Purgatory Resort

Facilities

Facilities at the resort include condos that are rented out by their owners to vacationing tourists, a nightclub/bar at the bottom of the ski slopes by the chair lifts, a shuttle that goes back and forth from the resort to the nearby town of Durango, and a ski school with "bunny slopes". One of the more unusual features of the resort is an urgent care clinic, staffed by midlevel health care providers from the nearby town of Durango, Colorado. The on-site urgent care clinic is available anytime the slopes are open, and treats mostly ski related injuries. The Purgatory ski patrol takes injured skiers off the mountain directly to the clinic, expediting treatment and eliminating the need for patients to wait for an ambulance to respond from nearby Durango, Colorado.

History

Purgatory was founded in 1965 by United States Forest Service ranger Chester "Chet" Anderson and oilman Ray Duncan. In 2000, the resort was sold to Chuck Cobb and Gary Engle, who changed the name to Durango Mountain Resort. In 2015 the resort was sold to James Coleman, who restored the original name.

Purgatory is named for Purgatory Creek, which flows through the base area. Because of this, many of the trails at the resort have names inspired by Christianity (such as Angel's Tread and Demon) but other belief systems are also represented (Styx, Nirvana.) Other trails such as Chet's and Ray's Ridge were named after founders Anderson and Duncan.

Climate

Cascade and Rockwood 6.9 NNW are weather stations located near Purgatory Resort. Purgatory Resort has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), closely bordering on a subalpine climate (Köppen Dfc). |Jan record high F = 61 |Feb record high F = 65 |Mar record high F = 74 |Apr record high F = 74 |May record high F = 86 |Jun record high F = 90 |Jul record high F = 95 |Aug record high F = 89 |Sep record high F = 97 |Oct record high F = 82 |Nov record high F = 80 |Dec record high F = 61 |year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 54.5 |Feb avg record high F = 55.7 |Mar avg record high F = 62.3 |Apr avg record high F = 65.9 |May avg record high F = 74.0 |Jun avg record high F = 82.1 |Jul avg record high F = 85.8 |Aug avg record high F = 82.1 |Sep avg record high F = 79.3 |Oct avg record high F = 71.0 |Nov avg record high F = 62.0 |Dec avg record high F = 54.6 |year avg record high F = 86.7

|Jan avg record low F = -3.8 |Feb avg record low F = -1.1 |Mar avg record low F = 5.1 |Apr avg record low F = 12.4 |May avg record low F = 20.6 |Jun avg record low F = 26.8 |Jul avg record low F = 36.4 |Aug avg record low F = 37.5 |Sep avg record low F = 27.5 |Oct avg record low F = 17.3 |Nov avg record low F = 2.6 |Dec avg record low F = -5.0 |year avg record low F = -7.3

|Jan record low F = −16 |Feb record low F = −14 |Mar record low F = −9 |Apr record low F = -6 |May record low F = 6 |Jun record low F = 6 |Jul record low F = 18 |Aug record low F = 19 |Sep record low F = 6 |Oct record low F = 5 |Nov record low F = -6 |Dec record low F = −22 |year record low F =

|access-date = January 1, 2024 |access-date = January 1, 2024

References

References

1. "Purgatory Ski Resort {{!}} On the Snow".
2. https://www.purgatory.ski/this-must-be-the-place/
3. https://drive4corners.com/history-purgatory-resort-ski-area/
4. https://www.purgatory.ski/history/
5. https://www.purgatory.ski/this-must-be-the-place/
6. https://www.purgatory.ski/mountain/purgatory-mountain/trail-maps/
7. "Data of Meteorological Station Cascade, Colorado". geographic.org.
8. "Data of Meteorological Station Rockwood 6.9 Nnw, Colorado". geographic.org.