Posted inNews, Sports

Hold my pickax: In a battle of the miners, men and women compete to see who’s the best, well, miner

OURAY — Before the million-dollar homes, ski hills and film festivals, Colorado’s high mountain towns were home to the first white settlers who came prospecting for gold, silver, and other precious metals. There is a saying, “if it’s not grown, it’s mined,” referring to all the minerals and metals that are used in our daily […]

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 inBusiness, Coloradans, Culture, Economy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government

Ouray Ice Park’s rebound from rockfall is a test case for how Colorado can help tourism communities recover

Fans of ice climbing were not the only ones cheering at the Ouray Ice Festival last weekend.  The state’s bosses of tourism and outdoor recreation were watching closely as thousands gathered in Ouray’s famed ice park, a rally supported by an unprecedented wave of grants designed to pull the community back from the pandemic.  And […]

Posted inBusiness, Housing, News

Colorado mountain communities vote “yes” on new short-term rental fees but reject heavier regulation

Colorado voters in several resort communities approved increased fees and taxes meant to squeeze more revenue for affordable housing from short-term rentals. But voters in end-of-the-road Crested Butte and Telluride stopped short of heavier restrictions intended to slow and limit short-term rentals in the tourist-dependent communities. Jim Day, who is retired and lives part time […]

Posted inHousing, News, Outsider

A flurry of policy experiments in Colorado serves as “regional laboratory” for regulating, limiting short-term rentals

Winter Park and Breckenridge are offering big incentives to homeowners who convert their short-term rental properties to housing for locals.  A program called “Short-Term Fix” offers homeowners up to $20,000 for converting their Winter Park vacation homes to housing for locals.  The Town of Breckenridge and Summit County last week unveiled a similar program. The […]

Posted inColoradans, Energy, News, Outdoors

Tumbling rock destroys bridge to Ouray Ice Park, pipeline to the country’s oldest running hydroelectric power plant

Workers arriving early at the Ouray Ice Park on Tuesday found a disaster.   A boulder the size of a pool table had sheared off the canyon wall and destroyed the metal walkway accessing the park’s popular ice climbs. And it ripped out the penstock that ferries water to the oldest operating hydropower plant in the […]

Posted inArts, Coloradans, Culture, News

Daniel Wolf, rancher and visionary art collector, dies in Ridgway

In the last few weeks, Daniel Wolf made time to help his eldest daughter with a new project. He helped India shovel through frozen dirt buried beneath the snow, unearthing peony rhizomes and planting them in her newly built greenhouse. It wasn’t unusual for him to take an interest in his daughters’ passions, to spend […]