![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-09-24-at-8.50.51-AM-450x350.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
How do ski resorts get more rideable terrain when most of their mountains are covered in trees? They can’t go in and clear cut it just yet, but with a little help from a tree killer known as the Spruce Beetle they can open up new runs no problem.<\/p>\n
For example, at Monarch Mountain<\/strong> in Colorado they’ve just removed “thousands of trees” from their mountain that have been killed by the beetles according to a story in the Pueblo Chieftain<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and they couldn’t be happier about it. Who needs trees?<\/p>\n \u201cIt is kind of cool because as we\u2019ve gotten into it and removed the dead trees we have opened up a lot more terrain, and that\u2019s an opportunity for people to ski terrain they could not get to before. I think our guests will be pleasantly surprised,\u201d said Randy Stroud<\/strong>, Monarch\u2019s general manager.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Many of the trees are still good enough to be used for lumber, so that’s a plus, too. For the rest of the story, including the part about how clearing the trees is helping to eradicate the spruce beetle problem, and how school kids a learning about ecology through the tree clearing, follow the jump.<\/p>\n