Chapman Hill, a beloved ski and snowboard area in the heart of Durango, officially stopped spinning its Poma lift and rope tow Thursday.
The decision to close the municipal ski hill was made, in part, because the loading area for the Poma lift – meant to deliver skiers to the top of the hill – was a 6-inch-deep puddle of water. A post on the Chapman Hill Facebook page attributed a spell of hot, dry weather to melting out much of the hill’s snowpack.
“Unfortunately abnormally high temperatures have taken a huge toll on our snowpack,” the post said. “We will be unable to operate with safety of the public in mind.”
Matt Nimitz, Chapman Hill’s manager, said his team blew snow for 22 nights since Chapman opened Dec. 20, using 2.7 million gallons of water.
Twenty-two mountain operations employees worked the hill this season with another 20 teaching ski and snowboard lessons. On top of that, Nimitz said, the hill clocked some 5,700 skier visits over the 77-day season, averaging out to 74 people per day using the hill.
Nimitz said that while it is unfortunate the hill couldn’t stay open through spring break, mid-March is typically when the hill closes. The fact that it had a full ski season through this warm, dry winter was a success in itself.
“I think we’ve proved we can get this place open,” Nimitz said. “If we can make snow this year, we can pretty much make snow any year.”
Still, there were challenges to snowmaking, he said. Some nights it was too warm to blow, and others had only a couple hours when it got cold enough for crews to blow high-quality snow.
“You can either make snow or you can’t,” he said. “Or you’re making low-quality snow and wasting water. Bad quality snow doesn’t help us that much.”
Despite the abnormally warm winter and other challenges, including a lightning strike that damaged ski infrastructure, crews were able to keep the hill open since Dec. 20.
Skiers and snowboarders were able to enjoy the hill most days and nights of the week. On March 6, the Fort Lewis College Ski and Snowboard Club hosted a business-casual-themed freestyle competition that was open to the community.
Nimitz said he anticipates changes in the hill’s snow blowing apparatus to be more efficient, which, weather allowing, will hopefully allow Chapman to open as early as possible. That includes getting more fan guns, which are more efficient, optimize water use and can automatically adjust to changes in temperature.
“We’ll do the same thing next year,” Nimitz said. “And if we get the temps, we’ll open up earlier.”
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
