Cuchara Valley Ski Area
A snakebitten southern Colorado ski area that opened as Panadero in 1981, went through five owners and four closures before shutting in 2000, and had one of its Riblet chairs turning again in January 2026 under a community non-profit.
- Region
- Colorado
- Country
- USA
- Status
- reopened
- Year opened
- 1981
- Year closed
- 2000
- Reason for closure
- Two decades of unstable ownership, undercapitalisation and unreliable snow. Successive owners failed after the collapse of their Texas savings-and-loan backers, one operating period was shut down by the Colorado Tramway Board for running lifts without permits, and final owner John Lau closed both Cuchara and his Ski Rio property in 2000; the Forest Service revoked the special use permit in 2001.
History
Cuchara Valley sits above the village of Cuchara in the Spanish Peaks country of Huerfano County, southern Colorado. It opened for the 1981-82 season as Panadero, financed by Texas developers through Summit Savings and Loan, with four Riblet chairlifts and two O'Connor rope tows serving 230 acres, 1,562 ft of vertical from a 10,810 ft summit to a 9,248 ft base, and a longest run of 2.5 miles. Trails included Apishapa, Grandote, Francisco's Revenge, Bear Bumps and The Burn Area. It never found stable footing: it went dark in 1985-86 when Summit Savings withdrew support, again from 1989 to 1992 under Club Corporation of America, and again in 1996-97 when the Colorado Tramway Board discovered lifts being run without permits. Dick Davis bought it for 1.1 million dollars in 1992, the Huffines brothers followed, and John Lau paid 2.8 million dollars in 1997 before closing both Cuchara and his Ski Rio area in New Mexico in 2000. The Forest Service pulled the special use permit in 2001 and has since made clear it does not intend to issue another one, which caps any revival at the private land near the base. Lift 2 and the cafeteria were removed in 2010. In 2017 the community raised 150,000 dollars to buy the base land, which became the Parker-Fitzgerald Cuchara Mountain Park owned by Huerfano County, and the non-profit Panadero Ski Corporation spent close to 200,000 dollars in state and federal grants rebuilding the 1981 Riblet double. It carried skiers again on 17 January 2026, serving nine trails and about 47 acres on roughly 300 ft of vertical, with uphill access to over 1,500 ft of touring in the San Isabel National Forest above.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lift 4 (Panadero) | Chairlift - Double - Fixed | Riblet | Riblet fixed-grip double built in 1981, 1,400 ft long with 73 chairs and about 270 ft of vertical; rebuilt by the Panadero Ski Corporation and returned to service on 17 January 2026 after 25 years idle |
| Lift 1 | Chairlift - Triple - Fixed | Riblet | Riblet triple serving the upper mountain; out of service since 2000 |
| Lift 2 | Chairlift - Double - Fixed | Riblet | Removed along with the cafeteria in summer 2010 |
| Lift 3 | Chairlift - Double - Fixed | Riblet | Out of service since the 2000 closure |
| Rope Tow 1 | Surface lift | O'Connor | Beginner rope tow |
| Rope Tow 2 | Surface lift | O'Connor | Beginner rope tow |
Runs
- Apishapa
- Francisco's Revenge
- Grandote
- Bear Bumps
- The Burn Area
Sources and further reading
More in USA
Location
37.3475, -105.1255