Great ski resort well worth the drive

For the long holiday weekend we paid a visit to Monarch Mountain. As it had snowed at the end of last week, the drive from Denver to Monarch took 4 hours. The drive back home, while better, still was three hours. But we’re happy to report that the trip was well worth it. We found a wonderful family ski resort with lots of different terrain and great snow. Read on to find out how it stacks up.

Cost
Monarch offers family friendly ticket categories, including “Teens”. However, the prices aren’t as family friendly. Day tickets would have run our family $501. That is almost twice as much as Loveland. What is puzzling to us is that the kids tickets are a lot more than at the other independent resorts. Compared to Loveland, Monarch charges 12.5% more for adult day tickets but 26.5% more for kids tickets. We wonder why.
That same theme applies to their cafeteria pricing where a basic hamburger without fries runs $11.75.

  • Adults (18-59): $89
  • Adults (half day): $69
  • Teen (13-17): $59
  • Teen (half day): $47
  • Junior (7-12): $43
  • Junior (half day): $35
  • Family of 5 Total: $501
  • Adults (18-59): $499
  • Teen (13-17): $329
  • Junior (7-12): $209
  • Family of 5 Season Pass Total: $1,745
  • Hamburgers: $11.75
  • Hot Dogs: $6
  • Ski With Your Family Lunch Total: $41.50

 

Parking
We got there between 8:30 AM and 9 AM each day and never parked farther than 3rd row. Even the farthest spots gets you to the lifts in under 5 minutes. Of note is the ski-in ski-out parking lot which we didn’t try. If you need to pick up a ticket before taking the lifts, there is a nasty set of stairs to climb to get to the ticket booth. If you’re averse to steps, you can enter between the ski patrol and cafeteria buildings and walk up the slope to the ticket office.
Monarch - Parking Lot
Lifts
Monarch Mountain has four 2-seater lifts, one quad lift and a magic carpet. The quad lift is the only one with a safety bar and neither of them has foot rests. None of them are particularly speedy. Lifts are definitely Monarch’s weak spot.

 

Crowds
Saturday was our first day during MLK weekend and while were were being told that it was a very busy day for them, this was only noticeable for lunch and while getting our tickets. The mountain seemed to absorb the crowds very well and there was never the feeling of too many people getting in our way on the slopes. The rest of the weekend wasn’t as “bad” as Saturday and by MLK Day (Monday) it was eerily quiet compared to our MLK experiences at the Epic resorts in years past. We found that a lot of families ski at Monarch.

The wait for the lifts were 5-10 minutes on Saturday and under 5 minutes for Sunday and Monday.

 

Terrain
Monarch has 64 trails with 49% falling into the green and blue categories. The way Monarch is laid out, it reminded us of Loveland in that when standing at the base the runs are laid out from left to right in a 180 degree fashion. Compared to Loveland, though, we had a lot more fun on Monarch’s blue runs as they didn’t seem quite as challenging. The snow is all natural.
Monarch Slopes
The Lodge
Nothing to write home about. A windowless basement room with a few tables and some storage racks. It serves its purpose.
Good to Know
  • The farthest away from a bathroom while on the slopes is under 15 minutes.
  • We have never smelled smelled Marijuana at the parking lot or on the mountain.