It’s not that business is bad at the , 10 miles north of Leadville at 10,500 feet on the Continental Divide. For example, stays in the toasty yurts are already sold out for next winter.

“We’re selling because it����ap that time of life,” said Ty, 59, who has spent more than half his life running the business with Roxanne, a Leadville native and former schoolteacher he met when they were students at nearby Colorado Mountain College. “I feel like my wife and I have taken it as far as we can at this phase of our life and our age. I would like to sell it to the next young Ty and Roxanne and watch somebody expand and grow the business even more.”

Candlelit multi-course dinners

The pair bought what was then a small, struggling cross country operation in 1993 for $5,000. With just a couple of trails and a trailer, the previous owner was on the verge of going out of business, they said.

A year later, the Halls added the cookhouse. In 2013 they erected two sleep yurts because cookhouse guests always seemed to want to lie down by the fire after dinner. Now they have , pillows and down comforters.

The trail from the Nordic center to the cookhouse is a brisk one-mile trip on skis or snowshoes, with panoramic views of snow-capped mountains. Housed in a solar-powered yurt, in a space that includes a potbelly stove that warmed 10th Mountain Division ski troops at nearby Camp Hale during World War II.

“It took a lot of time, it took a lot of effort, and every time we got a little bit of money we’d put it right back into the business,” Ty said. “It����ap funny, with the restaurant, when you need marketing or advertising the most, you can’t afford it, and when you don’t (need it), you finally can (afford it). It really was word of mouth.”

Jennifer Irey, a professor at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville, loves the serenity she finds on their 25 kilometers of trails.

“Anytime we have some people come from out of town, it’s the first place we take them,” Irey said. “Once you get out on skis or snowshoes, it’s really transformative. You don’t get any cell (service) or WiFi up there, which is lovely. It’s fairly rustic. It’s comfortable. Once you get onto the trails, you encounter people, but you’re not jockeying for position. You just feel alone, in a good way.”

In 1998, Ty built a backcountry hut three miles away that was a separate business from the Tennessee Pass operation. He sold it five years later to the 10th Mountain Division Hut Association, which renamed it the . The Halls used proceeds from that sale to replace the old . Light lunches and a café are available there.

The Nordic center is adjacent to with which it shares a parking lot, so downhill skiing is also an option for guests.

A recovering Leadville

Leadville is a very different place from what it was when the Halls began building their dream. When the Climax molybdenum mine effectively shut down in the 1980s, leaving only skeleton staff on site, thousands of miners lost their jobs. Roxanne was in high school then.

“It was pretty traumatic,” she said. “A lot of my friends had to move away because their dads or moms worked at Climax. When they shut it down, I lost so many of my friends, and I thought we were going to have to move away. I was just so scared that my dad would lose his job.”

He was one of the lucky few at Climax, kept on because he was working as a commercial artist for the mining company after having started as a miner. When Ty got to Leadville from Virginia in 1989 to attend Colorado Mountain College, he had his pick of places to stay. Buildings all over town were boarded up.

“I remember going to the realtor, and he gave me a sheet of paper with addresses and a handful of keys,” Ty said. “Every house was vacant. You could get whatever house you wanted. They wouldn’t even go with us. They handed you keys and said, ‘Go check it out, let us know which one you want.’ Now you can’t even find a place to rent.”

Bluebird mornings

The listing price for the Tennessee Pass complex is $2.2 million. The Halls have a realtor to handle the sale, but they’ve also used another tool to spread the word, announcing their retirement on Instagram in a Jan. 21 post that also appeared on their Facebook page.

“For the last thirty years, they’ve been caretakers and owners of Tennessee Pass, through late night snowstorms and bluebird mornings,” the post says. “They’ve built the business from humble beginnings into a thriving independent ski resort. It����ap your chance to own an established alpine retreat with over sixteen miles of trails, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.”

The Halls figured that, since they had a loyal following, with many asking them over the years if they were ever going to sell, Instagram might be a good way to reach potential buyers. It was.

“It got a lot of response,” Ty said. “It just seems like a different time and age, a different way to do things than what has traditionally been done with selling stuff.”

While ready for retirement, they want to make sure they sell to buyers who will be good stewards of what they built nearly from nothing.

“It����ap just that time of life for Roxanne and I to retire, do some other things and enjoy ourselves,” Ty said. “We’ve worked really hard at building the business and it����ap turn-key. If someone comes today and buys it, it comes with sold-out reservations for next year. You don’t have to come up here and then try to figure out how to get customers to come. They’re coming, you just need to be here.”

Colorado is home to 28 ski areas and resorts, each with a fascinating backstory.

These places have a rich history, from being the homelands and hunting grounds of the Ute, Arapahoe, and Cheyenne Native American Tribal Nations to the influx of silver and gold miners to the settlement of homesteading ranchers and cowboys and the development of ski areas by post-war veterans of the 10th Mountain Division soldiers of World War II. Colorado’s history is filled with diverse and colorful stories.

Of the 355+ museums in Colorado, many are in ski resort destinations.

A few share their unique Colorado perspective through history, art, snow sports, and the environment.

Enhance your ski getaway with a museum visit. You may be surprised by what you discover.

Tread of the Pioneers Museum

• 800 Oak Street, Steamboat Springs
• Open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Admission: $6 for adults, $5 for seniors over 62, $2 for children ages 6-12, and children under 6 years are admitted free. Routt County residents are admitted free with I.D. Free admission is available every day for Native American Indian Tribal members.

Located downtown off Main Street, the Tread of the Pioneers Museum is like stepping back in time to the turn of the 20th century.

Housed in a 1901 Queen Anne-styled Victorian home, you can get a sense of day-to-day life as you meander through period-furnished rooms like the ranch kitchen or the Victorian dining room and parlor.

The museum offers permanent and temporary exhibits that offer a local and regional history perspective.

You’ll learn about Steamboat Springs from its beginnings to its modern-day ski town status. Exhibits include displays of the area’s original inhabitants, the indigenous tribes of the Ute people, the mining boom era of the late 1800s, and the town’s pioneering settlers who ranched cattle and sheep to its rise to fame as a premier ski town.

Alpine and Nordic skiing and ski jumping play a prominent role in Steamboat Springs’s emergence as a top wintertime snow destination. The museum’s permanent exhibit, Ski Town USA, showcases the evolution of skiing in Steamboat Springs.

From the early 1900s, when ranchers strapped on homemade wooden skis to move about the snowy landscape as a means of transportation, to an exciting winter sport that has produced over 100 Olympic athletes from the area.

Plus, you’ll learn about Howelsen Hill, named after the Norwegian ski jumper Carl Howelsen, who taught residents how to ski and jump not long after he arrived in 1913. The landmark is considered North America’s oldest operating ski area and hosts national and international ski and jumping competitions today.

Apart from the museum exhibits, an outdoor audio tour was installed at Howelsen Hill Historic Lodge. Visitors can listen to stories of the legendary location while seeing the site and its ski-jumping platforms.

Don’t miss

• An impressive collection of famous Edward S. Curtis photogravures featuring Native American images.
• The new hands-on interactive exhibit “Ute Knowledge: Colorado’s Original Science Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)”

Events

• History Happy Hour: The First Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. each month through April, Olympian Hall at Howelsen Hill. Hear stories about Routt County heritage and western history.
• Festival of the Trees: Celebrate the holidays from Nov. 16-30.

Headwaters River Journey Museum

• 730 Baker Drive, Winter Park
• Open Thursday-Monday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Admission: $10/Adult, $8/Senior, free for children and students.

This is the perfect museum to show little skiers and snowboarders what happens when all that snow melts.

The Headwaters River Journey Museum is located on the first floor of the Headwaters Center, perched next to the Fraser River in Winter Park.

Through a series of 31 interactive exhibits, visitors journey down the Fraser River to the headwaters of the Upper Colorado River Basin, where water is diverted across the Continental Divide into metro Denver.

It����ap entertaining, provocative, and ultimately educational. It shows people where their water comes from and how our lifestyle can impact this critical resource. Best of all, it����ap fun–even for big shredders.

