Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2023 i 5280 Magazine

When Trent Johnson bought Greeley Hat Works in 1996, he vowed to not change a thing—at least as far as the manufacturing process was concerned. But Johnson believed the now 114-year-old company’s handmade hats deserved a bigger piece of the limelight, so in addition to the farmers and ranchers who constitute his core clientele, Johnson’s hats have graced the noggins of Peyton Manning, Lady Gaga, and Miranda Lambert. In 2017, those A-list patrons caught the eye of filmmaker Taylor Sheridan, who asked Johnson to design headwear for the cast of his new show Yellowstone. Johnson approached the task with the same meticulousness he brings to his haberdashery, even spending two weeks with the cast—including Kevin Costner, who plays ranch owner John Dutton—just to better understand their personalities. The result? Each…

It was January 2018, and after nearly 32 years, master brewer Keith Villa decided it was time to retire from what’s now called Molson Coors Brewing Company. At 55, he’d reached the age where he could leave with a full pension and benefits.“Besides,”he says, “I’d done everything I wanted to do in alcohol.” It’s a typical understatement from the man who transformed the American brewing landscape and whose resumé only serves to highlight his modesty. In 1999, the mega-macrobrewery, then Coors Brewing Company, tasked Villa with reformulating what’s now called Coors Banquet, one of its flagships inspired by the first beer Adolph Coors made upon opening his namesake Golden brewery in 1873. Villa also helped the global conglomerate launch several ground-breaking products, including Batch 19, a pre-Prohibition-style lager; Aspen Edge,…

When your daughter gets snagged by the photo speed van on First Avenue near Cherry Creek: The Brady Tarot cards ($55; bradytarot.com), which can help her foresee the speed trap next time. When your partner loves the Broncos and they, well, suck: Two Ravens Soap Company Happy Canyon bar ($9; tworavenssoap.com) to help wash the stink off. When your neighbor endos on Maryland Mountain’s Ore Chute Trail and earns a skull full of stitches for his efforts: Be Hippy Old School Pom beanie ($44; behippy.com), a stylin’ topper so he can at least keep his melon covered until his hairline—and maybe his pride?—recovers. When an epic day at A-Basin turns into three days of windburn for your visiting college friend: Zugel Oil’s hydrating face oil ($59; zugel.com or Wish Gifts) so TSA will still…

When your trekking buddy takes a season-ending digger on Longs Peak: Moore Collection Colorado Candle, which has a blue spruce scent (starting at $24; moorecollection.com or at Feral in Berkeley), to bring the great outdoors to him until he can rejoin you on milder adventures. When your best friend’s Sloan’s Lake basement floods. Again: Lil’ House Blessing ($35; at Sacred Thistle in Golden Triangle) to ward off the puddles during the next thunderstorm. When your husband totals his Subaru in the last spring blizzard (but is fine): Undestructable Standing Plant Propagation Station ($40; undestructable.org) because something should be. Fill it with pothos, a hardy vine that does well in Colorado’s dry climate. When your unemployed brother doesn’t get his dream job at Ball Aero-space: Locally made Laws Whiskey House Four Grain Straight Bourbon…

Sometimes “Let’s have a cold one” is code for “I’m here to listen.” But there’s nothing worse than a warm Colorado craft beer. Commiserate properly with a can cooler (pictured; $6; hipviolet.com) from Denver’s Hip Violet. Drop a zero-waste peppermint lip balm ($6; mountaintimesoap.com or at Show of Hands in Cherry Creek) from Golden’s Mountain Time Soap Shop & Supply on your colleague’s desk when you know he’s chapped about not being able to take Friday off to make some turns. Keep one of Denver-based photographer-designer Stephanie Mikuls’ Inviting in Magic affirmation packs ($22; stephaniemikuls.com) in your Jeep so you can deliver one of 31 typewritten slips—maybe, “The energy I put out comes back to me”—to your favorite Corvus Coffee Roasters barista on a busy morning. When your cousin needs…

