Monarch Mountain is plagued with multiple lift stoppages, and breakdowns which can leave one stranded for up to an hour, on a lift, with no communication from the ski patrol for lift maintenance crew. Likewise the Monarch ski patrol cannot be bothered to mark obstacles ( rocks) which can destroy skis and break human body parts. The lift line mazes are not skier friendly, and are designed whereby skiiers have to exert the maximum amount of effort to enter, so the minimum amount of staff can be utilized. The owners of Monarch would rather build new lodges and create multiple bars, then invest in a skier friendly, user friendly mountain. read more

I took my family to this resort three years in a row, because it was the closest to where my family lived. I spent thousands each year. Then, during our third visit, the ski patrol gave me and my family a hard time, getting up in my face with ridiculous machismo and threatening to revoke our paid passes, simply because we took an innocent little detour through an unroped, unsigned, well-worn path that went around a small stand of trees. We were skiing and kids will be kids. There did not appear to be any danger involved in it. Not only were others doing it, but while I was being harassed by the jerk staff, more people went down the same way, and they couldn't seem to control the situation. That didn't make them apologize for the poor signage. They just kept harassing me and threatening me. It completely ruined my mood and those of my young relatives who were enjoying their time on the slopes up until that point. I made a followup complaint with the owners, but the prick who harassed me somehow got to be the one who handled his own oversight, and he was still 100% unapologetic. UNBELIEVABLE. Needless to say my family and I have never been back to Monarch and cannot recommend it for anyone with family who like to enjoy themselves while skiing. Also... the food and rental areas are not easily accessible on the snow. Everything is spaced far apart with no shuttles. So, you'll be doing a lot of walking at Monarch to make a day of it. read more

No safety bar on the ski lifts!! I just had my scariest day in any ski resort period! Looking down 50 feet in a dangling ski lift with nothing in front of my to hold on to is one of my scariest experiences ever. Just happy my children and I are alive1 This ski resort is just a bad accident waiting to happen. I will never go back to Monarch. Can not believe this is happening in 2015! read more

unbelievable local Mountain, no lines, fresh powder and one of the best ski resort bars in the U.S. I am a season pass holder and absolutely love this place, perfect for families and experts (get some read more

One of the worst ski resorts I have ever been to. Twice now I have gone there and there has been very dangerous obsticles everywhere, like rocks and trees, and brown dirt on the "groomed" slopes. I know they can't control the weather, but they could make snow. Both times now the moutain was not open in some areas, again I can understand, but the thing that really made me want to leave a bad review is that they charged full price for a ticket $90. I would pay $50 no problem for bad conditions, but these conditions ruined my skis twice. My friend rented a board cause his was scratched up $40 and the rental was almost worse. Then to top it off stopped in to Elmo's Bar for a drink and got a typical Salida Hipster chick who I overheard talkin about Resist Trump, when I asked the price of a rum & coke, $6, I said ok Give me 2. She then proceeded to make herself a cappuccino and topped it with whipped cream (not kidding). Then was very, very condiscending with questions like, do you want single or double? Tall or short? Even after I answered she said, Is this your first time ordering a drink? I took my money elswhere and will ski someplace else too unless they get 4 ft of snow the night before. read more

Went skiing at Monarch last weekend; it was my first time there. It was not overcrowded, but I suspect that might have been due to the super chill weather? Couldn't say for sure! This is a great little mountain, but what I found a bit disappointing is the runs were pretty short, however, I was able to pop right on a lift without waiting in line, which was awesome!!! read more

No safety bars. Very SHORT runs. Lifts stop 3-5 times every trip up. If you want to spend 3/4 of day on lift...this is your place.

I'm from CO and have skied all over the place. I drive up Monarch all the time on my way to ski the Butte, but I skied there for the first time this weekend. This secluded, tucked away, perfect little powdery piece of heaven is now in my top three of favorite mountains! Wow! First off, there's like no one there. The people who are there are awesome and local. It's crazy cheap! Like so much so that there was a kid in the parking lot selling lift tickets for $20, haha! I live in Denver, and at this time of the season, going up I70 is a traffic joke! Heading a little further south is where its at! The terrain is sweet. I ski Crested Butte regularly, and on a smaller scale, obviously, this place holds its own! Hike up to Mirkwood. Very challenging and a sweet 30ish minute hike to seclusion, pristine snow, and cliffs. This place is perfect! Definitely going back more this season. :) read more

