monarch!
CONDITIONS REPORT
WEATHER FORECAST
