{"id":14165,"date":"2025-12-31T17:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T00:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/city-owned-ski-hills-like-chapman-are-a-cheap-antidote-to-pricey-resorts\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T19:32:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:32:59","slug":"city-owned-ski-hills-like-chapman-are-a-cheap-antidote-to-pricey-resorts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/city-owned-ski-hills-like-chapman-are-a-cheap-antidote-to-pricey-resorts\/","title":{"rendered":"City-owned ski hills like Chapman are a cheap antidote to pricey resorts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Joan
Joan Mattingly and Casey Franklin give encouragement to Franklin\u2019s 4-year-old nephew Breck at Chapman Hill Ski Area on Tuesday afternoon. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

This winter\u2019s mild weather is affecting ski areas across the state \u2013 especially the tiniest ones owned by cities. These low-key ski hills are inexpensive and popular with locals, but a lack of snow and cold have kept some from opening so far this season.<\/p>\n

In Durango, Chapman Ski Hill is open, but only partially, after a lightning strike earlier this year temporarily fried a lift and lights. Operations Manager Matt Nimetz explained the ski hill was only able to open because it has snowmaking capabilities \u2013 even though the area hasn\u2019t seen a lot of freezing-cold days so far this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo yeah, I\u2019ve wasted a lot of early morning hours just kind of waiting around or firing up everything and then deciding this isn\u2019t worth it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nimetz is happy, however, that the little ski hill has been able to open a bit for local children who are on holiday break. Like many of these city-owned ski hills, Chapman is \u201cpretty much designed so that the kids can go skiing after school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of place Nimetz wishes he\u2019d had access to growing up in Fort Collins. He calls Chapman Hill \u201ca gem in town.\u201d While many Coloradans have to drive more than an hour to hit the slopes, Durango kids have a ski area not far from the small city\u2019s historic downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of blows my mind every time I think about it,\u201d Nimetz said.<\/p>\n

\n

Fun facts<\/h4>\n

Chapman Ski Hill<\/strong>Chapman also features an ice-skating rink that becomes a roller-skating rink in the warmer months.<\/p>\n

Howelsen Hill<\/strong>Steamboat says this is the oldest continuously operated ski area in North America.<\/p>\n

Cranor Ski Hill<\/strong>This little hill used to be privately owned, but Gunnison bought it in 1966.<\/p>\n

Lake City Ski Hill<\/strong>One of the ski runs is actually a long, snow-covered driveway leading to a local resident\u2019s summer home.<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s Ski Hill<\/strong>A local woman named Deema Mary Lee donated this land to the city \u201cto be used as a recreation area for the young people of Ouray.\u201d It\u2019s always been free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Family
Family members watch their loved ones ski and snowboard at Chapman Hill Ski Area on Tuesday afternoon. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Intrepid
Intrepid skiers and snowboarders make the most of a low-snow winter at Chapman Hill Ski Area on Tuesday afternoon. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joan
Joan Mattingly teaches 4-year-old Breck Franklin how to ski at Chapman Hill on Tuesday afternoon. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Casey
Casey Franklin runs alongside his partner Joan Mattingly and 4-year-old nephew Breck Franklin as they ride up Chapman Hill's Poma lift on Tuesday afternoon. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Family
Family members watch their loved ones ski and snowboard from the base of Chapman Hill Ski Area on Tuesday afternoon. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A skier slides a rail at Chapman Hill Ski Area on Tuesday afternoon. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A young skier attempts to perform a 180 \u2013 a trick where a skier takes off going forward and lands backward \u2013 at Chapman Hill on Tuesday afternoon. The city of Durango has blown enough snow to get the community ski hill open and even put a couple of rails, boxes and jumps in for the more trick-oriented snow riders. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A young skier performs a safety grab at Chapman Hill Ski Area on Tuesday afternoon. The city of Durango has blown enough snow to get the community ski hill open and even put a couple of rails, boxes and jumps in for the more trick-oriented snow riders. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Ride
Ride the Poma up, ski down, repeat \u2013 that was the formula for fun at Chapman Hill on Tuesday afternoon. (Scout Edmondson\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lightning strike earlier this year temporarily fried a lift and lights in Durango<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[378,997,28,994],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-14165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-alpine-skiing","tag-chapman-hill","tag-headlines","tag-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14165"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19362,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14165\/revisions\/19362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14165"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=14165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}