My boyfriend and I just moved to the springs from California. I've never skied and my boyfriend is an intermediate snowboarder. We decided to get season passes to monarch since it's a smaller resort and we figured it would be a good place to learn without the crowds. I was so nervous to get out there on my first day, but nerves quickly subsided after meeting and interacting with so many friendly and helpful people at monarch. We love monarch and the friendly staff here so much. It's quite a drive from our place (almost 3 hours each way) but it is so worth it. We've been 3 times since opening day and haven't had to wait in line for the lifts at all. I took a ski lesson with Steve J who was very patient and helpful. I had never set foot on skis before and by the end of my 2.5 hour lesson I was going down green runs solo with confidence. I wasn't sure I would even be able to go down the bunny slope (I'm not very athletic or coordinated) so I was excited that I could actually sort of ski! Steve not only gave me the beginner skills, but important skills and tips that I'll look back on and improve upon. I find that everyone here is friendly- from the lift operators to the rental staff, from the bar/restaurant staff to the other guests, everyone is just here to have a good time. Another bonus is that the parking lot is just a few short steps from the resort itself so you don't have to deal with carrying all your gear and walking in ski boots for too long. I also love that they have green runs from the very top of the mountain, so us beginners can get the full experience and beautiful views too. The lifts are a little slow but that's just a minor setback in my opinion. read more

I love that as soon as I walked up to the ski area, a host, graciously offered to carry my skis and walk me up to the ticket booth. What a kindly introduction to Monarch! This was on Sunday March 3, early morning as soon as the ski area opened. Additionally, the Sidewinder bar had great food and good, decently priced beer. Also, there were no long lift lines and we had on the runs. I love how low key and local it was. It seems like they are building up more, but this past weekend, it still had a very homey feel. read more

Skiied at Monarch today (4 Dec) and really enjoyed it. Being from the east I'm used to skiing on groomed granular stuff that's very icy at times so skiing the powder here was nice. The mountain isn't huge, the runs not long, and the lifts not fast but it was great just the same. I enjoyed the views going up the lifts and especially the views of the divide at the top....nothing like this back east. The staff was very friendly and it wasn't crowded at all which meant no lines. I don't think I had to wait more than about a minute or two to get on a lift. Another nice thing is that this isn't a resort...read no expensive pretentious folks trying to look cool. Just people that want to enjoy some good times in some good snow. Really enjoyable and a good value for the money. read more

I have skied here twice in the past 3 weeks. First time was great. Although, it was very windy and cold. Still had a lot of fun. Was here this past weekend. Sat. was extremely crowded and there were 2 lifts closed due to high winds. Again, it was very windy and cold. Sun. was a great day! Not as crowded and weather was beautiful. Best powder ever. A perfect day except for one major thing. My brother had his 2 kids with him. 10 yr old daughter and 5 yr old son. Both beginner skiers. They were going up the beginner lift (keep in mind, not the last lift of the day). His daughter was on in front of him and his son. She got off just fine. When my brother went to help his son get off, he had trouble and wouldn't let go of the chair. Now, normally this would not be a problem, because there is an attendant in the booth that can stop the lift. The little boy stayed with the chair as it swung around and then fell off 5 ft from the ground. My brother was horrified! Thank God, his son is okay. Although, now frightened of the ski lift. But, the real problem here is there was no attendant anywhere to be found. This is totally unacceptable! I and other friends have witnessed other attendants not pay attention when the beginners get off and on the lifts. Monarch, this is a disaster waiting to happen. I just want everyone to be aware that this is a problem right now at this resort. Beware. read more

Terrible experience; we won't be going back. Took the family for a day of ski and snowboarding while I planned to watch and snap pics with my infant granddaughter. Assisted to the main area by a nice employee, who took one end of the stroller for us. Lovely open area with windows and comfy chairs. Before sitting down, a different employee told me to take the stroller downstairs, and he assisted with the stroller again. OK, plastic chairs, one little window, but doable. Ten minutes later ANOTHER employee tells me strollers and wheelchairs are only allowed on the lower level, which is not connected to the building and which we had to access through the snow. This is the 'brown bag room' with metal benches, no restrooms, no water or food vendors. Also, no windows. We had been relegated to the dungeon!! The worst part was that nobody seemed to know where we had been relocated to, when my family searched for over two hours to find us. Nobody knew of the "stroller and wheelchairs only in the dungeon" rule. Nobody recalled seeing where we had been put. Ridculous!! Ruined the day, and put a damper on the Christmas week in Colorado. For $20/lift ticket LESS, we could have gone to Ski Cooper and that's what we'll do next time. read more