The Hesperus Ski Swap Keeps a Closed Hill's Patrol Ready

"The ski swap is on for our patrol, so that we are ready when we (someday) do open," patroller Amy West wrote to the Durango Telegraph last fall. The Telegraph had assumed the swap was finished. Hesperus Ski Area hadn't run in years, and nobody had heard from the swap organizers.

It wasn't finished then, and it isn't now. The 63rd Annual Ski Swap is this Saturday, November 7, at La Plata County Fairgrounds, and public gear check-in opens today from 3 to 8 p.m. The hill itself, 10 miles west of Durango, stayed closed through the 2025–26 season, the Durango Herald reported. For now the patrol is the part of Hesperus skiing that still operates, and this weekend pays for it.

A patrol with no hill still has to keep its certifications

The Hesperus Ski Patrol calls itself an all-volunteer patrol and a member of the National Ski Patrol. It has handled ski safety and emergency medical care at Hesperus for more than 50 years. Joining is a real commitment. The patrol requires National Ski Patrol membership, a 120-hour Outdoor Emergency Care course or a bridge exam for people with a medical background, and Outdoor Emergency Transportation training. Listed annual dues are $100.

None of that training stops when the lift does. When Hesperus Ski Area announced it would stay closed for 2024–25, its operations update said patrol training and certification upkeep would continue through Purgatory Resort. Last fall the Telegraph described a patrol that "did not see action last season and may or may not this season."

According to the patrol's swap page, swap proceeds pay for medical supplies, patrol equipment, patroller training, facility maintenance and upgrades, and uniforms, plus donations to community groups. In a closed season those line items are what keep the patrol ready to go back to work. The Saturday sale is how they get paid for.

The money now reaches well past the hill

The swap started in 1963 as a small sale in a courthouse basement and grew into the patrol's main fundraiser, The Journal reported at its 50th edition in 2013. The Telegraph wrote that the swap's main job was funding the patrol. In 2025 it noted that proceeds would also go to other local nonprofits, with the patrol keeping a share for its own needs.

The 2026 swap page lists four beneficiaries:

• Adaptive Sports
• Search and Rescue, named by the Telegraph last year as La Plata County Search & Rescue
• Boy Scouts
• Heart Safe La Plata

The list says a lot about the swap. Most of these groups have nothing to do with lift-served skiing at Hesperus. A fundraiser that once kept one small hill's patrol stocked now also supports rescue crews and adaptive programs across the county. Someone who buys a used pair of boots on Saturday is helping fund all of that.

Purgatory Resort is also using the crowd. It is holding its seasonal job fair at the swap from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, with department leads interviewing for Winter 26/27 jobs. Purgatory asks candidates to bring a resume, and applications will be available on site.

Thursday to Sunday at the fairgrounds

The swap covers four days, Thursday through Sunday, with nothing scheduled for the public on Friday. All times come from the patrol's swap page.

If you're selling, a few rules matter. Thursday's public check-in is the only way to get personal gear into the Saturday sale. It costs $1 per item, and every item has to be priced at $5 or more. To save time at the door, fill out your manifest in advance through the patrol's MySkiSwap check-in page. The patrol asks sellers not to print tags or tag items at home, because tags are printed at check-in.

Sunday has a hard cutoff. Gear still at the fairgrounds after noon becomes a donation to Hesperus Mountain Ski Patrol. Checks that aren't picked up Sunday will be mailed the following week.

If you're buying, the patrol says it will have more than 10,000 items. Vendors will sell new and used ski and snowboard equipment next to gear from local sellers, along with hiking gear, packs, and car racks.

What the gear is for this winter

With Hesperus shut since its lift broke, most of what changes hands Saturday will be skied somewhere else. The two nearby options have both posted their 2026–27 plans.

Purgatory Resort plans to open Friday, November 20. If you have young kids, the season pass page has the biggest news. The Power Kids Pass gives children 12 and under free, unlimited skiing and mountain biking, and no adult purchase is required. For a family whose kids learned on Hesperus's single lift, that offer now covers the learning years.

Adult prices for 2026–27, as listed on Purgatory's pass page in October 2026:

• Power Pass: $1,149
• 4 Day Power Pass: $499
• Weekday Power Pass: $299 for one weekday a week, up to $549 for five weekdays a week

Purgatory says starting pass prices have been held since 2023. This season it is adding RFID pass cards and six half-price lift tickets on nearly every season pass, for you or a friend on blackout days. Watch the date, though. The pass page lists the next price increase as November 6, which is tomorrow, a day before the swap.

Chapman Hill, the City of Durango's in-town hill, has 2026–27 ski and snowboard passes on sale and is booking youth ski and snowboard lessons, according to the city's October newsletter. The city hasn't posted an opening date or prices there.

Where the hill itself stands

Hesperus Ski Area belongs to Mountain Capital Partners. Its founder, James Coleman, bought it in 2016, a year after buying Purgatory, the Durango Herald reported. According to that report, the gearbox that runs the Bighorn lift, the hill's only lift, broke before the 2023–24 season, and the fix was put at $200,000.

Water is the other obstacle. The ski area's own 2024 announcement said it needed a reliable snowmaking water source and didn't have access to one. "Several solutions have been identified, but an agreement has not yet been reached," it said, as quoted by the Herald. The same release said the owners "love Hesperus and believe that this small ski area is crucial to keeping snow sports accessible here in our community."

When the Herald reported in September 2025 that the hill would stay closed through 2025–26, there had been no announcement of money for the gearbox repair and no water agreement. Our August look at the ski area covers why the water question is harder to solve than the lift.

Until the hill reopens, the patrol keeps certifying and stocking up for a hill that isn't running, and Thursday's check-in line is what pays for it.

If you're clearing out the garage this week because the kids outgrew their boots, or because a bigger move is on the horizon, Regents Real Estate Group can help you with the house the same way the swap helps with the gear. Ask us for a free home valuation. We'll give you a straight number for your Hesperus place, with no pressure and no rush.