Ski towns across the state are facing an out-of-control housing crisis that has driven families away and kept new families from moving to Colorado’s resort counties. It’s easy to blame vacation homes and AirBNBs for the housing crunch, but the real cause is much simpler: There just isn’t enough housing. Why not? Because ski-town residents […]
ski resorts
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Outdoors
Ski resorts invest millions in more efficient snowmaking as some question continuing the practice during a drought
By Thomas Peipert, The Associated Press The sight can be jarring during extreme drought: snowmaking guns lined up on a mountainside, blasting precious crystal flakes on a ski run while the rest of the land goes thirsty. Snowpack in the U.S. West has decreased by about 20% in the last century, making man-made snow more […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Vail Resorts offers end-of-season bonus as ski areas struggle through labor crisis
Jeremy Rubingh, a documentary filmmaker who focuses on climate and public lands issues, spent about 10 minutes on his phone after Christmas writing an angry screed against Vail Resorts and the company’s struggle to open terrain at the Stevens Pass ski area in Washington state. “When I posted it online, I thought ‘I don’t know, […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Outsider
Busier-than-ever year for Grand Junction chairlift maker reveals strength of nation’s resort industry
GRAND JUNCTION — The welders are happy to show their boss the final piece of what’s been a two-year project. The massive steel structure is ready for shipping to finish off the multi-year construction of one of the largest gondolas in the country, stretching between two resort villages at California’s Palisades Tahoe ski area. “Check […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Ski racing legend Bode Miller plans first ski academy at Granby Ranch
Ski racing icon Bode Miller and the operators of Granby Ranch are teaming up to build a ski academy at the Grand County ski area. The first-ever Bode Miller Ski Academy, announced Friday, will occupy a planned campus at the base village of the resort, which was acquired earlier this year by St. Louis investors […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Culture, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
PHOTOS: Short on powder, Colorado’s ski resorts let snowmakers rip
Ski resorts across the country are leaning more heavily on snowmaking guns as warmer, shorter winters threaten a business model based on snow. In Colorado, the reliance on man-made snow has been essential to the start of the 2021-22 ski season, with all of the state’s 13 major river basins reporting precipitation through November well […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors, Outsider
A new plan — again — for Colorado’s Cuchara Mountain. But this time it’s not about skiing and condos.
CUCHARA — Mike Moore was in the galley kitchen of his bed-and-breakfast last summer preparing eggs for his guests in this southern Colorado village, when he overheard a pair of visitors discussing their plans to develop a headquarters for their nascent adventure company. The two, Jeff Moss and Shayne Young, were in town to look […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Ron LeMaster, beloved ski coach, killed in collision at Eldora Mountain Resort
Ski instructors and racers across the country are mourning the loss of beloved coach and educator Ron LeMaster, who was killed in a collision at Eldora ski area Tuesday. “He was also a kind and generous person willing to drop everything to chat about skiing efficiency, mechanics and methodology,” Dave Schuiling, the education director of […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
72-year-old skier dies in collision with snowboarder at Eldora Mountain
BOULDER — An investigation is underway after a 72-year-old skier died in a collision with a snowboarder at Eldora Mountain in northern Colorado. Boulder County sheriff’s officials say the crash happened on the intermediate Windmill run on Tuesday morning, and the skier was unconscious and not breathing when ski patrollers arrived. They attempted CPR, but […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors, Outsider
Snow may not be piling up at Colorado ski resorts this season, but anxiety sure is
It wasn’t that long ago that ski resort operators lost sleep over snowfall. Then they had to fret over once-in-a-lifetime protocols to limit the spread of contagion at their ski areas. Now, the worries are stacked even deeper, with affordable housing, dwindling numbers of workers and ever-lengthening lift lines joining the perennial fretting over snow […]