Kass and Beth Kremer and their friend Daryl Magner were soaking up the alpenglow on a pleasant August evening two years ago, lounging around a campfire next to their tent and old Bronco on the back side of Silverton Mountain. They were happy to be out of COVID lockdown and in the mountains. But they […]
Silverton
Posted inBusiness, Climate, News, Wildfire
Durango & Silverton railroad will pay feds $20 million for 416 fire damage, stop using coal to power summer trains
By Aedan Hannon, The Durango Herald The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and its parent company, American Heritage Railways, will pay $20 million to settle a federal lawsuit stemming from the 416 fire. Separately, lawyers for 40 La Plata and San Juan county businesses and landowners that sued the tourist railway to recoup losses […]
Posted inOutdoors
Can skijoring, one of Colorado’s favorite extreme sports, go mainstream?
Story by Olivia Prentzel and Photography by Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun SILVERTON — On a freezing day in late February, a racer clicks into his skis along Notorious Blair Street, ready to race. He tightly grips a cotton rope that’s tethered to a cowboy’s saddle, anticipating a sharp jolt before the horse sets off […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, Health, News, Outdoors, Outsider
These young adults are shredding, pedaling and climbing. Oh, and fighting cancer.
SILVERTON — Jesseca Collins was diagnosed with thyroid cancer on her 30th birthday on New Year’s Eve 2012. She had her first surgery a few months later. “I went from this intense athlete to gaining 40 pounds and crawling around my room, crying when I had to put clothes on. I was so tired. The […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Water
Federal government, Colorado and mining company reach $90 million settlement in Gold King mine spill
By James Anderson, The Associated Press Colorado, the U.S. government and a gold mining company have agreed to resolve a longstanding dispute over who’s responsible for continuing cleanup at a Superfund site that was established after a massive 2015 spill of hazardous mine waste that fouled rivers with a sickly yellow sheen in three states. […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
Mining company agrees to pay Colorado $1.6 million in Gold King Mine spill settlement
A mining company has agreed to pay the state of Colorado $1.6 million to settle claims related to the 2015 blowout of the Gold King Mine near Silverton, which sent millions of gallons of orange-yellow water laden with heavy metals cascading down the Animas River and into New Mexico and Utah. The settlement with Sunnyside […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Outdoors, Wildfire
As people are increasingly drawn outdoors, the risk of wildfires is rising
In July 2020, Seth Zachek was volunteering at a wildly popular trail in the San Juan mountains just outside of Silverton. The goal: teaching hikers how to tread lightly in the Ice Lakes Basin, a pristine wonderland high in the range. The irony wasn’t lost on Zachek when volunteers discovered a plume of smoke and […]
Posted inNews
“Glorified homelessness”: Even tiny Silverton is experiencing the housing crisis that’s crushing mountain workers
SILVERTON — Julian Roberts is lighting a campfire on the outskirts of Silverton, wind whipping smoke toward the painted school bus where he lives with his fiancée. He’s been camping out for weeks in the picturesque town of 600, nestled in a caldera among southwest Colorado’s highest peaks. It was a choice at first. It […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
Gold King Mine owner sues federal government over 2015 spill
DURANGO — The owner of an inactive southwestern Colorado mine that was the source of a disastrous 2015 spill that fouled rivers in three Western states has filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $3.8 million in compensation for the federal government’s use of his land in its ongoing cleanup response. MORE: Many hoped the Gold King […]
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 […]