Mining tour tragedy; 60 inches of snow?!; Head found in freezer ID'd; Family ski spots; & More...

[00:00:01] Welcome to the OutThere Colorado Podcast, I'm your host Spencer McKee. Sam is not with us today, he is actually driving up to Seattle right now. So today it's just me, but I wanted to make sure we still got some of these important stories out to you. First off, I just got back from Missoula. No, it's not Colorado, but first time in Montana, had a great time. Thought Missoula was great. I was there for the Outdoor Media Summit Awards. OutThere Colorado, got a great time in Colorado.

[00:00:31] Got voted by The People as the best social media brand in the outdoor recreation industry for last year. So thank you to everyone who voted. We were definitely really excited to get that award. Obviously, that would not have been possible without all the efforts by Sam Schuenecker, Piper Russell, one of our writers, and Seth Boster helping us out a lot from the Colorado Springs Gazette. Sam with Christian Murdoch.

[00:01:01] Helping us out a lot as well. Really liked Missoula though. I was there for only three days and mostly conference stuff, but had a chance to check out a few of these little breweries and bars around town and really just enjoy the scenic views. You know, it's, you kind of got some rolling hills there. In a way, the scenery maybe reminded me of Golden.

[00:01:25] Don't really have the massive mountains in the distance as much as you do in a lot of places in Colorado, but I guess it's a couple hours away, a few hours away from Glacier National Park.

[00:01:36] It's been a city where a ton of growth has happened in recent years. I think the population was around 25, 30K, you know, a few decades ago and now probably somewhere in the range of 75 to 100,000.

[00:01:51] Really still has the small town charm though. I think one of my favorite things and many times, you know, anytime I'm traveling, I always like to seek out a dive bar and just kind of talk to, talk to the local people.

[00:02:03] Um, and yeah, the dive bars in Missoula were, were awesome. Uh, one place that really stuck out to me was Missoula club, uh, ended up just kind of stumbling on this place, but, uh, sat down at the bar.

[00:02:16] All they, all they do is burgers. Um, no fries, even they have some bags of chips that you can get, but really good burgers. Uh, so if you're in Missoula, definitely recommend that spot.

[00:02:26] Um, it is divy, but by design. And that's, I mean, that's really part of the charm. I think it's been there for a hundred years or something.

[00:02:33] Something wild like that. Uh, so it's been around a long time and, and still very popular and kind of a really eclectic crowd.

[00:02:40] You know, it's a small bar. Um, the, the people that kind of made it up, you know, you got like those locals. Uh, I spent a while talking to this dude who'd been in Missoula for 74 years.

[00:02:53] Uh, just kind of with him sharing all of the memories that he had, uh, growing up in Missoula during that time and just talking about the growth.

[00:03:02] Uh, one story that really stuck out that he told me was just, he remembered sitting on his porch while the, uh, volcanic blast, uh, from, uh, Mount St. Helens, uh, back, I think 1980s or so, 1980, uh, with all that smoke and ash, just rolling over those nearby, those nearby mountains.

[00:03:22] Um, and how they didn't, they had no clue what was going on. They thought it was a nuclear attack or something like that.

[00:03:27] They had to turn on their radio, uh, found out that it was that volcanic explosion.

[00:03:31] Um, it just stayed away. And I mean, yeah, really cool stories. Uh, that's, it was, it was a great time. Um, as far as the burgers go, just very simple served on a styrofoam plate with, uh, onion and pickle.

[00:03:46] Uh, but they have horseradish cheese, which was awesome. And horseradish mustard that they make in house. So definitely recommend, uh, stopping by Missoula club.

[00:03:56] You were seeing people and, you know, like, like you had your like local townies that have been there for a long time. You had college kids there. You had, there was a, uh, couple probably in their mid fifties that showed up dressed to go to some sort of fancy event, but wanted to get a burger first. So yeah, just a really, really cool spot. Also really loved a guild brewery. Um, it's, uh, they had a lot of great beers, but the coolest part was down in the basement area.

