“The answer here is not another lane on 70,” forest chief Scott Fitzwilliams says as he plans robust community discussions on the future of White River
outdoor recreation industry
Posted inOutdoors
Record surge for outdoor recreation economy in 2021 fuels push for legislation, federal office
Colorado’s outdoor recreation industry contributed $11.6 billion in 2021, accounting for 2.7% of the state’s overall economy
Posted inOutdoors
New outdoor trade show to be open to the public as Colorado aims to be “the best state for all things outdoor recreation”
The Big Gear Show will combine with the (e)revolution e-bike trade show in June 2023 for the outdoor industry’s first-ever business-to-business-to-consumer event
Posted inOutdoors
Colorado’s new Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument promises to protect outdoor recreation
Skiers, resort operators, mountain bikers and motorized users hope national monument status for historical landscape at Camp Hale continues to support outdoor recreation.
Posted inOutdoors
Colorado gear merchants find untapped promise — and profit — in secondhand stuff
Shifting demand, overstocked stores and a surging focus on sustainability are setting up 2022 as the best year ever for the growing recommerce industry
Posted inColoradans, Education, News, Outdoors
A Colorado camp connecting deaf students to the outdoors is reemerging from the brink of collapse
OLD SNOWMASS — With towering Aspen trees that catch every breeze from the Elk Mountains and water that cascades over giant rocks along Snowmass Creek, Aspen Camp of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is a calming refuge tucked away from the bustle of nearby resort towns. Yet for all the serenity it offers campers, […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
A few questions for Conor Hall, the new director of Colorado’s Outdoor Recreation Industry Office
Conor Hall took the reins of Colorado’s Outdoor Recreation Industry Office a little more than three weeks ago, just as the office began handling a flood of federal grant money and addressed the departure of Denver’s Outdoor Retailer trade shows. “If feels like it’s been dog years,” said the 32-year-old who replaced Nathan Fey, who […]
Posted inEducation, News, Outdoors
The new standards for testing outdoor gear are being created by Colorado university students
GUNNISON — In the basement of the new Paul M. Rady engineering school at Western Colorado University, professor Greg VanderBeek directs six students using a horizontal bandsaw to cut 2-inch steel tubing. “Remember, perfection happens at the welding table,” VanderBeek says as the students measure. Soon the students are grinding corners and welding a frame […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Colorado’s outdoor industry rallies to keep Outdoor Retailer trade show in Denver
The outdoor industry flexed its newfound political muscle five years ago by leaving Utah and taking its twice-a-year Outdoor Retailer trade shows to Colorado. Outdoor brands and advocates, irked over Utah’s push to dismantle protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, moved their annual gatherings — which draw 85,000 visitors and stir an […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Nathan Fey leaving Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office after two years
Nathan Fey, who took over as director of the Colorado Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry in 2019, is leaving his post next month. Fey, a sixth generation Coloradan who spent 12 years as the state’s regional director of American Whitewater, is leaving the state’s recreation office to serve as director of a Colorado-based philanthropic foundation. […]