Mountain Blog

Looking forward to enjoying classical performances surrounded by the beauty of the mountains? We are too! Click through these videos to hear a preview of what to expect at the 31st installment of Music in the Mountains! From the piano to the cello to the trumpet, there’s something for everyone to enjoy at Music in the Mountains!

First Chair — July 15th | 5:30-8:30pm Cellist Wendy Warner; Guillermo Figueroa, conductor Learn more!

Paradise Run — July 16th | 5:30-8:00pm Thomas Heuser, guest conductor; Inna Faliks, piano Learn more!

The Glamorous Life — July 21 | 5:30-9:30pm Lisa Vroman, vocalist; Gregory Hustis, conductor Learn More!

Jazz Jubilee — July 28 | 7:00-9:00pm Byron ...

We’re working hard at Purgatory to get our massive network of trails open to the public! Out of our twelve mountain bike trails, five are completely open for business, with two additional trails having partial openings. While the conditions are slightly dry, the moon dust is a thrill to ride through—especially on the Divinity Flow Trail!

Our most exciting announcement is the opening of Lift 1 (6-Pack) and a brand new trail that connects the lift with our existing network of trails. Click here for our printable Summer Trail Map!

At this point in the summer, our open trails are: Base Camp ...

While our running events might not be for another few months, it’s never too early to prep yourself for an adventure! Purgatory’s Muck & Mire Mud Adventure Race sponsored by First National Bank of Durango and the Darn Tough Mountain Marmot Trail Run are community favorites, so be sure to register early to secure your spot!

Never heard of the Muck & Mire or the Marmot Trail Run? Learn more about each adventurous event below!

Muck & Mire Mud Adventure Race

On August 5th from 9am-1pm, come enjoy a down n’ dirty obstacle course at Purgatory. The 5k route has over 20 fun, ...

Now that school’s out, we know parents are always on the hunt for exciting ways to keep their children entertained all summer. Luckily at Purgatory Resort, there are dozens of summer bucket list items to check off! From our new Summer Tubing slope to the Muck & Mire Mud Adventure Race, don’t hesitate to take advantage of these kid-approved events and activities!

If your family is ready for an extreme day in the sun, purchase a Total Adventure Ticket to gain access to Purgatory’s spectacular summer experiences!

One of this year’s most exciting highlights is the opening of our Summer ...

For Immediate Release: April 25, 2017

Durango, Colo. — Resort officials with the largest ski area collective in the Southwest announced capital improvements that will be made for the 2017/2018 season at five southwestern mountains located in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, plus Colorado’s largest cat skiing operation.

James Coleman, managing partner of Purgatory Resort in Durango, Colorado; Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff, Arizona; Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort near Taos, New Mexico; Pajarito Mountain Ski Area in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hesperus Ski Area, west of Durango; and Purgatory Snowcat Adventures, Colorado’s largest snowcat skiing operation, announced the company is investing an ...

Purgatory’s 2017/18 season passes are on sale now and include more discounts and benefits than ever! Use this guide to help select the pass that’s right for you.

Keep in mind: All Purgatory passes now include the payment plan option, regardless of which pass you purchase! With no interest and easy, automatic payments, it’s just one less thing you have to keep track of. Simply pay off your pass in monthly installments through January 30, 2018 – and use your pass anytime!

The Power Pass is ideal for those who want unlimited ski days and the most perks.

Everything You Need To Know by Matthew Krichman, events manager at Purgatory

Event Date:  Saturday, March 4, 2017 Time: 10:30am – 12:30pm Location: Purgatory’s tubing hill (Columbine area) Cost: $25 per team

The beauty of Uncle Clyde’s Run & Slide is in its simplicity.  Teams complete as many up-down relay laps as they can on Purgatory’s tubing hill in 90 minutes.  It sounds ridiculous, possibly strenuous and undoubtedly fun.  Matthew Krichman, events manager at Purgatory Resort, answers a few questions about the upcoming event.

Q: Who is Uncle Clyde and why did you name this event after him? A: Clyde is my dog, and I’ve always wanted ...

