抖阴ap

Summit County – At Breckenridge White Water Rafting, you wouldn’t know that the rafting season is winding down. They’re still getting flooded with calls.

“The phones have been ringing off the hook all morning,” employee Tristan Nicholson said.

The outfitter’s reservations this year have been about 50 percent higher than last year, Nicholson said, making it “probably our busiest year ever.”

While the official numbers won’t be tallied until late fall, the Colorado River Outfitters Association considers 2005 a great year for rafting companies around the state.

“This year everything has just fallen in line,” says Christian “Campy” Campton, the group’s president. “I think the economy is looking better, weather (has been) great, water was fantastic and still is in some areas. It’s hard to beat a season like this.”

Water flow on the Arkansas River peaked May 28 at 2,600 cubic feet per second, then jumped back up to 2,230 cubic feet per second on June 30.

“I don’t even remember breaking 2,000 last year,” said John Geerdes, assistant park manager with the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area.

He oversees 148 miles of river from Leadville to Pueblo Reservoir.

The Arkansas has maintained a sustainable flow of 700 cubic feet per second through July, he said.

Rafters enjoyed a 10-day season on the Blue River, where the flow depends on levels in Dillon Reservoir.

Last year, Campton said, rafters enjoyed only four days on the river. And for the first time in five years, rafting was an option on the Dolores River north of Cortez in southwest Colorado.

Colorado’s rafting industry saw its best year in 1999, then experienced a major drop in revenue because of drought in 2002.

It has been struggling to recover ever since.

Business bounced back in 2003, Campton said, then was hampered by cold weather in June 2004.

Hot weather along the Front Range in July helped rafting profits this summer.

“People need to cool off, and there’s no better way to do it then on a rafting trip,” Campton said.