Not intentionally.
Events/Trails 10th Annual 100s in the Hills! *Silverton, Colorado July 22 - 27 2020*
- Thread starter paflytyer
- Start date
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Also, Silverton is going through another leadership shift (again) from what it sounds like. The city seems divided on issues like events, skiing, etc. I can only imagine it continues to throw wrenches in Stan and Chris's ability to plan all this.
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I can't blame them. This will be my first trip out there, but every video I see online looks like bumper to bumper traffic in the summer. I could see the locals getting a little ruffled when the Midwest descends open them. Having said that, it must be pretty incredible since it's the 'go to' spot for the cruiser rallies.
I've heard from friends in the San Juan's that Silverton has increased focus around "planned resiliency", but hadn't heard it was a divided issue. The community definitely can diversify its economic focus and build in some safety nets - for almost a decade it feels like its been one major event after another that has impacted economic stability and I think people are ready for some more structure. From the Gold King disaster to fires, to droughts, to not enough snow, to way too much snow too late in the spring, and now COVID, I think the town has been hit hard by a very narrow income window with the current focus primarily on tourism.
Anyone that has seen what happened to Breckenridge after Vail basically bought the town will know what it feels to take something genuinely Colorado and turn it into a Tourist Trap. There's very little left in Breck that is authentic, the experience on the mountain feels so "polished". Parking is $25 a day, lift tickets are $200+, the list goes on. It's the extreme of what can happen, but certainly that focus is now on getting every penny out of visitors' pockets and the type of people that migrate there are the type who like to pay to play that game.
Towns make it easy for developers like Alterra (Vail), when they focus too much on a single industry and can't make it through a series of bad years - easy targets and they can buy seats on city councils easily. Developers like that will limit vehicle on the trails to needing to be their rentals or pay for access. Every street is paid parking, every trail head permitted, small business owners sell and their businesses "appear" to be local but are just run by operator restaurateurs from some private equity firm.
It's not meant to be dim and grim, but I think that's the early stages of what Silverton and Ouray may intentionally or unintentionally prevent just by looking at more diversified income sources and a better emphasis on other industries in their community. I'm pretty sure that no one visiting Silverton wants a Breckenridge experience or they would take their fur coat and ugg boots on up to Vail. While it's fun to be able to go get a Jeep rental and do a trail after some instruction (for example), there is also a fine line that has been crossed majorly in the last few years. We had a group that seemed like half a fraternity with a bunch of rental jeeps, bombing up and down yankee boy last year with complete abandon. On trail...off trail... just destroying the area and simultaneously the jeeps. I've heard facebook groups show a lot of that kind of stuff happening. The number of side by sides has exploded, along with an increase in bad behavior. Blaring music, jumping tailings piles, chasing wildlife, off trail driving, LOTS of drinking while driving, littering, altercations on trail and in town, etc. I don't think youtube and instagram stuff on the area have done much to help either, but I don't pretend to understand social media.
I'd say if anything, Silverton is looking forward to groups of respectful Toyota 4x4 drivers showing up in town in organized events again. Supporting local businesses, enjoying restaurants, driving their vehicles reasonably (because after all, they have to drive them home), and treating the area well because they plan to come back the next year. It would truly be a shame if they didn't get this stuff figured out and the experience ends up ruined for the genuine, good people they actually want to come visit ( like the people in this group) and you all stop coming.
Just my opinion.
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For anyone that wants to see how Silverton has been managing and experience the flare ups between different types of tourist groups (SxS, UTVs, ATVs, passenger vehicles, 4X4s, Texans) join the San Juan Mountain Trail Group on Facebook. There are discussions about different types of vehicles, blame thrown around for bad behavior, education efforts, mentions of feasability studies with developing Kendall Mountain into a monster ski resort, and many other things - all mediated by a few dedicated residents of Silverton, to include Michael Maxfield, one of the guys that operates the heavy equipment that is used to maintain the roads in the county and clear snow off the passes in the summer.
Just joined. Nice merchandise.
C6H12O6
SILVER Star
Picked this up to drag our junk out from Oregon. Going to be a three week trip for us, so this should hold all the gear better than the back of the 100. Needs some modern tires that'll make the trip, but it's pretty solid otherwise. PO cut the back off and made a tailgate, but did a good job of reinforcing it. Now, let's see if I have time to build a top for it before the trip.
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There are 3 200s in that pic
swhme
SILVER Star
Looking forward to driving out from Maine for this! Can someone give me an idea of what sort of events are scheduled, and what the overall experience is like? I’m planning on coming with my 4-year-old and camping with our RTT either in Silverton or up at Little Molas. If it’s just crawling with people and camping is ill advised, my mom lives down in Durango, so we can go stay down there, too. When I was in high school in Durango, I would drive to Silverton and back every day after class just for fun! (I made it from Hermosa to Silverton in under 30 minutes once... that was dumb. 
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Overall experience - ****ing awesome. There's a reason the event sells out in minutes. The trails are great, but for me the real magic is in camp - the evening events, opportunity to mingle with vendors and other campers, etc.Looking forward to driving out from Maine for this! Can someone give me an idea of what sort of events are scheduled, and what the overall experience is like? I’m planning on coming with my 4-year-old and camping with our RTT either in Silverton or up at Little Molas. If it’s just crawling with people and camping is ill advised, my mom lives down in Durango, so we can go stay down there, too. When I was in high school in Durango, I would drive to Silverton and back every day after class just for fun! (I made it from Hermosa to Silverton in under 30 minutes once... that was dumb.
Very family friendly as well - I attended 8 and 9 with my kids and they had a blast, made friends, etc.
Past events (aside from trail riding) included:
-Opening night reception
-Bourbon/Cigar Social
-Ladies Wine Social
-Catered BBQ dinner
-Beers around the world
-Camp-wide potluck (and everything I've ever had was delicious - the HIH attendees can COOK)
-Kids movie night
-EPIC raffle night
There are plenty of informal events that happen organically - fly fishing the river next to the camp ground, mountain bike riding, etc. My kids (now 5/4) have started talking about going again - really hoping we do it officially this year. I trust Stan and crew are doing everything they can to figure how to make it happen and I support whatever conclusion they come to.
swhme
SILVER Star
Awesome, sounds like a blast and I really hope it happens! (And I can score a ticket!)
atnolan94
I'm Your Huckleberry
It's definitely been on my mind; the lack of communication and the other event (FJ Summit?) getting cancelled have had me a bit concerned. My assumption is that the team is in wait and see mode with hopes of making it happen. If there was no path to having the event, I'd like to think we would have gotten a cancellation notice by this point. My guess is that the team is trying to game out how event guidelines/restrictions might change in the next few months.
Yeah, that's pretty much my assumption as well. It's a little worrisome, but I assume they're just trying to make sure they have their poop in a group for this year instead of having to backpedal or be wishy-washy about things. It's all good, gives me an opportunity to work on patience, haha.
PS - here's a cool snap of a lone Cruiser I noticed in my photos from HIH8 a few yrs ago:
90WT
SILVER Star
One of my favorites from my HIH9 pics. So much snow.
The whole family is looking forward to the trip to HIHX this year.
The whole family is looking forward to the trip to HIHX this year.
I bought a book to become familiar with the area trails. Very nicely printed spiral bound with glossy pages. I'm sure some members have this already.
Amazon product ASIN 1934838268
Amazon product ASIN 1934838268
