monarch mountain

I've skied over 40 places in Western North America and this place is up near the top. Friendly staff, diverse mountain. Loved the runs that were groomed on one side and left bumps on the other side. They do have some knuckle heads working in the rental department. (snow boarders who don't have a clue about ski boots should be a Liftee). Great scenery from the top looking West and South. Food was very good, and service was excellent in the lodge. Except for one employee in the rental area it was a smooth operation. One down side was the $5 charge for a locker!! Sorry when your getting more than $100 for me for the day you should just provide the locker.

"Monarch Mountain is where the locals go". That's what all the neighbors said when we first moved to Colorado Springs in 2013. As we're wrapping up our 2nd ski season since moving here, we are pleased to say that even as our sons grow older and express interest in larger resorts, we will continue to consider Monarch our "home mountain." Our sons took ski lessons at Monarch, and over these two seasons, they have become very comfortable with the terrain and can now ski everything except for the Mirkwood Bowls with confidence. My husband and I are comfortable letting our sons take the lifts on their own and we can just tell them "meet us at the lodge at noon for lunch" and not be as worried as we would be at the larger resorts we've visited, such as Copper and Loveland.The lodge is full of non-skiing parents who have no problem driving 2-3 hours for their kids to enjoy skiing. The mountain is small and friendly enough.Despite its small size, the lifts travel at a decent speed and there are trails for folks of all skill sets. You can't beat the price, either. Even walking up to the window to buy a lift ticket, you'd still pay half of what Breckenridge or Winter Park would cost if you didn't plan in advance.If you do plan in advance, there are some amazing deals, such as BOGO when you buy gas at Colorado Shell stations. Check out Entertainment Book coupons and Liftopia deals too.If you know you're getting a season pass, be sure to pick them up before July 31st for the best prices. We were pleased that our family of 4's lift tickets totaled less than $800.Keep in mind that there is NO lodging on site, the nearest lodging is Monarch Mountain Lodge about 5-8 minutes away (we haven't stayed there yet). There is a cafeteria and full service restaurant on site, plus two bars featuring local microbrews such as Elevation, Eddyline and Amicas beers. The picnic room is awesome -- there are ample storage shelves and outlets so you can bring a crock pot of green chili and make everyone around you jealous! Our family never had to wait for a table in the picnic room.Even though Monarch is a tad further away than the "I-70" resorts such as Copper and Keystone, the lack of traffic keeping to the southern mountains is worth the extra miles and reduced stress.

The mountain is great, with a wide variety of trail options. The staff was excellent, and had the best attitude the entire time I was there. The only downside were the uncorfortable chair lifts. I ski a lot, and these were the worst chairs I have ever ridden. Lots of pressure on the hamstrings, and not enough padding on the chai.

There may be larger, swankier megaresorts up the road, but give Monarch a try. We just finished up a tour of some of the less well-known CO ski areas and Monarch was one of our favorites. Lift tickets are cheap (relatively speaking) and can get even cheaper with Shell stations (outside of Chaffee county) often offering 2-for-1 coupons with fill-ups. We forgot this fact and paid full-price (still for less than a single day ticket at the large Eagle and Summit county areas). It had snowed hard 2-3 days before and there were still fresh tracks to be found in the trees and with a little hiking. We waited in zero lift lines all day. Possible downside being that all the lifts are slower fixed line chairs. Still, we managed to get 15 runs or so in 3 hours. We didn't spend much time in the lodge, but it was clean and well kept and right at the base, so no hiking or the like to get in for your apres ski beer and burger. If you're sick of shelling out a ton of cash for lift tickets at the big name places and don't mind a little slower lift ride, give Monarch (and the other smaller areas) a try. You will be surprised.

Did not ski on this trip, but the runs were busy and the snow looked really good. The accommodation are not as nice as some, but if you are more interested in ski ion or snowboarding, this just might be the spot for you. Easy drive from Colorado Springs.

