Hidden Valley: then & now

by Barb Boyer Buck

These days, the majority of visitation to Rocky Mountain National Park occurs in summer, when lush green landscapes and mild temperatures attract people from all over the world. But not so long ago, winter drew quite a few people to Rocky who loved to visit northern Colorado’s family-friendly ski resort, Hidden Valley.

Hidden Valley had something for everyone – at very affordable prices. Challenging skiing included 2,000 feet of vertical terrain; a season pass in the 1980s was just $100. It had two poma lifts and two t-bar lifts. Forty percent of the ski runs were black (expert), 40% blue (intermediate); and, the rest were beginner (green) slopes.

More than 100 years of skiing and winter recreation at Hidden Valley started with one of Rocky's first rangers, Jack Moomaw, who arrived at RMNP in 1922. At the time, Trail Ridge Road was not yet built, but in a section of where it would eventually be was a north-facing ridge with downed timber. These lodgepole pines had been blown over by the wind along stretches previously logged by early settlers such as Abner Sprague and FO Stanley.

In 1936, Rocky Mountain National Park began plowing Trail Ridge road and taking shuttle-loads of skiers to Upper Hidden Valley to ski.

RMNP historical photo

Moomaw thought it would make a good ski run. He removed additional trees to create the “suicide run;” a 1,000-foot vertical drop stretching over 5,280 feet (a mile). Over the next several decades national ski races were held on the suicide run, and Moomaw taught many Estes Park youngsters how to ski in the area. According to Rocky's administrative history, one of the first groups to consistently use RMNP for winter recreation was the Colorado Mountain Club.

“Its members began their ski and snowshoe trips into Bear Lake, Fern Lake and other areas of the Park's east side as early as 1917. In February of that year the Park hosted a winter sports carnival. Considered 'a new departure in National Parks,' the carnival attracted 463 people, 85 of whom were members of the Colorado Mountain Club and the Estes Park Outdoor Club. Events included snowshoeing, skiing and tobogganing.”

Rocky established an ice-skating rink on the beaver ponds in Hidden Valley in the mid 1930s.

RMNP historical photo

By the mid-1930s, Rocky was well-known for its snow play opportunities. Rocky established an iceskating rink on the beaver pond at Hidden Valley.

The first formal concessionaire was someone who learned to ski at Hidden Valley - George Hurt. He was an Estes Park native and with the 10th Mountain Division during World War II, which trained in the Holy Cross Wilderness area near Leadville.

He was injured in Po Valley campaign in Italy, shot through the lung by a sniper after crossing the Po River in the spring of 1945. As he was recovering in Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Aurora, all he could think about was coming home to Estes Park and starting a ski resort at Hidden Valley, which he had accomplished by 1947.

Hurt built most of the equipment himself, including a tow-rope pulley system to get people up the slope. After the first year, he improved it and after the second year, he built another tow rope to access runs higher up and another for the beginner runs in lower Hidden Valley. Ski Hidden Valley was popular, and the Hurt family soon opened a refreshment station which served hot chocolate and hot dogs and sold tickets to use the rope tow.

Tow ropes supported by lodgepole pines had to be removed each summer.

RMNP historical photo

The park service required the rope tows be removed every summer, so during the winter they were installed with lodgepole-pine logs which could be rickety in the periodic high winds experienced in the area.

Rocky installed a temporary Quonset hut/tunnel over Trail Ridge Road so people could ski over the road from the upper bowls to the lower bowls and tree skiing at Hidden Valley. Each spring, this was removed as well.

Ice skating at Hidden Valley in the early days.

RMNP historical photo

In the documentary, “Ski Hidden Valley” (2013), filmmaker Brian Brown interviewed several Estes Park locals who used the tow rope and reported it to be a terrifying experience. One local remembered “just flying up” to the top of the drift and several times his gloves froze to the rope and were forcibly pulled off his hands as the rope kept speeding up the hill. (The entire "Ski Hidden Valley" documentary is embedded in the March, 2021, edition of HIKE ROCKY online magazine.)

Between making or moving snow, digging out and replacing snow fences, and removing the tow-ropes every year, the resort was becoming more and more costly.

Hidden Valley ski resort lodge in the early 1960s, when it was operated by the James family.

RMNP historical photo

Hurt sold the concession to Ted James in 1955. James put in the ski lodge that year, and several poma and t- bar lifts were installed to replace the tow-ropes beginning in 1960. In 1971, a double-chair ski lift was installed to run to the bottom of the upper bowls, but six years later RMNP officials eventually decided it did not fit into Rocky's vision of wilderness preservation and it was removed.

