First Look at Monarch Mountain's New 'No Name Basin' Terrain

Colorado’s Monarch Mountain has completed their largest terrain expansion in decades ahead of the 2025/26 ski season.

The project, which concludes with a new zone dubbed ‘No Name Basin,’ started back in 2011 with the mountain’s last Master Development Plan. Monarch’s previous management had planted the idea to expand terrain onto the west side of the Continental Divide, and the ski area has spent the last decade working to grow frontside infrastructure in anticipation of an expansion.

No Name Basin adds 377 acres of skiable terrain to Monarch Mountain with a mix of both lift-accessed and hike-to terrain.

The expanded terrain adds variety to the mountain with more intermediate and advanced terrain sprinkled over bowls, glades, and fall-line ski runs and boasts nearly as much top to bottom vertical as their existing Panorama lift terrain.

No Name Basin and the top of the Tomichi lift are accessed via Mule Train, off the top of Panorama or from the top of Breezeway lift. The zone has roughly 11 named runs with blue and black difficulty ratings.

Check out the new trail map for ‘No Name Basin’ below.

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A key element of the expansion into No Name Basin has been a brand new lift, installed by Skytrac, whom Monarch has a long standing relationship with.

The triple chair, dubbed Tomichi, is the mountain’s first brand-new lift to be installed since 1999. The chair is also the only of Monarch’s lifts to have the motor terminal at the top terminal. This was in part, by design in order to keep the No Name Basin area of the resort a quieter, more pristine ski experience in alignment with Monarch’s values.

“You’re looking out on the Western Slope down into the Gunnison Valley, and you don’t see the highway like you do on the frontside of the mountain. It’s a totally different experience,” said Scott Pressly, Monarch’s Director of Mountain Operations.

Monarch Mountain hasn’t yet announced their opening day for the 2025/26 season, but are prepping the mountain open as soon as conditions allow.

You can watch more about the No Name Basin expansion process below.

Monarch is and under-the-radar Colorado ski resort when compared to the big dogs along I-70. The mountain relies completely on natural snowfall, and is known for its laidback vibe.

Expansions at small ski areas can sometimes be met with friction. That doesn’t seem to be the case, at least based on the comments on Monarch’s recent Instagram post, with No Name Basin.

“Y’all crushed it,” wrote one skier. “Cannot wait!”, writes another. No Name Basin is expected to open this season when conditions allow.

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