Hesperus Ski Area's Real Problem Isn't the Broken Lift

Hesperus last ran its lifts during the 2022-23 season. The gearbox on the Bighorn, the double chair that's hauled skiers up Hesperus since the 1960s, gave out and a replacement runs close to $200,000. The lift repair is one issue; snowmaking and landowner approval are also unresolved questions.

Those questions matter if you live here and are wondering when the hill might reopen.

The Lift's Mechanical Failure

Not long before Hesperus last ran lifts, the resort replaced the haul rope on the Bighorn, a Riblet-built double chair old enough that replacement parts often have to be custom fabricated rather than ordered off a shelf. Shortly after that repair, the gearbox failed. Mountain Capital Partners, which bought Hesperus in 2016 and also owns Purgatory Resort up the highway, confirmed the hill would stay dark for a third consecutive winter this past 2025-26 season. No announcement has followed yet on whether lifts will spin this coming winter either.

Purgatory's own new chairlift got delayed into 2026-27, but that's a permitting timeline, not a parts problem. At Hesperus, snowmaking is another unresolved issue, and snowmaking needs water.

"We know how much Hesperus means to local families and to Durango's skiing heritage. It is disappointing not to have the hill open."

Powder quoted Matt Ericksen, marketing director for Purgatory and Hesperus, saying this about the closure.

Why Reopening Requires More Than a Lift Repair

Hesperus needs snowmaking to open reliably before Christmas, which owner James Coleman has said is the single week that makes the hill's finances pencil out. Outside of Christmas and spring break, most Hesperus skiers are already season pass holders, so the holiday walk-up crowd is what turns a marginal season into a workable one. Without snowmaking, the hill depends entirely on natural snowfall arriving on schedule, which increasingly it doesn't.

Snowmaking needs water, and this is where the land question comes in. Mountain Capital Partners owns the ski area's operation and its equipment. It does not own the land underneath it. Any snowmaking project needs sign-off from the landowner and from local government, and three years in, that agreement hasn't been reached. Fundraising alone would not secure the required approvals.

Community Buyout Proposal

Longtime Durango resident Matt Gerhardt, who learned to ski at Hesperus, started handing out #SaveHesperus stickers after the closure and has floated the idea publicly of a local co-op buying the hill and running it as community property instead of a corporate line item.

Reporting on the closure said no conversations were underway about a community purchase. Gerhardt and others describe Hesperus as one of the region's last genuinely affordable, family-run ski areas.

What Keeps Running Anyway

The useful thing to understand about Hesperus is that almost none of its daily texture depends on the ski hill's lift status. A handful of institutions here run on their own clocks, closed hill or not.

• The Hesperus Ski Patrol still held its 51st annual gear swap at the La Plata County Fairgrounds last fall, a tradition that has now outlasted three seasons without a hill to patrol.
• The Kennebec, a small Mediterranean-inspired restaurant a couple minutes from the ski area, still serves dinner Wednesday through Sunday on seasonal, local ingredients, unaffected by whether the chairlift is turning.
• The Old Fort at Hesperus, a property with a history running from military outpost to Indian boarding school to the two-year college that eventually became Fort Lewis College, now runs as a working agricultural base with tours, events, and a country store.
• Blue Lake Ranch, a boutique lodge about six miles south of Highway 160, keeps hosting its cabin stays and weddings on its own trout lake regardless of snow conditions up the road.
• La Plata Canyon, reached off County Road 124 a few miles north, still offers hiking, Jeeping, and a link to the Colorado Trail up a nine-mile dirt road to the summit, no lift ticket required.

None of that is a consolation prize for the ski hill sitting quiet. It's evidence that Hesperus was never a one-institution town, even for people whose winters used to revolve around the Bighorn.

Where Things Stand Heading Into Winter

As of the most recent reporting earlier this year, nothing had changed on either front. No snowmaking agreement had been announced, and no buyout conversation had started. Mountain Capital Partners hasn't given a timeline for reopening. Purgatory's lift project was delayed into 2026-27, and Nordic Valley was still working to rebuild a lodge lost to a 2024 fire as of last year's reporting. That doesn't mean it's gone for good. Small ski areas have come back from longer gaps than three years elsewhere in the country. For now, the reopening timeline remains uncertain.

Regents Real Estate Group is based just up the road in Cortez, and we work across this stretch of Southwest Colorado often enough to know that a place like Hesperus holds together through its restaurants and ranches and canyon roads whether or not the ski hill is running. If you're curious what any of that means for property here or nearby, from the Hesperus land itself to the wider La Plata County area, our Hesperus neighborhood guide and Hesperus homebuyer guide are good places to start. And if you already own a piece of this area and want to know what it's worth today, Get Your Free Home Valuation from a team that actually knows the ground here.