Lost ski areaColoradoSan Juan MountainsRocky Mountains
Tamarron
Ran 1976–1986. A small beginner ski hill run by the Tamarron resort north of Durango, with a rope tow from the mid-1970s and a short double chair from 1981.
Overview
Look around
Loading the ground…
Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
Counting who skied it…
The Tamarron resort, about 18 miles north of Durango and south of Purgatory, ran a beginner ski hill on its grounds. Colorado Ski History dates it 1976 to 1986, starting with a rope tow; a 1993 Colorado Skier newsletter has it open to the public from about 1975 to 1982.1,2,3
Read the whole historyTodayThe rope tow and the double chair have both been removed.1,3
Timeline
5 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Tamarron, 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 Tamarron
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- 1972–1983 · 17.5 mi away · ColoradoA small beginner hill built for the Forest Lakes subdivision north of Bayfield, open from 1972 to 1983.
- 1957–1959 · 18.4 mi away · ColoradoA family rope-tow hill on the Yeager Ranch west of Durango that ran from 1957 to 1959.
- 1951–1985 · 28.4 mi away · ColoradoA club-run ski area on Highway 145 at Stoner, 26 miles from Cortez, with T-bars and a large vertical drop for its size, open from 1951 to 1985.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 3 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
The Tamarron resort, about 18 miles north of Durango and south of Purgatory, ran a beginner ski hill on its grounds. Colorado Ski History dates it 1976 to 1986, starting with a rope tow; a 1993 Colorado Skier newsletter has it open to the public from about 1975 to 1982. Sources differ on the end.1,2,3
In 1981 the resort added a Borvig double chair, 481 feet long with 169 feet of rise, which lifted the hill's vertical by more than 100 feet to 172 feet. Unconfirmed reports say trouble with the chair may have led to the closing. A 1990 resort hiking guide still showed the chairlift as a landmark, and in 1993 the newsletter could not tell whether the hill had closed or served only resort guests.1,2
TodayThe rope tow and the double chair have both been removed.1,3
Sources for this history (3)
- 1Colorado Ski History · Tamarron Ski Area
- 2Colorado Ski History · Lost Areas #9 (The Colorado Skier newsletter, February 9, 1993)
- 3Colorado Ski History · Lost Resort Lift Database
Photos
No photographs of Tamarron 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 Tamarron, in their own words.
Facts
Location
37.5010° N · 107.8122° W · Colorado · San Juan Mountains
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1976–1986
Closed after the 1986 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