Pikes Peak Ski Area
Colorado Springs' own ski area, on the flank of Pikes Peak above the treeline at Glen Cove, which ran on and off from 1939 until a new triple chair it could not pay for finished it in 1984.
- Region
- Colorado
- Country
- USA
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1939
- Year closed
- 1984
- Reason for closure
- The area installed a Poma USA triple chairlift in the early 1980s at a cost of around 700,000 dollars and could then not meet its taxes or its payments for the lift. Poma initially lent it the money to cover the tax bill, then removed the chairlift in the spring of 1984, and the area never operated again.
History
The Pikes Peak Ski Area sat at Glen Cove, on the Pikes Peak Highway above Colorado Springs, and was for decades the home hill for that city. It opened in 1939 and ran, with breaks in 1966-67 and 1980-81, until 1984. The early operation was rudimentary in the way that pre-war American skiing generally was: weekends only, the snow packed by foot rather than by machine, a couple of paddle lifts and a rope tow for busy days. Its terrain was above the treeline, which sounds like an advantage and was not - the snow up there was wind-scoured and unreliable, and that inconsistency dogged the area throughout its life. In the early 1980s it gambled on modernising, putting in a Poma USA triple chair for around 700,000 dollars, and the gamble broke it: the area could not pay its taxes or its instalments on the lift. Poma lent it money to settle the tax bill and then took the chairlift away in the spring of 1984. Two newly graded runs prepared for that season were never really used. Trail names and elevations are not recorded in accessible sources. The coordinates given here mark Glen Cove on the highway.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Triple - Fixed | Poma USA | Installed in the early 1980s at a cost of about 700,000 dollars and repossessed by the manufacturer in the spring of 1984 when the area could not pay for it |
| Unnamed lift | Platter | A paddle or disk lift serving the beginner ground in the early years | |
| Unnamed lift | Platter | A longer paddle lift serving the main runs in the early years | |
| Unnamed lift | Surface lift | A rope tow used at busy periods in the early years |
Sources and further reading
More in USA
Location
38.8755, -105.0730