By going to extraordinary lengths to break free of the Grand Valley’s grasp, you discover why you love it.
Grand Mesa
Posted inEnvironment, News, Outdoors
Changes to logging planned near Grand Mesa Nordic ski trails could cut conflict. But will the sawmill agree?
Nordic skiers and forest managers took steps Friday toward lessening the impacts of a logging operation on a popular winter recreation area on the top of the Grand Mesa. Officials with the Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest sat down with representatives from the Grand Mesa Nordic Council for two hours and came away […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Outdoors
A recent timber sale is about to send 250 giant logging trucks through a pristine Grand Mesa Nordic skiing area
High atop the Grand Mesa in Western Colorado, where elevation and a rippling topography come together to create some of the state’s prime early-season cross-country ski terrain, logging is about to collide with recreation. A planned timber sale near the Grand Mesa Nordic Council’s Skyway trail system will allow logging trucks to rumble over a […]
Posted inClimate, Growth, News, Water
Drought forces Grand Junction to dip into Colorado River for drinking water for the first time in more than 50 years
For 65 years, the Ute Water Conservancy District serving Grand Junction and Mesa County has let the Colorado River flow on by, while drawing drinking water from pristine runoff 11,000 feet high on Grand Mesa. The severe, ongoing drought has now forced other plans. The utility has for the first time begun to mix Colorado […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Environment, News
Harry Talbott, who gave his life to Palisade’s prized peaches, has died at age 86
Blossoms are popping out on the peach trees at Talbott Farms. Crews of workers are out thinning those buds. Preparations are underway to start up irrigation water. It is the same work that has been going on for more than a century on a fertile mesa above Palisade. But this season, there is a giant […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Newsletters, Outdoors, The Outsider
“Bigger than a trail”: Grand Valley’s Palisade Plunge set to open after 10 years of planning, partnerships
PALISADE — “This next stretch, this is where the exposure becomes, um, moreso,” Scott Winans says. The dozen-plus mountain bikers lean over their handlebars and scan the cliff next to the narrow singletrack. A few nervous chuckles evaporate in the gusting wind. For the next hour, the riders mutter “moreso” to each other as they […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors
The Palisade Plunge (and its 6,000-foot descent) will be one of Colorado’s crown jewels
GRAND JUNCTION — Perched on basalt boulders at the end of a path freshly carved through a jungle of scrub oak, Scott Winans is as close as ever to a 10-year goal that promises to highlight the recreational assets of his Grand Valley home turf. “It’s been a lot of work to get here. A […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, News, Outdoors
Message scent: Douglas fir beetles detoured from Ouray forest by pheromone packets
These are not the trees you’re looking for. That’s the message sent by the scent wafting from Douglas fir trees on Ouray’s perimeter. The smell emanates from bubble packs stapled to the trees. The packs contain chemicals that mimic the pheromones pine beetles use to send messages to each other. This time, the message is […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Powderhorn ski area uses Opportunity Zone tax credits to lure deep-pocketed investors
Big investment is on tap for Powderhorn Mountain Resort, with its owners hiring a longtime resort management company to take over operations and enlisting deep-pocketed investors to help fund upgrades at the 52-year-old ski area above Grand Junction. Powderhorn owners — Denver’s Gart brothers Ken, John and Tom and resort veteran Andy Daly — last […]
Posted inColoradans, Culture, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
Colorado is due for a new state park, but officials hope it won’t take 27 years to develop like the last one
GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Colorado is growing at a rapid clip, yet only two new state parks have opened in the past dozen years. The newest, Staunton State Park, opened southwest of Denver in 2013 — 27 years after about half of the park’s rugged, mountainous acreage was donated to the state. Colorado Parks and Wildlife […]