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| Sunlight Mountain |
| Old Sunlight Trail Maps: |
| Sunlight Ski Area |
| Resort History: |
| The Tercero Chairlift |
| Sunlight's Base Lodge |
| Looking up Sun King |
| The top of the Primero Chair |
| The Bottom of the Tercero Lift |
| The trail: Zephyr |
| The Trail: Blue Tango |
| Mount Sopris |
| Current Resort Stats: * |
| Looking down: Showdown |
| Pros and Cons to Skiing Here: |
|
| Sunlight in the summer |
| Copyright © coloradoskihistory.com All Rights Reserved. *Resort Stats Current for 2009-10 Sources: Paul Hauk The Colorado Ski Museum Sunlight Ski Area Picture Credits: Brad C. |
Sunlight Ski Area was the dream of John Higgs, a Chicago native. His site
selection for a new ski area was at the former location of the Holiday Hill
rope tow just outside of Glenwood Springs. In 1965, Higgs met with the U.
S. Forest Service to discuss a ski area that would extend onto public lands.
The Forest Service saw potential in his plan and issued a special use permit
for 2,100 acres atop the ranch land.
Financing was the next step for Sunlight. Stocks were issued to produce
money for construction. Initially, Higgs was the majority shareholder at
16,300, while the remaining holders included families from the Glenwood
Springs area, companies, hotels, and skiers from as far as Kansas.
The Sunlight Ranch Company opened the ski area for business on
December 16, 1966 with a handful of trails expanding over 15 miles and
skier days totaled 15,000. Lift tickets cost $5.50 during the first season.
The area operated one Riblet double chair, servicing the entire mountain.
During the first years of operation, Sunlight ran on a shoestring budget. Part
time employees and volunteers managed the lift and outdoor operations. All
other services were controlled by local contractors including ski rental
equipment, restaurant facilities and the ski school. During the '67-68 ski
season, a short double chair from the failed nearby Glenwood Mountain
Park Ski Area found a home at Sunlight for the cost of $21,000. This chair
served a bunny slope for the ski school and also was the bottom link to
future expansion on the ridge across the valley. When landowner issues
became a problem within this expansion area, the lift was removed.
A third lift, the Segundo Chair, was installed in 1973 and skier days climbed
to 38,000. Aspen Skiing Company sold Sunlight the Segundo Chair for
20,000 Sunlight stocks. The lift originally operated on Ajax Mountain as the
#3 lift built by Heron in 1954. The chair did not run the first season it was
installed due engineering issues associated with its reinstallation. The
following summer, Riblet was brought in to rectify the situation with new
chairs, replacement towers and a new drive station.
In 1987, improvements were made to the Primo chairlift, and the Tercero lift
was installed. The Tercero lift was purchased second hand from Snowmass.
The new chairlift doubled Sunlight’s uphill capacity and improved access to
the entire mountain. From a skier and rider’s standpoint, these
improvements eliminated lift lines, while skier days continued to increase.
Through a stock purchase, the ownership of Ski Sunlight changed between
1990 and 1992. The new owners, Sunlight Inc, comprising of twelve
different shareholders, brought financial stability to the ski area. In 1993,
“Sunlight Extreme” terrain was added to the ski area, which included 12 new
black and double black diamond trails. Ski Sunlight's name was officially
changed in 1996 to Sunlight Mountain Resort for marketing purposes.
On October 13, 2005, Sunlight Mountain Resort announced it was for sale
with an asking price of fifty million dollars. The sale included the U.S. Forest
Service permit for the 2,081 acres (including 67 trails and 470 acres of
skiable terrain), four lifts, a base lodge, the Sunlight Ski School and
Children's Center, food and beverage operation, snowmobile tour company,
and rental-retail outlets onsite and in Glenwood Springs. The sale also came
with 400 acres of Sunlight-owned land that could potentially be developed
and support more than 700 residential units.
A year later, the ski area announced a buyer named Exquisite Development,
based in Destin, Florida. Tom Jankovsky, general manager of Sunlight, said
ski area officials were talking with Exquisite Development since August of
that year. They came into contact with the company through a Sunlight board
member, Tom Brigham, who is a real estate agent back east.
selection for a new ski area was at the former location of the Holiday Hill
rope tow just outside of Glenwood Springs. In 1965, Higgs met with the U.
S. Forest Service to discuss a ski area that would extend onto public lands.
The Forest Service saw potential in his plan and issued a special use permit
for 2,100 acres atop the ranch land.
Financing was the next step for Sunlight. Stocks were issued to produce
money for construction. Initially, Higgs was the majority shareholder at
16,300, while the remaining holders included families from the Glenwood
Springs area, companies, hotels, and skiers from as far as Kansas.
The Sunlight Ranch Company opened the ski area for business on
December 16, 1966 with a handful of trails expanding over 15 miles and
skier days totaled 15,000. Lift tickets cost $5.50 during the first season.
The area operated one Riblet double chair, servicing the entire mountain.
During the first years of operation, Sunlight ran on a shoestring budget. Part
time employees and volunteers managed the lift and outdoor operations. All
other services were controlled by local contractors including ski rental
equipment, restaurant facilities and the ski school. During the '67-68 ski
season, a short double chair from the failed nearby Glenwood Mountain
Park Ski Area found a home at Sunlight for the cost of $21,000. This chair
served a bunny slope for the ski school and also was the bottom link to
future expansion on the ridge across the valley. When landowner issues
became a problem within this expansion area, the lift was removed.
A third lift, the Segundo Chair, was installed in 1973 and skier days climbed
to 38,000. Aspen Skiing Company sold Sunlight the Segundo Chair for
20,000 Sunlight stocks. The lift originally operated on Ajax Mountain as the
#3 lift built by Heron in 1954. The chair did not run the first season it was
installed due engineering issues associated with its reinstallation. The
following summer, Riblet was brought in to rectify the situation with new
chairs, replacement towers and a new drive station.
In 1987, improvements were made to the Primo chairlift, and the Tercero lift
was installed. The Tercero lift was purchased second hand from Snowmass.
The new chairlift doubled Sunlight’s uphill capacity and improved access to
the entire mountain. From a skier and rider’s standpoint, these
improvements eliminated lift lines, while skier days continued to increase.
Through a stock purchase, the ownership of Ski Sunlight changed between
1990 and 1992. The new owners, Sunlight Inc, comprising of twelve
different shareholders, brought financial stability to the ski area. In 1993,
“Sunlight Extreme” terrain was added to the ski area, which included 12 new
black and double black diamond trails. Ski Sunlight's name was officially
changed in 1996 to Sunlight Mountain Resort for marketing purposes.
On October 13, 2005, Sunlight Mountain Resort announced it was for sale
with an asking price of fifty million dollars. The sale included the U.S. Forest
Service permit for the 2,081 acres (including 67 trails and 470 acres of
skiable terrain), four lifts, a base lodge, the Sunlight Ski School and
Children's Center, food and beverage operation, snowmobile tour company,
and rental-retail outlets onsite and in Glenwood Springs. The sale also came
with 400 acres of Sunlight-owned land that could potentially be developed
and support more than 700 residential units.
A year later, the ski area announced a buyer named Exquisite Development,
based in Destin, Florida. Tom Jankovsky, general manager of Sunlight, said
ski area officials were talking with Exquisite Development since August of
that year. They came into contact with the company through a Sunlight board
member, Tom Brigham, who is a real estate agent back east.
| Insider Tips to Skiing Here: |
| '05-'06 |
