How many people died on Colorado ski slopes this season?

Good morning, Sunriser readers!

Everyone has their own ways to mark the changing seasons. There are the celestially inclined, eyeing equinoxes and solstices, and those who abide by longstanding oral traditions (don’t plant tomatoes until after Mother’s Day).

Growing up I was hyper-involved in team sports, so my seasons shifted according to the first practice and the last game.

Ever since the Boulder Valley Velodrome rose from the ashes two years ago, my partner and I have made an annual habit of riding over to celebrate its opening day. It’s a small triumph to see the track standing each year, after having been toppled by tornado-level winds, flooded, abandoned, nearly razed and resurrected by a mostly volunteer and crowd-funded effort. There’s usually some kind of live music on opening day, along with grilled food, cold drinks and cyclists going around, and around, and around, and around, and…

Both years I’ve attended, there has also been some mix of searing hot sun and a threat of afternoon showers. To me, there’s nothing more indicative of the Colorado summer. I’ll be out there tomorrow — watching, not racing — and welcoming the new season.

Now let’s see what’s shifted since yesterday. To the news!

Parker Yamasaki

Reporter

THE NEWS

OUTDOORS

At least 13 people died on Colorado ski slopes during the 2024-25 season, marking a slight decline from recent winters

Colorado ski areas do not report deaths that happen on their slopes, so Jason Blevins surveyed 16 county coroners for fatal incidents recorded at the state’s 27 operating ski areas. And he found that while the total number of deaths has continued to decline since the 2022-23 season, most incidents happened on beginner or intermediate runs.

READ MORE

WATER

What happens upstream if Gross Dam expansion remains unfinished?

Ahead of a major federal hearing next week to determine if Denver Water can continue raising the Gross Dam, Jerd Smith talked to advocates and experts about the chain reaction on the Fraser River and its tributaries if the massive project is not allowed to be completed.

READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT

Report claiming environmental policies steal billions from Colorado’s economy based on bad math, advocates say

The report leads with an eye-popping number: $32 billion shaved off the Colorado economy by environmental protection policies in less than a decade. But as Michael Booth reports, environmental groups and the Colorado Energy Office dispute the “simplistic” assumptions and faulty math in the report by conservative think tank The Common Sense Institute, which does not disclose its donors or detail the methodology of its economic studies.

READ MORE

MORE NEWS

• Judges, attorneys gather in Denver to protest Trump administration’s attack on rule of law. Demonstrations were held on courthouse steps around the state and country on “Law Day” to celebrate the U.S. Constitution and unite to defend it against what speakers called unprecedented challenges to the legal system.
• Judge sentences 1 of 3 men in rock-throwing death of Alexa Bartell to 45 years in prison. “This was a pattern of conduct, not only on this night but other nights, as well,” First Judicial District Court Judge Christopher Zenisek said in handing down the sentence for 20-year-old Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik.
• Soldier at a Colorado Springs nightclub during immigration raid charged with distributing cocaine. Staff Sgt. Juan Gabriel Orona-Rodriguez, who is assigned to Fort Carson, was arrested Wednesday evening for allegedly selling cocaine to an undercover DEA agent in the days before the raid, the FBI said.
• Fact Brief ☀️ Are most homes in Denver made of brick? Yes. Just over half of all homes in Denver are made of brick or brick-composite materials, the result of a code enacted after an 1863 fire.

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE COLORADO REPORT

• Over 300 Denver-area Lockheed Martin employees go on strike. About 320 workers at Lockheed Martin’s Jefferson County campus have gone on strike, joining hundreds more across the country who walked off the job and set up a picket line to call for better pay, a shorter timeline for promised raises, profit-sharing and Veterans Day off.
  — Denver Business Journal 🔑
• Sex assaults make up almost half of discredited CBI scientist Missy Woods’ mishandled cases. Missy Woods deleted, omitted or manipulated DNA data in at least 1,022 criminal cases during her 29-year career, the CBI found in an internal investigation. Of those 1,022 cases, 472 were sex assault cases — about 46%. Another 211 cases were burglaries (21%) and 134 were homicides (13%).
  — The Denver Post 🔑
• Dougco transparency lawsuit has first day in court. The main focus of the hearing was to determine if the plaintiffs could demonstrate that the Board of County Commissioners violated Colorado’s Open Meetings Law. However, it came to a short halt when counsel was unable to cite the exact statute.
  
