Chapman Hill, Durango

Chapman Hill serves as Durango’s in-town ski area and winter sports center.

The hill, located on the east side of Florida Road, provides terrain for beginner and advanced skiers. The top of Chapman Hill, which accounts for much of the 500-foot vertical drop, is one of the steepest slopes found anywhere. The base area, however, is gentle and just right for beginners. The area offers skiers two rope tows, an ice skating rink, and a supervised warming house with hot drinks and snacks. Both the lifts and ski hill are supervised by trained staff.

Ski lessons and ice skating lessons are offered throughout most of the winter. There are youth and adult hockey programs as well as public ice skating on refrigerated ice. Snowboarding lessons are also available. Snowboarding and telemarking are welcomed at Chapman Hill during open skiing hours. Night skiing is offered every night when conditions allow.

The tubing hill is located just north of the rink. There is NO tubing or sledding allowed on the ski hill.

For additional information call the Durango Parks and Recreation office during regular business hours at 375-7300.

Elevation at base ............................8,793’
Elevation at summit........................10,822’
Vertical drop....................................2,029’
Skiable acres....................................1,200
Resort acres......................................2,500
Longest run....................................2 miles
Beginner trails.....................................23%
Intermediate........................................51%
Advanced/expert.................................26%
Adult Daily..........................................$52
Adult Half Day.....................................$40
Child (6 - 12) Daily..............................$25
Child Half Day.....................................$18
Senior (62 - 69) Daily...........................$37
Senior Half Day...................................$27
5 and under, 70 and over....................Free

Holiday prices will be higher than the regular season rates. Call for more information on holiday dates.

Chairlift hours.......................9 a.m. - 4 p. m.

Durango Mountain Resort is located 25 miles north of Durango, Colorado off U. S. Highway 550 in the San Juan National Forest. Annual snowfall is about 260 inches.

Durango Mountain Resort’s picturesque setting covers 2,500 acres on national forest service land. Its 75 trails are maintained on 1200 acres. Snowmaking equipment now spans 250 acres of the resort’s maintained acreage with snowmaking coverage beneath nine of the resort’s eleven lifts (four triples, three doubles, one high-speed quad, one high-speed 6-passenger super chair, one surface lift and one Magic Carpet).

At the resort’s tubing hill, the Alpine SnowCoaster, participants are pulled uphill by a surface lift and slide down a 600-foot-long track on special tubes. The slopeside Purgatory Village Center has ski and snowboard rentals, restaurants, a small grocery store and deli, sports shop and coffee shop. There are several on-mountain restaurants and food outlets.

Durango Mountain Resort offers ski school/lift packages and beginner packages for first-time skiers or snowboarders and a children’s lesson/lift ticket package. Some programs require reservations.

For more information about Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort visit the website at www.durangomountainresort.com  or call (970) 247-9000.

Hesperus Ski Area, Hesperus (just west of Durango)

Hesperus Ski Area is a small, friendly, inexpensive place to ski day and night.

It is 75 acres of skiable terrain featuring a 700- foot vertical drop. It is served by one double chairlift.

The area is located at Hesperus, Colorado ,which is 12 miles west of Durango on U. S. Highway 160, 26 miles from Cortez and 32 miles from Farmington, New Mexico via the La Plata Highway. 

The hill has nine alpine runs - Lone Pine, Quickdraw, Easy East, Face, The Line, Easy West, West Bowl, East Bowl and Show Off. 90% of the terrain is lighted until 9:00 p.m. - including a lighted snowboard park.

A beginners’ area is serviced by a rope tow. Both group and private lessons in downhill, telemark, and snowboarding are available for all levels of abilities - beginners, intermediates and experts.

There is also a tubing hill available.

Hesperus also features unpacked powder for telemarkers and snowboarders. The Ski Hut serves homemade food.

For more information about Hesperus Ski Area call 970-259-3711.

Hillcrest Golf Course, Durango

Hillcrest Golf Course is open to the public for cross-country skiing pending adequate snowfall. It is conveniently located on College Heights overlooking the town of Durango. Cross-country skiers enjoy sights of the surrounding mountains and hills while skiing on a combination of flat and rolling terrain.

There is no charge to cross-country ski at this course, which is sponsored by Hillcrest Golf Club ,but donations are appreciated. Entrance is at the end of Sanborn Place off of North College Drive. Skiers are asked to ski on the well marked track. (Please, no dogs on the course.)

Kendall Mountain Ski and Recreation Area, Silverton

 The Nordic Center at Durango Mountain Resort, Durango

The Nordic Center at Durango Mountain Resort is operated by the Durango Nordic Ski Club. It has 16 kilometers of groomed trails for both classic and skating ski techniques. This scenic area offers terrain for beginners, intermediate and advanced skiers.

Trail fee is $9 (65 and over and 12 and under, $5) and season passes are available. Rentals for classic and skating skiing are available for adults and children.

Lessons, both group and private, are offered daily and there is a “combo” package for $35 which covers lesson, equipment rental and trail fee. The facility is open 9 - 4 on weekends and 10 - 4 on weekdays.

There are local race series plus clinics at the center. Parking is available and there is a warming hut with snacks and hot beverages.

The Nordic Center at Durango Mountain Resort is 25 miles north of Durango on Highway 550 and is located across the highway from the entrance to Durango Mountain Resort. For more information call (970) 259-5368 (off-season) and (970) 385-2114 (during the ski season).

Silverton Mountain, Silverton

Silverton Mountain is a new facility for ADVANCED AND EXPERT ONLY skiers and snowboarders. The one double chairlift offers access to the steepest, most powder-filled skiing

this side of Valdez, Alaska. Silverton Mountain, located in Silverton, Colorado, opened for business on January 19, 2002. The facility is a guided-only operation handling fewer than 100 skiersper day. The high elevation ensures an early and long season. Season opening dependent on snowfall.

