911 calls are never ignored, but sorting out which alerts from Apple iPhone 14s and watches are real is “a tremendous drain” on resort town resources.
ski resorts
Posted inOutdoors
Colorado’s White River is the country’s busiest national forest, with a $1.6B impact. But can it keep it up?
“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
Posted inOutdoors
Supply chain issues prevent yet another thing from spinning: new Colorado chairlifts
Supply issues for chairlift manufacturers, including Grand-Junction-based Poma, have stalled openings for new lifts across Colorado, North America
Posted inNews
Watch: Colorado’s ski bosses talk recent seasons, challenges
The Colorado Sun talks recent ski seasons, lessons learned and challenges around housing, climate, jobs and more.
Posted inClimate, News
Can Copper Mountain do something about climate change using its own slopes?
Ski area officials in the West know they will lose up to 25% more of their snowpack between now and 2050, after suffering through 20% losses already in a decadeslong drought. Through snowmaking from local river water and isolated geographic luck, Colorado ski areas have managed so far to avoid devastating impacts from climate change […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Q&A: Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory steps back and reflects on next generation of ski resort bosses
The U.S. ski industry was forged by soldiers. We all know the story about 10th Mountain vets returning from war with visions of ski runs and chairlifts that would spark dozens of American resorts. Innovators who worked every job at the ski area took the reins from those soldiers, creating even more lifts, better grooming […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
Colorado’s independent ski areas are thriving in the shadow of dueling, consolidating resort giants
In the shadow of battling behemoths, smaller, independent ski areas are thriving. “It’s not just that the big areas are crowded and skiers want to escape crowds,” said Bob Nicolls, the owner of Monarch ski area, which saw record visitation in 2021-22, with income for the ski area climbing 20% above the previous season. “I […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Carman: Backcountry with a side of bacon is a soulful alternative to the corporate ski experience
I was stepping out of my bindings at the base of Steamboat one sunny afternoon after a glorious day of spring skiing with my kids. It was the 1980s — a lifetime ago in the evolution of alpine skiing in Colorado. “We have to keep doing this before we get old,” I said to my […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Vail Resorts promises $175 million more for employees, bumps starting pay to $20 an hour
Vail Resorts will spend $175 million more a year on employees, increasing pay by more than 30% after a grueling season that saw North America’s largest resort operator vilified as it struggled to open chairs and handle crowds. Kirsten Lynch celebrated her 100th day as CEO of Vail Resorts this week, marking what was likely […]
Posted inOutdoors
America’s chairlift savant finishes 22-year quest to ride every lift in the U.S.
Peter Landsman, a lift supervisor at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, has visited, photographed and documented 2,381 chairlifts in the U.S.