PURGATORY: Skiing en route to heaven

Our only sins the last week have been schralpin’ too much pow in the backcountry, so we decided to show ‘remorse’ and make some laps at Durango’s own Purgatory, or Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort as its now called.

Two years ago, one of southwest Colorado’s staple ski areas, known simply as Purgatory, became Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort, located on Highway 550 about 30 minutes north of the Durango township. Like most ski areas in the west, PDMR is experiencing rapid development of condominiums, hotels, and a number of après options, such as shops, restaurants, and galleries.

Yet the development seems to be rather in-tune with the area with unobstructed views of the jagged San Juans from nearly every spot on Purgatory Mountain. We skied off the front and back of the 10,822 summit finding stashes of untracked pow while having fun off DMR’s several natural terrain features—namely, downed trees and logs.

We lapped the six-pack chair several times and we’re content with our Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort Experience. Now we patiently wait for another San Juan storm to hit DMR in our own state of purgatory.