[00:04:25] It's a whole full blown arcade with a great selection of arcade games. Uh, but yeah, so that was kind of a quick recap of this trip to Missoula really stuck out as somewhere that I think a lot of people in our Colorado audience would love to travel to airport was a breeze to fly through. Um, remind me of Colorado Springs in the way that you can kind of park and you're through security within five minutes or less. Uh, I think even smaller than Colorado Springs. I think there were like four or five gates.

[00:04:55] Uh, so yeah, just overall the great trip, uh, people in Montana were very friendly. Um, so yeah, that's a quick little travel recommendation for out of state travelers, uh, looking for somewhere to go. There's some skiing in that general area too. So, uh, definitely worth checking out if you're looking for kind of just, uh, another town to, to visit. Um, river runs through the town. So, and it's pretty calm river. At least when we were there, it was relatively calm.

[00:05:20] Uh, still warm out, right? Like it's, it's mid October right now. So still warm enough to get on the water. So there were just a ton of people on kayaks and, and, or in kayaks and on paddle boards. Uh, yeah. So overall love Missoula highly recommend it. Um, so kind of diving into some of these stories, uh, right now it's Thursday when we're recording this, uh, there's supposed to be a pretty big snowstorm on the way to Colorado.

[00:05:47] And so far this year, it's been pretty dry in Colorado in terms of snow as we're heading into winter. And, you know, most Coloradans are expecting that October opening for at least one resort in Colorado.

[00:06:01] Often it ends up being Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, Keystone, all those central mountain spots, uh, tend to get that early opening. Right. But all the mountains and hillsides in that entire area are still pretty barren.

[00:06:14] Um, meanwhile though, Southwest Colorado is really favored to get the deepest totals, uh, with this upcoming storm with some of the mapping and, and the national weather service, they ahead of any storm, they released three different maps, right?

[00:06:30] You've got the expected map, you've got the high end map, which has a 10% chance of coming to fruition. And then you've got the low end map, which also has a 10% chance of coming to fruition.

[00:06:39] So, um, but in this most expected scenario, you're seeing somewhere in the range of, you know, 24 to 36 inches on a lot of these San Juan peaks, central mountains expected to get less, uh, looking at about a foot or so there, uh, on those highest points of elevation.

[00:06:59] Uh, but yeah, the Southwest is, it could get really clobbered. And if you look at the high end total map, um, it's showing that some of those peaks down there could get even more than 48 inches, uh, very small select areas, but still like up to 60, 60 plus inches of snow.

[00:07:15] Kind of in this Friday through Sunday, Sunday morning might end up stretching into Sunday, maybe into Monday, uh, storm.

[00:07:25] So, and obviously a lot can always change and obviously weather reports are, are famous for, uh, not necessarily being perfect.

[00:07:34] Right. Uh, but national weather service does a great job and I trust there's no reports for sure.

[00:07:40] Uh, so yeah, I mean, either way you're looking at, you know, probably two feet of snow in that, in that San Juan mountain region, uh, ski resorts in that area.

[00:07:50] You know, you got, uh, purgatory, uh, you got tell your ride, you've got, uh, Wolf Creek.

[00:07:55] I think Wolf Creek out of those three Wolf Creek's probably the one, if there's one that opens up in October, um, and opens early Wolf Creek usually has a shot at that.

[00:08:06] Uh, it is, it's done that in the past and yeah. So, I mean, looking to get some early skiing in, that's kind of the report.

[00:08:13] As of now, we're getting this first big winter storm where the temperatures are actually cold enough in the mountains that they can kind of hold the snow.

[00:08:20] So, um, and I mean, obviously all these resorts in the central mountain region are eager to get their snow machines going too.

[00:08:28] Um, haven't seen a report of snow machines going yet, but maybe that's, maybe I just missed it.

[00:08:34] Um, but yeah, either way I'd be, if you're eager to get those early season laps in, I'd be looking at Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, Keystone for their updates, and then probably Wolf Creek as well.

[00:08:46] Uh, so yeah, we'll have to see what that ends up being like a lot of lower elevation areas.

