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Colorado - Mon. 05/12/25 |
A Free Business Publication from Alpine Bank
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SLOW-BUT-STEADY, PASSENGER RAIL TRAVEL RETURNING TO THE STATE
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Throughout Japan, other parts of Asia and Europe, residents and visitors have a broad array of railroad options, including high-speed bullet trains. Beginning next year, inter-city rail travel will return to Colorado, with state-funded Mountain Rail trains operating from Denver to Granby on a year-round basis and soon after that to Steamboat Springs and Craig. The plan includes trains linking Denver with Boulder, Longmont and Fort Collins, by the end of the decade. The Colorado plan is based on re-purposing 2,545 miles of existing track on century-old routes that crisscross the state and sharing them with freight trains. These will not be bullet trains, as the speeds of Colorado’s new passenger trains won’t exceed 70 miles per hour. The first trains will be hard-pressed to hit 50 mph as they climb at elevations up to 9,239 feet above sea level.
There is a program underway which could bring high-speed trains to the state, a steel mill in Pueblo and an adjacent rail plant that already produces tracks for high-speed trains. On April 9, Gov. Jared Polis announced that Swisspod, a rail technology company, will open a manufacturing plant in Colorado Springs and conduct tests at a facility east of Pueblo for high-speed trains, including trains that might use existing tracks.
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'VISIT DURANGO' OFFICIALS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SUMMER TOURISM
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U.S. tourism officials have issued initial projections that indicate a downturn in tourism nationally, with a significant drop-off in international visitors coming to the U.S. this summer. That pessimistic outlook doesn’t exist in Durango, as summer visitation rates are projected to have only minor downturns and local businesses remain optimistic. A spokesperson for Visit Durango labeled this summer as a “correction summer,” as last year’s visitation numbers outpaced trends and numbers seen elsewhere in the state. This summer, Durango officials anticipate local visitation to stabilize and align with statewide averages. Most summer visitors are expected to arrive by car, especially from nearby regions such as New Mexico, Arizona, Denver and Colorado Springs.
Nationally, airline companies have experienced a significant decline in travel, which is projected to continue into the summer months. But Durango-La Plata County Airport is bucking the trend. “The overall growth of passenger traffic here in our market, at least so far in 2025, is significantly outstripping what we’re seeing on the national level,” said Toni Vicari, the airport’s director of aviation. While the number of travelers passing through TSA checkpoints nationally has flattened, Vicari said the airport has seen a 13 percent increase this year. The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is similarly optimistic. Although summer reservations are down slightly, owner Al Harper said it’s not a cause for concern. “We set all-time records three years in a row,” he said. “I don’t know if you can do that every year.”
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DENVER BASEBALL FANS ARE STEADFAST, AND THEY WILL NEED TO BE THIS YEAR
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On Thursday, May 8, the Colorado Rockies lost both games of a doubleheader to the Detroit Tigers by a combined score of 21-3. It tied for the largest negative run differential in a doubleheader sweep in franchise history. They followed that up with a loss to the San Diego Padres Saturday night by a score of 21-0. Entering Sunday’s game, the Rockies had six wins and 33 losses for the 2025 season. That makes them holders of the worst start to a season in Major League Baseball history, at this point in time and puts them on course to end the season with 137 losses, by far the worst in modern MLB history. The Rockies are well on their way to a seventh consecutive losing season and their fourth straight last-place finish in the National League West.
Throughout this year, as well as all the years that the Rockies have played, the fans continue to pour into Coors Field, which is now 30 years old. Last season, the Rockies ranked 15th in MLB in attendance (out of 30 MLB teams) with an average crowd of 31,361 at Coors Field. For the day-night doubleheader with the Tigers on Thursday, there were more than 23,000 in attendance and on Saturday, they drew 38,423, the best attendance number since opening day. Coors Field has a seating capacity of 50,144 for baseball.
