Lost ski areaColoradoMosquito RangeRocky Mountains
Climax
Ran 1936–1962. A company ski hill on Chalk Mountain atop Fremont Pass, run mainly for workers at the Climax molybdenum mine from the mid-1930s into the early 1960s.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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The Climax Ski Area sat on Chalk Mountain at the top of Fremont Pass, between Copper Mountain and Leadville, and served mostly employees of the Climax Molybdenum mine. Its start is dated three ways: 1934 in Mary Ellen Gilliland's Summit Daily series, 1936 on Colorado Ski History's area page, and 1937 in that site's timeline, which has the mining company developing the hill that year.1,2,3,4
Read the whole historyTodayThe Climax mine at the top of the pass still operates on a limited basis.1
Timeline
6 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Climax, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Climax
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1938–1949 · 7.2 mi away · ColoradoA small rope-tow ski area on Hoosier Pass outside Blue River, started by the South Park Lions Club in the late 1930s.
- 1939–1986 · 11.1 mi away · ColoradoBreckenridge's town learning hill at Carter Park, served by rope tows on and off from 1939 until 1986.
- 1966–1969 · 21.3 mi away · ColoradoA small family-run ski area at Dowd Junction, north of Minturn, that ran from 1966 to 1969 before Vail bought it.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 6 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
The Climax Ski Area sat on Chalk Mountain at the top of Fremont Pass, between Copper Mountain and Leadville, and served mostly employees of the Climax Molybdenum mine. Its start is dated three ways: 1934 in Mary Ellen Gilliland's Summit Daily series, 1936 on Colorado Ski History's area page, and 1937 in that site's timeline, which has the mining company developing the hill that year. Coloradotopia also gives 1937 and puts the first rope tow in 1941.1,2,3,4
Floodlights lined a 1,500-foot slope, and Colorado Ski History and the Summit Daily credit Climax with the state's first night skiing. Jack and Zella Gorsuch ran a 600-foot rope tow, soon joined by a T-bar that the ski club leased from the mine for a dollar a year. The hill had a pastel warming hut, piped-in music and a ski jump. Jack Gorsuch's son Dave learned to race there and later made the U.S. Olympic team for Squaw Valley.1,2,3,5,6
Skiing ended with the company town. Gilliland and Coloradotopia give 1962, when the company closed Climax as a town; Colorado Ski History's timeline says 1960.2,3,4
TodayThe Climax mine at the top of the pass still operates on a limited basis.1
Timeline
- 1934First skiing on Chalk Mountain, by the Summit Daily's account2
- 1936Climax Ski Area begins operating, in Colorado Ski History's dates1
- 1937Climax Molybdenum develops the hill; floodlights line a 1,500-foot slope3
- 1941First rope tow installed, per Coloradotopia4
- 1960Closes, in Colorado Ski History's timeline3
- 1962Skiing ends as the mining company closes the town of Climax2,4
Sources for this history (6)
- 1Colorado Ski History · Climax Ski Area
- 2Summit Daily · Summit's Historic Yesterdays: Chalk Mountain Ski Area, 1934-1962, meets sudden demise (Mary Ellen Gilliland)
- 3Colorado Ski History · Colorado Ski History Timeline 1930 - 1939
- 4Coloradotopia · Fremont Pass Photos, Info, History
- 5Summit Daily · Gone but not forgotten: Uncovering the history of long-lost ghost ski areas in Colorado's Rocky Mountains (Ryan Spencer)
- 6Summit Daily · Summit's Historic Yesterdays: Chalk Mountain trains youngsters who become early ski race champs (Mary Ellen Gilliland)
Photos
No photographs of Climax we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Climax, in their own words.
Facts
Location
39.3686° N · 106.1916° W · Colorado · Mosquito Range
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1936–1962
Closed after the 1962 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 1all 1, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain