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| Ski Broadmoor |
Dates of Operation: 1959 - 1991
Area Stats: (1984)
*Elevations: Summit 7,084; Base 6,569; Vertical Drop 600 ft
*Slopes: Beg 60%; Int 20%; Adv 20; Longest Run 3/4 mi
*Lifts: 1 double (Riblet); 1 tow; Capacity 600 p/h
*Season: Thanksgiving - March; opened 6 days per week from 10 am -
10pm (night skiing)
*Ticket prices: Adult $11
History: Ski Broadmoor was built and operated by the famous
Broadmoor Hotel. They sold the resort to the City of Colorado Springs
in 1986. The city ran the resort for two seasons until Vail bought the
area in 1988. Vail never made any profits here, so without any buyers it
was closed in 1991. The extremely low elevations at Ski Broadmoor
meant that they had 100% snowmaking capabilities. Their snowmaking
equipment was bought from the also defunct Magic Mountain Ski Area
in Golden, Colorado.
Area Stats: (1984)
*Elevations: Summit 7,084; Base 6,569; Vertical Drop 600 ft
*Slopes: Beg 60%; Int 20%; Adv 20; Longest Run 3/4 mi
*Lifts: 1 double (Riblet); 1 tow; Capacity 600 p/h
*Season: Thanksgiving - March; opened 6 days per week from 10 am -
10pm (night skiing)
*Ticket prices: Adult $11
History: Ski Broadmoor was built and operated by the famous
Broadmoor Hotel. They sold the resort to the City of Colorado Springs
in 1986. The city ran the resort for two seasons until Vail bought the
area in 1988. Vail never made any profits here, so without any buyers it
was closed in 1991. The extremely low elevations at Ski Broadmoor
meant that they had 100% snowmaking capabilities. Their snowmaking
equipment was bought from the also defunct Magic Mountain Ski Area
in Golden, Colorado.
| Trail Map: (Click for a larger view!) |
Here is an ad clipping from Ski
Magazine during the 1970's: **
Magazine during the 1970's: **
| Some Vintage Pictures of the Area: |
| A look up the main slope. * |
| ^ |
| Looking East * |
| A summer look at Ski Broadmoor # |
| The same view from inside the lodge. * |
| Area Brochures (Click for larger views) ^ |
| An Overview of the Area * |
| The area's alpine slide ** |
| Have you ever skied at Ski Broadmoor? If so, contact us with your memories. Memories: |
| "My first USSA race ever was at Broadmoor! I was 9 years old (January 1982) and skiing with the Loveland Basin Racing Club. My friend Ben and I rode down to C. Springs with his dad in their red van. We raced slalom both days (Sat/Sun) on the run to the left looking up from the base, which had a surface lift on the right side. I remember there were 3 runs total - the one we raced on, then one on each side of the chairlift all I remember of the runs off the chairlift is that they were pretty flat." - Charlie "The Broadmoor area had the worst ice that I have ever skied on, especially at night. But they had the best lodge food of any resort that I have been. - Shawn M. "My first ski lessons were at the Broodmoor, at night in 1970. I skied using leather boots and wore jeans. If you learned to ski on the ice at the Broadmoor, you can ski in any conditions!" - Debbie B. “I skied at Broadmoor in 1971-72 when I was a teenager and my dad was stationed at Ft. Carson - another one in leather boots and blue jeans, despairing that all the layers of long johns underneath made me look fat. I'd been a southern girl most of my life but had learned to ski at Arctic Valley, an even smaller place in southern Alaska. When we had to transfer from there after a couple of years I was thrilled that I'd still be able to ski. Broadmoor was my first time on a chairlift and I was terrified but tried hard to act cool. I skied there every weekend in season, long days just going up and down those slopes. Some of the best times ever for me - I've been reliving that a bit as my son has just been learning to ski, at another small resort here in West Virginia. Good times, but I'm sorry to discover that I'll never be able to ski with him at Broadmoor.” - Donna "I was an instructor at Ski Broadmoor in the early 80's. It was my night and weekend job while I went to school at Pikes Peak Community College. I moved to Vail after three seasons at the B and was excepted quickly because of Ski Broadmoor's reputation for developing good instructors and skiers. I have wonderful memories of the area and yards of beer at "Golden Bee." - Ryan K. Ski Broadmoor has many memories. I was a instructor in the early 80's, then I skied on the Pro Mogul tour and then the World Extremes Skiing Championships. I spent many weekends and nights up on Main and North. The great fireplace in the center of the chalet. Meeting friends for one more turn. Today I look in my back yard at one the original chair lifts, It brings back great memories." - Mike T. "I skied here only once. We went at night and it was really cold. Also