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SOVIET SPACECRAFT CRASHES BACK TO EARTH AFTER 53 YEARS IN ORBIT
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A Soviet spacecraft, Kosmos 482, re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, crashing into the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday, May 10, at 2:24 ET (0624GMT), according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos. Kosmos 482 was launched March 31, 1972, part of two spacecraft launched on a mission to Venus. Venera 8 launched four days earlier and landed successfully on Venus. Kosmos 482 malfunctioned shortly after liftoff and entered an elliptical orbit around Earth, where its intact landing vehicle remained for 53 years. The growing amount of orbiting space debris is a concern. More than 54,000 objects greater than 4 inches are orbiting Earth, while more than 1,200 re-entered the atmosphere in 2024, according to a March 31 report by the European Space Agency.
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SUMMIT COUNTY: ABOUT THE ONLY PLACE WITH SIGNIFICANT SNOWPACK REMAINING
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Snowpack in the Blue River Basin, which encompasses all of Summit County, stood at 90 percent of the 30-year median on Friday. That is strikingly higher than the rest of Colorado, with the statewide average measured at 58 percent of the 30-year median on Friday. Denver Water reports that Dillon Reservoir is currently at 84 percent of capacity and is expected to fill this year. Summit County will have warm weather over the next four-to-five days and rivers are expected to peak on May 14, before cooler temperatures return.
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VAIL VALLEY PARTNERSHIP SUCCESS AWARDS
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The 22nd annual Vail Valley Partnership Success Awards were presented at a ceremony Thursday, May 8, at the EagleVail Pavilion. The 22nd annual award winners:
- Chairman’s Award: Kathy Chandler-Henry
- Member of the Year: Chris Baddick, owner of Cooley Mesa Detailing and the local Dollar and Thrifty Car Rental franchises
- Young Professional of the Year: Julio Garcia Jimenez, TV8
- Best Place to Work: Active Energies
- Excellence in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Eagle County School District
- Community Impact Award - Individual: Orlando Ortiz, Mountain Pride and the Eagle Valley Community Foundation
- Community Impact Award - Organization: Vail Valley Charitable Fund
- Small Nonprofit of the Year: Little Bird Creative Community
- Nonprofit of the Year: Mountain Youth
- Innovation in the Public Sector: Eagle County Paramedic Services
- Small Business of the Year: Minturn Whisky Company
- Business of the Year: Eagle County Regional Airport
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STEAMBOAT CHAMBER: TOURISM IMPACT SURVEY FOR RESIDENTS, STAKEHOLDERS
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The Steamboat Chamber of Commerce is seeking resident input to assist in gaining an understanding of local tourism and its impact. The short survey is available online for all full-time and part-time residents and employees based in Routt County. A separate stakeholder survey is aimed at all tourism-impacted businesses and organizations in the Yampa Valley. The two surveys are online at Steamboatchamber.com/tourism-survey. This is the second survey of its kind that the Chamber has conducted. The first was conducted in 2023.
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DOES COLORADO HAVE A FIREFIGHTING CREW IN RESERVE FOR A DANGEROUS SUMMER?
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The Colorado Dept. of Wildfire and Control released its Wildfire Preparedness Plan on April 24, which indicated an average and normal fire potential through the early summer, except for southwest Colorado, which will be above normal. However, the snowmelt and runoff over the past few weeks has increased the potential of a dry and above normal summer fire season. That change in the potential hazard of a severe wildfire season comes as the U.S. Forest Service has cut thousands of jobs including 150 in Colorado, held by people who help manage more than 24 million acres of public lands and are key to preventing blazes and making the work of wildland firefighters easier.
There is a group in Colorado that may provide reinforcements to the Forest Service in fire suppression and firefighting, as well as trail construction and maintenance, fence construction and removal, invasive species treatment and eradication, energy and water conservation, and historic preservation on Colorado’s 23 million-plus acres of public lands. They’re members of the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, AmeriCorps, working for eight land conservation service corps across the state that partner with local and federal agencies on wildfire mitigation, suppression and related work like rebuilding trails in areas flooded after burns.
The Colorado Youth Corps has corps in Boulder, Larimer, and Weld counties, as well as southwest and western Colorado, and the Mile High and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps. The members of the youth corps are 16-to-25-year-olds and are paid an average of $500 per week. Many are certified chainsaw operators, and some are certified wildland firefighters. The CYCA service corps members also make repairs to high-altitude trails, construct bridges, construct and remove barbed wire, among their varied tasks. Information on the CYCA is available at cyca.org.