An audio track chorus of nature sounds serenades you along the journey from start to end with elk bugles, birds chirping, and water gurgles as it rushes along creeks and streams.

There are few places where you can virtually experience a trout’s life or crawl into a beaver dam and watch a video of the creatures that dwell there.

If you want to fly like an osprey, a video program guides you through a flight on a big screen. There are games and quizzes at different stations that encourage feedback.

Visitors will better understand how lifestyle and recreational choices contribute to preserving the Colorado River Headwaters system by the journey’s end.

Don’t miss

• There’s an interactive snowboarding video program for those longing for a snowy run on the slopes. The best part is that you don’t have to wear all the gear for a realistic experience.

Events

• Headwaters Rocky Mountain Yule Celebration on Dec. 14: This event includes dinner, a silent auction and entertainment by Chris Daniels and the Kings from 6-10 p.m.

Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame

• 231 S. Frontage Road East, Vail, Colorado 81657
• Open daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Free Admission with donations appreciated.

The Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame is in a modest building on the third level of the Vail Village Parking Structure in the heart of Vail Village.

This small specialty museum showcases a vast collection of snow sports artifacts that celebrate the history and legacy of snow sports in Colorado. You can also learn about the birth of Vail Ski Resort in 1962. Did you know that Vail was a ski resort before the town of Vail was founded?

Seven displays and exhibits reveal the evolution of skiing and snowboarding in the state and showcase athletic ski competitors throughout the sport’s eleven decades.

A “Colorado Competition Timeline” display includes Olympic medals, competition uniforms, and World Cup trophies from Mikaela Shiffrin, Phil Mahre, Jimmie Huge, and Billy Kidd. The “Vail DNA” display describes the ski resort’s emergence.

“The Skiing Through Time” exhibit features a wide range of skis, boots, and bindings from the 1800s to current models. Observing the homemade wooden skis with iron bindings gives you a greater appreciation for modern technology and materials.

The ” Out There ” exhibit features a collection of new and old snowboarding equipment and a history of the sport. Some items include one-of-a-kind Snurfers, early examples of boards, and early innovations from Sims and Burton.

To see how ski outfits, styles, and fabrics have changed over the years, look at the “100 Years of Ski Fashion and Function” exhibit, then compare your ski wear.

Don’t miss

• The museum’s most unique and inspiring exhibit is “Climb to Glory,” which tells the story of the legendary 10th Mountain Division soldiers of World War II. The display is the country’s most comprehensive permanent exhibit of 10th Mountain Division artifacts. Soldiers ski-trained in harsh winter conditions at nearby Camp Hale to prepare for battle in Italy. Displays feature gear, uniforms, and ski equipment used in training. The exhibit is the museum’s jewel in its crown.

Events

• Vail History Walking Tours every Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon. $15. Learn about the founding of Vail, its snow sports history, and the people who established Vail as a world-renowned ski destination.
• Legacy Days and Legacy Weekend offers events that pay tribute to the 10th Mountain Division veterans, including 10th Mountain parades, a Black Hawk landing on Vail Mountain, ski-down nights, and more. The museum stays open until 8 p.m. on those dates. Legacy Days: Dec. 27 and Jan. 17. Legacy Weekend: Feb. 22-23. Parade and Blackhawk landing at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22. Riva (anniversary) ski down and troopers race.

AndersonRanch Arts Center

• 5263 Owl Creek Road, Snowmass Village
• Open October to May, Monday-Friday from 1-5 p.m.
• Free admission

The Anderson Ranch Arts Center sits on five acres of 1900s-era ranch property in Snowmass Village. It provides a peaceful contrast to the bustling ski resorts of Aspen and Snowmass nearby.

The center has various buildings, including renovated ranch structures and new builds. The main gallery building and reception area are in a repurposed and renovated old horse barn. At the same time, the original Anderson 1910 ranch log home now houses an archival library with an upstairs apartment for visiting artists. The rehabilitated older and new buildings’ contemporary and rustic ranch architecture blend seamlessly.

Follow the of the Outdoor Sculpture Garden to view 11 works from established and emerging artists around the ranch buildings. Wander through the studios to glimpse working artists busy with projects ranging from printmaking, furniture design and woodworking, painting and drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and digital fabrication to photography and new media.

Take home a piece of original art with a purchase from the ArtWorks store. Refuel with lunch at the Ranch Cafe. Visit the Patton-Malott Gallery to see the rotating contemporary art exhibition.

Part of the Art Center’s goal is to provide the community with compelling exhibitions where art reflects the contemporary experience.

Don’t miss

• Patton-Malott Gallery’s new rotating art exhibition is on display from Nov. 18 through Jan. 24 and is entitled “Eagle/Last Gun: Modern Recordings of Ancient Blackfoot Symbolism.” The exhibition will feature the works of acclaimed indigenous artists Terrance Guardipee and Terran Last Gun.

Events

• Visiting Artists and Critics Public Lecture Series. The free lectures are held from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Check the .
• Holliday Open House: Dec. 12 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Candlelit paths light the way. Tour the studios filled with work made by Artists-in-Residence. Visit the gallery. Shop for holiday gifts.

“That is ours,” said Laner, a Ute Mountain Ute tribal descendant whose father is a member of the tribe. When their products hit the shelves in Colorado and beyond, “everybody who lives here, they do feel a sense of pride about it.”

She works as the production supervisor for , a tribal enterprise established in 2017 that specializes in non-GMO products, including blue, yellow and white corn. Laner has watched its commodities sell as far away as New York and California, and she’s even fielded inquiries from abroad.

Although the Utes’ nomadic ancestors traditionally hunted and gathered, their descendants on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation have made a name for themselves in the agriculture industry.

Over the years, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s commercial prowess has strengthened as its ventures gain more notice. The tribe’s , its agriculture business, has racked up awards, and Bow & Arrow Brand — a separate company under the farm and ranch’s umbrella — has expanded its clientele base and partnered with kitchen favorites like and Colorado’s , which has bought the tribe’s corn for a decade.

In 2007, nearly 237,000 businesses were owned by Native Americans and Alaska Natives, the said. By 2021, the number of Indigenous firms had grown to more than 400,000, according to a recent summary of census data from that year. They employed over 300,000 people, and the government agency pinpointed their total sales from that year at almost $67 billion.

“In many parts of the country, Tribes are becoming regional economic and political power houses,” the wrote in its tribal business structure handbook. “They are the largest employer in many counties.”

In the southwestern corner of Colorado, both the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Southern Ute Tribe have made strides in tribal business. The Ute Mountain Ute tribal enterprises include a casino and hotel in Towaoc, a construction company and a truck stop, along with the farm and ranch.

The Southern Ute Tribe oversees a casino and resort in Ignacio, an information technology services company, and its , which manages its energy, real estate and private equity portfolio.

From Laner’s perspective, the steps required to launch a tribal business on a reservation can be daunting. In the U.S., tribes are deemed , but the federal government holds the majority of Native American land . The overlaps between make the task of setting up a firm more complex.

But Laner, 34, is reminded of Bow & Arrow Brand’s worth when other Native Americans use its corn for ceremonial and traditional purposes.

“We’re taking care of each other,” she said. “I would like to see more tribes be able to do that and be self-sustainable. I think that’s a big thing: That is a movement.”

A busy farm, but tribal businesses face hurdles

On the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in November, the sounds of mooing and stomping echoed from a packed livestock semitrailer as the driver backed up to the pen. Once the rear door opened, dozens of cattle trotted down the wooden shoot, leaving behind a few stragglers in need of extra encouragement.

“These are the future of Farm and Ranch’s herd,” said livestock manager Hardy Tozer, who has worked there for almost two decades.

He was wrapping up the ranch’s fall work: bringing cattle down from the high country, weaning hundreds of calves and performing pregnancy checks on cows.

The 43-year-old, who lives on the south side of Cortez, has known ranching all his life. Although he’s not Ute, his family’s relationship with the tribe has lasted for decades.

“The farm and ranch, and the tribe as a whole, have been wonderful for my whole family — literally, for generations,” Tozer said.

