Ridgway’s Danika Gilbert is mentoring women climbers from Afghanistan as they explore new lives far from Taliban rule.

Stephanie Maltarich
Special to The Colorado Sun
Twitter: @SMaltarich
At Colorado’s largest reservoir, one national park scientist shifts her focus to toxic algae
Blue-green algae is native to Colorado’s largest reservoir. Two research projects seek reasons for its toxic bloom at Blue Mesa and how to stop it.
What 3 million little kokanee salmon can tell us about Colorado’s drought
The celebratory release of kokanee salmon from Roaring Judy hatchery ensures that the fish so popular with anglers continue to propagate – even in drought-ravaged waters
This is the first net-zero affordable housing project in Colorado’s high country. It certainly won’t be the last.
Jeremy Duncan enjoys scrolling through apps and websites regularly to check his family’s energy consumption at his home in Basalt. “Holy Cross shows you how much you are saving, and SolarEdge has a feature where you can look at solar panels and see which panels are used most,” Duncan said. “You can break it down […]
Following a historic Colorado avalanche season, pros and entrepreneurs create new tools for safer backcountry travel
Responding to one of the worst avalanche seasons on record, a growing number of backcountry skiers are developing tools to help fellow adventurers move more safely through the snowy mountains. The innovation feels especially urgent after last season, when 37 skiers, climbers and snowmobilers were killed in avalanches nationwide, including 12 in Colorado. The 2021-22 […]
The pandemic made me change my big plans, and reconsider where I called home
We drove east on I-90 out of Missoula passing through Hellgate Canyon, meandering alongside the Clark Fork River. I blinked away tears while whispering “I’m not ready to leave Montana.” Plans had changed. Vacation: canceled. Classes: canceled. The global pandemic turned into a national emergency; the weight of this new reality finally felt personal. After […]
“You would think it’s the opposite”: The average age of fatal avalanche victims is on the rise
Sara Boilen stands at the front of her avalanche class each winter in Whitefish, Montana, and surveys her students. She offers two options and asks them to raise their hands to identify the more dangerous backcountry ski partner: a 22-year-old male or a middle-aged woman. Without fail, students overwhelmingly choose the young male. They are […]