Years of drought planning between the seven Western states that rely on the overtaxed, climate-withered Colorado River comes down to Arizona lawmakers in the next two-and-half weeks. With a federal deadline of Jan. 31 for the states to forge a collaborative Drought Contingency Plan, Arizona remains the lone holdout. The plans for each of the […]
Jason Blevins
The Colorado Sun — jason@coloradosun.com
Email: jason@coloradosun.com Twitter: @jasonblevins
Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors
Lawsuits, lenders and irked homeowners creating chaos around the sale of Granby Ranch ski resort
As an unnamed buyer circles Grand County’s privately owned Granby Ranch ski area, a roiling circus of family, lenders and homeowners is assailing resort owner Marise Cipriani. It’s not a pretty scene at the picturesque 5,000-acre ski and golf resort along the Fraser River, which Brazilian developer Cipriani has owned since 1995 and put on […]
Posted inColoradans, News, Outdoors
Colorado’s first avalanche death of 2019 came during an advanced avalanche-safety course on Red Mountain Pass
Saturday’s avalanche in the San Juan Mountains’ Senator Beck Basin, northwest of Red Mountain Pass near Silverton, swept six students of an advanced avalanche-safety class down the bowl, killing a Longmont man who was buried under 8 feet of snow. The team found Peter Marshall, a 40-year-old skier who was participating in Silverton Avalanche […]
Posted inColoradans, News, Outdoors
Crested Butte polar explorer Eric Larsen falls short on record-setting push to South Pole
Soft snow, high winds and blinding whiteouts forced Crested Butte’s famed polar adventurer Eric Larsen to abandon his quest for a speed record to the South Pole. America’s most accomplished polar explorer was planning a meticulously scheduled push across 700 miles of ice to the bottom of the world in less than 24 days. Pulling […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Culture, Environment, News, Outdoors
Angela Hawse takes helm of American Mountain Guides Association board as group leans on women to foster change in guiding culture
A business owner, veteran guide, educator and pioneer for women in the outdoor industry, Angela Hawse is an alpine boss. In 2010 she became the sixth American woman to earn the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association certification, the highest level for mountain guide. She is the only woman on the American Mountain Guides Association […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Health, News
Communities in the Colorado high country, hit hard by soaring premiums, offer medical cost-sharing programs to ease burden
VAIL — Chris Romer has watched families in the Vail Valley writhe under mortgage-sized payments for medical insurance. He’s watched state legislators and regulators fail to stem the soaring costs of health insurance in the Colorado high country, where a family policy easily tops $2,000 a month. And with the pending departure of the Affordable […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors
Battle over Carbondale to Crested Butte trail begins and ends at the top of McClure Pass. Economics are why.
On the Gunnison County side of McClure Pass, the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail is exactly that: a one-way trail from Pitkin County. And unlike residents of the Crystal River Valley who question the impacts of a trail through their narrow, remote canyon, folks on the Crested Butte side of the trail welcome the path. […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Pitkin County approves segment of Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail with promise of decades more scrutiny
ASPEN — Pitkin County’s commissioners on Wednesday narrowly approved a portion of the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail, touting the intensive two-year process as a model for trail development in Colorado. But keep the bikes in the garage. The board’s 3-2 vote moves the trail forward a mere pedal stroke. The trail-approving resolution doesn’t actually […]
Posted inColoradans, Growth, News, Outdoors
The 38-year war over access to a San Luis Valley ranch, called Cielo Vista, could be nearing its end
The longest running civil litigation in Colorado could be ending as the owner of an historic San Luis Valley ranch has promised to end his legal battle to limit access to his property by the heirs to an 1844 land grant. William Harrison, who acquired the 83,000-acre Cielo Vista Ranch in 2017 after it was […]
Posted inEnvironment, Growth, Health, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government, Transportation
Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail stirs passions as final vote looms
The border-to-border rush to mine Colorado for recreation is built on a lattice of paths promising a future of fortune. Trails are pitched as the fuel for rural economies, fostering an appreciation of Colorado’s public lands and luring employees seeking an outdoor lifestyle. But recreation, like the hard-rock mining that sparked Colorado’s economy for decades, […]