For two decades the Cuchara ski area in southern Colorado sat dormant, its former owners having packed up and left overnight. Now it’s being reborn as a county-owned ski area with a mission of inclusivity, thanks to longtime local efforts backed by state, federal and private funding.
“For as much as Colorado is a ski destination, southeastern Colorado is the poorest part of the state,” said Sal Pace, a lobbyist and consultant who is largely responsible for lining up the funding. “A lot of the communities down here are the poorest counties in the state, with the highest Latino population. There’s just not access to skiing for kids growing up here, which is really a shame.”
Pace’s pro bono work on behalf of Cuchara helped raise $800,000 in public and private funding to rehabilitate a ski lift that hasn’t operated since 2000, fix up a small lodge building, pay for operations and provide free skiing for the children of Huerfano and Las Animas counties. They are the two southernmost counties along Interstate 25. The closest towns are Walsenburg and Trinidad, and the New Mexico state line is 25 miles south.
“It’s a cool ski area. There’s nothing else in southeastern Colorado (for skiing),” said Pace, a former state politician, adding that his children are “half-Hispanic.”
The non-profit Panadero Ski Corporation has provided limited skiing the past two winters with a snowcat hauling skiers and riders up the hill. Ken Clayton, a Panadero board member, said they hope to have the lift running and certified by the end of the winter, ready to go for next season.
“The lift needs a completely new electrical system and drive system,” Clayton said. “In theory, we’re going to be looking at an old lift – the lift towers, the cable, the chairs – with a new lift system.”
Clayton has been working for more than two years toward that end. Hiring Pace to secure the funding is finally making lift repairs possible.
“I was skiing in Summit County last year or the year before on a powder day and thinking, ‘It is not fair that this is only available to the wealthy in our state, because this is so much fun,’” said Pace, who lives in Pueblo. “The whole mission of Cuchara and the group that came together, the Panadero non-profit, is to make skiing accessible to the kids of southeastern Colorado, and they want to do it for free. The next closest ski area is Monarch or Wolf Creek. If you live in a place like Trinidad or Walsenberg or Pueblo, those aren’t really close.”
In 2017, when several parcels of land at the bottom of the mountain became available in a tax lien sale, the Cuchara Foundation raised $150,000 to buy them and transfer them to Huerfano County. That became Cuchara Mountain Park. The county tried unsuccessfully to find a concessionaire to run the area, so they turned to Panadero, the non-profit created in 2017 with the sole purpose of rehabbing the lift.
“There was never a desire to run or operate the park,” Clayton said, “but when the county found themselves without someone (to run it), they asked us to step up and we did.”
Two years ago, when it became obvious there would be no quick fix to the lift, Panadero found another way to make skiing accessible.
“One of our maintenance gurus said, ‘We’ve got to do something for the community,’” Clayton said. “He went out and acquired a car hauler, fabricated skis for it, acquired 11 school bus seats that he welded onto the trailer, and built walls around it.”
The pieced-together result is called the “Ski Bus.” After a trial run for a couple of weekends in 2022, they ran the Ski Bus on weekends last winter and began operations this year on Dec. 14.
The Ski Bus provides access to about 300 vertical feet at the bottom of the mountain that will be served by the lift when it is functional again. The upper 1,200 feet of the mountain is still used by skiers willing to hike for it.
“We have full parking lots after storms,” Clayton said, “with backcountry enthusiasts who are up there, skiing the higher mountain.”
Snowfall can be sketchy, which is one reason the area operated off and on from 1981 to 2000 with a series of owners, but Cuchara is located in a place of breathtaking beauty. The road there has been designated a Colorado Scenic Byway. En route, visitors can see the twin Spanish Peaks, which tower more than a mile over their surroundings. Then the road passes a series of spectacular rock formations.
One source of funding came from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which delivered $100,000 through an Outdoor Equity Grant to provide free skiing for the kids of Huerfano and Las Animas counties. CPW’s Outdoor Equity Grants provide funding for outdoors organizations that create opportunities for “underserved” youth and their families.
While the focus is on locals, Clayton says Cuchara may have some appeal for budget-conscious Front Range families looking for an affordable place to become skiers, even with the 190-mile drive.
“If you were a beginner skier, would you want to get in your car in Denver and drive up I-70 to pay $150 to $225 for a day pass to learn how to ski?” Clayton said. “Or, would you rather drive south and pay $40 and make laps on beginner and intermediate terrain all day so you can get better? Last year we started seeing people from Denver metro.”
And, there is that one-of-a-kind Ski Bus.
“I would say it’s more fun to ride the Ski Bus with 22 people than it is to sit on a chair lift by yourself, or with one other person,” Clayton said. “It truly is only beginner and intermediate terrain. If you’re looking for affordable skiing in southern Colorado in a beautiful setting, that’s us.”
