An old ski lift at Southern Colorado’s Parker-Fitzgerald Cuchara Mountain Park could start running again by summer, making lift-served mountain biking, downhill skiing and more possible.
The original Cuchara ski area, about 30 miles southwest of Walsenburg, first opened in the early 1980s. During the following decades, six different operators tried and failed to make a go of it. Due to unreliable snowfall and other factors, it closed for good in 2001.
Huerfano County bought the defunct base facilities, acreage and one chairlift in 2017 using donated funds. The county and its partners got to work on a master plan with the goal of turning it into a public park.
The plan is to create a year-round recreation and educational facility, according to Huerfano County Administrator Carl Young.
“The vision is the same, to have this thriving hub for the community and something that attracts people to our community and to the county,” he said. “We do want it to be a real community park, something that has benefit to the community beyond just the economic sense.”