A worker helps install the towers on the new Lift 8, or Legends Lift, at Purgatory Resort recently. The new high-speed quad will take skiers and riders to the top in just five minutes and has a grand opening scheduled for mid-December./Photo courtesy of Purgatory Resort

Coming up to speed

Purgatory’s new leader overhauls the underworld

by Tracy Chamberlin

For some time, the owners of Purgatory were on the hunt for someone to take over the top spot in perdition. This past winter, they found their man.

James Coleman grew up in Austin, Texas, but has called Durango home for the past 10 years. So, although he’s a Texas native, he’s still a local.

Along with the revelation that Coleman would be the new face of Purgatory came word that he was looking to create a regional draw in the industry.

For the past 15 years, he’s been the managing partner at Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort in northern New Mexico, only 20 miles outside Taos. In his time there, he’s increased the number of trails, the snowmaking infrastructure and skier count.

In the past year, he’s also scooped up Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, 30 minutes from Santa Fe, and the Arizona Snowbowl, a stone’s throw from Flagstaff.

Season Opener The clock is ticking on discounted pass sales at Purgatory. With an adult daily lift ticket going for $85 a day, there are some more affordable options with the Power Pass, Power Pack and Power Card. Each option has flexibility for when, where and how often customers want to hit the slopes. The Power Pass, which is akin to the All Season Pass of the past, is only on sale until Sun., Oct. 4. The other two options, the Power Pack and Power Card, are available until Oct. 23, and can cost anywhere from $50 on up. They can be picked up at the Purg office in Bodo Park, Oktoberfest, Hesperus Ski Swap and the Ski Barn Sale. For more info on all the options, call the ticket office at 385-2168 or check out www.purgatoryresort.com/durango-mountain-resort/season-pass-sale/power-products.

With all four resorts, Coleman’s vision is a skiing family in the Southwest. One where customers can easily navigate ticket windows with an all-encompassing Power Pass but still enjoy the distinctive terrain and personality each has to offer.

Purgatory is actually the baby in this family of four, a mere 50 years old, but it’s a different demon than Sipapu. Coleman’s first resort has 40 trails, five lifts and four terrain parks on 200 skiable acres. On the other hand, the mountain most Durangoans call home has 1,360 skiable acres, 91 trails, 10 lifts and five terrain parks.

The transition, though, has been smooth so far, Coleman said. For this, he credits the people at Purgatory and his past experience. When he first took over at Sipapu, he said, it was a trial by fire. With Purgatory, he brought all those burn scars and life lessons with him.

He said he also knows how to take smart risks. “I’ve been successful at every project I’ve done,” he added.

Even if it wasn’t an immediate financial success, it always proved to be something that catapulted the next project forward.

The most challenging lesson, so far, has been how to put a collective like this together. “You have some idea of how you’re going to move forward, then you’re tweaking it the next day,” he said.

With one season now under his belt, Coleman heads into his first winter with momentum. At the start of the year, he announced the name change – when Durango Mountain Resort returned to its roots in the underworld.

The newly renamed Purgatory Resort was well-received in the community, and Coleman wasted little time with the next big announcement – the replacement of Lift 8 on the mountain’s backside.

This summer, construction began on The Legends Lift, transforming a 15-minute ride that often felt like an eternity, to a five-minute quick trip to the top.

The new high-speed Leitner-Poma quad – which was bought at an undisclosed price – is a 1,500 vertical climb over a mile in length. The one loss in the changeover is there won’t be any midway loading.

Towers and terminals are already on site, and although the rainy summer season slowed things down, the lift’s grand opening is still set for mid-December.

Coleman said it’s the most significant improvement the resort has seen in the past 15 years, and it’s definitely going to improve the skiing experience.

Along with the new Lift 8, the resort has added two new trails off of Ray’s Ridge 4 as well as an intermediate trail down to the bottom of the lift.

They’ve also set up additional snowmaking equipment at the bottom. It’s all on par with Coleman’s “first one open, last one closed” mantra.

This tagline, adopted by Sipapu, comes to Purgatory in the form of an opening day the week before Thanksgiving. The resort, which typically opens on Black Friday, is now scheduled to power up Nov. 21, the Saturday before Turkey Day.

Coleman said he’s not trying to push the early bird adage on Purgatory but wants locals and visitors alike to have all nine days of the Thanksgiving holiday to hit the slopes. Which runs will be open for those nine days is up to Mother Nature.

However, talk of an epic El Niño is making its way across the globe. From the National Weather Center to oracles at the Farmers Almanac, many are predicting one of the strongest El Niños in 40 years.

Those predictions could mean a cold, wet winter for much of the U.S., while drought and heat descends on the Aussies down under.

“With it being this strong, I think we’ll all be surprised if it doesn’t materialize,” Coleman said.

If Mother Nature does swamp the Southwest in snowflakes, the resort will be ready.

So far, the changes Coleman’s made to the face of Purgatory are all part of the Mountain Master Plan, approved by the U.S. Forest Service in the mid-2000s. He said he thinks it’s important to execute what’s in the plan, but he’s certainly looking at things that aren’t on the menu.

Either way, for Coleman, it all comes down to skiing. “That’ll continue to have dominant focus,” he said.

Amenities like an updated Powderhouse on the front side or upgrades to the lodge and base area won’t be happening anytime soon.

No decision has been made as to the next item on the list, but progress is being made on what’s called the Purgatory Subway.

With flat lands along the bottom of the mountain’s backside, moving between lifts 3, 5 and 8 has never been easy. Those behind the mountain plan hoped to change all that with the installation of surface lifts or tow ropes to help skiers and riders move more easily between the backside lifts.

Coleman said those plans are still in the works. In fact, they are currently getting bids for the project.

In the short term, the focus will be on finishing up construction on Lift 8 and preparing for the resort’s 50th anniversary.

With half a century to celebrate, the folks at Purgatory are pulling out all the stops. They’re planning special deals with passes, plenty of celebrations and much more. But aside from the party atmosphere, the people at Purgatory want to acknowledge the past.

“The work those guys did to get this place going is just amazing,” Coleman said. “We don’t know what hard work is; those guys were pioneers.”

On the table, literally, is a coffee table book filled with images from Purgatory’s past. They’ll also be recruiting some of those original pioneers to come back for events and a little VIP treatment.

“It’s an honor to take what they started and take it to the next level,” Coleman said.