Lost ski areaColoradoRaton MesasRocky Mountains
Sugarite
Ran 1967–1987. A family-owned ski area in Sugarite Canyon northeast of Raton, New Mexico, at the Colorado line, that ran in spells from 1967 to the late 1980s.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Sugarite, also called Raton Ski Basin, lay about a dozen miles northeast of Raton, New Mexico, right at the Colorado line. Colorado's state maps from 1986 to 1991 showed it as a Colorado ski area, and a 1971 guide listed it under both states.1,2,3
Read the whole historyTodayWith the lifts and lodge gone, old snowmaking pipe and Poma lift parts still lay on the slope. (2006)1
Timeline
7 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Sugarite, 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 Sugarite
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1982–2000 · 61.7 mi away · New MexicoA ski area near Amalia, just south of the Colorado line, that ran through the 1980s and again in the late 1990s before closing in January 2000.
- 1965–1983 · 62.9 mi away · New MexicoA beginners' ski hill a mile west of Red River that ran from 1965 to 1983, its last years as Red River's Woodlands Ski Basin.
- 1970–1982 · 66 mi away · New MexicoA small Poma-lift ski hill a few miles north of Angel Fire that served church groups from 1970 until 1982.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 3 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Sugarite, also called Raton Ski Basin, lay about a dozen miles northeast of Raton, New Mexico, right at the Colorado line. Colorado's state maps from 1986 to 1991 showed it as a Colorado ski area, and a 1971 guide listed it under both states. The Taos News places it in Sugarite State Park. The Walton family owned it, on a ranch that had been in the family for almost a century.1,2,3
Its run was broken. A Poma lift went in for 1967–68, then the area stood closed until 1971–72 and ran until 1976. A lift added that year did not open the next season, and skiing resumed only in 1978. By 1984 it had a double chairlift and a surface lift, 17 trails, night skiing, snowmaking on 60 percent of its terrain and 825 feet of vertical.1
Colorado Ski History lists 1987 as the end of its last stretch of seasons, and also says it closed in 1989 under financial strain. The Waltons sold the ranch a couple of years later, and the lifts and lodge were gone by the 1991 season.1
TodayWith the lifts and lodge gone, old snowmaking pipe and Poma lift parts still lay on the slope. (2006)1
Timeline
- 1967First Poma lift installed; the area runs for 1967–681
- 1971Reopens for the 1971–72 season after standing closed1
- 1976A new lift goes in, but the area does not open next season1
- 1978Back in business after the gap1
- 1987Last season in Colorado Ski History's operating dates1
- 1989Closes under financial problems, per the same page's history1
- 1991Lifts and lodge removed by this season1
Sources for this history (3)
- 1Colorado Ski History · Ski Sugarite (Raton Ski Basin)
- 2Colorado Ski History · Lost Areas #11 (The Colorado Skier newsletter, July 29, 1993)
- 3The Taos News · More than a century of skiing in New Mexico (October 21, 2021)
Photos
No photographs of Sugarite 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 Sugarite, in their own words.
Facts
Location
37.0058° N · 104.3470° W · Colorado · Raton Mesas
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1967–1987
Closed after the 1987 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 5all 5, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain