Colorado high country businesses adapt to hot fall temperatures

IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo. ( KDVR ) — With more dry days ahead, fire danger remains a concern along the Front Range. The warmer fall is also having an effect on businesses in the high country.

Rocky Mountain National Park announced Trail Ridge Road was closed on Friday due to snow and ice; at the same time, RMNP fire managers may decide to conduct a prescribed burn of up to 300 acres to get rid of overgrowth that could fuel a fire in other areas.

“It’s kind of crazy that we haven’t got a lot of rain,” Maximilian Philips told FOX31. Philips, who has lived in Lakewood, Denver and Wheat Ridge, said he worries about fire danger now more than he has in the past.

“We were getting 90-degree weather in October, which is insane,” he said.

West Metro Fire told FOX31 Problem Solvers that with fire restrictions in effect in Jefferson County, prescribed burns to mitigate fire danger are on hold this year at Bear Creek Lake Park.

Hundreds of small businesses in mountain towns along the Interstate 70 corridor depend on seasonal tourism. Some business owners said they are still enjoying business from those who visit during warm weather to spend money on tourist sites and shopping rather than mainly skiing.

Nick Juenemann, owner of the Kind Mountain Collective in Idaho Springs told FOX31 the warm weather has extended the fall tourism season.

“It is a lot more traffic than it would be in what we normally call mud season, so that’s between summer and the ski season: On either side of the winter or either side of the summer,” he said

Ski season remains the biggest draw in the high country supporting resorts, ski shops, restaurants and specialty stores.

“We hope that it’s sustained and picks up a little bit with the ski traffic, particularly the holiday seasons when the ski traffic really starts kicking in,” said Juenemann.

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