We’re all excited to kick off the ski season.  But with the unseasonably warm weather we’ve experienced earlier this fall, we wanted to make our opening weekend fun and a little unique!  So, we decided to offer the quintessential Durango, Colorado mountain experience!  Ski and mountain bike all in the same day – on the same mountain – at the same resort! 

Our dedicated mountain crews have been working around the clock getting ready to kick off the ski season at Purgatory!  On Thursday, snowmaking operations at Purgatory started at 3am. Temperatures started to drop quickly as snow ...

It’s all hands on deck as our crews prepare for opening day, Saturday, Nov. 19.

This week, we’ve had two more nights of productive snowmaking at Purgatory with some light snow falling on Wednesday.  Forecasts are calling for more snow this weekend, followed by a cooling trend that should allow us to make snow nightly very soon.

The new expert trail on the backside has been completely cleared, we’ll be working on timber hauling and clean up over the next two weeks.  This new trail is located between Lift 5 and Lift 8 and promises to offer incredible fall line skiing!

Crews have ...

With the recent round of cold weather, our Slopes Manager, Josh Hamill launched snowmaking operations at Purgatory on Oct. 6 — the earliest snowmaking start in the history of the resort. We ran just over 20 snow guns and carefully piled our machine made snow into a handful of shaded spots on the mountain where it will hold until we’re ready to start pushing snow around with snowcats to build trails. We will continue snowmaking operations whenever temperatures permit until Mother Nature takes over.

Trail work on the backside of Purgatory continues.  The re-grading of the Legends Bypass was completed as ...

Work is underway on the Legends Bypass trail. We are moving ahead with our project to improve the trail to the bottom of the Legends Express Lift 8. Our goal is to make this trail considerably more user friendly by widening it and re-grading the terrain to create a more gentle and consistent slope. The lower switchback has been lengthened to remove the steeper drop that was in place here last winter. We anticipate having this trail re-contoured and ready for snow by the middle of October.

We had our first snow of the season at ...

As you know, Purgatory is installing a new surface lift, T-3, which will open this winter.  It will take skiers heading west on the backside of the mountain over to the Legends Express high-speed quad.

Work has begun on installing T-3, the new Swiss Cord rope tow.  Today, we surveyed, and completed the geotechnical analysis of the T-3 lift alignments. The survey and geotechnical analysis are part of the preparation for excavating the four terminal locations. We anticipate starting excavation at the site by the end of September.

And, we’ll be ready for ski season!  Only 67 days and counting!  See you ...

As part of the capital improvement projects for this coming winter, Purgatory announced that we would enhance access from the previous midway loading station to the bottom of the Legends Express Lift 8 high-speed quad for intermediate skiers and snowboarders.   The Forest Service recently approved our plan to improve the Legends Bypass to be more user friendly for intermediate skiers.

The changes we’re making to the Bypass will be a vast improvement.  We are re-grading it with the goal of making it a 16% grade overall, which will be more gradual than what exists currently.  We are altering the steep drop ...

Hi, I’m Matthew, Events Manager at Purgatory Resort.  We’re all really excited about the upcoming Mountain Bike Festival and Flow Trail Race on September 10th.  If you have never participated in a downhill race before, I’ll share a couple thoughts that might be helpful.

Purgatory Flow Trail

So, let’s talk gravity.  One of the coolest things about the Divinity Flow Trail is that it is truly meant to be ridden without pedaling at all.  It was designed and built with a lot of thought and attention to making it truly “gravity powered.”  So, think of it not so much as a ...

Hi!  My name is Ed Youmans, and I’m the new VP of Mountain Operations at Purgatory.  I come to Durango from the Mt. Hood area, and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of this great community!  My passion is skiing, and I’ve had the privilege of focusing my entire career on just that! I feel very fortunate that my career path has taken me through almost every area of ski resort operations and management, learning about every detail of the mountain recreation business.  My philosophy  — it’s never a bad day when you’re out skiing!

New Lift, Added Terrain ...