The Ute Mountain Ute Reservation and the neighboring Southern Ute Indian Reservation are the state’s only two federally recognized . The has over 2,000 members, while the is made up of around 1,400 members, according to their websites. They’re sister tribes, including with the on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Utah.

“Native Americans were put on reservations, and this is where the Utes were all separated,” Laner said.

The story of the dates back to 1962, when the tribe bought a cattle brand shaped like a bow and arrow. Two decades later, the farm and ranch was set up by the tribal council and given responsibility to care for the cattle.

The 7,700-acre farm predominantly produces alfalfa for hay, runs a cow-calf operation, and grows winter wheat and corn.

“We plant, grow, harvest, mill and package it in one location before it goes out to the consumer,” said Eric Whyte, a tribal member and the hay sales manager.

The farm and ranch employs between 20 and 40 workers, depending on the season. Eight people work for Bow & Arrow Brand — half of whom are tribal members. Tribal leadership declined to provide revenue figures.

“It’s been really successful,” Whyte said, highlighting the farm’s improvements to the region’s water delivery system; those resulted in more jobs and local housing stock. “I wish there would be more tribes that want to be able to do this.”

The trend of Native American tribes forming businesses is taking hold around the country. On the West Coast, the Yurok Tribe manages a number of ventures, including the in Klamath, California, said tribal member and senior fisheries biologist Barry McCovey. The majority of its staff — 90% — is made up of tribal members, McCovey said, and the company works on .

In Montana, the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes run a not-for-profit company, , to catch invasive lake trout in the Flathead Lake — a move to protect its other species. Then they package and sell the fillets.

Chris James, the president and CEO of the , highlighted the 1990s as a “starting point for our tribes, at least in the Lower 48 (states), to really get a kick-start in economic development” through the gaming industry. Some had previously run bingo halls and hosted tourism activities.

Today, significant industries for tribes include government contracting, agriculture and construction, he added. James wants tribes to ask how they can build those business endeavors while creating jobs, leveraging technology, preserving their culture and engaging with their communities.

“That is such a great power of sovereignty for a tribe to create their own system, their own businesses, their own licenses,” said James, a tribal descendant of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. “A tribal business supports the people — that’s really what it is.”

But these businesses still face hurdles.

Indigenous people must answer an overarching question: “Do we want to commodify our foods?” said Jill Falcon Ramaker, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Anishinaabe, during a about Indigenous issues for journalists in the U.S. and Canada.

If they decide that answer is yes, then “there are huge challenges to gaining the capital, to getting to a place where you can market and distribute,” Ramaker said.

According to the — which houses the Center for Indian Country Development — Native-owned employers struggled with the rising prices of goods and services, operating expenses and credit availability more than non-Native-owned employers in 2022.

Lower credit scores “disproportionately present challenges in access to financing for Native-owned small businesses,” the bank’s researchers wrote in an article this year. They identified the physical distance between reservations and financial institutions as another potential problem in accessing credit.

“Why would you trust anybody else?”

The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s agriculture enterprises have largely risen above such pitfalls. When orders of yellow corn leave Bow & Arrow’s facility, a regular delivery stop is hundreds of miles away at 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Co., a Colorado company with a distillery in Gypsum and a tasting room in Vail.

Founder Ryan Thompson has relied on Bow & Arrow since his company launched in 2014. His team uses 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of grain each week, and “all of our grain comes from them,” said director of communications Melissa Friel.

10th Mountain — named after the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, once based out of Camp Hale — produces bourbon, whiskey, potato vodka and more. Its moonshine is made of 100% corn. Friel said a floating idea is to make a spirit out of Bow & Arrow’s blue corn, too.

“The quality of the corn that the Ute Tribe produced was higher in sugar content, and it’s just better corn,” Friel said.

She says her company is also motivated by concerns about climate change and a sense of environmental responsibility. She referred to Bow & Arrow as “the best in the industry at that.”

“Native Americans have been growing grain for hundreds of years,” Friel said. “Why would you trust anybody else?”

Looking to the the farm and ranch’s future, Whyte, 61, hopes to recruit more youth who are tech-savvy to keep operations running smoothly. “We’re a little bit older school,” he said. But “you see that benefit of the technology.”

At the Bow & Arrow corn mill, Aarion Eyetoo, 35, pointed out bags of products like polenta that had been processed by machinery in the three-story facility. An employee since 2019, the Towaoc resident worked his way up from manual labor to quality control manager.

Eyetoo, a Ute Mountain Ute tribal descendant, previously performed another job on the reservation: tribal security. But his sister, who was hired by the farm and ranch, told him about the opportunity at Bow & Arrow, which remains lesser known among locals.

“A lot of people don’t know that this is back here, where this product gets shipped to, what it’s used for,” Eyetoo said.

Nearby, inside the Farm and Ranch Enterprise building, Chantell Eyetoo darted out of her office intermittently to chat with the truck drivers rolling up outside.

“It’s quite busy year-round,” she said.

Eyetoo, Aarion’s sister, has lived on the reservation for most of her life, inheriting her home from her late grandmother. Her father is a tribal member, and her mother is Navajo and Goshute.

Eyetoo, 34, started as the farm and ranch’s front desk receptionist in 2016 before transitioning to office manager.

“The good thing with these companies, which I really enjoy, is that they allow you to grow within the company,” Eyetoo said. “So if that is a want or desire that any of the younger generation wants for themselves, they’re more than willing to help you get there.”

Sometimes, she watches her youngest son gawk at her workplace’s combine harvesters.

“I hope that we’re leaving a footprint,” Eyetoo said, “especially for the future generation of this tribe.”

Built in 1955, the operated through 2022 but didn’t open last year after its owners put it up for sale. Gondola Ventures bought and reopened it in May.

The Estes Park Tram hauls tourists 1,100 vertical feet up Prospect Mountain on the western edge of Estes Park, about four miles east of the Beaver Meadows entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was built by tramway legend Robert Heron, a 10th Mountain Division veteran who designed several Colorado ski lifts following World War II. They included Aspen’s Lift 1 in 1946, which had single-person chairs, and Colorado’s first double chair at Berthoud Pass in 1947. During his career he helped design more than 100 ski lifts across the country.

Bryan McFarland and Mary Jane Loevlie, who are investors in the tram, also are behind the project to build a gondola in Idaho Springs called the Mighty Argo Cable Car. Gondola Ventures is involved with them in that project as well. The Estes Park Tram purchase closed in March.

“We spent the next seven weeks putting in about $1.5 million for deferred maintenance on the grounds and the buildings,” McFarland said. “The tramway has been meticulously maintained every year, as required, but the buildings needed a little TLC. We fixed things up and finished construction the day of the grand opening on Memorial Day weekend.”

As with all of Colorado’s ski lifts, the tram is subject to regular inspections by the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board.

Heron operated the Estes Park Tram until his death in 1999, His son, John, took over and ran the operation until his death in 2022, when the family decided to sell.

“We were thrilled to acquire this iconic tramway in this beautiful place,” McFarland said. “It����ap got the most spectacular views imaginable of Rocky Mountain National Park. We’re excited about the future to continue operating this thing, and we’ve got plans for improvements over the next several years, working with the town of Estes Park and Larimer County.”

Plans include building a museum at the upper terminal with historic artifacts, photographs and engineering plans related to tramway construction.

Life in the West was often a struggle, and some places represent our ingenuity and perseverance. Some places harbor dark secrets, revealing shameful stories.

So, here are some places to visit on your summer travels to help you understand Colorado’s complex history. At some of these sites, you’ll need imagination to picture what occurred, while others have lasting physical evidence that has survived the centuries.

Mesa Verde/Canyons of the Ancients

Hundreds of years before Columbus, the Ancestral Puebloans, or Anasazi, a large and sophisticated culture thrived in the Southwest.

They built huge cities and lasting cliff dwellings, yet mysteriously vanished in the 13th century.

You can tour the cliff dwellings on guided tours in Mesa Verde National Park, learning from experts about their lives, society, and theories as to why they vanished.