[00:08:51] Um, including those on the front range are getting really limited snow.

[00:08:54] Some of the lower elevation areas in the mountains are looking at, you know, three to six inches.

[00:09:00] So not probably not enough to really impact travel with the exception of those trying to head over a Wolf Creek pass.

[00:09:09] Uh, Wolf Creek passes supposed to have periods where travels very difficult to impossible according to the national weather service.

[00:09:15] So that could get a bit dicey out there.

[00:09:18] Uh, strong winds too.

[00:09:19] So limited visibility is, is likely Denver, Colorado Springs though, uh, Fort Collins, you know, they're even in the high end scenario, less than an inch of snow.

[00:09:29] Roads might get slick.

[00:09:31] People might freak out as people tend to do at that first snow storm of the year.

[00:09:35] They're just the first time flurries are falling.

[00:09:37] Uh, but probably not much of a real threat for most Coloradans in terms of just going about their daily life with this one.

[00:09:44] Uh, but yeah, so got some snow on the way.

[00:09:48] Um, pretty much only wanted to cover two stories today.

[00:09:53] Uh, one of which, um, is a tragic incident took place last Friday.

[00:10:00] Uh, the, uh, or sorry, last Thursday, the, uh, Molly Kathleen gold mine incident, uh, in Cripple Creek.

[00:10:08] So if you're not familiar with, uh, this attraction, right, it's, it's a gold mine tour that drops tourists probably about, I think it's a thousand feet, uh, down into the earth, right.

[00:10:21] Uh, on one of these old, uh, mining elevators.

[00:10:24] And to kind of describe this mining elevator, it's pretty much got two elevator cars that I think hold about six people each, uh, and they're stacked on top of each other.

[00:10:33] So, um, they load people into whenever you're at the top on, on the surface of the earth, they load people into that first mining cart.

[00:10:41] Uh, and then they drop it just enough to get people in that second mining cart.

[00:10:47] And then the, both carts make that trip down underground a thousand feet.

[00:10:51] Uh, then you have a, I mean, honestly, I've been, I've been on the tour and it was a great gold mining tour.

[00:10:55] Um, learned a ton about the local area and just the mining process in general.

[00:11:00] Uh, it's taught by people that are very familiar with gold mining in Colorado and have been here for decades often.

[00:11:08] Uh, so very, very cool experience.

[00:11:10] Uh, you get a little piece of gold ore at the end, um, which is more commonly known, I guess, as fool's gold.

[00:11:16] Uh, but you do see real gold veins in the rock and last about an hour.

[00:11:21] They show you how different equipment works.

[00:11:23] Yeah.

[00:11:23] Overall, uh, uh, great tour and really a great one for fall, uh, just with the changing colors up in that Cripple Creek area.

[00:11:31] Again, if you're not familiar, Cripple Creek's about 45 minutes, uh, west to Colorado Springs, we'll say.

[00:11:37] So yeah, very accessible for people in the Pikes Peak region.

[00:11:40] Uh, Cripple Creek also home to, uh, I believe they did the Ice Castle attraction there last year.

[00:11:46] Uh, they do the Donkey Days celebration with the donkeys roaming the streets.

[00:11:50] Um, if I'm not mistaken, I think the Ice Castle is coming back this winter as well.

[00:11:54] Uh, as well as another location that I believe is an Eagle, uh, somewhere in that region along I-70.

[00:12:00] Um, but yeah, so basically what happened though with this, this mining disaster really, you know, uh, that ended up leaving one person dead and I think four others injured.

[00:12:12] Uh, something went wrong with that old elevator.

[00:12:16] And again, the old elevator is kind of part of the charm of this tour because you do see what it was like, you know, a hundred years ago or, or decades and decades ago, uh, for these gold miners.

[00:12:28] So, uh, this old elevator is like a main flagship of the tour, we'll say.

[00:12:34] Uh, but yeah, something happened, uh, with this elevator, um, and it ended up killing a tour guide, uh, named Patrick Weir.

[00:12:43] Uh, I believe I'm saying his last name, right?

[00:12:45] It's W-E-I-E-R.

[00:12:48] Uh, he's 46 years old, survived by a seven-year-old son.

[00:12:52] Um, so absolutely, he was a resident of Victor too.

[00:12:55] Uh, absolutely tragic, uh, tragic situation all around, uh, something apparently malfunctioned with an elevator door.

[00:13:04] And those initial reports were saying that people were stuck or this incident took place 500 feet in this thousand foot mine shaft.

[00:13:12] Um, I think a dozen people were, uh, initially rescued and 11 people were stuck, uh, or no, 11 people were initially rescued, including two children, um, after this incident took place with 12 people still stuck, uh, below in, in that mining shaft.

[00:13:34] Um, hours unfold.

[00:13:37] Officials pursue a few different means of how do we get these people out of the mine shaft.

[00:13:41] Now this elevator is potentially, uh, compromised.

[00:13:44] And basically, um, all the, all the people that were on this tour were rescued, uh, later in that evening, on Thursday evening, uh, four other injuries were sustained.

[00:13:56] Um, I think the four people that were injured were with that initial group of, uh, the 11 that were with this guide.

[00:14:05] Um, and again, not done a lot of details that, uh, that were, um, really released about this yet.

[00:14:14] Uh, officials are still looking into what exactly went wrong.

[00:14:17] Um, it was the closing weekend or well leading into the closing weekend for this attraction.

[00:14:24] Uh, it was last runs were set to take place on Sunday.

[00:14:27] So, um, I'm assuming they closed it down just through the rest of the season.

[00:14:32] And generally it reopens in the spring, late spring.

[00:14:36] So, uh, yeah.

[00:14:37] So it'd be curious to see if this impacts the future of that attraction.

[00:14:41] Uh, if they're able to figure out what's wrong, maybe assume that they're open as planned, but, uh, here in a few months.

[00:14:48] But I mean, we'll have to wait and see Gazette writers, fan of Eller quoted the, uh, the person that was operating this elevator as saying that something felt strange and the elevator just stopped.

[00:15:01] Um, apparently the elevator was still up.

[00:15:03] It was still able to be operated.

[00:15:05] So those on board were brought up within that initial group were brought up within 20 minutes.

[00:15:10] Um, yeah, the door on the elevator was broken when it was eventually raised to the surface.

[00:15:15] So, uh, yeah, not a lot of details, a very tragic situation.

[00:15:19] Uh, it kind of captured a lot of, uh, nationally, even international media attention, uh, just because, you know, it's something like this doesn't happen often.

[00:15:32] Um, but yeah, so that's kind of what we know as of now, uh, the people that were trapped below, uh, they were given pizza, which was what they requested for food.

[00:15:43] And, uh, they were given chairs, uh, to sit in.

[00:15:46] So, uh, I think at the time too, the people below were unaware that anyone had died above them.

[00:15:53] Uh, they would just assume the elevator stopped working.

[00:15:56] Um, so, and I think one of the, uh, uh, one of the officials involved in this situation, uh, said that the people that were stuck in this mine shaft,

[00:16:06] while all of the situations unfolding above them, uh, were grateful that they didn't really have all those details.

[00:16:14] Um, officials did also confirm that all of these individuals that were on this, on this tour were out of state.

[00:16:20] Uh, they were provided hotels for the night once they were, once they were rescued.

[00:16:25] So, yeah, so, I mean, very, very sad situation.

[00:16:30] Um, obviously glad it wasn't worse and, and condolences, the deepest condolences go out to Patrick's family.

[00:16:37] There is a GoFundMe, uh, that's been set up, uh, that's meant to benefit his son, uh, seven-year-old son.

[00:16:44] So, if you, if you search his name, and again, that's, uh, Patrick, W-E-I-E-R, um, and then just search, search about this, uh, on GoFundMe.

[00:16:56] You'll be able to find that GoFundMe.

[00:16:58] Um, it has already raised a good amount of money too, if I remember correctly.

[00:17:05] Yeah, it's at about $57,000 of a $60,000 goal with, uh, more than 600 people donating to that.

[00:17:12] So, yeah, so, I mean, if you, if you, uh, want to track that down, uh, definitely do so.

[00:17:19] Um, moving on to kind of another, another story that's more of an update, um, and also disturbing in its own right.

[00:17:29] Uh, back in January, uh, the Out There Colorado team reported on a human head and hands that were found in a freezer, uh,

[00:17:41] at a local home in Grand Junction.

[00:17:43] So, basically, this home got sold, uh, new owners moved in, or were working to move in, working to fix it up.

[00:17:50] And there were these appliances that were out on the front yard.

[00:17:54] Uh, apparently they had called, or they had, uh, kind of arranged for somebody to pick up this freezer unit.

[00:18:00] And whenever that person picked up the freezer unit, they found this suspicious, uh, they made that suspicious discovery of that head and hands.

[00:18:09] Uh, authorities were called to the scene and this case has been under investigation ever since.

[00:18:15] Um, on October 11th, uh, authorities officially revealed that they did, uh, successfully identify those remains.

[00:18:23] Those remains belong to Amanda Lirial Overstreet, uh, who was 16 years old at the time of her disappearance.

[00:18:33] And she was last seen in April of 2005.

[00:18:37] Um, also noted in that report from local law enforcement is that Amanda was the biological daughter of the previous owner of the home.

[00:18:47] Uh, and she was never reported missing either.

[00:18:49] So obviously a very suspicious situation there and, uh, don't want to make any, any presumptions about what's, what's going to be the ultimate discovery there, but suspicious situation.

[00:19:02] And, um, people are looking into that.

[00:19:05] So something, uh, something to follow, uh, from Western Colorado and Grand Junction.

[00:19:11] Uh, home was located on the, uh, 2,900 block of Pinion Avenue, which is kind of in the Northeast.

[00:19:19] Um, part of that town.

[00:19:21] Um, yeah.

[00:19:22] So those are kind of two, two quick updates on stories that have kind of been sending shockwaves across the state in recent days.

[00:19:29] All right.

[00:19:30] Got one last headline, uh, in this condensed, uh, Out There Colorado podcast episode.

[00:19:36] Definitely ending this episode on a bit of a happier note compared to those previous two stories.

[00:19:41] Um, wow.

[00:19:43] They're very noteworthy and, and worth hearing about, you know, it's not as, not as fun to cover that type of the story, obviously.

[00:19:51] Um, but yeah, so in recent days, uh, on the snow, right.

[00:19:57] They're a publication that's related to pretty much everything, skiing, snowboarding, a great publication.

[00:20:02] Check them out.

[00:20:03] Um, but on the snow, they came out with their list of the top family-friendly ski resorts on the continent for 2024.

[00:20:10] Um, just right into the start of the season, you know.

[00:20:14] And their pick, uh, for the best one in North America was Keystone Resort in Summit County.

[00:20:19] Uh, to be honest, I mean, it's no surprise.

[00:20:21] Uh, I'd totally agree that it's a great family-friendly spot.

[00:20:25] Uh, especially when you've got a family and everyone's got those epic pass, uh, purchases already.

[00:20:31] And, uh, you know, it cuts down the cost if you're going a lot.

[00:20:34] Um, yeah, I mean, basically what they were focusing on, what on the snow was focusing on when they made this selection.

[00:20:39] They're trying to find a spot that has a wide range of terrain, uh, so that kind of everyone in the family can be happy.

[00:20:45] As well as great terrain, uh, for beginners and also just kind of like great terrain for families in the sense of runs being, you know, easy to understand, easy to keep in the group together or easy for keeping the group together.

[00:20:57] Um, Keystone is known for its school marm run, which, uh, offers 3.5 miles of continuous beginner terrain from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain.

[00:21:06] Uh, it's hard to beat that as far as beginner runs go.

[00:21:08] So there's a lot of little kind of side shoots and kickers and little trees on along the side too, that are, uh, good for people that kind of have a, a group of mixed, uh, abilities.

[00:21:19] Right.

[00:21:20] Um, if some people of the group are fully stuck on that beginner terrain and still working on developing those skills, uh, getting down the slopes, more experienced members of the group can kind of hit these side runs.

[00:21:34] So, uh, yeah, I mean, school marm run, uh, great aspect at Keystone that really makes it beginner friendly and family friendly.

[00:21:42] Uh, additionally, there's like the snow tube in it.

[00:21:45] Keystone there's the snow fort that's on the mountain top.

[00:21:48] Uh, so they're obviously those are great for kids.

[00:21:50] Um, especially kids that might not have as much of an interest in skiing or snowboarding yet.

[00:21:56] Uh, there's also a lot of onsite lodging, uh, that's right by the slope.

[00:21:59] So that, that makes it great too.

[00:22:01] It's just easy to get the kids wrangled in the morning and get them on the lift for the day.

[00:22:05] Uh, free parking as well, or in most, you have ample free parking at Keystone.

[00:22:11] There's probably some paid options, but yeah, mostly free parking.

[00:22:14] So that's, that's another good aspect that makes it easy for a year easier for a family trip to the mountains.

[00:22:20] Uh, the second, uh, selection, second place selection, um, was also a Colorado spot in terms of where the best North American family, family friendly slopes are.

[00:22:32] Uh, and this was steamboat.

[00:22:34] Um, steamboat is also known for having that like wide variety of terrain, but it's also known for having these family friendly events throughout winter.

[00:22:43] Uh, which definitely can kind of round out that weekend trip.

[00:22:47] And I didn't even know about this until this report came out and looked into it, but they also have a kid ski free program.

[00:22:53] Um, which allows children that are 12 and under, uh, with a paying parent, uh, that's paying for five days or more of skiing, uh, to ski for free that whole time.

[00:23:02] So, uh, that's obviously a great way to just, you know, make the slope successful for, for a family by offering that free scheme for a kid.

[00:23:10] I think it's one kid per parent is, is, uh, what they said, but don't, don't quote me on that.

[00:23:16] Um, the fool on the snow list had 19 different resorts that were included.

[00:23:22] Uh, Breckenridge ended up in 12th, Beaver Creek ended up in 13th and Winter Park ended up in 16th.

[00:23:28] Uh, hard to go wrong anywhere in Colorado, really.

[00:23:31] Uh, it's some of the best skiing in the world.

[00:23:33] And, and a lot of it nowadays really does cater to being family friendly.

[00:23:38] Um, so yeah, I mean, it's kind of, it's, it is nice to just have, uh, so many options, you know, and there's so many pass options.

[00:23:46] There's so many options in terms of where they're located.

[00:23:49] Uh, and you can really find if you want to avoid the crowds and maybe just focus on going somewhere with like a cheaper lift ticket for the kids to learn.

[00:23:57] You know, you got places like ski Cooper, you got purgatory, uh, purgatory, great spot.

[00:24:03] And adults can get really cheap lift tickets there.

[00:24:06] If you pick the right day, uh, they kind of have one of those dynamic pricing programs.

[00:24:10] So, um, so yeah, I mean, really it's, uh, Colorado is just in general is a great family friendly ski spot, but apparently according to on the snow, if you want the two best spots,

[00:24:20] Keystone and then steamboat resort and steamboat Springs.

[00:24:23] So, uh, yeah, looking forward to ski season.

[00:24:26] Uh, that's about all I got for you today, to be honest.

[00:24:29] Uh, if you got any questions, comments, concerns, feel free to reach out to us at info at out there, Colorado.com.

[00:24:37] Um, you listen to this whole episode, uh, definitely leave us a review on Apple podcasts or on Spotify.

[00:24:43] Uh, those reviews really help us out.

[00:24:44] Just know kind of what we should be doing better, what you really like about the show.

[00:24:49] Um, so we can do more of that.

[00:24:51] Uh, but yeah, have, have a great day and keep getting out there, Colorado.