🚠 $71M Idaho Springs gondola

Good morning, Stoke Crew. Hope you're all doing well and getting outside when you can! We've got a solid sendition for you today!! let's get into it yeew :)

In today's report

🏔️ A deadly serac stalls the start of Everest season
🚠 New $71M Idaho Springs gondola opens May 9
🚲 Snowmass greenlights summer Class 1 e-bike trial
⛷️ Global ski industry hits an all-time record
🐺 No more general fund dollars for new wolves

Mountain Briefing

🚡 Idaho Springs goes vertical

🏔️ The $71-million Mighty Argo Cable Car in Idaho Springs goes public on May 9, with tickets now on sale for rides up a 1.3-mile gondola that climbs 1,300 feet above Clear Creek next to the historic Argo Mill. Adult round-trip tickets start at $49.95, with kids 6-17 at $29.95 and seniors/military at $39.95. Parking is $14.95 for four hours.

The system carries 27 cabins built by Austrian lift manufacturer Doppelmayr, including five dedicated bike carriers and four with glass bottoms, moving riders from Idaho Springs up to a new mountaintop plaza called Miners Point.
The top station opens into the Sun and Moon Saloon, an amphitheater, and access to more than 15 miles of hiking and biking trails. The gondola can be ridden up and down, or skipped entirely if you hike or bike to the top.
Operators project 400,000-500,000 riders per year. Idaho Springs Mayor Chuck Harmon said the gondola provides "access to the great outdoors regardless of physical abilities."

Why It Matters: This is the first major non-ski cable system built in a Colorado mountain town in decades, and it's stapled to a historic mining site less than an hour from Denver. If it works, maybe other towns along the I-70 corridor to pitch their own gondolas as a way to diversify away from pure ski traffic. I'm pretty stoked about this one. The biking trails you can access via the gondola are part of Virginia Canyon, truly some of my favorite riding close to the city!

🚲 Snowmass is green-lighting a summer trial of Class 1 e-bikes on designated unpaved trails inside the Snowmass Ski Area. Suspending the town's existing ban on e-bikes on soft-surface trails from June 21 through September 6. The Town Council approved the request Monday; the ordinance still needs a second reading for final approval.

The trial covers 7.9 miles of Aspen Skiing Company-owned trail, including sections of Discovery, Village Bound, Luge, and Fanny Hill, plus parts of Thornton and Dawdler roads. E-bikes remain prohibited on every other unpaved trail inside town limits.
Class 1 means pedal-assisted only, no throttle. Enforcement will run through Snowmass Summer Bike Patrol and game cameras that flag unauthorized use, with images reviewed every 48 hours.
SkiCo Vice President of Mountain Operations Susan Cross said the goal is to meet riders who have switched from analog bikes to e-bikes, not to monetize access. SkiCo will survey users and collect data to shape future rules.

Why It Matters: E-bikes are the most divisive piece of trail-access policy in the West right now. Snowmass isn't waving them through; it's running a narrow, monitored pilot on private ski-area land. If it produces actual data instead of vibes, other Colorado towns suddenly have a template to copy.

Climbing

🧗 Everest climbing season stalled

🏔️ A dangerous, unstable ice tower in the Khumbu Icefall has stalled the start of the 2026 Everest season, with climbers, guides, and porters sitting in Base Camp unable to move onto the upper mountain. The Icefall Doctors, the Nepali workers who maintain the routes through the Khumbu Icefall, have halted their work. A massive serac looming overhead could collapse at any moment.

The route is usually finished in early to mid-April. It was open by April 11 in 2025 and April 17 in 2024. As of April 21 this year, it's still not done, with no confirmed opening date.
Nepal's Department of Tourism director Himal Gautam said Icefall Doctors have worked this sector for a decade and believe the serac "will fall any day now." The caution is earned: collapsing seracs in the Icefall killed 16 mountain workers in 2014 and three people in 2023.
Many outfitters are pivoting to Lobuche East, Island Peak, and Pumori for acclimatization while they wait.
A new drone carry service from Airlift Technologies and Asian Trekking is ready to launch the moment the route opens, with loads up to 50 kg between Base Camp and Camp 1 at about 1,000 Nepalese rupees (under $7) per kilo, a direct safety upgrade for Sherpa workers who usually shuttle that gear through the Icefall by foot.