Or you can venture on your own into Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and appreciate how tough life must have been in these arid canyons.

Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site

In 1833, there was nothing but wilderness between Missouri and the Mexican settlements of the Southwest.

The Sante Fe Trail was a grueling journey between the two.

That year, William and Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain built the fort, the only major white settlement along the trail for 16 years.

In addition to creating a thriving empire, the fort served as a meeting place where different cultures could connect, including fur trappers, Mexican traders, white settlers, and the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Kiowa tribes.

The fort has been rebuilt, with living history exhibits that let you appreciate life on the edge of the map.

It also represents a shining lost moment because it wouldn’t be long before the United States was at war with Mexico, as well as the Native Americans.

The clashing civilizations perhaps could have built a better future here. William Bent himself married a Cheyenne woman and tried to show that peaceful coexistence was possible.

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site

Members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes were camped along the banks of Sand Creek in 1864 when 700 men of the Colorado State Militia emerged from the morning fog.

The volunteers began shooting and didn’t stop until 230 were dead, mostly women and children.

The tribe had been trying to report to a reservation peacefully, but confusion and conflicting orders marred the process.

The event was celebrated in Denver at the time, but history has viewed it differently. Governor John Evans’ name was stripped from the famous mountain.

Today, you can see exhibits in the visitors center and take a short walk to an overlook, but you’ll have to use your imagination to picture the horrors of that day.

Relations between the tribes and whites never recovered.

Leadville

No other place illustrates Colorado’s history better than Leadville.

The city at 10,158 feet rose practically overnight after prospectors discovered gold and silver in California Gulch in the 1860s.

Soon, Leadville had elegant hotels, a famous opera house, and a population of 30,000. It nearly became the state capital.

But it suffered the fate of most boomtowns in 1893 when the U.S. switched from a silver standard.

Today, you can stroll through town, admiring the beautiful Victorian architecture and touring the numerous former mines while imagining living at 10,000 feet without GORE-TEX.

Independence Pass

Colorado has many mountain passes that will make you marvel at the fortitude of those who built them, none more so than Independence Pass, the route that connects Aspen with Twin Lakes.

The pass gets so much snow it’s only open half the year, but that didn’t stop the settlers of the Independence boom town from carving out the rugged track at 12,095 feet.

Today, you can tour that ghost town three miles west or hike among the tundra and wildflowers, enjoying the stunning views and pondering life in such an extreme environment.

Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

Deep in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado, few Colorado towns are as isolated as Silverton.

It was often cut off entirely in winter until the construction of this famous railroad in the 1880s.

The train, today reimagined as a tourist attraction, runs 3 hours through improbably rugged terrain.

To ride in a historic rail car past such scenic beauty is an experience you’ll never forget.

Ludlow Massacre site

In the early 1900s, labor relations were tearing the country apart, and the southern Colorado coal fields were to become a flashpoint in the conflict.

The Colorado National Guard came to supposedly keep the peace between striking miners and the owners’ men. But on April 20, 1914, violence broke out in the Ludlow camp that left 25 miners dead, including 11 children.

While nobody knows who fired the first shot, the massacre led to an all-out war that ended when the U.S. Army intervened.

The site, about 12 miles north of Trinidad, still has original buildings and a large memorial, a testament to the mistrust and violence of the day.

Amache National Historic Site

In the barren prairie of southeast Colorado, near Granada, lies evidence of one of America’s most shameful episodes.

After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, hysteria led to the relocation of 110,000 Japanese-Americans to remote internment camps around the West.

Some 10,000 of them were sent to Camp Amache, held as prisoners from 1942-1945, far from the American public.

Little remains of the buildings, but the area became a national historic site in 2023. Guides and interpretive signs help visitors imagine the pain of being labeled a threat strictly because of your ancestry.

Camp Hale National Historic Site

As World War II raged, the U.S. Army realized it needed specialized troops for the mountain fighting ahead.

The Army chose this large valley north of Leadville as the training ground for the 10th Mountain Division.

From 1942 to 1945, the mountain troopers endured brutal cold and deep snow, learning to ski and fight on flimsy wooden skis while climbing mountains under fire.

At its peak, 15,000 soldiers trained in what became a virtual city. The division would suffer 5,000 casualties, including 999 killed.

Today, you can take a self-guided tour with interpretive signs to ten stops, including a handful of restored buildings.

Eisenhower Tunnel

You’ve likely driven the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel, perhaps cursing the heavy ski traffic or frequent closures for hazardous materials trucks.

Building an interstate highway through these mountains was initially considered impossible, and proposals included I-70 ending at Denver.

Colorado officials knew the state would become an economic backwater without a route crossing the Continental Divide and successfully lobbied the federal government to build the tunnel at 11,112 feet. When it opened in the 1970s, it was the highest tunnel in the world.

It took 5 years to build and remains the highest tunnel in the interstate system. As frustrating as driving may be, it is a crucial corridor connecting the Front Range, the mountain communities, and the nation.

Denver and Colorado became the economic heavyweight of the Rockies, which likely would never have happened had the interstate ended at the foothills.

One of them was his great-grandfather, Wayne Peters, who was killed while fighting German forces in northern Italy in the final weeks of the war.

“Very emotional,” Daniels said, five hours into a 15-hour backcountry ski tour he and nine other soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division — now based at Fort Drum in western New York — undertook last week to honor their World War II predecessors.

They would ski from Camp Hale to Vail to commemorate the arduous D Series exercises that unfolded there over three weeks in 1944. D Series was, in effect, the 10th’s final exam before they fought in Italy’s Apennine Mountains. Peters was one of 975 10th Mountain soldiers killed in Italy.

“This has just been an absolute honor to be here,” Daniels said at the foot of Shrine Mountain, taking a break during the 24-mile “Hale to Vail” journey. “Just to be able to continue not only the 10th Mountain Division’s legacy — why we’re all here — but a really special moment for me to continue my great-grandfather’s legacy; kind of follow in his footsteps. Maybe hook onto the same pitons that he did here at Camp Hale, ski in the same tracks. Super special to be here.”

After the war, 10th Mountain Division vets helped found dozens of U.S. ski resorts including Aspen, Vail, and Arapahoe Basin. Today the area where the 10th prepared for war from 1942-44 is prime recreational backcountry terrain as part of the , annually attracting an estimated 58,000 skiers, snowshoers, and snowmobilers according to the U.S. Forest Service. Parts of the area were designated the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in 2022.

For 10th Mountain today, it remains sacred ground. During the D Series, the ski troops held war games lugging heavy packs, rifles, and gas masks up steep 12,000-foot mountains and schussing down ravines, night and day, on seven-foot-long wooden skis. They slept in snow holes, enduring blizzards and sub-zero temperatures.

In combat, the 10th is probably best known for a February 1945 battle with Nazi forces occupying strategic Riva Ridge in Italy, a surprise attack described in a 32-page :

“On the evening of the 18th, 700 men … make a daring night climb and successful assault on Riva Ridge, which rises steeply 1,700-2,000 feet above the rushing Dardagna River. The attack utilizes five carefully prepared climbing routes, including two that require fixed ropes. Surprise is complete, and by daybreak the mountaineers have taken Riva Ridge at the cost of only one casualty. But ferocious counterattacks immediately put the achievement in jeopardy. Not until Feb. 25 is the entire Riva Ridge in our hands.”

In the battle to hold Riva Ridge, 21 10th Mountain troops were killed. After Riva, the 10th fought its way 100 miles north to Lake Garda, where the Germans surrendered on May 2, five days before the end of the war in Europe.

The Camp Hale D Series was designed to push troops to the limits of their endurance, and it did. A plaque quoting ski trooper Bruce Campbell currently hanging in the Winter Warriors marquee exhibition at the History Colorado Center, which honors the 10th, makes that clear:

“Except for being shot at, the conditions were much worse during the D Series than anything we would face in combat,” Campbell said.

Daniels’ great-grandfather was killed in the Po River Valley when his grandmother was 2 years old.

“What these guys were doing here at Camp Hale was no easy feat,” Daniels said. “It took a lot of training, a lot of expertise and a lot of good instructors. It’s eye-opening when you see (the landscape) first-hand. Those guys were the real deal.”

