Sampling The Laid-back Pleasures Of Washington State's Lopez Island

Everyone has their own favorite ski resort or snow-centric destination, so it’s always fun to compare notes with fellow ski enthusiasts. Who knows? You might find a new snowboarding, cross-country or downhill place to love. That’s the thinking behind Ski Magazine’s annual reader survey. The snow-focused magazine recently released a ranking of the top 30 ski resorts in the West.

Even in a state as saturated with dramatic peaks and geological marvels as Colorado, it’s thrilling to get up close and personal with something as grand — and as emblematic of our ballooning climate change crisis — as a glacier. Given the near certainty of continued climate chaos in coming years, seeing these remnants of the last ice age is becoming a catch-them-while-you-can prospect.

Therapeutic geothermal mineral waters in the Rockies have attracted soakers for centuries, starting with the Utes, who frequently visited them for physical and spiritual healing. These days, people often seek them out after a day on the slopes or adventuring in the backcountry, Or you can soak for the sake of soaking by taking an 800-mile Colorado Historic Hot Springs Loop for the ultimate in relaxing road trips.

If the Telluride Bluegrass Festival has been on your bucket list, there’s still time to cross it off in 2025. Zach Tucker, vice president of the fest’s production company Planet Bluegrass, tells The Denver Post there are “a fair amount” of tickets still available for this year’s event at shop.bluegrass.com. That includes passes to two campgrounds outside of downtown Telluride. The fest (June 19-22) is one of the town’s most popular summer gatherings, welcoming about 12,000 people per day to enjoy live music in the scenic box canyon.

Each month in Colorado, and every season, offers a chance to experience something that is definitively of this place. Sometimes this means a local festival or annual event, but often it’s just planning to take advantage of the season and be wowed. Here’s an adventure agenda for you — with a few suggested alternates and fun add-ons: January: Ice climbing in Ouray There’s no better place to fully embrace winter than in Ouray, especially during the annual Ouray Ice Festival.

Despite evacuations of a gondola at Winter Park and a lift at Telluride last month, along with several recent incidents of people falling from chairlifts, accidents related to mechanical failures are exceedingly rare, according to the state agency that regulates and inspects ski resort lifts. More than 180 people were evacuated from the Winter Park gondola on Dec.