After the James family took over the concession in 1955, T-bar and Poma lifts were installed.

RMNP historical photo

RMNP's master plan, published in 1976, stated: “Hidden Valley Ski Area provides family winter recreation; during the 1972-73 season, it generated 28 percent of the visitation entering the park through the Fall River and Beaver Meadows entrance stations - approximately 40,000 skiers per year use the area. Its drawback in relation to national park values is its visual impact on summer visitors, who see it from several areas along Trail Ridge Road. Snow conditions are marginal, and the site is subject to excessive winds.

From the documentary, "Ski Hidden Valley," by Brian Brown, available for viewing from the March, 2021, edition of HIKE ROCKY online magazine.

“By Forest Service standards it is unsuitable for development; without heavy Federal subsidies, it probably could not have been developed or operated economically. The shortage of satisfactory slopes for beginners - the class of skiers who predominate at Hidden Valley, crowding during peak periods, and the quality of snow and slopes all contribute to a skier accident rate approximately double that of other ski areas throughout Colorado.”

But ultimately, this plan recommended keeping the facility in operation: “However, as the only area reasonably accessible to nearby communities in northeastern Colorado, Hidden Valley does offer definite social values, and thus should continue in operation until alternative facilities become available. At Christmas time it attracts regional use through the nearby YMCA camp. Hidden Valley should continue to operate as a modest family-type ski area, with expansion limited to minor improvements that would contribute to the safety of beginning skiers.”

According to RMNP's administrative history, debates over what was to be done with Hidden Valley had been going on for quite some time. It was an important family area for locals and those who came from the eastern plains and states east of Colorado, but it was also an important area for greenback trout, native to the area. Beaver ponds were plentiful in the area as well.

Mission 66 efforts – an attempt to expand visitor services and return much of national park land back to its original state – had already taken out most of the commercial concerns in Rocky. Hidden Valley started to need more and more public subsidies to continue its operations.

In its final years, the ski area was managed by the Estes Valley Recreation and Parks District, which gave local residents even more buy-in at the resort. At one point, Estes Park schools were open just four days a week and on the fifth day, students would be bussed to Hidden Valley for skiing.

But funding for the ski area continued to decline. Most of the ski patrol members were volunteers, especially on the weekends. A controversy arose over the amount of water Hidden Valley needed to make snow.

Finally, Hidden Valley was closed in 1991 when EVRPD made the decision to funnel more of its funds to summer golf. Keeping up Hidden Valley viable in RMNP while adhering to the Park's various priorities was no longer financially feasible.

The lodge the James family put in was finally razed in 2002. The only structure that remains is the warming hut, installed by the Park Service.

Adam Aldridge and Makala Gomez enjoy sunrise in Hidden Valley’s backcountry.

Photo by Rio Roman

Today, Hidden Valley continues to provide skiing opportunities for cross-country skiers and those who “skin” up the slopes to ski back down. In the absence of lifts, if the road remains passable, some skiers even drive up Trail Ridge Road to ski down the bowls.

Zach Zehr (featured in the Ski Hidden Valley documentary) catches some air in deep powder at Hidden Valley a few years ago.

Photo by Rio Roman

Many other activities occur at Hidden Valley today. The Colorado Mountain School conducts avalanche training on the lower slopes under a unique memorandum of understanding with RMNP. Portions of the old “beginner” slopes are used as a sledding hill.

Incredible skiing still exists at Hidden Valley, if you’re willing to hike up to it.

Photo by Rio Roman

Generations of visitors and locals continue to use Hidden Valley for a fun, family snow play area. It still has something for everyone and continues to generate a wealth of memories – at an affordable price – for families all over northern Colorado and beyond.

Hidden Valley was perfect for these pre-teens at this 2013 birthday party.

Photo by Barb Boyer Buck

Barb Boyer Buck first learned to ski at Ski Broadmoor in 1985, and is currently relearning in Rocky Mountain National Park. She is a professional writer, editor, and researcher who lives in Estes Park. Barb is the managing editor of HIKE ROCKY online magazine.

Rio Roman grew up in NY and started skiing at the age of five, 36 years ago. He first came to Estes Park for spring break in 2001 and moved there in 2003. Rio currently works at The Estes Park Mountain shop and The Rock Inn.

Brian Brown is a film maker who provides video services for businesses all across the Front Range of Colorado. He graciously gave us permission to embed his full-length video, Ski Hidden Valley (2013) in this article (available only from the magazine).

www.snowygrass.com

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