Stayed in Salida with some friends and went to Monarch mountain for MLK weekend in January. We ended up getting a Monarch ski pass this year, and it's now our third time that we've visited. I really love Monarch! It has a local, small town feel. It's not a huge mountain, but none of the runs are ever too busy nor were the lift lines ever more than a three minute wait. The parking is close enough that it's a quick walk to the base regardless of where you end up parking (Even if you go to the overflow parking up top, you can ski down to the base). I also appreciate that the food and drinks aren't exorbitantly expensive - they have ~$5 slices of pizza and ~$8 beers (even on tap) which in today's world is pretty unheard of at a resort! Definitely one of my favorite smaller local mountains. read more

Had an amazing experience here! Took the whole family for snowboarding and skiing lessons! PARKER was super great!! Kind, educational, and encouraging!! We appreciated how clean and family friendly the resort was. No too busy this time of year either! read more

Place was great for a beginner like me. Paul gave me some tips/pointers and I started doing much better after that. Paul you the man!

Greedy, inconsiderate company. My wife tore her Achilles well before the start of the 2024 season. Before the mountain as even open for skiing, we asked Monarch if we could get a refund for her season pass since she wouldn't be able to ski at all. Monarch said that because we didn't purchase insurance for the pass, they will not refund us, even though there was a legit medical reason. This just shows you the greed of Monarch, and how they try to intimidate people into buying insurance on the off-chance they might not be able to use the pass. Having a policy that you can't get refunded for a pass you never used unless you have insurance is completely immoral and greedy. My family and I will never be buying their pass again. read more

My absolutely favorite place to learn to snowboard. It's never too crowded! The food there is also great! Service is amazing, they can answer every question I have. read more

Monarch Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado

Great mountain, great vibes. Would recommend to families and shredders. Will return again.

It's not as cheap as it used to be, but Monarch is still a great deal. The lifts had short lines (midweek) during Spring Break 2024. The runs were well groomed. I took my daughters on the bunny run a couple of times, and staff was so polite and helpful. This is all natural snow? Great conditions even in March. Parking is free, and the drive up from Salida takes half an hour. Lovely place, and every staff person was super cool and polite. read more

After our car last charge and the charger at the mountain wasn't work for our car, the staff came to our rescue! (ON CHRISTMAS DAY btw) They tried to fix the chargers, they let us wait in their tunnel for a tow truck, and even when the truck never showed up, B.L. came back after his christmas dinner, 5 hrs later and took us to a hotel! I am extremely grateful for the entire staff and B.L. and hope everyone chooses to go here!!! read more

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We signed up our 2 girls for the ski school ages 9 & 10, we were very disappointed and had security concerns after observing the lessons. We expressed our concerns in a survey that we received and had a voicemail from management that they were unable to issue a refund and did not address any of the concerns that we had. After 45mins of our girls "attending the class" we were observing nearby, we decided it was time to step in and pull them from the class and ski with us. No instructor was keeping track of the kids or even acknowledging they were missing 2 girls. Another instructor "Gerald" not with our girls group, did come over after our oldest daughter was crying as she had been left in the snow unable to remove her skies and stand up for more than 5 mins. As that we the reason that we decided to intervene and Gerald did ask if we needed assistance. We took Gerald's offer to take our youngest daughter up the magic carpet to the top and ski down with her for her first time. She got it pretty quickly and our oldest was still upset so we told him thank you and took our girls with us. " the voicemail from management after my complaint via survey" said there were 2 instructors and 3 girls per instructor. Gerald was not one of them and supposedly our girls were not with the same instructor. The rest of the group had went in for what we o er heard to get hot chocolate but no head count was done and you would think if you had 3 girls and missing one in each group that you would notice! The girls were wearing a red tag on thier clothing as to who to release them to at the end of the class, no check was ever made and no one checked to see if our girls were just left in the snow somewhere! We told Gerald which he never told the assigned instructors because we watched and they were inside the building at that point. At 12:00 when the class was supposed to end, my husband went inside of the lessons text to ask if we needed to sign them out or notify anyone that we had our girls and he was told no, there was no procedure for that and none checked to even see where our girls were. They attended what was about 45 mins of the 2 hour lesson but as we observed they were unsupervised. They management that called me back said that we were a few minutes late to the lesson and they were having to divide the group of 4 kids into now 6 kids up making 2 groups of 3 but I left them with an instructor in the tent when we arrived and the others were still in the tent but he was blaming that on their negligence! He did not even address our security concerns which were much more alarming than the lack of ski education that we signed up to receive. They refused us a refund on the ski lessons which were 120.00 per kid. We dropped over 900.00 for 2 adults and 2 kids that day at Monarch. The snow tubing was a big hit on property but do not waste your money on ski school because your kid is not safe there! read more

