Many top Colorado climbing guides and pros have stories about buildering, the late-night ascents of campus buildings and public art that shaped their passions and careers.
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Posted inOutdoors
A woman was dismissed by the endurance community — until she climbed 14 of Colorado’s tallest mountains in less than 45 hours
Andrea Sansone was an elite endurance athlete, but it took crushing a women’s speed record for climbing 14 of Colorado’s tallest mountains to get her out of the shadow of her partner, legendary athlete Andrew Hamilton.
Posted inEnvironment
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.
Posted inBusiness
Colorado communities are harvesting record real estate transfer taxes. But they are not banking on the boom.
The 12 Colorado communities that approved real estate transfer taxes before TABOR in 1992 saw an 84% surge in revenues in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2018 and 2019
Posted inNews, Outsider
When Smartwool left Steamboat Springs, workers who stayed behind got a “kick in the shorts to recalibrate”
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — When Smartwool announced plans to leave its founding headquarters for Denver in 2018 it left a lot of people scratching their heads. Not from the company’s merino wool, but for the conundrum it created for its workers in this thriving but remote corner of Colorado. Cue the Clash tune: “Should I Stay […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Alaska’s Denali is finally open to guided skiing, and you have a Colorado company to thank
For the 25 years he has guided peaks in the Alaska Range, Bill Allen looked at snowy slopes on Denali, North America’s tallest peak, and saw a prize to be had. “It’s the crown jewel of North America for not just mountaineering, but ski mountaineering,” said Allen, co-owner of and a guide for Mountain Trip, […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Colorado rafting outfitters had record traffic, revenue in 2021. Will it be enough to keep them afloat this summer?
Colorado’s rafting industry hosted a record number of rafters in 2021, posting its largest annual increase in commercial raft trips, up 44% over the pandemic-hobbled 2020 season. The Colorado River Outfitters Association counted 619,968 commercial river trips on 20 Colorado rivers last summer, a record 189,793-visit increase from the previous summer. “These are just staggering […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Wright Collegiate Challenge enlists Colorado students to solve outdoor business challenges
When the International Ski Federation — or FIS, the governing body of all things skiing — officially banned ski waxes with fluorocarbons last season, Peter Arlein kept getting the same questions from race techs and ski shops: What do we do with all this forever-chemical wax? “Shops were saying, ‘Well I guess we’ll just put […]
Posted inGrowth, News, Outsider
Colorado mountain towns feel more crowded than ever. But census data shows the population has barely changed.
Mick Ireland knows Pitkin County’s streets. The former Aspen mayor and 30-year politico has knocked on thousands of his neighbors’ doors over the years, promoting candidates and ballot issues as well as helping to register voters. So when the 2020 census report showed entire blocks in Pitkin County — not city blocks but the small […]
Posted inHousing, News, Outsider
An automated factory that’d pump out modular homes in Grand Junction could help ease Colorado’s housing crisis
GRAND JUNCTION — On a baked patch of clay next to a growing hospital, a group of investors plans to ease the Western Slope’s housing crisis with a $45 million automated factory that could turn out 100 ready-to-assemble apartment units a month. “No one has ever built something like this in the U.S.” said Ted […]