  — Douglas County News Press
• PHOTOS: Winter Park pond skim. It’s the time of year to see people in summer clothes (or a hot dog costume or a mayor’s sash and top hat) skiing directly into a puddle. Never gets old.
  — Sky-Hi News
• Jill Sobule, Denver-born singer-songwriter known for “I Kissed a Girl,” dies in house fire. Sobule, 66, first attracted widespread attention with the song “Supermodel” from the “Clueless” soundtrack and the pioneering single “I Kissed a Girl” (not the Katy Perry version) — which made it to the Billboard Top 20 despite being banned on several southern radio stations in 1995. She died in a house fire while staying with friends in Minnesota. The die-hard Nuggets fan gave an interview to Westword ahead of what would have been a hometown show tonight at Swallow Hill in Denver that will now be an informal memorial.
  — AP News

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Section by Eric Lubbers | CTO & Newsletter Wrangler

THE OPINION PAGE

COMMUNITY

• Denver Public Schools closures are breaking up the community that creates a thriving, safe neighborhood. Denver already has a pedestrian safety problem, and now kids will have a longer, more treacherous trip to their new school.
  — Grace Thorvilson, Denver mother and political consultant

CARTOONS

In “What’d I Miss?” Ossie and Myra discuss a wrongly detained Trump voter who thought the administration’s immigration enforcement would be…different.

CARTOON

Drew Litton weighs in on the scheduling overlap that has Nuggets and Avs fans wrung out after a night of drama.

CARTOON

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggest writers or provide feedback at opinion@coloradosun.com.

Podcast Playlist

CONVERSATION

Each weekday The Daily Sun-Up podcast brings you a thoughtful conversation and headlines of the day. We keep it tight so you can listen on the go, or stack up a few and tune in at your leisure. Download the Sun-Up for free on your favorite podcasting app, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or RSS to plug into your app. Check out this week’s lineup from The Sun team:

• Federal funding freeze creeps into Yampa River Valley. A Colorado project to kill an invasive plant using beetles is facing serious cutbacks. Money previously promised was rescinded by the Trump administration. Sun reporter Parker Yamasaki digs in.
  LISTEN
• Is the rent too damn high? Signs along the Front Range show the cost of renting is dropping. Sun business reporter Tamara Chuang breaks down why the rental market favors the renter right now, and what it looks like for the next few months.
  LISTEN
• Wanna hike a 14er? Sun reporter Olivia Prentzel has made it to the top of more than 30 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. Learn about her experiences and insights from a panel she’s hosting May 21 on “How to Safely Summit a 14ers” in Colorado Springs.
  LISTEN
• Exorcizing her demons. Colorado author Lauren Braden talks about the magic of her genre of work and what drew her to escapism. She talks with SunLit editor Kevin Simpson about her latest work, the sequel “Personal Demons.”
  LISTEN
• Gross Reservoir Dam start-stop-pause explained. There’s a big hearing set for Tuesday in a Denver federal courtroom over the major expansion project in Boulder County. Fresh Water News editor Jerd Smith has a preview and how we got here.
  LISTEN

🗣️ And, you can ask Siri, Alexa or Google to “play the Daily Sun-Up podcast” and we’ll play right on your smart speaker. As always we appreciate your feedback and comments at podcast@coloradosun.com.

Section by David Krause | Editor

How do you mark the seasonal shifts? Is it the closet overhaul? The pond skim? The end of the legislative session? Or are you more of a microseason enthusiast? See you back here Monday, when we’ll surely have more changes to talk about.

— Parker & the whole staff of The Sun

The Colorado Sun is part of The Trust Project. Read our policies.

Corrections & Clarifications

Notice something wrong? The Colorado Sun has an ethical responsibility to fix all factual errors. Request a correction by emailing corrections@coloradosun.com.