On a gray winter day, you can hear the eerie wind whistle down the long corridors which stretch out almost as long as a football field. It is the skeleton of the 200-room Marble Ski Area base lodge. (The actual size is debatable, but it is very large!)
The sprawling… read more →
On Aug. 7, the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association (CVEPA) responded to a citizen complaint about numerous large backhoes and loader(s) in the Crystal River adjacent to the Marble Airstrip along County Road 3 in the upper Crystal Valley. A contractor had essentially dredged several hundred yards of the river… read more →
At this time, 39 years ago, “federal officials scrambled to avoid one of the most dramatic dam failures in history.” Glen Canyon Dam was bursting at the seams with water and rock blasting out around its foundation while crews raced to install a rampart of plywood sheets across the top… read more →
It was early that cold morning in late September, 1982, when we approached the Skyline Mine Portal at 11,776 feet of elevation on Treasure Mountain.
I had to rub my eyes at what unfolded in front of us. In a Neanderthal scene, a young man came out of the dark… read more →
On April 14, the Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association (CVEPA) board meeting enjoyed a delightful levity which is uncommon these days. Solidarity is not synonymous with unanimity, so it is refreshing when we all agree on something. The pact to agree to disagree, respectfully, is a basic tenet of… read more →
Game wardens and a few locals gathered at the old railroad siding at Placita. Word was out that the Division of Wildlife was going to release elk into the upper Crystal Valley. John Darien remembered that day in the early ‘40s as he recounted the scene to me… read more →
The 500-pound cow elk was wild-eyed as she kept trying to escape the trap.
She continued to jump up on the eight-foot-tall walls of her plywood pen until she finally broke down a section. The “wapiti” (the Shawnee and Cree word for elk) struggled to get her front legs… read more →
The view from the Dutch Creek Mine Number One, above Redstone, was breathtaking but the air was breathless. The stillness made the constant coursing of the methane gas from the old mine portal even more pronounced.
Chris Caskey is a climatologist from Paonia and owner of the Delta Brick… read more →
Every time you pick up the paper it seems there is an article about Marble. It might be about the Marble Quarry, off highway vehicle (OHV) impacts, Wild and Scenic Designation or simply overcrowding. Why all the interest in this little hamlet way up the Crystal River? For… read more →