Not Covid Safe. After driving from out of state to take our kids snow tubing (because the website "requires masks and distancing") we found this was not a safe space to be in. In the Tubing line there were so many people not wearing masks and allowed on the tubing lifts without masks as well. Unfortunately we didn't stay and lost our money because this was too much of a risk. There was even a lady on the bench coughing and maskless! Holy Moly. I 100% understand if you don't want to wear masks, however it is a Colorado Law that these resorts take certain precautions to protect guests. We did not feel protected or cared for at all unfortunately. There were a good 15 people in line with no mask on at all and a few with them below their chins. Very disappointed. read more

Monarch Mountain - People allowed on lifts completely mask less. - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado

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Monarch Mountain, thank you for supporting electric vehicles and accelerating the transition to clean energy. I'll be snowboarding here next year thanks to the EV charger and the chill vibe here. read more

Skiing conditions and staff were great but I'm dinging them because their wifi was basically nonexistent. I think any ski resort needs to have decent wifi, at least around the day lodge area. To pay over $1,000 for two people (pass, equipment, and group lessons for two: yes peak prices because it's Christmas week) and not be able to do basic internet is a little ridiculous. read more

I had such a blast here. It was my first time snowboarding, so of course I started on the bunny hill. The staff at the bunny hill was very helpful and they took their time explaining how to go, turn, and stop. After a few runs I was ready for the big slopes. It's a little nerve wrecking getting on the ski lift, but once you're on, hold on! Being a newbie it was a little confusing reading which slope is which. On my first go down I accidentally took an extremely fast slope; that was a rush. In the end I made it to the top and rode down one of the longer slopes they have (didn't go down a hard one). I found myself going the wrong way a few times, in with the trees (which is easier to snowboard in because the snow is like powder), and I only fell about 150 times. Overall had a great time!! read more

Great place to ski and avoid lines. Here on a Tuesday. Lesson reasonable. Very friendly staff. Definitely will come back again and again. read more

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Saturday skiing with our nieces was an amazing day here at Monarch Mountain! Customer Service was incredible and appreciated & the entire staff we encountered were totally professional and fun! The lines were short the runs were awesome and so glad we opted here for a day of fun on the slopes! Would definitely like to come back and spend a couple of days on the mountain! read more

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This spot is great! A nice small resort in the mountains to get away from the crowds in other popular Colorado spots. 10/10 would recommend. read more

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The trip up the mountain is treacherous if there is ANY snowfall. We scheduled a short ski trip, but there is no way to get up the mountain from Salida to the ski resort when a snow storm comes through. Even taxi services cannot make the trip up the mountain. There is a snow tire mandate on US HWY 50. The resort itself was average for the short time we made it the first day. If there were consistent transport from Salida to the mountain, it would have a better rating. Don't waste your time. Go to a larger resort with better resources. read more

This the second week in a row that I have been here during COVID and unlike the above woman's experience I found people were very conscious about wearing masks. Guests and resort employees alike. As a health care worker I appreciated their efforts. I came over for the women's clinics and i am happy to stay what a bargain! Molly has been amazing and I cannot believe the runs she has me going down!! 4 stars because early season snow. I'm not faulting them for the weather. Now, if we could just get more snow! read more

I loved my beginner ski lesson with Don at Monarch Mountain! He asked the group everyone's goals and help each person individually with good feedback. I haven't skied in over 20 years and Don helped me get the very basics (somewhat lol) down! I will say even the beginner slopes where the ski lift drops you off are pretty steep with more turns than I felt comfortable with, but it was my very first time so I'm sure it'll become easier over time :) We also needed to rent ski gear and the process was very smoothe/easy! Will be back next time I'm back in colorado :) read more

Monarch Mountain - Ski lesson at Monarch Mountain :) - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado

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I've been snowboarding I think 7 times. I definitely needed some help. So I got a lesson. Riley was an awesome instructor. I really mean that. He was very calm and made learning fun. I was having issues craving on my toes, in about an hour he had me craving both ways! I would not have enjoyed my trip snowboarding as much if wasn't for the awesome lesson! Also, the 'bunny hill' here was a nice size, which made learning a lot easier. About the mountain, this is my first time snowboarding in Colorado. My husband and I loved it. While we didn't have "powder" the snow was still soft and there was a great variety in runs. If you're advance you can get great deep powder in-between the trees. We had friends just go to a bigger mountain in CO, they stated how they waited & waited for the ski lift. I never waited! All the staff was very pleasant and I never encountered a super serious athlete that made me a learner feel uncomfortable. We would love to come back. Also, the coffee shop hot cocoa with whip cream was soooo delicious, go treat yourself and get one! Thanks Monarch for an awesome time!!! read more

