Durango Mountain Resort, also known as Purgatory, is a ski resort located in the San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado, 25 miles north of the town of Durango. It was originally opened in 1965 and offers 85 trails, including 2 terrain parks, the Paradise Freestyle Arena and Pitchfork Terrain Garden. It has 11 ski lifts, including one six-person "Flying Couch" and one high speed quad lift. Average annual snowfall is 260 inches per year, and artificial snow is produced on approximately one-fifth of the mountain.[1] The elevation at the summit is 10,822 feet, with a vertical drop of 2,029 feet. The name Purgatory comes from a 1776 Spanish Expedition led by Silvestre Vélez de Escalante. Several Spanish explorers traveling on a nearby river were lost. Their bodies were never found and the other explorers believed that the souls of the lost men would be relegated to Purgatory.[2]