the lighting was terrible. You could not get any definition. You could not see the moguls so you were out of control on the man made ice not snow like they advertised. Ski Broadmoor was better known for the alpine slide in the summer. Too bad the resort sold this, it was a great alpine slide." - Blake B. "Sometime in 1972 I went skiing with my Dad and a friend of and his daughter (my age, 9). We lived in Colorado Springs. We enjoyed the morning skiing and stopped for lunch in the lodge. Having a voracious appetite at the time, I decided to stay behind and continue to eat. After about an hour, I began to wonder what was taking them so long to get back down the mountain and thought to myself, 'Debbie (my friends' name) broke her leg'. A few minutes later here comes the ski patrol with Debbie in tow with a broken leg! (My only premonition that ever came true.) Now I listen to KOOL 94.5 FM in Phoenix, AZ and once in a while I will hear the song, 'I Give My Love to You', and once again I am riding in the back of our white Pontiac station wagon consoling Debbie on the way to the doctor." -Richard "I learned to ski at the Broadmoor when I was 5 years old. I went on to race for 12 years and now I own a ski resort. One of the chairs at our resort happens to be a Riblet double also. Great memories!" -Randy P. "I remember skiing at the Broadmoor quite often when I was a teen in the mid 70's. You were better off going down the hill on skates. I took a fall on the slope and walked around with a concussion for 5 days. Had a fear of skiing after that...made myself ski again, this time at Pikes Peak (yikes)...needless to say, I lost my interest in skiing ever since." -Heidi S. "I grew up in the Colorado Springs Area and needless to say, the Broadmoor Ski Area was my first introduction to downhill skiing. There were so many jokes about the quality of the snow, I won't repeat any because you know what they say...,"If you can ski here, you can ski anywhere." And of course, that statement was absolutely true, unless of course you went somewhere that actually had deep powder...you could find yourself in deep do-do. The Broadmoor, all joking aside, was a great area to learn to ski, it was very close, and it was relatively cheap. It was also a great area to hang out and meet with friends. I ended up working up there during my high school and college years...starting out in the winter when I was 16, then eventually working nearly year round after the Alpine Slide opened. I did/had just about every job on the mountain at one time or the other and met a great number of wonderful people over the years (and participated in an unknown number of bumper parties and trips to the Golden Bee with said people)! Was sad to hear that the Broadmoor sold it to the city of Colorado Springs...and even sadder to hear that the city sold out to Vail Corp...which then of course they gave up to developers (what else would they do, since they couldn't run it). Ironically, I will undoubtedly never forget all those great years and memories forged on Cheyenne Mountain...but have never had a particularly good time at Vail...nothing even to really forget. Go figure." -Jeff B. "Ah, the Broadmoor! I grew up just down the hill from this great old area. Yes, it could be icy. Yes, there could be a lack of snow at times. But it was close, cheap, had night skiing and, as others have said, if you could ski there, you could ski anywhere. I started skiing at the "B" in '69 or '70. By 1977 I was working up there part-time on weekends and night and continued part-time/fulltime summers (Alpine Slide) and winters (with a few breaks in between) through winter '84/'85. Over those years, I worked with a multitude of wonderful people, met a great number of the "rich and famous", and overall had some of the best times of my life...none of which I would trade for anything. I was even up there on a fair number of EXCELLENT Ski day/night(s). Also over those years I managed to work just about everywhere and every position there was (from the lift shacks and snow -making, to instructing and managing). I miss the old blue and red Riblet chair lift...the "top", "bottom", and "midway" lift shacks for getting warm. The two snow cats, "ski school", "main", "north", the "trailer", the ski shop, the "slide" (in summer), ...the deer, bear and turkeys found in abundance across the area...the people and the many parties over the years...and a thousand other memories...and the list goes on. It was a sad day when it closed for good in the early 90s, the lift came down, and part (all?) of it was sold as real estate for building homes on. Today, much of the area that is left is overgrown and much harder to find on the side of Cheyenne Mountain than it used to be. The night-time winter/summer