photos by David Halterman

Nudging Durango a little closer to the ranks of an actual ski-town, Chapman Hill fired up the lights and dusted off the tow rope over the weekend for its official reopenening on Saturday evening. The crew at Chapman has been hard at work bringing this in-town run to those who need an afternoon fix, and offers a perfect environment for those less experienced skiers. Blowing snow and working out the last minute bugs, Chapman is officially up and running, no poaching required.

Brad Tarpley gets zipped up the surprisingly swift tow rope on Monday. Employees at Chapman work on the ski hills fencing. Eric Knutson, left, and son Finn forego the rope tow in favor of making some hard-earned turns Monday evening. The rope tows bullwheel squeaks to life. Liftie Shannon Cruise works the lonely upper station on Saturday evening with nothing but a space heater and a radio. Quinn Simmons gets a pull up the slope on Tuesday evening. Alex VanCuren surveys the action on Friday night.