Column by Hal Walter
Ski History – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
The ski slopes loom above Westcliffe like a trophy, a lasting tribute to development gone awry.
It isn’t the only failed ski area in Custer County, just the most visible. Perhaps no other county in Colorado has as many ghost ski areas.
People have tried again and again to make skiing work here and it just hasn’t. The lack of snow in some years — accompanied by the bounty of extreme winds — makes skiing marginal here.
Article by George Sibley
Ski History – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
by George Sibley
When I moved to the mountains of Central Colorado, thirty years ago this winter, I imagined myself to be in retreat from “urban-industrial America.”
I arrived in an automobile with the back seat and trunk holding a record player, toaster, boxes of mass-produced clothes and books, and various other standard accouterments of the mass-produced life — enough to have told me, had I been listening, that maybe I wasn’t so much fleeing civilization as advancing it.
Article by Steve Voynick
Climax Ski History – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
Not many of us today associate the Climax Mine with skiing. But 50 years ago, Climax had one of the best-equipped ski areas in the entire West.
Organized skiing at Climax began in the 1930s, a time when Climax was fast becoming a legend in American mining. Given the dismal nature of underground work and the long winters at the 11,400-foot-high mine, Climax was always interested in providing outdoor recreation to make life a bit more bearable.
Review by Ken Wright
Hunting – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
A Hunter’s Heart: Honest Essays on Blood Sport
David Petersen, editor
Published in 1996 by Henry Holt and Company
ISBN 0-8050-4423-X
Review by Martha Quillen
Various Books – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
One thing I like having is all those Caroline Bancroft booklets from Johnson Publishing. Friends who consider themselves serious historians tease me about my fascination with Bancroft’s light, diverting tales — and I have to admit that Bancroft’s treatment of Baby Doe is definitely more of a novel than a history.
Review by Michael Dzubinski
Various Books – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
Trails Among the Columbine: Salida, D&RG Railroad Town. The most comprehensive book on the history of Salida. 320 pages, 250 historic photographs.
Trails Among the Columbine: The D&RG’s Calumet Branch and the Turret Mining Area. Dick Dixon’s new book on Turret and environs.
Review by Lynda La Rocca
Various Books – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
I have to admit, I haven’t read any best sellers recently, nor have I stocked up on the latest New Age self-help tomes. So I can’t comment on Marianne Williamson’s last love fest or Melody Beattie’s current methods for disengaging from codependency.
Review by Ed Quillen
Local History – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
Pikes Peak Backcountry
by Celinda Reynolds Kaelin and Leo Kimmett
Published in 1995 by the authors
ISBN 0-9651706-0-8
Review by Martha Quillen
Rural life – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
To Catch a Star
by Florence McCarty
Published in 1996 by High Valley Press
ISBN 0-943640-03-2
Review by Suzanne Mcdonald
Various Books – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
Falling Up. Poems and drawings from Shel Silverstein, great for children, and adults love them, too.
M is for Malice, another great mystery from Sue Grafton.
Article by Peter Burton
Local Artists – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
“Every time I drove from Buenie back to Dallas, it got harder and harder. ”
This is how Ron Adair, postage stamp designer, expressed his answer to my question: What caused you to move here? We were sitting in Ron’s office-studio in Buena Vista.
Brief by Dave Delling
Animals – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
The major drinking place in Silver Cliff — the place that looks like it doesn’t belong there — was filling up. I sat at the end of the bar, sipping beer while slowly warming after a long day outside. February is usually tough in Custer County and this one was no exception.
Brief by Jim Forrest
Animals – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
Before the back-yard fence could be constructed, we tied our German shepherd on a long rope secured by a swivel anchor near the house so that the dog had a large arc from one back corner of the house to the opposite one. After several whip lashes as a consequence of testing the length of the rope, she learned the outer limits of her domain. What she couldn’t cover physically, however, she guarded vocally. Judging from her activity, squirrels were the ones she watched out for the most. In terms of energy spent, they posed the most threat to the homestead.
Essay by Ed Quillen
Politics – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
During the past political campaign, the big regional contest was between Ken Chlouber and Linda Powers for the state senate. It was the most expensive state-senate campaign in Colorado history.
Even though I like Ken, I felt quite sad that Linda lost. She worked hard on our behalf.
Brief by Central Staff
Mining – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
Mining Ends in Leadville
The Black Cloud, which employed about 120 workers near timberline a few miles east of Leadville, is shutting down. It has been on stand-by since last summer, when production halted on account of problems in the mill.
Brief by Central Staff
Media – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
TCI, Salida’s cable-TV monopoly, has been changing some channels. The new Fox 24-hours news channel replaced CSPAN, Court TV is on only half time to make room for something else, and KRMA, the Denver educational and PBS station, has been replaced by KTVD, a United Paramount Network station featuring a lot of Three Stooges and Jetsons reruns.
Brief by Central Staff
Media – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
KBVC, a new FM station, should be reaching most of Central Colorado by now. It broadcasts from Mt. Princeton at 104.1 mhz and 600 watts.
Mark Elliott, the station’s manager, was still testing when we went to press, so he wasn’t sure how far his signal would reach.
Brief by Central Staff
Outdoor Recreation – December 1996 – Colorado Central Magazine
What we had here was a failure to communicate
Like the national forests, the Arkansas River is a realm of multiple uses, and sometimes those uses conflict.
That happened last spring, when upstream tourism and downstream irrigation needed the river at the same time. Upstream wanted low water, and downstream needed high water.