PFC Rylan Parsons, who is from Jackson, Wyo., came to appreciate the exploits of the World War II 10th when she took her mother to a 10th Mountain Division museum at Fort Drum.

“It����ap super special to me,” said Parsons, a geospatial engineer whose job includes map-making. “It����ap super motivating. I don’t think many people get the chance to follow such historic people and do such historic things. It����ap been really inspiring, and honestly I’m very grateful for the experience to take my skiing skills and be able to emulate what my ancestors did.”

Early in the Hale to Vail traverse, the soldiers climbed 2,600 feet to Ptarmigan Pass, which is connected to a towering 12,000-foot ridge known to today’s backcountry mountaineers as Machine Gun Ridge. They call it that because spent shell casings and other Army paraphernalia from the 1940s still turn up occasionally.

10th Mountain veteran Harris Dusenbery described climbing that ridge one night in 1944 in his book “Ski the High Trail,” a personal account of the D-Series maneuvers.

“Traverse and kick-turn, traverse and kick-turn, repeat and repeat it,” Dusenbery wrote, “herringbone up this slope, traverse again, side-step up this icy spot, rest — oh, so rarely did we rest — sweat and struggle on, gulp hard at the thin life-giving air, strain to keep up, utter a hundred vain curses for the 50 pounds of rucksack on your back, for the ache in your shoulders, the sweat in your eyes, the skis on your feet, but ‘keep moving’ is the order of the day.”

Despite the hardships, his description of the view that night on top of the ridge came straight from a mountaineer’s heart.

“I stood facing toward snowy peaks and the pyramid that we called Ptarmigan Mountain,” the Montana native wrote. “Behind me abruptly rose the shoulders and peak of Sugarloaf (Peak). Around me the distant horizon was circled with jagged summits and snow-covered ridges, range after range of glorious mountains, all sparkling in the moonlight. … The wind whistled softly about my parka hood and blew whirling wisps of snow along the surface. I knew that this was a perfect spring night at 12,000 feet of elevation in the Colorado Rockies.”

Ptarmigan Pass, with its view of Machine Gun Ridge, was the toughest climb of the day for the Hale to Vail soldiers. They climbed on alpine touring gear designed for ski mountaineering.

“I’m not going to say it����ap the easiest thing to do, but it����ap been very doable,” said Parsons, the only female soldier on the mission. “But, I say that as I’m skiing on 2023 ultra-light skis, whereas the original 10th Mountain people did this on wooden planks. They’re the real athletes.”

The Hale to Vail traverse was followed by the 49th annual reunion of 10th Mountain Division veterans and descendants with festivities at Copper Mountain, Ski Cooper and Vail. The Vail event included lectures, a Black Hawk helicopter landing, a parade, a ceremonial ski down the Riva Ridge trail and a ski troopers race.

While visiting the “Winter Warriors” exhibition in downtown Denver last week with a few of his troops, Lt. Col. Marc Cleveland described the objective of the Hale to Vail trek — to “Link the Legacy” between the original 10th Mountain troops and those who serve today. The 10th is currently deployed in Iraq and Syria, and was deployed in Afghanistan during the U.S. presence there.

“Being at Camp Hale, skiing and snowshoeing and climbing and doing avalanche training in the same location where the people who came before us did the same things, it����ap a reminder that while a lot of things change, some things stay the same,” Cleveland said.

“We’re always going to have a need for people who are experts at operating in a mountainous environment in the cold and the wind and the rain and the snow,” he added. “They’ve got to be tough and resilient and confident and competent. The outdoorsmen, the skiers, the climbers, the muleskinners that came together (during World War II) to put together this division — to go and do a job that was necessary — our soldiers have the all of those same characteristics.”

The Hale to Vail route took the soldiers from where Camp Hale was located, at the foot of Tennessee Pass, northeast to Ptarmigan Pass, then on a northward traverse along Shrine Mountain — a familiar landmark visible today from Interstate 70 at Vail Pass — to Shrine Pass (11,178 feet). From there they skied northwest to the eastern limits of the Vail ski area above the back bowls, then down into Vail Village.

Accompanied by members of the National Ski Patrol — which was deeply involved in the formation of the 10th Mountain Division and subsequent recruitment efforts — the Hale to Vail skiers arrived at the bottom of Gondola 1 in Vail shortly after 7 p.m.

Parsons, the mapmaker, had the trip data on her GPS watch: 24.4 miles with 5,602 feet of climbing, elapsed time 15 hours, 16 minutes, 47 seconds.

“I enjoyed the beauty the entire time,” Parsons said. “It was definitely a challenge, and it pushed all of us mentally at times, but it was so exciting to be part of the first group to bring back that traverse and bring back alpine to 10th Mountain.

“I think the coolest moment was getting on Ptarmigan Pass together as a group, because that was really our biggest hurdle,” she said. “Getting to the top, seeing the mountains, seeing the sunrise, was probably my favorite moment in the entire thing.”

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So we decided to come up with our own list of places to go in 2024, but with more manageable goals — and with a nod toward Colorado connections. We also leaned heavily on road trips or because travel is already difficult these days — prices, crowds, cancellations. Why make it any harder?

Here are 24 places for Coloradans to travel this year, broken down into destinations in Colorado, elsewhere in the United States, and other countries or overseas.

Bon voyage.

IN COLORADO

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado’s fourth and least-visited member of the nation’s most prestigious open-space club. Named for the depths of the steep and narrow canyon that splits it, Black Canyon can be tackled in a variety of ways, from scenic drives and rim-side hiking to challenging treks to the bottom. And you will find far fewer people than at Rocky Mountain National Park or the Great Sand Dunes. Montrose, about five hours from Denver, is a popular kickoff point.

Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument

Designating the 84,500 acres where Colorado’s famed 10th Mountain Division trained for its role in World War II as a national monument in 2022 didn’t change it much. The area southwest of Vail is still used for camping and fishing, snowmobiling and ATV riding. But it’s gorgeous country, . Want to learn more about it? There is a new exhibit at History Colorado in Denver that delves into the story of the 10th and the legacy it left behind.

Boulder

Boulder doesn’t really need the attention, but it got plenty in 2023 with the arrival of Coach Prime at the University of Colorado. But the city is more than football and cliches. In fact, in November Fodor’s named it as one of 24 places to visit in the entire world in 2024 (only one other U.S. destination was included). The travel guide honed in on Boulder’s scenery, open space and accessibility to recreation and nature, as well as the Pearl Street Mall’s dining options. We would add that there are plenty of awesome breweries, as well as a Michelin-starred restaurant (Frasca).

Craft beer highway

The origins of Colorado’s craft beer culture date back to 1979, when Boulder Beer Co. was founded in a goatshed in Hygiene (about 10 minutes west of U.S. 287 in Longmont). There are now more than 420 craft breweries in the state, a surprising number of which are located just a mile or two on either side of 287, between Broomfield and Fort Collins. In fact, you could call this 50-mile stretch the Colorado Craft Beer Highway. Wanna get a taste? Find a designated driver and hit up a couple of dozen of these treasures, some of which — like Liquid Mechanics, Cellar West, Verboten and Zwei — are among the best small breweries in the state.

Mount Blue Sky

It’s not the tallest mountain in Colorado, but it’s the closest fourteener to Denver and one of the best-known peaks in the state. And last September, Mount Evans (at 14,130 feet) was renamed as Mount Blue Sky after years of campaigning by Native American groups. With the change, it’s a good time to remember that this is one of the few Colorado fourteeners that motorists can drive to the top of (although not in winter). The views up there are gorgeous, and there is a good chance you’ll see mountain goats and wildflowers along the way.

Glenwood Springs

There’s nothing quite like boarding Amtrak’s California Zephyr at Union Station and riding it to Glenwood Springs, peering out at not just the stunning expanses of Glenwood Canyon, but also the less-often-seen backside of Denver and its suburbs. Glenwood itself has evolved quite a bit in the past few years, with big changes (already completed or still on their way) to some of its hot springs, like Glenwood Hot Springs Resort and Iron Mountain Hot Springs, among others. The little downtown strip beneath the overpass is also a charming spot for a bite, a stroll, some entertainment and a beer, perhaps from Casey Brewing & Blending’s lively taproom.

