Colorado town reclaims abandoned ski area

(8 Apr 2023)

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4428494

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cuchara, Colorado – 19 March 2023
1. Trailer carrying skiers leaves base area to drive up mountain
2. Mike Moore pulls skis out of trailer and carries them
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Moore, Cuchara resident:
“It’s just been a dream of mine ever since it closed.”
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Moore, Cuchara resident:
“At first when it closed in 2000, we thought it was like the other five closures we’d had. But then when we went through 15 years of closed, we sort of gave up on ever seeing it reopen.”
6. Chair lift sways in the wind
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7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ken Clayton, Panadero Ski Corporation board member:
“Every failed attempt to open this place up from the very beginning was based on developers from out of state coming here and trying to sell real estate, and every one of them failed. None of them knew the ski industry.”
8. Various of condos on a hill by ski area
9. Tight of Moore clipping into skis
10. Moore skiing away
11. Moor skiing downhill
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12. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Moore, Cuchara resident:
“It’s real heartening to see so many people that want to donate money and time to put a ski area back together.”
13. Ken Clayton and snowboarder walk into lodge
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14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ken Clayton, Panadero Ski Corporation board member:
“It was a difficult couple of months because we were all working so hard to get this place open and it just wasn’t going to happen because we didn’t have the snow.”
15. Various of Ken Clayton checking snowboarder in
16. Lift that was refurbished but didn’t pass inspection
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17. SOUNDBITE (English) Ken Clayton, Panadero Ski Corporation board member:
“When we realized that we couldn’t get the lift certified this year, we had to come up with another plan. And that’s when we got creative. Our maintenance director had this idea and we ran with it. He fabricated this trailer out of a car hauler and we’ve hooked it up to the snowcat. We’re trying to give the community something because they’ve supported us for so long.”
18. View looking out window from snowcat machine hauling skiers
19. Snowcat pulls up to base area towing a car hauling trailer retrofitted with school bus seats
20. Skiers load into trailer
21. Volunteer drives snowcat
22. Skiers sitting in trailer as they are hauled to the top of mountain
23. Volunteer opens trailer for skiers to unload
UPSOUND: "Welcome to school."
24. Skiers unload from trailer, including Race Lessar (blue helmet)
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25. SOUNDBITE (English) Race Lessar, La Veta resident:
“It was pretty mismanaged in the years before this so I didn’t know that there was a hope.”
26. Race Lessar skis off a jump
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Race Lessar, La Veta resident:
“My dad’s identity was skiing as he grew up here and it opened avenues for him.”
28. Race Lessar skis off a jump
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29. SOUNDBITE (English) Race Lessar, La Veta resident:
“As he raised me it became my identity, too.”
30. Various of snowboarder preparing to take a run
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31. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Moore, Cuchara resident:
“There’s still a hardcore group of people that want to ski, that want to come out and play.”
32. Snowboarder heads downhill
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33. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Moore, Cuchara resident:
“We can’t control the wind and the climate, but we can be gung-ho about what we can do for three months of the year.”
34. Moving shot of person skiing downhill

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