For our first ski trip to Colorado, we picked Monarch for the following reasons; distance to other attactions (snomobiling), past reviews, cost, how busy the resort is, and the beauty of the drive from Denver. Monarch was a perfect first choice! The check in was the fastest we have ever experienced, as we were skiing with in 10 minutes of arrival. The employees were extremely nice, and helpful. and the slopes, though shorter than other resorts, were challenging enough for long enough. but the best part was the fact we could ski down and get right on the lift with no wait. We did around 30 runs during the day. Great place, great snow, great people. and the restaurant had great food!

I was horrified to see that there are no safety bars on the ski lifts. You are dangling up in the air looking 50 feet down (some places) with nothing to hold on to in front of you. If you fall it would probably be fatal. This was my scariest day in any ski resort.

I liked the local vibe. I wished that one of the best areas to ski on the mountain (in my opinion) involved hiking to get over to it. Drat! The grooming of runs was good, but a little better marking with fences, signs would have been nice. It would also add to the professionalism of a Ski Resort biz should be.

First off, an absolutely beautiful place. Lodge, restaurant and ski runs all well kept.The staff are the most fun and friendly people ever! You can tell everyone loves their jobs.If you've never skied take the class, the instructors are fantastic. Great drinks and good food at the bar.Fun, family atmosphere. Great times for everyone!

This was our 1st time skiing in Colorado. My husband, daughter & I flew out to visit friends, who have been to Monarch several times. Since none of the kids had ever skied before (only snowboarded) & it had been quite some time for the adults as well, we booked a private lesson. James was FANTASTIC!! By the end of a 3hr lesson, my daughter had more confidence than I thought possible. She was the only one of 3 kids who had never done more than simple tubing & James had her zooming down the mountain in no time! All three kids picked up on his instructions easily. He taught the adults to ski with no poles, which was a 1st for all of us. The mountain is beautiful, the staff is helpful & friendly. Four adults & three kids, and we ALL agreed, we had an AMAZING time!! Pack a lunch...the food is expensive, but the experience is worth every penny.

Very friendly and accommodating staff, we loved it. Never skied before, monarch mountain was a perfect place for first timers. Very close to Salida.

Great ski vacation! Friendly staff. Great childcare and ski lessons for little ones. Small and local feel!

Ok it's not the Alps. Runs are super short and only a few lifts but we had a blast. Slopes groomed nicely. Two small terrain parks. Would like to have tried off piste area. Nothing around here. Most stay in Salida.

My family and I spent last weekend at Monarch. This was the first time we skied at Monarch. It is definitely a lot smaller than many of the I70 resorts, but still skis bigger than it's 800 acres. I personally love the laid back "non mega resort" feel in a ski hill. Monarch has that. All of the employees were friendly and helpful. If you want to take your family on an inexpensive ski trip, this is the place for you. If you want to avoid the crowds (and traffic), this is the place for you. If you care more about skiing than how you look or having expensive restaurants and shops, this is the place for you. If you want the classic ski town experience, I suggest you look elsewhere. If you need 2000 or more acres to ski, you probably want to go somewhere else. If you want something close to Denver, stick to I70. My kids and I had a lot of fun tree skiing and got lucky with a little fresh snow which really made the day that much better. One of the things that I really like about Monarch is that all of the trails empty back down at the base (just one base on this mountain). When skiing with kids this is nice in case we get separated. We take our motorhome up to the mountain with us. It is really nice because there is an RV park (nothing special) just 10 miles away from Monarch. Even in snow, it only took about 15 minutes to get back and forth. They have bus/RV parking (no overnight parking) that is right at the edge of one of the runs which is pretty cool. This is our first winter in Colorado so my family and I decided to ski several resorts and decide on which one we would get a season pass for for next winter. Other resorts have better terrain, or at least more of it, but the atmosphere, price, lack of crowds, and convenience won us over. I plan on going back this weekend and am going to get a season pass next season.

My husband and I decided to head up for a different kind of new years celebration this year, and we are so glad we did! This was our first trip to this mountain in our ten years or so of snowboarding. It's far enough away from Denver that it's not a single day trip, which means that there's no I70 traffic to deal with. ..a major plus! The mountain staff were all really friendly, there were almost no lines for the lifts, and the trails were perfection. We're already planning our next trip up there. Love, love, love! The best part was the torch run and the fireworks show after dark. It was the coolest news years celebration I can remember.