Edwards in Eagle County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Skiing in Colorado
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The Ski Industry Snowballs
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Ski Colorado
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Edwards Country
Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 7, 2018
1. Skiing in Colorado Marker
The earliest recorded use of skis in Colorado dates to 1857, when mountain guide Jim Bridger fashioned a crude pair to bail out an army unit snowbound in the San Juan Mountains. Such was the function of "snowshoes" (as they were then known) on the frontier-they were survival gear, not sporting goods. Miners, freighters trappers, and others who spent winters in the mountains depended on them for hunting and communication; mailmen strapped them on to make their alpine rounds. The most prolific Colorado skier of the nineteenth century was probably Father John Dyer, who plowed across a far-flung parish encompassing Breckenridge, Leadville, and Fairplay. At ten feet long and an inch thick, these primitive boards were heavy and unwieldy, but warded off frostbite, cabin fever—and death.
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With the development of Aspen Mountain in the late 1940s, Colorado skiing entered its golden age. At last the state had a world-class resort the equal of any in the European Alps. Other ski areas tried to capture Aspen's glamour, embroidering their slopes with gourmet restaurants, five-star lodgings, and fashionable shopping districts. Resorts grew larger, richer, and more crowded; the snowy mountains, long cursed as travel barriers, were now international travel destinations. But if the ski industry brought millions of visitors and billions of dollars into the state each year,
Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 7, 2018
2. The Ski Industry Snowballs Marker
Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 7, 2018
3. Ski Colorado Marker
Like the gold miners of yore, Colorado skiers in the first half of the twentieth century combed the mountains restlessly, searching for the mother lode. Ski areas rose and fell with dizzying speed, lasting only until better prospects were reported a few miles or mountain range away. Nearly two hundred commercial resorts operated in Colorado during the twentieth century. Many just wrung a few winters' recreation out of one rope tow and a single well-tracked hillside; others an for decades before closing. Here and there decaying lift towers, vacant trail cuts, and tumble-down warming shacks stand as ghostly monuments to these expired snow playgrounds. The resorts that have survived into the twenty-first century are among the world's finest, mining Colorado's abundant peaks sunny winters, and dry, powdery snow to produce pure skiing gold.
{Area map of historical & geographical highlights}
Erected 2001 by the Colorado Historical Society, Colorado Department of Transportation.
Topics.
Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 7, 2018
4. Edwards Country Marker
Location. 39° 38.736′ N, 106° 35.378′ W. Marker is in Edwards, Colorado, in Eagle County. It can be reached from Edwards Access Road half a mile south of Miller Branch Road when traveling east. Located within the CDOT Rest Area at I-70, exit 163. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Edwards CO 81632, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Colorado High Rockies. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere.
Other nearby markers. At least 2 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Minturn Turn-Table (approx. 9.3 miles away); Welcome to Historic Minturn (approx. 9.3 miles away).
Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 7, 2018
5. Looking south towards the Beaver Creek Ski area.
Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 7, 2018
6. The view east towards Colorado Mountain College Vail Valley buildings.
Photographed by Mark Hilton, July 7, 2018
7. View of marker towards the rest area.
Credits. This page was last revised on July 16, 2018. It was originally submitted on July 16, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 437 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on July 16, 2018, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
