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Uphilling economy ascends

Alycin Bektesh
/
Aspen Public Radio News

  Diversifying the economy is one of the top 10 goals for the City of Aspen. Mayor Steve Skadron sees the increased popularity of “uphilling” – both done in the winter on skins and snowshoes, and in the summer on bicycles – as a way to add new local industry, without requiring new development.

 

 

The feeling of “earning your turns” can be so tremendous that Skadron is banking it could be its own, self sustaining economy right here in the Roaring Fork Valley. Since it’s inception, the push for uphilling has grown into a statewide conversation.

“The discussion has gone from this notion, to a study, to an explosion here on local mountains, to conversations on the state level, to public private partnerships, to economic development in depressed rural areas,” said Skadron. “It’s connecting Colorado’s recreation industry with its manufacturing capacity.”

Doug Stenclik also bet big on the uphill economy. Five years ago, he opened Cripple Creek Backcountry in Carbondale, the shop caters exclusively to alpine touring: the catch-all phrase for skiing outside of groomed resorts.

“A lot of people that were already in to touring thought we were crazy,” Stenclik said of the shop’s early days. “We just were psyched that anybody was coming in the door the first year, and it’s doubled every year since.”

The fastest growing segment of the commercial side of the industry is probably women-specific gear. Stenclik said that when the shop first opened all women’s skis and splitboards were gone in the first two months. Not just gone from their showroom, but completely bought out from every manufacturer.

As the word gets out about Aspen’s backcountry experience, guiding services have also grown. Sammy Podhurst of Aspen Expeditions has begun a women-specific backcountry course and sees a full list of clients through the winter.

Aspen does have some unique circumstances that could lead it to becoming the epicenter of the uphill market. One of the biggest advantages is the fact that the Aspen Skiing Company allows touring on the resort.

“I mean if the ski company did not allow uphilling, it would definitely be a different community,” said Podhurst.

There’s also the fact that the terrain among the four mountains is so varied that it allows trekkers of all abilities to participate. There’s the 10th Mountain Hut Division, which provides cozy winter camping for AT-ers. And there’s the ski mountaineering sporting races like the Grand Traverse that put Aspen on the map for the top rated uphill athletes.

The way Steve Skadron sees the industry becoming a year-round boom to the local economy is by bringing in the manufacturing arm of top brands. Probably not to Aspen proper, it’s just too expensive to build a big warehouse in the overblown real estate market. But the SkiCo mountains could be the testing ground for new gear, and cheaper industrial sites could be built in Rifle. Maybe even the Aspen Airport Business Center could become the place to be for the newest segment of the lucrative ski industry.

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