Monarch Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado

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Great & easy to deal with staff & customer service pre booking. Easy, fun beginning slope with tube to take you up. The kids loved it. Tubing was a blast. Great food & drinks at bar there for lunch. Worth our visit to CO! read more

5 star because low prices, short lines (during week), great staff and backcountry access. Only negative is slooooow lifts. All the other qualities make up for this small issue. Great discounts and unbeatable season pass rates. Great if you live in Colorado Springs and aren't sure if the family is going to ski a whole lot during a season. read more

I was born and raised in sunny Southern California and have never been skiing before. My friend from Colorado took me to Monarch where I learned how to ski for the first time. We first did a 2.5-hour beginner's course in skiing led by a wonderful and encouraging young man named Zack, who taught us the basic techniques and had us practice on the bunny slope accessed by going up the caterpillar (an escalator belt). Zack provided a really great lesson for us and his kind and vibrant personality made us newbies feel very welcomed at Monarch. We were also lucky to have a small group of only 5 people for the lesson. We appreciated that the ski area was not wildly populated with people to the point of feeling crowded; there were just enough people for us to enjoy the experience of skiing with others but not too many that we would get in each other's way! We came on a very ideal day as the snow was thick and perfect for skiing + snowboarding. I only did the beginner slopes because I was not very good at skiing. I think I bit off more than I could chew, since I went on several of the beginner slopes (the ones marked with green circles + signs) after only going down the bunny hill a few times. The beginner slopes were pretty difficult for me, and I fell a bunch of times! My advice is to make sure you are very confident with the bunny slope before you try the beginner slopes. Once you feel like you are ready to move on, try the Rookie slope first, and then venture onto the longer beginner slopes. My friends and I stayed at the Monarch lodge which was pretty affordable at about $150/night. We loved staying there - it was a clean and very well-kept facility with plenty of amenities including a restaurant and bar. One of the best experiences we had was soaking in the hot tub outdoors... while it was snowing! If you haven't been skiing before, I think Monarch is a great place to get started! read more

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We love this mountain! It has a smaller feel similar to A-Basin. There is a great magic carpet that allows my 7 year old snow boarder go up and down the bunny sloop alone. We can easily sit at the bottom and watch him the whole time. read more

Ok, we went sledding/Tubbing here and I must say, don't waste your money. This is a baby hill that is maybe 50 feet long. You can't Superman down and the slope and is super slow. Very disappointed. Came here from Indy to sled and feel upset about this baby sledding hill. Go to Copper Mountain. This is for babies or those under 5 years old. read more

does not support vets!!! i have applied over four times now with all my va veteran disability paperwork for a season pass. i have attached all the documents i was using. read more

Monarch Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado

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I've been going to Monarch Mountain for years.. they've had to go through a lot of changes with covid...I don't always ways ski with my grandchildren.. so sometimes I spend time with the walking through the lodge and talking to the host. They are doing a wonderful job keeping us safe, what a hard job.. I've seen so many people disrespect them for just doing there job.. please America abide by the rules so our ski resorts can stay open. don't be a Tanya M... I was in the picknick room that day... that women has a problem... she believes she is above the rules.. . Please respect others as we go through this journey with others. NAMASRAY .... read more

This place is cool and fun! Although it is a longish drive from Denver and CO Springs, it is almost always worth it. Here is why: 1) the snow here is AMAZING! Especially after it snows over a foot the night before. 2) Everyone here is friendly - the lifties can't scan your ticket? No problem. You fall on a run? Someone will definitely ask you if you need help. 3) This place is not a resort but a ski area. There are cheap tickets, free parking, only one building at the base and VERY SHORT LINES. This place barely gets any traffic, too! read more

Monarch Mountain - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado

Had a great time here! The prices were reasonable. The employees were very nice and there is plenty of parking!

Excellent ski experience for a family of intermediate skiers. Even during the spring break season where all ski rentals were used, the lines were manageable and the slopes weren't crowded. With a price of 1/2 of the larger resorts, Monarch Mountain is both a great value and a great overall ski experience. read more

The more I ski here the better I like it. My last trip, on a Friday, was the most crowded I have ever seen it on a weekday. I had to wait in line maybe four or five times and all the waits were just a few minutes. So basically I really didn't wait in line at all. I had a nice burger in the Sidewinder, I think it had the word "Melt" in there somewhere, but it had some chili's in there that gave a little heat but were not too hot. I had a rider with me this trip, so I re-visited the bar for a Blue Moon while I waited for him to take a few more runs. I didn't realize that they had a happy hour starting, if I had waited just a bit my brew would have cost a little less. My season pass entitles me to three days at Loveland, which has a lot of good things going on also, but the three "I"s involved with Loveland make it less attractive. (I25, I470 and I70) read more

