Berthoud Pass: LSA #10

An ammo box located up a steep hill from the parking lot at the top of Berthoud Pass. High altitude - bring water and don't overdo it. Beware of lightning in the summer, avalanches in the winter.

Berthoud Pass: Born 1937, Died 2003

Of all the “lost” ski areas, this is probably the most historic. It was the first public area with a motorized lift (a rope tow). It was the site of the first fixed-grip, continuously circulating double chairlift (designed and built by Denver engineer Bob Heron). It was the first resort in Colorado to allow snowboarding.

The motorized rope tow began operations on February 7, 1937. Over the years, different ownership groups operated the resort. Ike and Lucy Garst, who owned the area from 1977 to 1987, were one of the last true "Mom and Pop" ski area operators in Colorado. They lived at the base lodge and ferried tourists up the lift to the Continental Divide during summer months. They improved the base lodge, hosted “throwback days” where lift tickets were the old price of 35 cents, and honored ski pioneers with special dinners and events. However, they are best remembered for opening their resort up to snowboarding in 1979. This took some delicate negotiations with their insurers and earned them the wrath of many a ski traditionalist.

The owners that followed the Garsts had a difficult time keeping the lodge and equipment maintained. The area was renamed “Timberline” in 1987. An accident involving a chair detaching and crashing into a second, broke the legs of an unlucky Denver nurse. The Colorado Tramways Board responded with a hefty fine and condemnation of the lift. As a result, the area closed in 1988. Several ownership groups followed, but none had success, leading to talk of a "Berthoud Curse." Two of the later owners died in automobile accidents, one on the pass itself.

The US Forest Service did their best to discourage commercial operations, from the 1990s onward, eventually dismantling the lodge in 2005, two years after the last season of commercial skiing. Nowadays, a highway rest stop and parking lot occupies the former lodge area.

The cache is placed above the top of the former Miners Peak Triple Chair and the Bonanza intermediate slope on the east side. It is probably a 20- to 30-minute hike for the average person. It is enough of a workout that you will need water. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT WITHOUT SOME WATER - particularly if you are a visitor to our state from lower altitudes. Also, do not attempt if you hear thunder - it is very exposed.

For more information on this cache, please click the "related web page" link near the top of this page.