When your spry (but shockingly lazy) teenager refuses to help shovel the snow: Olive & Olde’s Lavender Comfort Pack ($46; oliveandoldes.com or at Fern and Skye in Speer) can be heated in the microwave to help soothe tight (read: old) muscles and an irritated mood. When your girlfriend thought you might really enjoy a day of goat yoga in Golden but you just ended up smelling like a farm: Longmont’s Muddy Mint Mountain Man Shampoo & Body Bar ($10; muddymint.com) will restore your sense of masculinity and de-ruminant your personal scent with a blend of cedar wood, fir, and juniper berry. When Denver’s Christkindl-market was a zoo: Boulder’s Vital You’s Balance bath bomb ($16, vitalyouproducts.com) with 100 milligrams of CBD isolate plus flower essences or Denver-based Harvest Moon Botanics’ Self Love…

Don’t ignore the obvious. Someone has died, and the loss is going to hurt in ways most people haven’t yet imagined. Acknowledge that loss, and in a way that will mean something to both you and the person you’re trying to comfort. Don’t make it all about you. “I’m devastated” or “This loss really hits me hard” puts you at the center of the message. Do you belong there? Maybe. Maybe not. Avoid clichés. “I’m sorry for your loss” is overused and doesn’t really acknowledge the person whose life has just ended. “They’re in a better place” assumes a lot and may even offend those who don’t believe in a spiritual afterlife. Strive for words that acknowledge the special role the deceased played in so many lives. Recall a favorite…

On a bluebird day in late March, ski patrol director Tessa Dawson stretches her arm toward a tantalizing swath of powder dotted with lodgepole pines that spills down Aspen Mountain. She’s showing off Hero’s: 153 acres of new groomers, glades, and steeps that will increase the resort’s acreage by more than 20 percent when it debuts this winter. “We haven’t added terrain on Aspen Mountain in a long, long time,” Dawson says. In fact, Hero’s is the biggest thing that’s happened here since the Silver Queen Gondola started spinning in 1985. Skiers and boarders will certainly enjoy the extra space and new high-speed quad chair, but there’s a grimmer reason for the expansion: climate change. “The threat is extreme,” says Auden Schendler, Aspen Skiing Company’s senior vice president of sustainability.…

Gordon Autry earned his pilot’s license as a teenager in the 1940s. By 21, he was a flight instructor and later helped chart the route for I-70 from the air. The aviator, always sharply dressed in a threepiece suit and with slicked-back hair, particularly loved flying recreationally from Denver to Vail and figured Front Rangers might pay for the pleasure. Autry’s Vail Airways took off in 1965, and at its peak in 1976, the carrier—by then renamed Rocky Mountain Airways (RMA)—flew 124,000 passengers among 18 Colorado towns and cities annually.“It really revolutionized the way people thought about airplane travel here in Colorado,” says former RMA pilot Terry McVenes. No longer just for the jet set or big city businessmen, air travel was now also a quick, cost-effective way to move…

According to birth order theory, last-born siblings tend to be rebellious charmers. They’re often able to push the boundaries further because their parents have already been through it all with their elder two children. Ototo, which means “younger brother” in Japanese, joined the restaurant family that encompasses Sushi Den and Izakaya Den in 2016, thus completing what is now referred to as the Den Corner on South Pearl Street. But while the older siblings reopened after the pandemic-induced shutdowns of 2020, Ototo remained dark for three years. Yasu Kizaki, who co-owns the Den Corner businesses with his brother, Toshi, says Ototo stayed closed to enable the team to focus on the success of Sushi Den. When Ototo finally turned its stoves back on this April, the overlooked last-born began to…

1. A ticket to ride the Carousel of Happiness in Nederland costs $3, but the smile on your loved ones’ faces as they bob up and down on a giraffe or zebra or ostrich is worth forgoing that latte once this week to cover the price. 2. Write some silly or encouraging notes in the margins of a Colorado-based novel for your friend to find while reading. Consider one of Kent Haruf’s beautiful but heart-breaking stories—we suggest Plainsong ($18; Tattered Cover Book Store)—because sometimes when life sucks, reading about people who have it worse helps. 3. Take your down-in-the-dumps dad out to a 2 Blondes All Breed Rescue event; the Denver nonprofit, which has helped more than 10,000 pets find their forever homes since launching in 2015, hosts free meet-and-greets almost…