Amache National Historic Site

Wanna get away? You don’t need Southwest Airlines. Just drive east from the Front Range — at any time of year, really — in the opposite direction of where most people are headed. One fascinating destination is the , which became part of the National Park System in 2022. Amache was one of 10 forced relocation centers in the United States where tens of thousands of Japanese citizens and people of Japanese descent were imprisoned during World War II. Today, there is a cemetery, a monument and landscaping to explore — and to remember.

Mountain Plover Festival, Karval

Speaking of eastern Colorado, one of the most unusual birding festivals in the world takes place every April (it’s April 26-28 this year) in Karval. What makes different? There are no motels or restaurants in Karval, so reservations are required and attendees stay with local ranching families (meals and entertainment are provided). So, in addition to bird-watching tours (mountain plovers are a rare breed and difficult to see), you learn about the history and community of the area. Karval is about 2 hours southeast of Denver in Lincoln County.

IN THE UNITED STATES

Spring training in Arizona

No matter how you feel about baseball or the Colorado Rockies, Major League Baseball’s Cactus League Spring Training in the Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale area can be a magical experience. And, as we wrote in our recent travel guide on Scottsdale, it’s also “a nice excuse to slip away to the Sonoran Desert,” where springtime temperatures are in the mid-70s — a nice break from cold Colorado weather — and there are pools aplenty.

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument, Arizona

Grand Canyon National Park is the second most visited park in the system, with nearly 5 million visitors per year, but the land around it received a special designation in 2023 when President Biden banned mining on nearly 1 million acres in order to protect the ecosystem and preserve Native American sacred sites. The national monument isn’t that easy to “visit,” since it consists mostly of open space, .

Hatch, N.M.

The great chile debate rages on between Colorado and New Mexico about which state produces the biggest and best peppers. Why not find out for yourself on a road trip to the area around Hatch, N.M., an agricultural community that many consider to be the Napa Valley of chiles. Other things to see in the area: White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains national parks, along with the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and plenty of historic sites featured in the recent movie (and Oscar nominee) “Oppenheimer.” (Make sure to stop in Pueblo, Colo., on your way back up Interstate 25, though; that’s the heart of Colorado’s own green chile country, so you can settle the debate for yourself.)

Asheville, N.C.

DIA added a new nonstop flight to Asheville, N.C., in September, and 2024 is a great time to visit since (Fort Collins-founded New Belgium also has a taproom there.) But Asheville, set along the dreamy Blue Ridge Parkway, should be on any Coloradan’s list anyway, because in addition to its incredible craft brewery scene, it’s an outdoor lovers mountain playground.

New York City

There’s never a bad time to visit the Big Apple, but 2024 will offer a couple of enticing draws, including a game between the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium (the date is still TBA); the June 28 opening of the brand new visitors center at Stonewall National Monument; and a highly touted exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “” (Feb. 25–June 28). Plus, you can get your fill of ramen, pizza, bagels and dumplings — which is always a reason for joy.

Cleveland

Ah, the Land. A city on the comeback, Cleveland is a shortish trip by air, and in 2024, it happens to be in the path of a full eclipse (), which will cut northeast from Texas to New England on April 8. Why Cleveland? Well, there is a small and lesser-known national park just 30 minutes away, called  the eclipse with ranger-led activities. And while you’re in the vicinity, take in a Cleveland Guardians game at beautiful Progressive Field, as it opens the baseball season against the Chicago White Sox on the same day.

The Big Island

The mountains here are stunning, certainly, but let’s face it: Sometimes we need the smell of coconut oil, the sound of waves and the expanse of the ocean. Airlines offer direct flights from DIA to all four of Hawaii’s major islands, but — and Hapuna Beach — might be the most beautiful of them all. Expansive, warm and a great place to snorkel, Hapuna is truly mesmerizing. But don’t stop there. In addition to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and gorgeous shorelines, the Big Island also boasts white sand, green sand and black sand beaches. Set against the backdrop of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, a visit here is the cure to cabin fever.

OVERSEAS

Paris

Maybe it doesn’t sound appealing to fly to Paris at the hottest, busiest, most congested time of the year. Or maybe seeing the Olympic games while sipping cafe au lait and eating baguettes is exactly what you need. Either way, there will be plenty of athletes with Colorado connections in the City of Light when the games start on July 26. in recent years, and if the Olympics aren’t your thing, then consider this: Notre Dame Cathedral, which nearly burned down in 2019, .

Dublin

For being the , DIA doesn’t have many direct nonstop international flights. So it’s worth celebrating each and every new one. In May, Irish airline Aer Lingus will begin connecting Denver with Dublin, Ireland’s lively capital city. The historic sites here go back more than 1,000 years — and you can (and should) tour the Guinness beer and Jameson whiskey plants. Dublin is also the kickoff point to the famed Irish countryside, including the Cliffs of Moher, Giant’s Causeway and Killarney National Park.

Iceland

Also on the slim list of international destinations accessible by a nonstop flight from DIA is Iceland, with its waterfalls, blue lagoons and adorable puffins. The island national has been on a lot of bucket lists for at least a decade now. But 2024 and 2025 hold particular appeal since , or Northern Lights, which appear more colorfully on a cyclical basis — and which are fairly easy to catch in Iceland.

Tokyo

Japan’s capital may be the only destination in Asia to which you can fly nonstop from Denver, and it’s worth the trip. The city is like no other place in the world, and you could spend months just getting to know a single neighborhood. It’s also full of just about any kind of activity you could want, from visits to spectacular cultural and historical sites to dining, recreation, or just people-watching. There’s also craft beer, whiskey, manga and .

Jamaica

Last February, Frontier Airlines began flying direct from Denver to Montego Bay, Jamaica, “cutting down to around five hours a trip that used to take all day, with a stopover,” as we wrote in a travel guide to the country’s tourist capital. So, for laid-back beach bars, sizzling jerk chicken, swimming holes and, of course, music, this might be the year for a trip to the Caribbean.

Puerto Rico

Not to be outdone, United introduced a daily direct flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in October, slashing travel time to the island by several hours. Even better, you don’t need a passport to visit this U.S. territory. You will need to bring an appetite for spicy codfish fritters, plantains and tropical rum drinks, however. Read more about this sunny destination — along with its beaches, rainforests, history and culture — in our recent travel guide.

Mexico City

Mexico City has always been one of the most complex and richly dynamic cities in the Americas, but it has also become , with several neighborhoods teeming with art, culture and cuisine. Some of the most rewarding activities include Wandering the Roma Norte neighborhood in search of blue corn tortillas, churros or cute coffee shops; catching the spectacle of lucha libre; visiting the Frida Kahlo Museum or the Museo Nacional de Antropologia; and trying chapuline with your mezcal. Oh, and at 7,200 feet in altitude, it’s one of the few capital cities that is higher than Denver, so you should feel right at home.

Costa Rica

The “pura vida” never goes out of style, but recently as more and more people discover this lush, friendly country where adventure and easy living seem to blend perfectly. The airlines only fly nonstop from Denver to four countries in Central America, but this is one of them. Whether you want wildlife, scenery, great coffee, rainforests, beaches or culture, Costa Rica offers one of the easiest, most beautiful ways to take a tropical vacation.

Banff National Park

To get some perspective on Colorado’s rocky peaks, take a bucket-list trip to Canada’s Banff National Park, where “the mountains have rock faces at a scale you just don’t see in Colorado. And every lake is a different hue of vibrant blue or green,” according to The Denver Post’s extensive travel guide on how to travel to, and camp in, the park. A two-hour flight to Calgary, followed by a 90-minute drive, will land you in stunning beauty that you have to see to believe.