Annual snowfall.......................................400”
Elevation at base..................................10,400’
Elevation at peak of chair.....................12,300’

An easy hike to 13,300’ offers an approximately 3,000’ vertical drop. Ticket price, November, December & April...$99 (includes mandatory guide). Ticket price, January, February & March...$119 (includes mandatory guide).

The closest town to Silverton Mountain is Silverton (6 miles) and the closest “super store” is in Durango, Colorado. Directions to the facility from Durango: Take Highway 550 to Silverton, drive through town and when in doubt stay left. Follow signs to Silverton Mountain ski area up Highway 110A. Don’t miss the “hard left” turn before the water tower and after the town park. The chairlift is located approximately 6 miles from town. It is under one hour to Ouray to the north and Durango to the south. For additional information about Silverton Mountain, visit the website at www.silvertonmountain.com or call (970) 387-5706.

Telluride Ski Resort, Telluride, Colorado

Elevation at base (town of Telluride) 8,725’
Elevation at summit (Gold Hill)........12,260’
Vertical drop......................................3,535’
Acres of skiing.....................................1700
Longest run....................................3.0 miles
Beginner trails......................................22%
Intermediate.........................................38%
Advanced.............................................40%
Hours...............................8:45 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The inaugural season of Prospect Bowl (2001-2002) brought an additional 733 acres of diversified terrain that nearly doubled the size of the mountain to 1700 acres. With its three high- speed quads, Prospect Bowl provides a new level of connectivity to the mountain, linking three interconnected mountain faces with varying degrees of difficulty.

Behind the ridge from the resort’s Front Face, Lifts 4, 5 and 6 and the new terrain in Prospect Bowl, make about half of Telluride’s terrain. More intermediate runs are located on the Front Ridge, including See Forever, the resort’s longest run of 3.0miles.

Telluride also offers ultimate ski runs. There is the Front Face, which provides steep pitches, tree skiing and big bumps for expert skiers. It dips 3,165 feet to the town below. The Plunge and Spiral Stairs, well known and challenging trails, are located on the Front Face. The new Gold Hill Lift, takes skiers to the steep chutes and open bowls at the top of the mountain (12,260 feet and double black diamonds).

Telluride has 16 lifts —- 7 high-speed quads, 2 triple chairs, 2 double chairs, 1 Poma, 1 Magic Carpet, 1 surface lift and a high-speed, three-stage gondola transportation system. The gondola is free for foot passengers.

Prices below are regular pricing.

Adult Daily........................................ $69
Adult Half Day. .................................$58
Child Daily.........................................$40
Child Half Day...................................$33
Senior (65 +) Daily............................$50
Senior Half Day.................................$40

There are early season discount prices.

For more information about Telluride Ski Resort, visit Telluride Ski Resort’s website at www.tellurideskiresort.com or call 800-801-4832.

Wolf Creek Ski Resort (east of Pagosa Springs, Colorado)

Elevation at base.............................10,300’
Elevation at summit.........................11,904’
Vertical rise.......................................1,604’
Acres of skiing...................................1,600
Longest run......................................2 miles
Beginner trails......................................20%
Intermediate.........................................35%
Advanced............................................25%
Expert..................................................20%
Hours...................................9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Expert..................................................20%
Hours...................................9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Adult Daily...........................................$43
Adult Half Day......................................$31
Child/Senior Daily................................$25
Child/Senior Half Day...........................$18
Beginner Lift Only (Nova Chair)...........$17
Tot (5 and under) All Lifts.......................$5
Lift hours: 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Wolf Creek Ski Resort is usually knee deep in powder. Located in southern Colorado atop the Rockies in the Rio Grande National Forest, Wolf Creek receives more snowfall than any other area in the state — 465 natural inches annually.

Wolf Creek starts its sixty-third season this year. When the area opened in 1939, there was one rope tow, used by local ski enthusiasts. The more traditional terrain at Wolf Creek (500 acres and approximately 50 trails) is serviced by two triple chairlifts, two double chairlifts and a special children’s lift. Unique to Wolf Creek is the 1,000 acres serviced by the Alberta quad. This lift gives access to steep chutes and many intermediate powder glades that adventuresome skiers and boarders enjoy. Cross-country skiing is also available.

The ski school offers individual, group and private lessons as well as the popular Wolf Pup program for children. Snowboard and telemark lessons are also available.

Other services at the area include a professional ski patrol.

The rental department offers skis, boots and poles, including demo models in downhill, alpine touring and telemark equipment. Snowboard rentals are also available.

The Wolf Creek Lodge and Prospector Grill are full service cafeterias with a gourmet salad bar, green or red chili stews and hot daily specials. The Outside serves burgers on a sundeck and Base Camp is a spacious picnic building offering beverages and snacks to complement brown bag lunches. Base Camp is conveniently located and skiers can ski right onto the Dickey Chairlift loading ramp.

For more information about Wolf Creek Ski Resort visit the website at www.wolfcreekski.com  or call (970) 264-5639.

Backcountry cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are very popular in the mountains of Southwest Colorado, but there is an almost ever-present danger of avalanches. Outdoor enthusiasts should always check for avalanche warnings and be conscious of the terrain and changing conditions. Each year, the Hesperus Ski Patrol holds avalanche classes for people to become better informed about these dangerous situations. This winter, the class schedules are: JANUARY 14,15 & 17 The Common Sense Approach to Avalanches FEBRUARY 4,5 & 7 The Common Sense Approach to Avalanches CALL KATHY FOR INFORMATION – 247-4617