Featured Image: Courtesy of Norris Design
Just 30 minutes south of Downtown Denver on Interstate 25, Castle Rock is a town that has consistently doubled in size every 10 years since 1990, according to this article. The article also states that although the town has a population of over 70,000 people and the development of new homes and apartments is booming, the commercial side of things has struggled to keep up, with almost 80 percent of the city’s population leaving Castle Rock for work everyday. In an attempt to bring more primary employment to the community, developers jumped at the opportunity to create a year-round ski area on a landfill that hasn’t been used since the ’80s.
“We see the future of this land as being an economic driver for the community and its citizens and we see it is a wonderful place to linger and hang out,” says managing director of P3 Advisors, Shawn Temple, in that same article.
Along with a hotel, conference space, business offices and retail store fronts, the major highlight of this new site, called Millers Landing, is the year-round ski complex aptly named SnowSports 365. The ski hill will feature the artificial surface called Snowflex, a cornice drop, terrain park and mogul field for an impressive year-round outdoor skiing experience on the Front Range. Clearing the landfill for breaking ground on this new development, however, was no easy feat.
Taking years to clean up the area, the team at P3 Advisors–which is leading the development of the 65-acre complex–has worked tirelessly to clear the 9,500 truckloads of garbage.
“In real terms like four Coors Fields – it kind of gives you an idea of how much garbage was removed from the site,” says Temple.
After transporting all of the trash from the old landfill to the community’s new municipal waste center, Temple and his team have been given the all-clear from the state to break ground. If all goes as planned, the snow complex will open to the public in the fall of 2019. With daily lift ticket prices skyrocketing and I-70 traffic clogging up the mountains, SnowSports 365 will serve as a convenient, cost-efficient way for Coloradans to make turns all year long–rain, snow or shine.