When your neighbors’ Bernese Mountain Dog delivers his last sloppy kiss: A custom portrait from Long-mont’s Nose Prints Art (from $400; noseprintsart.com) to memorialize the many years of tail wags. Rachelle Albright captures the personality of four-legged loved ones in her acrylic-oncanvas pieces, ensuring Moose will always be with them. When a wildfire takes your coworker’s home—and everything in it: Fenway Clayworks cup ($48; fenwayclayworks.com) because you have to start the rebuilding somewhere, and Sean Vander-Vliet’s handmade cups provide at least a small amount of comfort—especially when paired with tea; we like Longmont’s Bespoke Provisions Masala Chai Black Tea ($14; bespokesalt.com). When your BFF’s mom is no longer around for their annual Thanksgiving Brown Palace high tea: Nikki Nation’s two-tone heavy textured cuff and the constellation cuff ($2,060 and $865; nikkinationjewelry.com or…

Everyone has a dead pet story. I thought mine was different, though. My nine-year-old boxer, Bodhi, had been sick off and on for several weeks, and although we’d been to the vet, he was still having some unexplained gastrointestinal distress. I knew something wasn’t right, but it also seemed like nothing was seriously wrong. So on a January morning in 2015, I noticed that he felt hotter to the touch than usual and that he seemed a little agitated—unusual for a dog who typically had an angelic disposition—but after giving him some scratches, I went to work anyhow. It was the last time I saw Bodhi alive. The guilt was tremendous. I had neglected him, I thought. I left him alone to die. He wasn’t himself, and I had ignored…

1. Founded by Arley Torsone and Morgan Calderini, Ladyfingers Letterpress (ladyfingersletterpress.com) is a Colorado Springs company that has a way with words. Whether you’re trying to tell someone he is your happy pill or that you love her despite the way she loads the dishwasher or that it’s OK for them to freak out, Ladyfingers Letterpress probably has the perfect missive for the job. 2. Longmont-based Sweet & Snarky (sweetandsnarkygoods.com) has dozens of cards that say exactly what’s in your head—only in a funnier (or sweeter) way. We love their messages for when fur babies go to heaven, but the illustration that goes with the company’s “Holy Shit” card is too good to pass up. 3. You’ll need to make a run to Meininger Art Material to grab some basic…

A week after an Aurora police officer shot and killed Jor’Dell Richardson, a crowd of 200 or so protestors swelled in front of the Aurora Municipal Center. It was June 9, and chants of “Justice for Jor’Dell!” pierced the early evening air. One protestor held an upside-down American flag bearing the names of more than 100 victims of police violence from across the country jotted along the length of Old Glory’s stripes; another clutched a bundle of white sage—its smoke, in some spiritual traditions, is used as a tool to heal and purify. SWAT team officers monitored the gathering from the facility’s roof as calls for the resignation of Art Acevedo—Aurora’s interim police chief and fifth boss in four years—periodically emanated from the crowd. Richardson, a 14-year-old Black teenager, died…

1 Aspen After a $50-million-plus renovation, the former Molly Gibson Lodge will reopen in December as the Mollie Aspen, a boutique hotel complete with a rooftop pool and lobby bar by Gin & Luck, the folks behind the award-winning Death & Co cocktail bars. 2 Breckenridge Ski Resort The Peak 8 base area’s makeover continues with the conversion of 5-Chair, its last slow-speed lift, into a high-speed quad, a welcome upgrade for the mountain’s most notoriously crowded loading zone. 3 Keystone Resort A high-speed six-pack will now whisk skiers to the Bergman and Erickson bowls, 550 acres of intermediate and expert terrain that was previously only accessible by slinging your skis over your shoulders and hoofing it. 4 Steamboat Ski Resort When Steamboat drops the inaugural rope on Mahogany Ridge…