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FROM THE CSU TRIAL GARDEN: THE BEST PERENNIALS FOR COLORADO
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It is spring planting time, with most places in the state past the last frost. As you think about your garden and go to the garden shop, these perennials were judged to be best by the judges at the Trial Garden on campus at Colorado State University in Fort Collins:
- "Chantay" Delphinium
- "Orchid Frost Grande" Lamium (Lamium maculatum)
- "Evening Sun" Missouri Evening Primrose (Oenothera missouriensis)
- "Jelena" Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
- "Goldblitz" Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. Sullivantii)
- "Conga Line" Stonecrop (Hylotelephium telephium)
- "Skyward Blue" and "Skyward Pink" Speedwell (Veronica longifolia)
- "Pristine Princess Pink" Beardtongue (Penstemon barbatus var. praecox)
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HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION NUMBERS COULD BE AT ALL-TIME HIGH
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This spring is projected to have the highest number of high school graduates for the next 20 years. The projected number of graduates from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, which was released in December, showed:
- This year’s class is projected to include more than 3.8 million graduates in the U.S.
- 65,716 in Colorado
- The graduation numbers are projected to decline over the next 16 years
- In 2041: 3.3 million graduates in the U.S.
- 56,457 in Colorado
- In Mesa County, the five high schools of District 51 will have 1,410 graduates
- There were 1,339 in 2024
- In 2023: 1,311
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IS COLORADO THE BEST STATE?
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U.S. News & World Report released its annual “BEST” rankings, including Best States 2025. The Best States ranking was compiled from assessments of education, economy, health care, infrastructure, natural environment, opportunity, fiscal stability, and crime and corrections. Colorado was ranked No. 11.
The top states:
- Utah
- New Hampshire
- Idaho
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- Florida
- Vermont
- South Dakota
- Massachusetts
- Washington
- Colorado
In terms of each criteria, here is how Colorado ranked:
- No. 3 in education
- No. 6 in economy
- No. 9 in health care
- No. 11 in infrastructure
- No. 16 in natural environment
- No. 33 in opportunity
- No. 43 in fiscal stability
- No. 47 in crime and corrections
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COLORADO HOTELS RECOGNIZED IN TRIPADVISOR AWARDS
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Tripadvisor recently released its annual Traveler’s Choice Awards for 2024. The awards are based on traveler reviews and ratings in a variety of categories posted on Tripadvisor. Both the number of reviews and average ratings factor into the final rankings. No Colorado hotel made the “Best of the Best” overall list, but these four Colorado hotels were recognized:
- Luxury Hotels in the U.S.: The Crawford Hotel at Union Station in Denver finished No. 24, earning 4.75 stars out of five across some 2,000 reviews
- B&Bs and Inns: Old Town Guesthouse B&B in Colorado Springs ranked No. 9, earning 4.9 stars out of five across 1,056 reviews
- Family-Friendly Hotels: Grand Colorado on Peak 8, Breckenridge ranked No. 7, earning 4.7 stars out of five across 875 reviews
- Pet-Friendly Hotels: Murphy’s Resort in Estes Park ranked No. 6, earning 4.8 stars out of five across more than 400 reviews
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MARKET UPDATE - 05/09/2025 Close
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(Courtesy of Alpine Bank Wealth Management*)
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Canadian dollar (per U.S. dollar)
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Mexican peso (per U.S. dollar)
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30-year fixed mortgage rate (Freddie Mac 05/08/2025)
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*Not FDIC insured. May lose value. Not guaranteed by the bank.
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Alpine Bank is an independent, employee-owned organization with headquarters in Glenwood Springs and banking offices across Colorado's Western Slope, mountains and Front Range. Alpine Bank serves customers with retail, business, wealth management*, mortgage and electronic banking services. Learn more at alpinebank.com.
*Alpine Bank Wealth Management services are not FDIC insured, may lose value and are not guaranteed by the bank.
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