landmark is gone...but not quite forgotten." -JB "I learned to ski at the Broadmoor when I was 5 years old. I went on to race for 12 years and now I own a ski resort. One of the chairs at our resort happens to be a Riblet double also. Great memories!" -Randy P. "I remember going during summer vacations and riding the alpine slide. Several years after I married I decided to take my wife here. After making the 600 mile trip from Oklahoma we discovered it had been shut down. While we were disappointed, this trip got me interested again in Colorado, and eventually moved there. Thanks to this one single ski resort, even though I never actually skied there, my life has been changed significantly." -Jeff "Thanks for the great article about Ski Broadmoor. It brought back great memories. I went to school at Cheyenne Jr. High just a short distance away. I learned to ski starting the fall in 1967. The first session for beginners was held in a ballroom at the Broadmoor Hotel. There was a lot of people taking lessons and the whole operation was organized very efficiently. We were all run through various stations in small groups where we were sized for leather boots, wood skis with cable bindings, and poles. To size for skis we stretched an arm above our head and measured to the wrist. If it came to 145 cm you got 145 cm skis. My Dad's were pretty long! They also gave us instruction on our equipment. They showed us how to put on your boots, tapping your heal down and then lacing them up. We then learned how to acclimatize our skis so they wouldn't break from stress and thermal shock when going from the warm hut to the snow. There was also a special way to wrap those long leather safety straps around our boots. The horror stories of runaway skis flying down the mountain cemented that lesson into my brain! They really did a great job of teaching us to ski. However, there was one thing the ski area did that drove us crazy at the time, but now I will always think of Ski Broadmoor whenever I hear "Somewhere My Love" from the movie "Dr. Schivago"." -Neil E. "We skied the Broadmoor in the '60s. My husband had his first lessons there with Iris in her bright pink stretch 'bunny suit' -- "Bend ze knees; 5 dollars, please." Yes, it was sloping ice, but, as they said, "If you could ski there, you could ski anywhere." One of the best things was that, when there was fresh snow, I could dash up there after getting the kids off to school, ski a morning half day, and be home before them. No place else sold a morning half day ticket. Winter of '68, I was co-chair of the USAFA Officers' Wives Club ski group and we arranged group lessons for the ladies -- great fun! One time I fell near the top of the steepest part. One ski came off and my Arlberg(?) safety strap failed. The ice was so slick that I slid down on my back so fast that I passed my free ski! Another memory is of watching (from the lift) someone preparing holes for the kids' slolom course poles. They had to use a power drill like you'd use on concrete pavement to make the holes because that ice was so very hard. But it was a great learning area and we were sorry to see it close." -Peggy S. "My family lived in Colorado Springs from 1972 to 1976. I learned to ski at Broadmoor. We lived only 20 minutes from the Broadmoor ski slope so it provided us the opportunity to ski quite often. I would wait at home for my Father to return from the base for the day and he would load me up in the pickup truck and we would go skiing. I have many fond memories of this place and the time spent there with my father." -Ray E. "Between '60-65 we would play hockey from 5-7 PM at the Broadmoor World Arena. Then jump in the car and head up the road to ski till closing. Strap on the old "Head" skies and don't forget the yellow lens goggles or you were in big trouble trying to see those moguls up at the top. We'd play follow the leader down through the moguls...it could get pretty crazy! Great Times!" -Pat R. "My father spent his weekends instructing at Ski Broadmoor in the early '70s so my brother and I skied there all the time - after school - on weekends when we weren't going up to Vail. I couldn't join the racing team, my mother said, because I'd get "big thighs" but my brother was a racer with the Ski Broadmoor team. He said the racers smoked drugs with the liftie at the top of the hill. He never won any races...I guess that explains it. I learned to ski moguls there. I honestly don't remember the snow being so bad... but I live in Ontario now, where we ski on cement." -Laura L. |
| Copyright © coloradoskihistory.com All Rights Reserved. * Pictures thanks to Dan G. Brochure thanks to The Colorado Skier ^ Thanks to the Colorado Ski Museum # Picture thanks to Jason S. ** Picture thanks to Cameron H. |
