Duane Vandenbusche - Around Monarch Pass

A COLORADO LEGEND. In the early 1980s, the Monarch Ski Area created a series of four posters to publicize its mountain. The spectacular posters were widely successful and grace many homes across the nation. All of them featured the same man, woman, and dog and emphasized a sense of adventure. (MM.)

MONARCH ROPE TOW. Two runs were serviced by separate rope tows when the Monarch Ski Area opened in late 1939. One run was the famed Gun Barrel, which was very steep and narrow and terrifying with a creek near the bottom. The other rope tow, shown here, was called Snowflake and was an ideal place for beginners to ski because of its gentle slopes. (MM.)

CALL OF THE POWDER. The Monarch Ski Area is known for its great powder skiing. The area averages 350 inches of snow a year, and its nearly 12,000-foot elevation creates dry and light powder conditions. Monarch Mountain offers some of the finest snowcat skiing (where trails are accessed by snowcat vehicles rather than ski lifts) in the nation, with its steep terrain and huge bowls. (MM.)

MONARCH PARKING LOT, 1940s. With Highway 50 and the Monarch Crest behind them, early skiers have parked their cars just off the road and are trudging to the Inn Ferno Warming House in the 1940s. On weekends, it was not uncommon for the shoulder of Highway 50 to be the parking lot. (MM.)

THE GUN BARREL. The Gun Barrel was the first lift at the Monarch Ski Area when it opened with a rope tow in 1939. Because of its steepness, the run was known was Bloody Ridge and became one of the most legendary runs in Colorado. A creek ran near the bottom of the Gun Barrel and early in the season, skiers had to jump over the creek or get wet, which many did. Here local Mike Ley has survived the run in 1976. (MM.)

PRE-MONARCH DAYS. Locals skied on Monarch and Marshall Passes before the advent of the Monarch Ski Area in 1939. After a long hike near the top of the Continental Divide, this Salida woman poses for a picture before heading down the mountain with primitive skis and bindings and a guide pole. (MM.)

MONARCH RACERS. The Monarch family of professional ski racers poses for a picture. From left to right, Jarle, Marita, Stein, and Edwin Halsnes of Norway made up a racing team sponsored by the Monarch Ski Area in the 1970s. They hoped to become the most successful skiing family in the world. However, the professional race circuit never caught on, and the Halsnes family returned to Norway. (MM.)

FIRST MONARCH SNOWCAT TOUR. In January 1990, the Monarch Ski Area took advantage of some of the finest backcountry terrain in Colorado. This photograph shows the first snowcat tour in the backcountry north of the ski area. J. W. Wilder is the guide for six people who rode in the snowcat. Customers paid $40 a day or $10 for one run. The name of the operation was Great Divide Tours. (MM.)

POWDER SKIING. Three local skiers from Salida get ready for a great powder day in 1939, the first year the Monarch Ski Area opened. The skis were long and heavy, as were the early poles with huge baskets on the bottom. (Wally Koster collection.)

GUN BARREL. Two-man handsaws and double-bladed axes were used to carve out the first and most famous of all of Monarchs runs. Here two locals ski boot-deep powder on the Gun Barrel in the 1950s. The runs steep pitch and perfect fall line created its reputation. (MM.)