The Behind the Story Blog: Monarch Mountain

Sometimes hard works pays off. Or, if you’re the self-deprecating type, sometimes you get lucky. When I got an email from an editor at New York magazine asking if I was interested in writing a short travel article on lesser-known ski resorts, I figured it was a bit of both.

One of the resorts I included in the story was Monarch Mountain, located 2.5 hours southwest of Denver. Monarch is my favorite ski mountain in Colorado for it’s authenticity (read: no fur coats), friendly vibe (read: no aggro jerks ever), and amazing micro climate (read: shit ton of snow).

Last week, when I heard the forecast was calling for the best snow of the season, it was a no-brainer. I headed to Monarch on Thursday night, equipped with my new all-mountain skis from Volkl and the latest helmet by POC. I’ll spare you the details on how Friday and Saturday were the best ski days of my life, how the powder was at times thigh high, and how you could hear people whooping with joy all over the mountain all day long.

But I will share this one-minute video clip of some gear testing I did at Monarch this past weekend, and the ensuing carnage. It’s the first installation in the Behind the Story video series.

Let me know what you think.
JM