{"id":35604,"date":"2023-02-23T15:57:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T22:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hesperus-chapman-ski-areas-thrive-after-previous-lackluster-seasons\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:25:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:25:41","slug":"hesperus-chapman-ski-areas-thrive-after-previous-lackluster-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hesperus-chapman-ski-areas-thrive-after-previous-lackluster-seasons\/","title":{"rendered":"Hesperus, Chapman ski areas thrive after previous lackluster seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hesperus
Hesperus Ski Area may extend its season if the heavy snowfall continues into March. (Courtesy of Theresa Blake Graven)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Chapman Hill and Hesperus Ski Area have received several dozen feet of snowfall this winter, giving renewed life to community-based skiing in La Plata County.<\/p>\n

As of last week, the Durango area had received 45.2 inches of snow since the beginning of November, in line with an average accumulation of 45.4 inches as of this time of year. That\u2019s good news for Chapman Hill and Hesperus Ski Area, which do not have the geographical advantage of sitting at high elevations in the San Juan Mountains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a great year there,\u201d said Purgatory Resort spokeswoman Theresa Blake Graven. \u201cI went in January on either the 17th or 18th, after we got all that snow. Hesperus had gotten like 56 or 60 inches. I swear the entire town was there on Thursday at four o\u2019clock. It was pretty wild. It\u2019s been great to see them getting the snow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owned by Mountain Capital Partners, which also owns Purgatory Resort, Hesperus\u2019 snow base has more than doubled this year, Graven said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Hesperus reported that it had received 12 inches of new snow in the previous 24 hours and that it expected about 2 feet of snow in the next 10 days.<\/a> It reported a base of 58 inches.<\/p>\n

As of this time last year, Hesperus Ski Area had a 20-inch base, Graven said. \u201cThe season total so far is 119 inches. Of course, that looks like it will change substantially this week, which is exciting. The last couple of years have been a struggle with the persistent drought we\u2019ve all been dealing with, so it\u2019s been a great year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graven said Hesperus is tentatively due to close on March 19, though she said Mountain Capital Partners may re-evaluate that date if the snowfall continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (Mountain Capital Partners) are committed to giving people the freedom to ski, so if conditions are impressive in March, they may re-evaluate that closing date,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Matt Nimetz, the faculty supervisor at Chapman Hill, said Durango\u2019s in-town ski hill may extend its season if weather permits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were timing our last day with the school break,\u201d he said. \u201cBasically the weekend of the 18th of March through the 26th of March, when our kids are off on spring break. So we\u2019ll see what happens. We\u2019ll be open as long as people want to show up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nimetz said the abundant snowfall has brought in plenty of local skiers since December.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been pretty darn busy,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t have numbers right now for January, but this year has been great. Every time I drive by, I\u2019m just like, \u2018Our hill\u2019s in such good condition!\u2019 It\u2019s so sweet to look at. Compared to last year, our numbers are definitely up on the hill. We\u2019ve had just the right snow conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

With both ski areas doing well these last few months, Nimetz and Graven said upgrades may be coming.<\/p>\n

\"Patrick
Patrick Ely with his son, Barrett, 2, ski on Chapman Hill in December. An abundance of snowfall this year has helped local ski areas like Chapman Hill bring in new patrons. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe will be actively seeking possible bids for two new lifts,\u201d Nimetz said of Chapman Hill. \u201cProbably a platter lift (similar to a T-bar) for the big tow, and then keep the little rope tow and have it go higher up on the hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graven said Mountain Capital Partners is looking at overall improvements to ski lifts and Hesperus\u2019 overall infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been talking a lot about capital improvements,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re committed to continuing to improve and maintain a good skier experience there as well as affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nimetz and Graven said they are excited about this winter\u2019s heavy snowfall and what it means for local skiers. Chapman Hill provides young skiers with the ability to strap on skis after school, sometimes even walking from their homes with their gear in tow.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of our customers are kids,\u201d Nimetz said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a gem to have this here. It\u2019s really just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graven agrees that Chapman Hill and Hesperus provide a unique alternative to the more tourist-focused ski destinations like Purgatory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a different experience,\u201d she said. \u201cFor us, it\u2019s completely its own thing. Something really cool for the local communities around there.\u201d<\/p>\n

molsen@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hesperus reports a foot of new snow, with 2 feet on the way<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[997,28,866,445,1164,414],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-35604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-chapman-hill","tag-headlines","tag-hesperus","tag-newsletter-lead","tag-snow","tag-weather"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35604","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=35604"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83036,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35604\/revisions\/83036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35604"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=35604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}