Lost ski areaColoradoRocky Mountains
Sagebrush
Ran 1936–1938. A club rope tow on a sagebrush slope about two miles west of downtown Gunnison, built with WPA help and used for two winters, 1936 to 1938.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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In 1936 the Gunnison Valley Ski Club, with help from the Works Progress Administration, built a rope tow on a sagebrush-covered slope about two miles west of downtown Gunnison. An old six-cylinder Buick engine drove a wire cable that ran on wooden towers between rock-filled timber cribs at the top and bottom, over about 200 feet of vertical.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayThe tow's cribs, bullwheel and cable remain on the slope, which is private property.1,2
Timeline
3 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Sagebrush, 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 Sagebrush
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1939–1952 · 19.6 mi away · ColoradoA club ski area on Cement Mountain south of Crested Butte that opened in 1939 with Colorado's first chairlift and closed in the 1950s.
- Opened 1967 · 33 mi away · ColoradoA summer ski area with one tow on a 13,000-foot snowfield on the north side of Castle Peak, outside Aspen, run on and off from 1967 into the 1970s.
- Years not yet collected · 37.6 mi away · ColoradoA short-lived rope-tow ski hill at Cerro Summit on U.S. 50 east of Montrose, used in the 1930s or 1940s and now part of a city recreation area.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 2 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
In 1936 the Gunnison Valley Ski Club, with help from the Works Progress Administration, built a rope tow on a sagebrush-covered slope about two miles west of downtown Gunnison. An old six-cylinder Buick engine drove a wire cable that ran on wooden towers between rock-filled timber cribs at the top and bottom, over about 200 feet of vertical. The slope was too low for dependable snow, and after the 1936–37 and 1937–38 seasons the club moved its skiing to the new Pioneer ski area, higher up the valley.1,2
When The Colorado Skier visited in September 1992, the tow was still there, with its cable lying on the ground, and the newsletter ranked the site as its most significant discovery so far.2
TodayThe tow's cribs, bullwheel and cable remain on the slope, which is private property.1,2
Sources for this history (2)
- 1Colorado Ski History · Sagebrush Ski Tow, Gunnison Colorado
- 2Colorado Ski History · Lost Areas #7 (The Colorado Skier newsletter, December 9, 1992)
Photos
No photographs of Sagebrush 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 Sagebrush, in their own words.
Facts
Location
38.5478° N · 106.9578° W · Colorado
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1936–1938
Closed after the 1938 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 2all 2, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain