Finding a Paradise in Purgatory

The pain and the passion at Purgatory

Daunting name and didn't know much about Purgatory before we arrived, but oh what a perfect Paradise we found! 

Me 'suffering' in Purgatory 

We skied on Locals’ Day (Jan 21) which coincided with their first huge dump of the season – it started around 3pm on Jan 20 and was still snowing when we woke next morning. The first hour was not the big bundle of locals vying for first tracks that we expected - turned out they were gradually infiltrating the resort from a long snaky line of traffic down the hill. After an hour pounding the pow on our own, there followed a frivolous frolic the rest of the morning with local expert, Chip Vogel who was on his 39th season as ski instructor there. Of course, we were hell-bent on seeing runs called Nirvana, Heaven Can Wait, El Diablo, Demon, Hades, Styx, Pandemonium, Limbo, Catharsis, aptly named terrain parks such as Paradise, Pitchfork and Divine Comedy and Dante's mountain restaurant but there were other more typical names commemorating local personalities around the Legends chairflift. By the way, the name Purgatory was not some devilish prank intended to make the resort infamous: it came from Purgatory Creek which runs down the mountain and was probably chosen by pioneering Spanish Catholic conquistadors. If only they had skied, they wouldn't have found it such punishment!

Purgatory - credit Scott DW Smith

But first things first. We arrived at Montrose Airport on a direct flight from Charlotte to clear weather. But it wasn't far along the two-hour double black diamond journey to Purgatory that the hellish snowstorm started - our route the tortuous, winding, ear-popping, switch-back Million Dollar Highway (US Highway 550) that cost $1million per mile due to the treacherous topography through Red Mountain Pass - incidentally, one of the USA's Top Ten scenic highways (when you can see it). Luckily for us, we had been tipped off that this route is not relaxing in a tempest and so we had booked a seasoned driver with Telluride Express to navigate the hair-raising hairpin bends and narrow roads with vertiginous canyon drop-offs! Highly recommend this rugged route on a clear winter's day, in spring, summer or fall - it wends through the most spectacular San Juan scenery and the historic hotsprings and mining town of Ouray, perched on the mountainside, is utterly gorgeous. The clouds lifted momentarily to show us an ice climbing competition going on when we went through Ouray and the festival-feeling made us want to stay overnight. But the promise of powder at Purgatory persuaded us to push on. 

Purgatory Village - credit Scott DW Smith

We arrived at the Purgatory Lodge slightly ahead of the snow which, an hour later, proceeded to pound Purgatory all night (yippee!) Our suite was straight out of The High Chaparral with the best native American clothing, weapons, and artifacts I've ever seen outside of a museum, scattered around the Southwestern-themed rooms with amazing woven rugs and wall-hangings. 

You don't know how hard I had to resist trying to take down the Southern Ute outfits off the wall to try on!! 

Durango Mountain Club, Purgatory Resort - credit Scott DW Smith

Durango Mountain Club, Purgatory Resort
credit Scott DW Smith

Perks with the lodge reservation include membership to Durango Mountain Club which is a swish slopeside members-only establishment, built in 2008, resembling a South Carolina Golf and Country Club if you filter out the snow outside and ski-clad clientele. Think gated clubhouse with ski in/out access to the base area, panoramically overlooking the lower slopes, with restaurant, bar, and friendly staff, great breakfast buffet at reduced price ($5 per head!), ski lockers, private ski racks, boot warmers, games room, soft sofas and roaring fireplace, outdoor heated swimming pool with winter waterslide, large outdoor hot tubs, fitness facility, events schedule and après ski - all the extravagant extras that make for a super-luxurious stay. We loved it so much we had breakfast there daily and went for lunch, too, the first day. 

Talking of price-points, another advantage of a lower-profile Colorado resort is the cost of the day ski pass - $89 per day at the window but much lower if you go online to the discount store. For example, when I looked, Feb 28 was just $30 for the day! And One, Two, Free (sound at all familiar?!) is for all newbies to skiing or snowboarding, giving them a free two-hour lesson to get them on their feet. Meeting Kim Oyler, the resort's Director of Communications, we discovered that Purgatory, owned by Mountain Capital Partners, has four sister resorts - Arizona Snowbowl, Hesperus, Sipapu and Pajarito - which all come under the same ski pass. 

Powder Purgatory 

"I've been here seven, nearly eight years," said Kim. "I'm a skier but I don't get out there as often as I used to. I used to have my office right at the resort but when James Coleman bought Purgatory in 2015 my office was moved down into Durango." It is the next gen that is getting Kim back on the slopes, with a stepson in a ski program on Sundays. "I always hit the backside, via Lift 8, which is the newest quad that we put in just two years ago. There are a lot of really nice runs back there. And there is nice tree skiing, too. It's great to do Poet’s Glade, McCormick’s Maze, those are fun trails. Even just big laps on 8, where there are some great cruiser runs – like Sally’s and Vincent’s." 

Finally made it to Paradise! (Sporting my Alchemy of Ride ski jacket) 

We also loved Sally's which was one of the runs Chip introduced us too. "And then we always go to Dante's upstairs, the Backside Bistro, to grab a beer and some food," Kim added. 

"I also like the frontside off the Lift 1 sixpack, and from there Paradise is one of my favourites, especially for the beautiful views which always make me stop and take a pic." We did the same! The base is set at 8,000 ft altitude and the summit 11,000 ft so the San Juan views are staggering. 

Backside Bistro, at Dante's Lodge, Purgatory - credit Scott DW Smith

The village centre is encircled conveniently by all the lodging and includes all the usual services in a nice tight radius. The demo ski shop - Expert Edge Ski & Board – was just downstairs from our apartment and a great place to rent high performance Volkl Mantras (Simon) and Rossignols (me). Simon also got his new boots punched out there and went from pinched to perfect for about $30. He also picked up a pair of Boot Sleeves, also just $30, which could be invaluable next time we ski somewhere cold. By the way, Colorado was not cold when we were there - it was positively balmy compared with our earlier Canadian trip - so mild that, just like Europe, every mountain eatery puts out deck chairs which are bagged (literally) by locals' backpacks to save them for sunbathing picnics later.  

Purgatory base area - credit Scott DW Smith

One thing you must do when you ski Purgatory is have dinner in the posh fireside dining room at Purgy’s Slopeside Restaurant. Although it is in the daylodge (where you might be thinking self-service and sweaty ski boots) this is no typical base lodge experience. The restaurant is off-set from the rest of the lodge, with its own host podium and views right onto the slopes. The room, centred by the huge hearth, is cosy, comfortable, with professional service and a great menu. But the key to its preeminence is new Head Chef John L. Wooters (a keen snowboarder) who caters for high altitude snowcat dinners as well as the restaurant and has also has a hand in finessing food offerings around the resort. "We are trying to encourage the locals to move away from the typical burgers and try something more upmarket," he told us. His new menu is modern American with vegetarian and gluten-free options. Local breweries, such as Ska and Steamworks, are featured as well as a varied wine list but the main event is the food. 

Purgy's Slopeside Restaurant

Our six course extravaganza started with octopus in a saffron potato couli. The next plate was my favourite - a potato lattice nest containing rice gnocchi in an alfredo sauce. The soup course was roasted Portobellos with Yukon Gold potatoes garnished with crisy asiago and white truffle. Next came roasted beet and kale salad with orange, walnuts, avocado and ricotto. We tried both the Montana-raised New York-cut steak with a garlicky bone marrow butter and the surf and turf: a ribeye wrapped in bacon topped with ruby red trout in a Bearnaise sauce with Chef Wooters' specialty mashed potato. And just in case we had a centimetre of space left in our burgeoning stomachs, we were offered a cast iron skillet apple pie with cinnamon in a shortcrust pastry lattice with incredible butterscotch ice cream and also amazing brioche pecan bread pudding with vanilla ice cream topped with caramel drizzle. Needless to say we felt like human foie gras afterwards! 

The Before picture - the After was unpublishable!

Groomed frontside skiing at Purgatory 

Now, like the whole of Colorado, this winter so far has been notable for its slow snow. But Purgatory is in a great position to supplement nature with a comprehensive snowmaking system. "Our snowmaking team has done wonders this year," Kim told us. "It is amazing that we have so much open considering the lack of natural snow. Mountain Capital Partners invests a lot in snowmaking infrastructure. And we were still able to open Nov 18 as scheduled and have been open daily ever since." When snow permits, Purgatory Snowcat Adventures, which explores 35,000 acres of backcountry terrain, is accessed from the snowcat stop at the top of Lift 1. 

