Founded in 1993, 5280 is the largest local magazine in Colorado. The magazine's stories often make national headlines, and since 2005 5280 has been nominated for four National Magazine Awards. Get 5280 Magazine digital subscription today.
FROM THE EDITOR Life’s Soundtrack The first time I recall hearing a fiddle, I was eight or nine years old. The overalls-clad musician with a scraggly gray beard was straddling a stool and chopping away with his bow. He and his bandmates—one of whom was playing the spoons, the other working a washboard—were part of the Vandalia Gathering, a celebration of folklife in Charleston, West Virginia, that’s been around since 1977. It’s probably been 35 years since that day, but I can still hear the old-timey squawking of that fiddle. Three years before the birth of the Vandalia Gathering, a group of long-haired Colorado hippies with a penchant for pickin’ staged the first iteration of what would become one of the most legendary annual musical events in history: the Telluride…
ON THE MEMORY CARD ”The bass player for Stephen Kellogg‘s band, Kit Karlson, once stripped down to his boxers and ran around the festival while security tried, and failed, to stop him, thinking he was some crazed fan. The crowd went berserk!” THIS YEAR’S GOAL ”I want to focus (no pun intended) on getting some creative shots I’ve been thinking about over the years, like a group shot of the crowd from on top of the band shell stage.”…
Track Records Two iconic acts—Hazel Miller and Big Head Todd and the Monsters—retrace their interwoven careers ahead of their induction into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. June 10 won’t be the first time that guitar licks from Big Head Todd and the Monsters and vocals from Hazel Miller reverberate off the walls of Red Rocks Amphitheatre. But their return to the venue will be a special one for the longtime collaborators: The blues-rock quartet and the 69-year-old R&B singer are both being inducted into the on-site Colorado Music Hall of Fame that night. Ahead of their show/ceremony, we asked the honorees to chart their vaunted careers.…
SKIING + CLIMBING Silverthorne Play: With much of its 1,428 acres above 11,000 feet, Arapahoe Basin Ski Area often stays open well into June. But after you’ve had your fill of slushy turns on runs like High Noon, don’t just party in the parking lot. Silverthorne-based Colorado Adventure Guides will tailor a half-day climbing tour (from $155) of nearby Haus Rock to your skill level, whether you’re looking for cruisy routes such as the 5.6-rated Little Squirt or forearm-busting 5.12s like Crystal Ball. Stay: Save with a night in a shared dorm at the Pad (from $52 per night), a hotel-hostel hybrid in Silverthorne, and you’ll be only a stumble away from the 26 beer, wine, and draft cocktail taps at the in-house A-Bar. HORSEBACK RIDING + KAYAKING Steamboat Springs…
THE (NAKED) STEAM KIT Sure, this three-dimensional puzzle meets construction kit from Longmont-based Zometool is expensive, but a toy that tricks your kids into learning about geometry, fractals, and the atomic structure of matter is priceless. $340 COLORFUL COLORADO COLORING JOURNAL More than just a coloring book, this title by Boulder artist Amanda Lenz pairs each of its 65 illustrations with an inspirational quote, details about the plants and animals featured, and enough white space for your budding artist to expand the scene. $15 YOUNG ARTIST SERIES NECK GAITER Town Hall, a Steamboat Springs–based kids apparel company, partnered with Denver’s Phunkshun to manufacture this 92-percent-recycled-material gaiter in-state using a 2021 design by Reese Davidoff, then a fifth grader at Steamboat’s Soda Creek Elementary. $20 SPACETEAM With just five minutes per…
The response to Denver’s electric bike incentive program has been nothing short of, ahem, shocking. Since the initiative’s launch in April 2022, more than 5,000 residents have snagged rebates, and these aren’t just for pleasure trips. Ride Report, a tech company based in Portland, Oregon, that helps local governments manage mobility projects, surveyed new e-bike owners in Denver and found that in the project’s first nine months, riders pedaled an average of 26 miles each week and replaced 3.4 round trips that they would have otherwise done by car. Across all rebate users, that’s enough to replace 100,000 vehicle miles every seven days. Given that success, you could excuse other governmental entities for stealing the idea: Even the Washington Post exclaimed that the program could be a national model for…
