VAIL — The U.S. ski resort industry started with a bunch of mustachioed dudes focused on uphill transportation. Sixty-plus years later, resort skiing has transformed from an operation into an experience, with attention paid to safety, snow grooming, speedy lifts, lessons, food and fewer hassles. The evolution of skiing can be attributed to a more […]
Jason Blevins
Jason Blevins lives in Eagle with his wife, two teenage girls and a dog named Gravy.
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Environment, Outdoors, Water
Old mining shacks are becoming backcountry ski huts in Colorado’s high country
ALMA — As the skiers approached a century-old mining shack in a clearing, views of the wind-ravaged slopes below London Mountain and Mosquito Peak emerged through the trees. “Anyone see anything that concerns them?” asked ski guide and avalanche educator Abe Pacharz, waiting for someone to point out recent avalanches on the flanks of the […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Colorado rafting team poised for second attempt at breaking speed record down Grand Canyon
In January 2017, the U.S. Men’s Whitewater Rafting Team’s speed-record dream died in the Colorado River’s stout Lava Falls rapid. They had been rowing for more than 20 hours and were on pace to set a record for the fastest descent of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon when their customized cataraft failed in […]
Posted inColoradans, News, Outdoors
Why pro skier Gus Kenworthy jumped to Great Britain’s Olympic squad from the U.S. team
Gus Kenworthy, the Telluride-raised freeskiing pioneer and two-time Olympian who has helped establish the U.S. as an international halfpipe and slopestyle skiing powerhouse, announced earlier this month that he will ski for Great Britain as he tracks toward the 2022 Winter Olympics in China. His mom is British and Kenworthy was born outside London, where […]
Posted inColoradans, News, Outdoors
“Rotten” snow layer causes rare in-bounds avalanche at Steamboat that buries man — and it’s just the beginning
A rare in-bounds slide at Steamboat ski area on Sunday caught several skiers by surprise, completely burying a 21-year-snowboarder and partially burying another. The group was in an open area when the avalanche released in closed terrain above them, sweeping nearby skiers off their feet. Patrollers were on scene and digging the man from the […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
BLM, citing public ire, demands intensive review of test bores before mine above Glenwood Springs can expand
The Bureau of Land Management will conduct an environmental review of test bores proposed by the owner of limestone quarry seeking to exponentially expand the operation above Glenwood Springs. Rocky Mountain Resources had asked the BLM to exempt from environmental review the drilling of five test wells it needs to assess the viability of expanding […]
Posted inEnvironment, Outdoors
A Colorado avalanche instructor’s survey of backcountry skiers’ preparedness had “shocking” results
Imagine you are pushing your raft into whitewater at the start of a remote river trip and you turn to the person next to you and ask them a question about basic river safety, says Vail backcountry ski guide and avalanche safety instructor Kelli Rohrig. “And you find out that person doesn’t know how to […]
Posted inUncategorized
After 24 years and facing foreclosure, Granby Ranch ski area’s owner is surrendering the resort
The Brazilian owner of Granby Ranch is walking away from the 5,000-acre ski and golf community after 24 years, handing a lender the title to the Grand County property where she once planned a $600 million mega-resort. “This has been a challenging period for us all,” Marise Cipriani wrote in a letter she hand-delivered to […]
Posted inNews
Wolf supporters say they gathered 200,000 signatures, enough for reintroduction question on 2020 ballot
The fight to return wolves to Colorado’s Western Slope begins now. With wolf pack supporters planning on Tuesday to submit more than 208,000 signatures supporting a November 2020 ballot measure calling for the reintroduction of wolves to Colorado, voters could soon hear a pitched howling over wolves for most of next year. “This is our […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Colorado is owed 9,900 acres by the federal government. But getting that land could mean no more recreating on it.
The whisper of transferring federal lands to states typically ignites firestorms, with conservationists, sportsmen and mountain communities fearing a shift of ownership could lead to unfettered development, lost access, habitat degradation and injury to recreation-based economies. But this week’s proposal by the Bureau of Land Management to transfer 17,700 acres of federal land and 6,000 […]