Monarch, CO Planning Major Terrain Expansion into No Name Basin

South-central Colorado’s Monarch ski area is set to see its first 21st-century lift-served expansion.

Colorado’s Monarch ski area has a major terrain expansion in store—its first in two decades. As originally reported by Lift Blog, this locally-oriented south-central Colorado resort has received USFS approval to add 139 acres of skiable terrain on its back side, expanding into an area called No Name Basin. The new terrain is set to include a mix of tree-defined trails and glades, all served by a fixed-grip triple chair with a 960-foot vertical rise. The No Name expansion will also have a new warming hut and restroom at the base of the triple lift. At this point, it’s unclear exactly what trail rating each of the expansion’s runs will get; however, the topography suggests that No Name will offer somewhat steeper fall lines than Monarch’s other terrain zones, and we expect trails ranging from intermediate to advanced.

Construction is expected to take place over the next two summers, with the expansion planned to open for the 2025-26 season. The full set of relevant USFS documents can be found here.

The changes to Monarch’s footprint as part of this proposal.

Our Take

Monarch is a much more locally-oriented ski area than Colorado’s most popular destinations, and its small, no-frills footprint rarely attracts out-of-staters. Despite this, we expect the No Name expansion to bring a number of benefits to the mountain.

First off, the No Name area’s 960-foot vertical drop will be the longest directly-lappable descent at the resort, and the area’s steeper gradient has the potential to make it more appealing to advanced skiers and riders looking for a challenge. In addition, the area’s north-facing slopes should hold snow well, helping the resort stay resilient against bad weather (while Monarch’s extraordinarily high 10,790-foot base elevation does protect it from snowmelt, many of its current slopes face south, which can make for inconsistent conditions).

Finally, an underrated benefit to this new expansion may be spreading out crowds. Due to ski racing traffic, Monarch’s lifts can get somewhat overworked on Saturdays despite the resort’s remote location. We see very little reason why racers would enter this new expansion area, so visitors will finally have a lot more of a reprieve from this crowding situation.

While this expansion should bring a welcome terrain addition to the resort, we don’t expect it to to significantly alter Monarch's position in the Colorado resort scene. Even with this addition, Monarch will remain smaller than all major fly-to destinations, with less developed lift infrastructure, a still-modest vertical drop, and inconvenient airport access also limiting its ability to compete for destination demand. But one of Monarch’s main draws is its local, uncommercialized feel, so this expansion’s lack of appeal to a broader demographic will probably sit just fine with the resort’s target market.

Considering a trip to Monarch next season? Check out our comprehensive mountain review. Additionally, check out our full Colorado and Rockies rankings, as well as our Colorado rankings in video form below.