Posted inHousing, News

How bad is the housing crunch in Colorado’s high country? Just look at census vacancy data.

By most accounts, the housing market in Colorado mountain communities has never been tighter. People have flocked to mountain towns during coronavirus, even as many resorts shut down. Seasonal workers are being forced to move to different communities because they can’t afford rent, causing labor shortages for local businesses.  And yet, several high country communities […]

Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Economy, Environment, Growth, News, Outdoors

Off-highway vehicles are revving up locals (in a bad way) in Colorado’s remote mountain towns

When Teri Havens bought two acres tucked in a thick stand of aspen on a hill south of Marble in 1995, it was her bit of backcountry nirvana.  Yes, it sat along a popular jeeping trail  ̶  a county road leading to the historic Lead King Loop. But she could live with four-wheel-drive vehicles jouncing […]

Posted inCOVID, Environment, Health, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government

Warnings are working (for now) to keep visitors out of Colorado’s high country. But tickets, legal battles loom.

Police in Colorado’s mountain communities are doing a lot of educating and even issuing written warnings to violators of local and state health orders designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.  But if mask mandates, closures, restrictions and locals-only access rules linger for months, warnings will soon turn to tickets. And that worries Western […]

Posted inColoradans, Environment, News, Outdoors

With snow still looming in the nearby San Juan Mountains, Lake City prepares for a deadly spring runoff

LAKE CITY — The San Juan Mountains loom white and ripe with an overloaded snowpack above this small town in south-central Colorado. Some 38 feet of snow fell in the San Juans this winter. Most of that snowpack, still nearly 200% more than normal, clings hard to the steep sides of the Continental Divide that […]

Posted inNews, Outdoors

Avalanche slams into home of southwest Colorado sheriff, injuring him and two of his children

An avalanche early Tuesday slammed into the home of Hinsdale County Sheriff Justin Casey, injuring him and two of his children. The slide happened at about 6:30 a.m. south of Lake City. One of the three suffered serious injuries while two others had minor injuries. Further details were not immediately released. The Hinsdale County Administrator’s […]