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“Being a Hispanic man, there weren’t that many in the 10th,” his son Val told The Denver Post while he was in Denver for the opening of the new History Colorado exhibit about the 10th, “Winter Warriors.” “It made it really special. To be selected as one of them was really an honor. He absolutely loved it. And the prejudice that existed at the time, he didn’t experience any of that with the 10th guys. They just welcomed him as a brother, as he would say.”

Rios, who died in 2016 at the age of 97, is featured in History Colorado’s new exhibit “Winter Warriors,” along with some color photos he took during his time in Italy during the war. He visited Italy with his wife in 1994 and again in 2005 with his son. They visited a church where Rios had attended mass on Easter Sunday in 1945, five weeks before the Germans surrendered.

“He had no idea where it was,” said his son. “Through the internet I was able to find it, and we went back on Easter Sunday for a service, which was quite special for him. A couple of the pictures he took of the church (in 1945), one of them had some little girls, and two of those little girls — who are now elderly — were at this church service in 2005. It was quite special for him. It����ap just a wonderful story.”

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The Colorado Snowsports Museum in Vail has helped keep their memories alive for five decades with artifacts, dioramas, photos and films, in part because 10th Mountain veterans helped found dozens of U.S. ski areas after the war including Arapahoe Basin, Aspen and Vail. In fact, Camp Hale is only 10 miles south of Vail. Last year President Biden visited the site when he formally designated it the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument.

But there is still more to tell, and it is on display in a new 5,000-square-foot exhibition, which opened in November on Veterans Day, at the History Colorado Center in downtown Denver. is the first exhibit set in History Colorado’s new marquee gallery, and it was designed with the assumption that World War II may seem like ancient history to those born after the baby boom generation.

“The challenge here was to create not only a story about the 10th Mountain Division, but also introduce the greater context of the Second World War for visitors,” said Chris Juergens, History Colorado’s head of curatorial services and Anschutz curator of military history. “We couldn’t assume a whole lot of prior knowledge. We also have a lot of new Coloradans who may not know the strong association 10th Mountain has with our state. We figured we needed to zoom out a little bit and make sure we tell the story from a really broad lens.”

The exhibition is more than 50% larger than , which covers many other aspects of Colorado’s ski history.

“The Colorado Snowsports Museum does a wonderful job, but their focus is on the ski industry and the connections with 10th Mountain there, which are many,” Juergens said. “Our angle is slightly different. We’re really telling the story of the 10th Mountain Division in World War II specifically.”

“Winter Warriors” starts by describing the prologue to World War II. The first thing visitors see is a large map of Europe in 1936-39, showing lands taken by “Nazi Aggression,” with a narrative sign that describes what followed in the early days of the war before the U.S. got involved. A video clip shows bombed-out European cities and Nazis admiring the Eiffel Tower in Paris after France surrendered in June of 1940. In an era before television, a vintage 1940s console radio plays a news broadcast. Facsimile copies of period newspapers rest on the radio, including the Longmont Times-Call of Sept. 1, 1939, with the headline: “GERMANY ATTACKS POLAND FROM THE AIR.”

Around the corner, the exhibit turns to the creation of the 10th Mountain Division and Camp Hale, with a quote attributed to Minnie Dole, founder of the National Ski Patrol who helped the Army recruit skiers to the war effort: “It is easier to turn skiers into soldiers than soldiers into skiers.”

From 1942-44, nearly 15,000 soldiers and support personnel were based at Camp Hale, where their training focused on skiing and mountaineering skills.

“They had to re-route the Eagle River that runs through the valley,” Juergens said. “They had to raise the valley floor by almost eight feet to make it appropriate ground for the thousand buildings they were going to need. It was a huge process, getting that valley ready for training.”

There are descriptions of what life was like for the troops while they were based there. On weekend passes they visited Denver restaurants, theaters, even rode the Cyclone wooden roller-coaster at Lakeside Amusement Park. Exhibit artifacts include ski and mountaineering equipment and a tiny two-person tent that was reversible for winter (white) and other seasons (olive drab). Soldiers could buy mementos for family members. On display is a decorative pillow souvenir dedicated to “Mother,” with scenes from Camp Hale and a poem:

“To one who bears the sweetest name, and adds a luster to the same. Who shares my joys — who cheers when sad, the greatest friend I ever had. Long life to her — for there’s no other could take the place of my dear Mother. From Camp Hale in the heart of the Rockies.”

Nearby is a poster depicting a scowling Adolph Hitler giving a speech. Above him are words quoting him saying, “We shall soon have our Storm Troopers in America!” Below him it says, “What do YOU say, AMERICA?”

The rest of “Winter Warriors” tells the story of combat in Italy. The 10th was tasked first with taking Riva Ridge in the Apennine Mountains, which required a steep mountaineering ascent of 1,700 to 2,000 feet using ropes on five separate climbing routes. They made the climb at night, caught the Germans at the top by surprise and took the ridge without a single casualty. In the six days that followed, though, 21 were killed and 52 wounded while repelling German counterattacks before Riva Ridge was secured.

“That����ap what 10th Mountain had prepared for: a nighttime climb up the side of a ridge, icy, snowy conditions and rock, terrible shale — the worst (kind of) rock to scale,” Juergens said. “And they still pulled it off. It was a complete surprise, and it allowed the 10th Mountain to push forward and capture Mount Belvedere.”

Mount Belvedere was critical for strategic reasons, but they had to control Riva Ridge before they could take it. After Belvedere they launched a series of offensives to the north that ultimately ended at Lake Garda, a picturesque setting in the Italian Alps where Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had a villa. He had fled before they got there, so they helped themselves to souvenirs, some of which came in bubbly form.

“They came across a secret stash of over 10,000 cases of wine and champagne,” Juergens said. “After 10th Mountain got what they needed, they let the rest of the command know, and they all got bottles as well.”

Ten weeks after the attack on Riva Ridge, the German army in Italy surrendered, and five days later the war in Europe ended. More than 1,000 members of the 10th were killed and nearly 4,000 were wounded. One of the wounded was Bob Dole, who represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate from 1969-1996 and ran against Bill Clinton as the Republican presidential nominee in 1996.

The exhibit describes how Dole was struck by shell fragments while trying to help a radioman who had been shot. He was so badly wounded, medics had little hope for him to survive and administered morphine. They marked his forehead with an M written in his own blood to keep other medics from giving more of the potentially lethal painkiller.

The exhibition also highlights the story of Cruz Rios, a Californian who enlisted in the Army and was sent to Camp Hale after basic training despite no background in skiing or mountaineering. He was one of the few 10th Mountain soldiers who took color photos during their time in Italy, some of which can be seen in the exhibition. Rios died in 2016 at the age of 97. His son, Val, attended the opening of the exhibition.

“I thought it was really good,” he said. “It covered the whole gamut of the 10th. It didn’t just focus on the skiing. I was very pleased with it. I was really proud, proud as his son, but I’m sure he was smiling from above, and baffled that of the many of the photos he took, some of them were used in the exhibit.”

Another soldier highlighted is Ralph Bromaghin, a mountaineer from Seattle who had been a ski instructor at Sun Valley, Idaho, before the war. He was invited there by the director of the ski school, , fought with the 10th in Italy, lost a lung due to combat injuries and started the Aspen ski school after the war.

Bromaghin was killed in action at Mount della Torraccia in the battle for Mount Belvedere, eight days after the attack on Riva Ridge. The exhibition includes his personal effects, including a poem his mother clipped out of a newspaper that had been written by another mother who lost her son during the war. The actual clipping is part of the exhibit, as well as a poster-sized enlargement so visitors can read it. It says:

“In each letter from over there he’d say ‘Don’t worry, mother, I’m OK.’ Then into battle he went, my son so dear to me, there his heart was ever stilled to make his country free. Never again will I adoringly trace the little smiling wrinkles in his handsome face. Or ruffle his straight black hair with a joyous twirl, or have him tell me I’m his ‘best girl.’ But always I’ll hear him say, ‘Don’t worry, mother, I’m OK.”

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And cold. Very, very cold. Only the hardiest skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers dare tent camp in this frigid landscape. But what’s a skier to do if they’ve spent all day riding untracked powder and want to get right back at it the next day?

The 10th Mountain Division hut system is a popular option for powder hounds looking to stay close to untracked stashes in the backcountry. Its “huts” range in opulence from restored historic cabins to modern chalets. Some even have saunas. However, reservations for this winter opened a year ago, so nearly all of the weekend stays are booked, although some weekdays remain open. (For weekday stays and more information, see .)

Fortunately, Colorado also has a plethora of backcountry yurts, which generally are a bit more rustic than the hut system’s cabins, but are often cheaper and much easier to reserve. They are also a great option for folks who don’t book their weekend trips a year in advance.

Essentially wood-framed domed tents, yurts date back to nomadic cultures of central Asia, popular because they are quick to set up and take down. In the last few decades, as the popularity of backcountry skiing has skyrocketed, yurts have evolved into a comfortable way to go winter camping and skiing in Colorado. Reservable yurts around the state sit on wooden platforms and come equipped with wood stoves, basic kitchens and bunk beds.

The yurt experience

It’s an amazing feeling when you round that last corner on the trail and the yurt comes into view.

You’ve been grunting your way up through the snow on skis, splitboard or snowshoes, appreciating anew how much more strenuous wilderness travel is in winter than in summer. You’ve been sweating and now you’re starting to feel the cold. Maybe the water in your pack has frozen. The shadows are getting long.

The humble yurt might not look like much from the outside, but your cozy stay is about to begin.

Your group walks inside and everyone happily drops their backpacks to the floor. Someone starts a fire. Others start filling buckets with snow – your only water source in this landscape. You pull out cups for hot cocoa or tea. Maybe someone starts prepping a meal in the simple kitchen.

The more energetic among your group might decide it’s time to hunt some fresh powder before dusk. Many yurts have excellent backcountry skiing on the hills and ridges above them. Others in your group may be content to sit on the wooden platform and enjoy the view.

As the sun sets and the temperature outside plummets, you chop wood and stoke the fire that will be your only source of heat. Dinner likely will be a communal affair. Afterward, you might play one of the board or card games that you’ll find in many yurts. Or maybe your group will pour some hot beverages and talk about the day’s skiing or your plans for the next day.

Most yurts sleep four to six people, which makes it easy to divide costs and chores. Your biggest decision may be who claims the top bunks.

As your friends or family members drift off to sleep one by one, the last one standing gets the fire roaring. Whenever someone gets up to use the outdoor latrine, they add more wood to keep the fire going. It can be so cozy inside that you forget about the freezing weather beyond the canvas walls.

Yurt stays are an intimate camping experience, with sleeping, eating and lounging in one small space, so be sure you like the people in your getaway group.

This is your guide to winter trips to some of the best-known yurts in Colorado. These yurts include kitchenettes equipped with basic cooking and dining gear, and beds with basic bedding. Yurts on this list that are equipped with a propane stove or refrigerator also are stocked with propane. Guests are expected to replenish chopped wood that is used to heat the yurt. Be sure to leave the yurt ready for its next visitors.

Other yurts are available to rent around the state, including at a half-dozen state parks.

Jon Wilson Yurt

This yurt near Lake City is the easiest to reach on this list and makes a great first trip or a first time out with the kids. As you step onto the path off Colorado 149 it’s initially a steep climb, but the trail to the yurt soon levels out for a relatively easy approach. There’s no avalanche danger here. Opportunities abound for exploring the area or just sitting on the porch taking in the dramatic views of the San Juan Mountains.

This is one of the few yurts around the state that allows dogs. While the kitchen setup and bunks are rudimentary, this yurt features large windows for comfy gazing into the forest.

The hike: 1.25 miles with 200 feet of elevation gain

Capacity: 8

Cost: $130/night weekdays, $150 weekends

Details:

Leadville Backcountry Yurts

These two yurts sit above timberline near the namesake city, offering dramatic views of the Mosquito Range from their porches. And if the view isn’t enough, you’ll find endless skiing in the treeless tundra. A short hike up the nearby ridge reveals the panorama of the Collegiate Peaks and Arkansas River Valley.

This is one of the more difficult locations on this list to reach, so be sure to get an early start. These yurts feature propane cook stoves.

The hike: 5.5 miles with 1,200 feet of elevation gain (keep in mind that Leadville is at 10,158 feet elevation)

Capacity: 5

Cost: $115 a night

Details:

Old Baldy Yurt

It’s a short but steep ski-in to this yurt near the town of Meeker on the edge of the Flat Tops Wilderness. It’s part of a collection of cabins known as Ute Lodge, though it’s far enough away from the other accommodations that you’ll feel alone. The interior resembles a cabin and the yurt features a sizable wooden deck, perfect for those bluebird afternoons.

Dogs are allowed at this yurt for $10 a night.

The hike: 2 miles with 800 feet of elevation gain

Capacity: 7

Cost: $150/night, two night minimum (for 2 people, each additional person costs $8-$15)

Details:

Phoenix Ridge Yurt

This yurt in southern Colorado is perched on a 1,000-foot cliff overlooking the old mining district in Creede. Creede was the last great Colorado boom town, its ruin brought on by the silver panic of 1893. The remote La Garita Mountains fill the skyline.

A large deck welcomes you to pull up a seat and sip a coffee while you enjoy the view. Inside you’ll find pine floors and both a propane refrigerator and a stove.

The hike: 1-4 miles, depending on how far the snow plows have reached, with some steep sections. The yurt‘s hosts recommend that all guests prepare to hike the entire 4 miles.

Capacity: 4

Cost: About $180

Details:

Southwest Nordic Center

The Taos-based Southwest Nordic Center operates four yurts on Cumbres and La Manga passes in extreme southern Colorado. Like the name implies, these are great for cross-country skiers as the approaches are mostly on snow-covered roads and are rarely steep.

The Neff Mountain Yurt is popular with alpine skiers. It’s 2.75 miles to the yurt, and the ridge above the yurt offers excellent skiing and sledding.

If you’re looking to do a yurt-to-yurt loop trip, check out the Flat Mountain and Trujillo Meadows yurts. It’s 4 miles from your car to the first yurt, 4 miles between the two yurts, and 4 miles out to your car again, mostly on gentle roads.

The Grouse Creek Yurt is the most difficult to reach of the group – 4 miles and 1,000 feet of elevation gain – but you’ll be rewarded with long views of the San Luis Valley from the porch.

The Hike: 2.75 miles or more

Capacity: Six

Cost: $100/night weekdays, $145 weekends

Details:

Tennessee Pass Yurts

Staying at one of these two yurts operated by the Tennessee Pass Nordic Center is a luxury experience compared to stays at other yurts on this list. Staff members will haul your gear on the short hike to the yurt and they’ll even treat you to a four-course meal at the nearby cookhouse, if you choose. Don’t feel like getting chilled by the walk to the cookhouse? You can order room service.

The views of Mount Elbert and Mount Massive, Colorado’s two-highest peaks, are sublime. And, rare for a yurt in winter, there’s even drinking water.

The hike: 1.3 miles

Capacity: 6

Cost: $300/night

Details:

Wolf Creek Backcountry

Wolf Creek Ski Area is known for getting the most snow in Colorado, and at the Pass Creek Yurt you’ll have it all to yourself. You’ll start your trek to the yurt in the ski area’s parking lot and pass the chair lifts before entering a serene wilderness. This yurt is popular among alpine skiers because of the abundant snowfall and generally avalanche-safe terrain above. Still, groups planning extensive skiing around the area are highly encouraged to complete avalanche safety courses and carry and know how to use appropriate gear.

The hike: 3 miles, 200 feet of elevation gain

Capacity: 6

Cost: $277/night

Details:

What to bring on a winter yurt trip

• Cross-country or alpine touring skis and climbing skins, a splitboard or snowshoes
• First-aid kit
• Sleeping bag (some yurts provide a pillow)
• Flashlight/headlamp
• Warm winter-weather clothing
• Water filter
• Lighter or matches
• Map and compass

What not to bring

• Your dog, unless the yurt owner states otherwise. Nobody wants to find dog feces in the snow they’re melting for water.

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