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Ski area snow stakes used to have one simple purpose: Usually tucked away in secret locations, they were the measuring tools that ski patrollers checked first thing every morning so that the resort could report whether there was any new snow, and if so, how much.
The internet has changed that, of course. Now, snow stakes often serve as marketing tools, even celebrities, for some resorts. Most have webcams focused on them around the clock so powder hounds can see for themselves how much snow has fallen. Several have time-lapse capability.

Fodor’s influential “No List” discouraged travelers from visiting the American West in 2023, citing the increasingly dry Colorado River and the millions of residents who depend on its water.
But for 2024, the company’s travel experts have recommended one place in Colorado that should be on every vacationer’s bucket list.

Editor’s note: This is part of The Know’s series, Staff Favorites. Each week, we will offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining, shopping, entertainment, outdoor activities and more. (We’ll also let you in on some hidden gems).

I thought I knew how to snowboard until I moved to Colorado.
Growing up in the suburbs of New Orleans, La., I had a leg up on my fellow Southerners, at least. Both of my parents skied in Washington State where I was born, with my dad proposing to my mom by surprising her with an engagement ring in her ski goggles on Christmas 1994.

Six more Colorado ski areas will open this week with limited terrain, but one is postponing its opening by a week or two “due to recent and forecasted warm weather.”
Telluride Ski Resort, which had been scheduled to open on Thanksgiving, is now looking at Dec. 2 or Dec. 8, according to a post on its Instagram page.

Aspen Skiing Company mountains dominate Conde Nast Traveler’s reader’s choice rankings of North American ski resorts for 2023, led by Snowmass, which received top honors in the annual voting. Aspen Mountain was voted fifth and Aspen Highlands was 14th.
Telluride was the only other Colorado resort in the top 15, ranking 11th. Eight other Colorado resorts placed in the top 40.

If you’re planning to pack up your car for a road trip this Thanksgiving, you might want to add Denver’s most recent drop in gas prices to your list of things to be grateful for.
Over the past month, gas prices in Colorado have dropped 55 cents per gallon — 14 cents over the last week alone — for an average of $3.10 per gallon, according to data from GasBuddy.

“Galloping Gourmet: Eating and Drinking with Buffalo Bill,” by Steve Friesen (Bison Books)
One of history buffs’ favorite tales concerns an aging Buffalo Bill, a prodigious drinker. It goes something like this: Told by his doctor to limit his liquor consumption to two shots a day or the result would be calamitous, the showman agreed and told a bartender to serve each shot in a tankard.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is planning to spend $17 million to make some major changes to the look and feel of its east-facing entrance for the first time in decades.
The east plaza revitalization project, which is slated to begin in 2025, will transform the historic entrance of the museum where Infinity Theater (formerly IMAX) patrons enter in the evening. It will also redesign the plaza outside the entrance, museum officials said, opening it up to both the public and museum-goers eating at the cafe and restaurant just inside the doors.

Husband-and-wife team Damien Zouaoui and Jessica French had the right idea when opening Oakwell Beer Spa, formerly known as The Beer Spa. Now, they anticipate a second location in Highlands Ranch, which will open in fall 2024.
“We have been looking for about a year now, specifically for a place that targets south Denver,” French said. “What I am really excited about is the increased capacity for the taproom, and we are having a patio, which will be new for us.”