Why It Matters: The Icefall has been the deadliest section of Everest for a reason, and caution here is the right call. The real risk isn't the delay, it's what happens when a delayed route finally opens and every outfitter pushes at once. That's how the 2012 traffic jam on the Lhotse Face happened, and it's the scenario guides are openly dreading.

Business

📈 Global skiing hits 399 million

⛷️ The global ski industry just posted its best season on record: 399 million skier visits in 2024-25, roughly 9% up year-over-year and seven million past the previous high set in 2018-19. The 18th edition of Laurent Vanat's International Report on Snow & Mountain Tourism landed April 21 and tracks 68 countries, about 5,800 equipped ski areas, and roughly 2,000 "resorts."

The win came despite below-average natural snowfall across parts of Europe and North America. The report credits heavy investment in snowmaking as the main reason the industry no longer depends on natural snowpack. (Although powder days are way more hype than man made groomed runs)
China and the United States account for the lion's share of recent growth, adding roughly 16 million visits combined over the pre-Covid five-year average. China cleared 26.1 million visits on 748 ski areas, including 66 indoor facilities; the US recovered to ~61.6 million visits, up 1.93% on the year.
The two growth engines look nothing alike. In China, 25% of snow-sport participants ski or ride only one day a year. In the US, growth is driven almost entirely by mega passes: Epic Pass holders are now 78% of total visits at Vail Resorts, up from 26% when Epic launched in 2008.

Why It Matters: Skiing has always had a weather story. It now has a climate story, a snowmaking story, and a demographics story all running at once. 399 million visits is worth celebrating for one season, but the harder question is whether people will continue to come if the quanity of powder days go away.

Environment

🏛️ Colorado's wolf program hits a bipartisan wall

🐺 A bipartisan group of Colorado lawmakers is using the 2026-27 state budget to tell Colorado Parks and Wildlife to stop using general fund dollars to bring in new wolves. The House and Senate each passed amendments and companion footnotes that would require CPW to fund new releases through gifts, grants, and donations only. Footnotes aren't legally binding, but they're a second bipartisan signal in a year.

In the current 2025-26 fiscal year, CPW used $264,238 in general fund money to bring 15 wolves from British Columbia to Eagle and Pitkin counties. The Senate amendment cuts about $272,000 from next year's Department of Natural Resources budget to block a similar spend.
The House amendment leaves the allocation intact for management and conflict mitigation but bars it from being used on new wolves.
Since reintroduction began, Colorado has paid ranchers $1.3 million in depredation claims; only $875,000 has been allocated to cover them, and 13 of the 25 wolves brought in so far have died.

Why It Matters: Voters approved wolf reintroduction in 2020 by about 57,000 votes, with 51 of 64 counties opposing it, mostly on the Western Slope where the program actually runs. Lawmakers aren't trying to kill the program, they're trying to stop using general fund money for it while their own districts eat the losses.

What else is going on

Yoga on the Rocks expands to 12 sessions at Red Rocks with bilingual classes, new brunch option at Ship Rock Grille, Fair AXS registration opening May 6.
Mendocino County woman dies from rattlesnake bites marking California's third snakebite fatality in 2026, with Poison Control logging 70 cases by March.
Prinoth unveils Leitwolf E-Motion fully electric snowcat with 4-5 hour runtime, joining growing fleet of electric and hybrid groomers challenging diesel dominance.
Breckenridge celebrated 40 years since first allowing snowboarding with New Worlds competition featuring hand-dug halfpipe, vintage boards, and 80s attire bonuses.

📚 Trailhead Trivia

What is the lifespan of a wolf?

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🚠 $71M Idaho Springs gondola

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