Mountain Trails Blocked By Debris Piles 20 Feet Tall, Left Behind By Avalanches
FRISCO, Colo. (CBS4)- While the snow has melted along miles of trails in Summit County, not every trail is ready for hikers and bikers. In places, trees and other debris are piled 20 feet high. This is the aftermath of avalanches that hit the area with all the snow this past winter.
The debris piles could make the job of opening the Copper Mountain-Frisco section a difficult task. The delayed opening could impact small businesses who rely on the traffic the trail brings in.
At Pioneer Sports in Frisco, employees are working to switch over the showroom from winter sports like skiing and snowboarding to spring sports like mountain biking.
"Every year is different. We're moving into a summer season, which obviously if you haven't had a look outside recently, isn't quite there yet," Pioneer Sports general manager Brent Ford said.
Ford says typically, they are renting bikes and shuttling people up to the top of Vail Pass for the ride down by Memorial Day weekend. That won't be happening this season.
"All that that is going to mean is that in this business, we are going to need to improvise. Some of the things that aren't necessarily talked about as much, when I've heard people talk about the slides between Copper and Frisco, is that we have 55 miles of other recreation paths here in Summit County," said Ford.
The shop wants to help Summit County clear those trails so they are usable again.
"We want to be involved and I I'd like to reach out to some of the other companies, see if we can band together, what are some of the things that we can do to help clear or speed up the process of getting this path clear," he added.
Ford said he is hopeful visitors will still come and explore the miles of trails around Summit County that aren't buried under debris.
"There are going to be some challenges, challenges can be a negative thing or a positive thing. We are going with the positive," said Ford.
Summit County officials say the cost to remove the debris piles and repair parts of the trail could be somewhere in the range of $60,000 to $80,000.