Lost ski areaColoradoFront RangeRocky Mountains
St. Mary's Glacier
Closed after the 1986 season. A small T-bar and rope-tow ski area below St. Mary's Glacier, past the town of Alice west of Idaho Springs, that last ran in 1986.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
Counting who skied it…
People skied St. Mary's Glacier, a lasting snowfield above Alice, well before it had lifts; around 1938 a Fourth of July race was held there, probably on the glacier itself.1,2,3
Read the whole historyTodayBackcountry skiers and snowboarders use the old slopes for most of the year. (2023)5
Timeline
8 events · swipe
Memories
Skied St. Mary's Glacier, 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 St. Mary's Glacier
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- Opened 1947 · 4.8 mi away · ColoradoA weekend rope-tow hill with a lodge at the old mining town of Apex, north of Central City, that ran from 1947 into the 1950s.
- 1937–2001 · 7.2 mi away · ColoradoA ski area on both sides of the Continental Divide at Berthoud Pass, Colorado, that ran lifts from 1937 to 2001, though not every winter.
- 1961–1986 · 10 mi away · ColoradoA small ski area in Hideaway Park, now downtown Winter Park, Colorado, that ran a Pomagalski double chair from 1961 until March 1986.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 5 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
People skied St. Mary's Glacier, a lasting snowfield above Alice, well before it had lifts; around 1938 a Fourth of July race was held there, probably on the glacier itself. The lift-served area below it most likely dates from the mid-1950s, when its T-bar and rope tows went in, and it ran on and off until 1986 under names that included Ski St. Mary's, Silver Lake and, in 1979–80, Silver Mountain.1,2,3
Sources disagree on its size: Colorado Ski History gives a 9,760-foot summit and 1,260 feet of vertical, while The Colorado Skier's 1992 listing gave a 10,955-foot top and 675 feet. Readers remember a base of temporary buildings with outhouses. A former owner told the Denver Post that cheap tickets had left the area losing money for years, until the hobby grew too costly.1,2,4
Revival plans came and went. A 2002 snowboard-park design by SnoEngineering fell through. From 2005 Michael Coors pursued Eclipse Snow Park, with new lifts and about 1,300 feet of vertical; Clear Creek County approved it in 2007, but residents went to court, and in 2010 the county commissioners voted down its construction permit. In 2023 the 372-acre property was put up for sale at $7 million.1,3,4
TodayBackcountry skiers and snowboarders use the old slopes for most of the year. (2023)5
Timeline
- c. 1930Fourth of July ski races held on or near the glacier, about 19382
- c. 1950Present T-bar and rope tows installed, probably mid-decade1,2
- 1979Runs as Silver Mountain for the 1979–80 season1,2
- 1986Last season; the area closes1,2,3
- 2002SnoEngineering drafts a snowboard-park plan that falls through1,3
- 2007Clear Creek County approves the Eclipse Snow Park plan4
- 2010County commissioners vote down Eclipse's construction permit4
- 2023The 372-acre property is listed for sale at $7 million3
Sources for this history (5)
- 1Colorado Ski History · Ski Saint Mary's Glacier
- 2Colorado Ski History · Lost Areas #3 (The Colorado Skier newsletter, August 17, 1992)
- 3SnowBrains · [FOR SALE] St. Mary's Glacier Resort, CO, Could Be Yours for $7 Million (October 4, 2023)
- 4Colorado Ski History · The Reopening of Saint Mary's Glacier (Eclipse Snow Park)
- 5Denver7 · 7 lost Colorado ski areas that are worth remembering (February 13, 2023)
Photos
No photographs of St. Mary's Glacier 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 St. Mary's Glacier, in their own words.
Facts
Location
39.8247° N · 105.6448° W · Colorado · Front Range
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
until 1986 · the year it opened is not yet collected
Closed after the 1986 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 4all 4, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain