MESSAGE FROM ALPINE BANK: NEW YEAR HOLIDAY CLOSURE

All Alpine Bank branches will be closed Friday, Jan. 1, 2021 to observe the New Year's Day holiday. Alpine Bank invites you to use Alpine Online or the Alpine Mobile app for 24/7 banking access, even when we are closed. To learn more about all the options for online banking at Alpine Bank, visit the link below.

GOV. POLIS: STATE TO EASE RED LEVEL RESTRICTIONS NEXT WEEK

Gov. Jared Polis, in a social media statement Wednesday night, announced that Colorado counties at Level Red on the state's COVID-19 dial will see a loosening of public health restrictions beginning next week. The Red Level counties include Denver and the entire Front Range and the move to Level Orange will allow small public gatherings and indoor dining at restaurants. In making the announcement, the governor noted a sustained decline in new confirmed coronavirus cases across the state in the last 13 days.

CPW: "HIGH-USE" FEE ADDED TO SIX MORE STATE PARKS JAN. 1

Since the state reopened from the pandemic shutdown last spring, Colorado state parks, especially those close to Front Range population centers, have been overrun with visitors. Because record visitation has resulted in additional costs, Colorado Parks and Wildlife instituted a "high-use" fee of $1 per vehicle at Cherry Creek, Chatfield, Boyd Lake and Eldorado Canyon state parks. Now, CPW will add that high-use fee to Lake Pueblo, Golden Gate Canyon, Staunton, Castlewood Canyon, Roxborough and Highline state parks starting Jan. 1.

WELD COUNTY ESTABLISHES HAZ-MAT ROUTE TO GET TRUCKS OFF HWY. 85

In an attempt to get trucks carrying gasoline, diesel fuel, crude oil and other hazardous materials off U.S. Hwy. 85, the Colorado State Patrol has designated Weld County Road 49, between U.S. 34 and Interstate 76, as a state hazmat route. Weld County Road 49 was given a $109.6 million overhaul three years ago and it connects Kersey with I-76, 20 miles to the south. The route is located in the heart of Colorado’s oil and gas country. The new route will open to hazmat traffic on April 1, 2021.

ALL'S QUIET IN ASPEN FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE

After consulting with the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office, county manager Jon Peacock and the county's public health department, city of Aspen officials decided not to have the traditional fireworks show in Aspen on New Year's Eve. There will be fireworks in Snowmass Village but it will be a small, short display starting at 9:45 p.m. and will last about nine minutes. The show is not designed to attract a large crowd, and instead is primarily for guests staying in slopeside properties on Fanny Hill and around the village. There will be no new year's toasts at midnight in restaurants either, as last call is 9:30 p.m., with mandatory closing at 10 p.m.

A DIFFERENT HOLIDAY SEASON IN TELLURIDE

Christmas season in Telluride is a picture book, snow covered mountains, busy streets with shoppers going from store to store. However, this year the scene is very much muted, by design. In an attempt to reduce crowds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Telluride Ski & Golf Resort offered a Limited Pass this year, which had a lower price tag in return for "blackout days" to keep passholders off the slopes during busy holiday times. Also, lodging was down because of the requirement that only "single-households" were permitted in a property. Holiday season cancellations increased 116 percent following the single-household announcement Dec. 1. As a result, there was an increase in owner occupancy for the holidays.

DURANGO SEEKING INPUT ON STRATEGIC PLAN

The Durango City Council has identified the strategic planning process as one of its top priorities for 2021. On Tuesday, the council will hold a community meeting on Zoom at 4 p.m. to hear from business and education groups about their 2021 goals before inviting the public to provide input. The council hopes to complete the strategic plan by late spring. The public is invited to attend the Zoom meeting Tuesday. Those interested should go to: https://durangogov.org/zoom.

CHINA BOWL AND BLUE SKY BASIN OPEN AT VAIL

Eight inches of new snow were a welcome addition to Vail Mountain, as so far the early season has seen lower-than-average snowfall. As a result, Vail Mountain opened China Bowl and Blue Sky Basin on Wednesday. With those trails opening, Vail is now 83 percent open, with 225 trails served by 26 lifts. In all, there are more than 4,000 acres of terrain now open. There will be fireworks in Vail at 6 p.m. tonight, with fireworks visible from Vail Village, Golden Peak, Lionshead Village and the areas north of Interstate 70. A second, smaller fireworks show will take place at 10 p.m.

ROUTT COUNTY UPDATES, EXTENDS PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER

On Tuesday, the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment approved the updated mitigation plan submitted by Routt County. On Wednesday, the county updated its public health order and extended it until February 2021. The new order maintains the indoor mask requirement as well as the exceptions to Level Red requirements that the county has in place. The exceptions include allowing restaurants to operate at 25 percent capacity and the state approval Tuesday allows gyms, fitness centers and indoor pools to operate at 25 percent capacity and outdoor pools to operate at 50 percent capacity. The county is also accepting applications from businesses for certification under the 5-Star program. The 5-Star Certification program plan for Routt County is not yet approved by the state, but the county can begin to accept applications.

STRONG OCTOBER SALES NUMBERS IN SUMMIT COUNTY

Sales tax revenue numbers for towns in Summit County for October showed year-over-year increases, with a 14 percent increase in Frisco, a 15 percent increase in Silverthorne, a 17 percent increase in Dillon, and a whopping 39 percent increase in Breckenridge. Within the overall increases for October 2020 over October 2019, Frisco had an increase in vacation rentals of 47 percent; lodging tax revenue in Frisco was up 20 percent; Silverthorne had a 30 percent increase in lodging tax revenue; and the lodging tax revenue in Dillon increased 91 percent in October 2020 over October 2019.

SEVERAL GROUPS WILL ATTEMPT FIRST WINTER ASCENT OF K2

K2, just the name evokes an impression of awe and danger. U.S. mountaineer George Bell said of his attempt to scale the peak in 1953, "It is a savage mountain that tries to kill you." The Savage Mountain moniker stuck. K2 is 8,611 meters high, about 200 meters less than Everest, but is considered the most demanding of all in winter. In fact, it is the only mountain above 8,000 meters (there are 14) that has been climbed in winter, either with supplemental oxygen or without. That very well could change this winter as there are four teams, a total of some 70 climbers, preparing to climb K2 this winter.
Winter in the Karakoram Range begins Dec. 1, rather than the meteorological winter date of Dec. 21. Climbers say that avalanches are an ever-present risk, and in winter, temperatures can fall to -58F, with winds that can reach 125 mph. As of July 2018, there had been a reported 367 successful climbs of K2 and 86 deaths, which equates to roughly one death in every four. But this harrowing statistic includes all seasons, with or without oxygen. In contrast, 6,507 mountaineers have climbed Everest from the Nepal side since Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and New Zealander Edmund Percival Hillary first set foot atop the world's highest peak in May 1953.

A LOOK BACK: WORLD'S BEST COUNTRIES 2020

U.S. News and World Report's overall ranking of Best Countries in 2020, using a variety of metrics:

1. Switzerland
2. Canada
3. Japan
4. Germany
5. Australia
6. United Kingdom
7. United States
8. Sweden
9. Netherlands
10. Norway