Powderhorn Mountain Resort – the secret is out

When you think of Grand Junction what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Wine? Peaches? Biking? All of those things should come to mind, but so should skiing. Powderhorn Mountain Resort is just 45 minutes from Grand Junction (it took us 30 minutes from our hotel that was located at I70 in Grand Junction).

We visited on closing weekend last March. The drive to Powderhorn is beautiful, and I remarked to my husband, Ryan, that I’d never seen so many cows and horses while on a drive to a skiing destination.

The first thing that becomes apparent as you park at Powderhorn Mountain Resort is the phenomenal view. Before heading into the main building we stopped to gaze out across the vista that includes the far off mesa.

Ryan rented skis in the ski shop at the resort and headed up the hill. I wasn’t skiing on this outing, having retired from the sport earlier in the season, but that’s a story for another post. Growing up in Colorado, Ryan has skied nearly every mountain, but Powderhorn was new and he was excited to try out new terrain.

I found a seat to work on my laptop in the Sunset Bar & Grille and right away he started sending me photos from the slopes.

Ryan returned to the Sunset Bar & Grille for lunch and we ordered beer, a personal pizza and a sandwich. We had sticker shock at the price of our food, but it was a good kind of shock. With $7 pizzas, no wonder so many families like Powderhorn. An adult lift ticket here is just $59 (even better deals can be found if you go as a group or buy a pass) so skiing and eating here won’t break the bank.

Ryan relayed all sorts of stories over lunch. He was overjoyed at the lack of lift lines and he had relished exploring new terrain all morning. He declared that this was by far the friendliest ski resort he’d ever been to and that it was impossible to ride the chairlift without making a friend.

There was a real feeling among the people he spoke with on the lifts that Powderhorn was their personal hidden gem. Of course, they didn’t know they were talking to the husband of a blogger who was about to give away their little secret.

After lunch he went back up the mountain and I set out to do a little exploring. It doesn’t take long to explore Powderhorn Mountain Resort because it’s not a big property, but I did sneak into the Members Only Club for a few minutes to look around and then went back to the main resort and sat watching skiers on the mountain while soaking up sunshine on the big deck.

There is a super chill atmosphere at Powderhorn, and we truly fell in love with the place. There’s no need to put on airs here. Ryan pointed out that it reminded him of the way skiing was in Colorado when he was just a kid – families and friends enjoying the mountain together with no need for fancy equipment or the latest ski fashions – even if your gloves were mismatched, nobody cared. It was all about great skiing and good company, and Powderhorn has both in spades.

This trip was sponsored in part by Visit Grand Junction.