Monarch Mountain - Mad Hatter at Monarch - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado

In my mind, Keystone is 2 stars, Loveland 3, Monarch 4 and Silverton 5. This is what I value on mountains. -Powder -Not Crowded -Expert Terrain As previously stated, the runs aren't naturally "long", but with some creativity you can make the runs here go on for a long time. How? Get in those trees and off the trail! I describe Monarch to my friends as an open park with suggested routes. Are you forced to stay on them? Nope, so go down a diamond and then have fun exploring! Runs to check out that always leave a smile on my face -Shagnasty -Outback -Sheer Rocko -ANY diamond off the pioneer lift I've been here about 30 times over the past 5 years. I've also been to the main resorts. I prefer Monarch on a powder day to almost every other mountain. Do yourself a favor and check out Monarch once. read more

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We went here during COVID. Took my six year old for his first time. Under 6 is free which is awesome. They lift operators did an awesome job of enforcing COVID policy. Wouldn't let people on if their nose wasn't covered. Not many amenities but we had a great time. read more

Great mountain with fantastic prices. Brought the family up to learn how to snowboard. Lines and reservations were manageable. We were greeted upon arrival and asked if we needed any help. Lines were not jam packed with people and before you could enter the line, you were asked to fully cover your face. We ended up converting the tickets to passes so looking forward to enjoying the mountain for the season. My only feedback is you can never get ahold of anyone via phone to ask a simple question. You have to always leave a message. read more

My favorite place to ski with my family. Perfect price to ski as a family and since they have retained themselves as being an independent ski area...that is what you get. Skiing without all the unnecessary bells and whistles. Skiing WITH gorgeous views, awesome employees, and ski runs that can challenge beginners all the way to expert. They have one central lodge that has a bar, cafeteria, and a picnic lunch area. If you want to ski and enjoy nature...this is the place for you. If you're looking for skiing, countless places to eat, and mega shopping...no need to stop here. read more

Monarch Mountain - Skiing for those who want to ski without the hype - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado

Skiing here is a wonderful time the staff are friendly the prices are fair and it's a family fun experience everyone can enjoy highly recommend give it a try read more

Had a great time skiing at Monarch over MLK weekend! Staff were all friendly and helpful, lift lines were never too long and slopes never felt crowded. It is a great price as well. The views from the top are hard to beat. We stayed in Salida, which is an easy 3 hour drive from DEN. Salida is a cute town and very convenient to Monarch. We will definitely be coming back! read more

I came to Monarch to take lessons since it was my first time snowboarding. I did the full day and it was a great experience..the instructor was super awesome. They all seemed really nice and approachable..some ppl picked it up quicker than others and the instructors will spend a little more time with the ones lagging behind, but still challenge the others. I'd recommend this for sure! I will be back soon. Oh ya, the food in the lodge is pretty good too..solid beer selection as well. read more

We had a blast at this ski resort! We came here Saturday feb 8th to avoid the crowds at Breckenridge ski resort. We were so glad we did! It was crowded but never felt too crowded. You still have space to walk around and the lift lines are never long. My husband had a great time snowboarding and I had fun tubing. We will definitely be back to this ski resort. read more

My family and I came to Monarch Mountain over the holidays and had a great experience here. We didn't do any skiing but instead did some tubing. Price wise it's a little "steep" for the amount of time you get but the reason I'm giving up to 4 stars is because of the outstanding customer service! This was our first time here and were trying to get ourselves pointed in the right direction. Without asking an employee stopped and asked us what we were looking for , he pointed us in the right direction and also gave us the lay of the land. We got to the tubing check-in and again got great customer service. For tubing you can reserve a time slot online or call the main line to reserve a time slot. We ended up just doing a walk in since we checked online and saw a lot of openings for the time we were going to arrive. We chose that option since we were tourists and didn't know if we would get lost or have trouble getting there because of the snow on the roads. After checking in you walk to the tubing area which is only up a slight incline. Once there an employee checks your time tag and gives you the tube, you then get on your tube and take a conveyor belt ride up the hill. Once up top a few employees help you out in the tubing lanes. There are 5 solo tubing lanes and 1 group lane in which you can go down holding on to each other's tubes. It was all a very fun experience with great views. Again while we were there we asked an employee about skiing and he explained everything from rental gear, lessons, lifts, and some pricing. We had such a great time that next time we come we're going to do some skiing. read more

Monarch Mountain - Coming down the tubing lane getting beat by my son! - Ski Resorts Near Me - Salida, Colorado