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Purgatory!

Opening day of 2015-2016 season marks 50th season with change, improvements

Durango’s ski season starts Saturday with Purgatory’s opening. That is always good news, but this year it is particularly noteworthy.

For starters, it is the first ski season under the new ownership, the first with no direct connection to Purgatory’s original owners. It was announced just over a year ago that James Coleman, who has lived in Durango for more than a decade, was to be the new owner.

At the time, Coleman proclaimed his devotion to skiing and his intention to improve it at Purgatory. And he has been true to his word – starting with resurrecting the ski area’s original name, which most locals had never abandoned.

He also replaced the glacial old Chair 8 with a new high-speed quad over the summer – to the absolute delight of anyone who enjoys skiing the backside. Installed to serve the Legends area expansion 30 years ago, that lift carried three people and took 13 minutes to reach the top of the mountain. It also broke down regularly. The new one will seat four and get to the top in five minutes. And with the new quad come three new trails and added snowmaking capacity at the bottom of the lift.

The grand opening for the new Legends lift is scheduled for Dec. 19. Expect champagne toasts and festivities at Dante’s.

Coleman also owns the Sipapu ski area in Taos, recently bought Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff and, together with Los Alamos County, runs Pajarito Mountain in Los Alamos, New Mexico. His management group recently invested $10 million in those ski areas, roughly half at Purgatory.

It is a good start – and Coleman vows to keep it up. He has said he plans “on making lift improvements and adding new trails every year.”

He has also boasted that Sipapu was the first ski area to open in New Mexico for 11 straight years and that it frequently offered the longest season. That is a skier talking, and this year’s Nov. 21 opening – the earliest in recent history – suggests he is serious.

It is fitting as well. This season marks Purgatory’s 50th anniversary, which is worth celebrating all by itself. Summer is still Durango’s busiest season. What those who can remember before Purgatory also remember that prior to 1965 summer was also Durango’s only season. Winter sports will never outweigh this area’s summer attractions, but the difference Purgatory has made has meant life or death for much of Durango’s tourist economy.

Much of that can of course be credited to Purgatory’s founder and original principal owner, Ray Duncan, who died last month. And with good early snow, El Niño-based predictions of a strong winter and a renewed commitment to skiing, this season at Purgatory could be a months-long celebration of his vision.

Let it snow!



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