James Coleman (in orange) directing the snowmaking on the backside at Purgatory
credit Scott DW Smith

With a 20km Nordic Centre right across the road, the resort is home territory to the Olympic Biathlon Barnes twins who both competed in Turin 2006 and who became famous four years ago when one twin, Lanny, gave her Sochi Olympic spot to the other, Tracy. Diversifying for non-skiers and active apres ski enthusiasts, the resort also runs snow tubing, snow biking, snowshoeing, sleigh rides, dogsledding, snowmobiling. Just a mile from Purgatory is Cascade Canyon, a mecca for ice-climbing where Kling Mountain Guides runs an outfitting outlet, guided climbs and also guided backcountry skiing. 

The area swaps to rock climbing, trekking, camping, mountain biking, rafting and fly fishing during the summer. In tune with the latest trend for four-season resorts, Purgatory is building an Alpine coaster with work going on right now to get it open by spring. Launching on Memorial Day Weekend with the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, other summery sports include stand up paddleboarding on the lake across from the resort where visitors can also rent kayaks and paddleboats. As well as a scenic chair, alpine slide, bungee tramp, mechanical bull, zipline and ropes course right in the resort, new this year is a summer tubing alley (with plastic instead of snowy lanes). A newly-appointed mountain bike director is expanding the biking offerings, orchestrating a new uplift at Purgatory this summer. 

Telemarking with Purgatory Ski School - credit Scott DW Smith

So, who has already discovered this authentic corner of Southwestern Colorado? "At holidays and spring break we get a lot of people who drive from Texas - Dallas, Houston, Austin and northern Texas. And also from Arizona and New Mexico, the Southwest. Then there's Louisiana – especially over Mardi Gras, when many people choose to leave Louisiana to come here. And people come here from Northern Mexico over the holidays, Easter and Holy Week. We also get some visitors from Florida," Kim told us. The new flights to Montrose from Charlotte should open up an alternative air market, especially from the Southeast. 

Town of Durango (Strater Hotel on right) - photo credit Sven Brunso

Not everyone who skis there stays at Purgatory Resort, though. Some choose the bustling town experience and more varied nightlife opportunities of Durango, which is a 33 min drive away. Even if you are not staying there, downtown Durango is a total must for an evening or day trip, especially for Western fans! It is so historically intact that it has been used as a movie set by John Wayne, Dennis Weaver, Quentin Tarantino, and Johnny Depp as well as many others over the years. Main Avenue is steeped in cowboy culture and the 1887 Strater Hotel has incredible saloon bar costumes, carefully preserved decor, an antique museum, and plush velvet drapes. The Diamond Belle Saloon has an original Old West ragtime piano still used for entertainments, the prerequisite long shiny bar for sliding beer along (complete with clientele all sporting stetsons when we were there) served by waitresses clad in 1920s outfits. Fun fact: Louis L'Amour wrote some of his Sackett's novels there. They also stage gunfights just outside from June through October as well as musical entertainments in the bar and Henry Strater Theatre. 

Diamond Belle Saloon, Strater Hotel, Durango

The Snowdown Festival is another draw to Durango with all businesses getting involved in parades, partying and pranks over the five-day winter carnival, now celebrating its 40th year. "We have more restaurants per capita than San Francisco, and six craft breweries as well as one distillery," Kim told us, pointing out that the restaurants are unique, owner-operated rather than chains. "Every business really pulls out the stops to make a float, and dress up and take part in Snowdown. If you live here, you end up with a closet full of Snowdown costumes as it's a different theme each year." She also told us about themed scenic train rides around the area, between Durango and Silverton, including the Polar Express at Christmas when passengers can be seen around town afterwards in their pjs. 

Scallops at El Moro Tavern

After wistful window shopping (I could imagine spending a whole day here), we dined at El Moro Tavern, where the motif is modern-cowboy. It cleverly combines the authenticity of the preserved historic building, steeped in old cowboy stories - including a memorial to a sheriff who lost a gun fight with his marshal - old artifacts and black/white prints with a contemporary ambience and eats. The designers used an ancient door to repurpose into a chandelier with jelly jars suspended (reminiscent of a project from Flea Market Flip). And old movies are screened on one exposed brick wall. With trendy bistro bites and bevvies, it was rocking even though we went on a Monday night in Jan. As Kim told us, Durango has a strong year-round population with a university, medical centres, agriculture, oil and gas and ranching and, even though it is a tourist town in its own right especially in summer, it is not susceptible to the peaks and troughs of a ski resort.

Lower Hades at Purgatory