Squaw Pass / Echo Mtn: LSA #8 Traditional Cache

A roadside cache with a view of the ski area.

Squaw Pass / Echo Mountain:  Born 1960, Privatized 2012

Squaw Pass Ski Area has had at least three lives:  as a family ski area from 1960 to 1975; a glorified terrain park from 2005 to 2012; and now, as a private downhill race training club.  I included it on my list of lost ski resorts because this last incarnation is not open to the public.

If you have been following this series so far, you probably realized the 1960’s were truly the heyday of the small family-run resort.  This was the case when Tom and Nancy Creighton founded the little area on Squaw Pass Road west of Evergreen.  There was no I-70 to whisk local skiers to the big destination resorts and small operators could make decent money by operating only on weekends and charging skiers $3 a day.

With a T-bar, a rope tow, and 5 runs, the area primarily served Evergreen and Clear Creek County residents for fifteen years.  The ski area received an average of 225 inches annually, most of it in the late spring.  It shut down in 1975, probably more a casualty of rising costs than for a lack of snow.  It lay dormant for 20 years, though locals still skied it on powder days.  In 2005, its new owners saw a viable existence for the small area as a local terrain park.  The sport of snowboarding made it possible for a small area to offer a unique experience close to home.  Finally, it seemed, a formula that would allow the small foothill ski area to prosper.

In spite of tripling skier visits to 32,000 in six seasons, owner Jerry Pettit put Echo Mountain on the auction block in the summer of 2012.  The buyer was a Denver-area woman named Nora Pykkonen who has turned it into a membership-only traning facility for ski racing.  It is claimed the area will eventually have 1,500 vertical feet of skiing, a Super G course and a video tent at the bottom where the kids can review their run after they finish.  

This cache is placed near the road, at a shoulder that is wide enough to park safely.  It should be winter-friendly, though you should be cautious of your footing when it is icy. Note: I replaced cache on 7/21/14 and moved it in a direction parallel to the road. Best to climb a ways down the rocks first, then walk parallel to road.