While there are many noteworthy restaurants in the Mile High City that focus on authentic interpretations of dishes from hyper-specific regions around the world, it’s particularly refreshing when chefs create culinary genres of their own. After more than 20 years of working in kitchens across the Front Range, that’s exactly what Luis and Heriberto Gutierrez are doing at year-old Cucina Bella. At the strip-mall joint south of Lowry, Luis, an alum of ll Posto and Cattivella, and Heriberto, who cooked for Denver-based manufacturer Ready Foods, expertly execute a comforting lineup of pastas, pizzas, and antipasti. The fruits of the brothers’ labor—lemon-kissed chicken piccata with velvety mashed potatoes; silky spaghettini studded with prawns and fresh basil; and beautifully blistered pies topped with everything from wild mushrooms and truffle oil to…

CANTINA LOCA Famous Siblings: Work & Class and Super Mega Bien When you are craving chef Dana Rodriguez’s slow-braised meats and comforting sides, avoid the crowds at her RiNo eateries and head to Cantina Loca in LoHi instead. There, dig into Mexico City–inspired plates produced with the same care in a neighborhood with (slightly) more parking. 2890 Zuni St. BRIDER Famous Sibling: Oak at Fourteenth In 2015, the team behind the woodfired cuisine at Boulder’s Oak at Fourteenth hatched a fast-casual chicken joint. The result, Brider in LoHi, specializes in spit-roasted birds and scratch-made sides designed to please every palate. 1644 Platte St. PIZZERIA ALBERICO Famous Sibling: Frasca Food and Wine This Boulder establishment, which debuted as Pizzeria Locale in 2010 and rebranded in 2023, may not have Frasca’s James…

“After The Love Has Gone” by Earth, Wind & Fire One of the finest heartbreak songs from the ’70s, the soulful melody’s lead vocals are shared by Maurice White, the group’s founder, and Philip Bailey, who attended East High School. If this slow, crushing ballad doesn’t leave you reaching for Kleenex, you probably shouldn’t reach for another relationship, either. “Love Don’t” by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats Colorado’s Rateliff puts his heart on the line with every measure in “Love Don’t,” which has all the sonic ingredients of a soul-rattling ’60s Memphis Stax recording. With lyrics that outline precisely what love shouldn’t be—miserable—this powerful horn-and-drum-stacked anthem practically demands moving on. “Break Up Song” by DeVotchKa Could there be a more apt inclusion on a breakup playlist than this entry…

I’m not a person who likes surprises. Not on my taxes, nor on my birthday. And yet one of my greatest pleasures is finding ways to sneak tiny surprises into the nooks and crannies of my loved ones’ lives: their favorite sweet on a stressful workday; a snarky magnet to ease the sting of back-to-back health annoyances; a small bit of bling to reclaim a day that once belonged to a wedding anniversary. When I was a kid, my family was without the proverbial pot to piss in (read: very poor). But what we could do was show affection in myriad little ways on completely unexceptional days—from notes on napkins in lunch sacks to Pop Rocks shoved through locker slots. In the subsequent decades of leaving I’m-thinking-of-yous on desks, at…

Pick up: a salted caramel coffee milk chocolate art bar (pictured; $9) From: Thornton’s Dar Chocolate For when: 60 percent, ethically traded, certified organic cacao wrapped in the art of a local creative will remind the struggling Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design student in your life that people do care about beautiful things. Pick up: a Carefree Chocolate bar ($8) From: Evergreen’s Functional Chocolate Company For when: a mellow mint truffle flavor infused with herbs, botanicals, and other natural ingredients can decrease your neighbor’s anxiety about trying to buy a new house in Denver. Pick up: a six-ounce bag of Mexican drinking chocolate ($12) From: Denver’s Cultura Chocolate For when: a cinnamon-tinged hot chocolate helps alleviate your parents’ disappointment when their United Airlines flight to—and therefore their vacation…

I don’t remember who found the box. I was too dazed at the time to notice. My father, a loving and—if I’m being kind—tumultuous man, had died unexpectedly of a stroke this past spring, and my siblings, our significant others, and I had rushed to South Florida to plan his funeral. He didn’t leave a will, so we knew his estate would be a mess. What we didn’t expect was the state of his home. My dad had been a fastidious man who worked abroad for much of my childhood, so during his visits home, we’d spend much of our time deep cleaning. When we got into his house after his death, however, we found the home of an unwell man. We couldn’t move for the piles of trash. Where…