A skier sustained a head injury at Eldora Mountain Resort and was taken to the hospital by helicopter on Monday afternoon.
About 1:08 p.m., the Boulder County Communications center received a report that a skier had a head injury, according to Carrie Haverfield, a Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. The skier, a 24-year-old man, was seen sliding down one of the runs and was believed to have a head injury, Haverfield said.
No one saw the man hit his head, and there was no visible trauma to the man or his helmet, she said.
The man was taken to the hospital by a Med Evac helicopter.
Eldora’s ski patrol, the Nederland Fire Protection District, American Medical Response and the sheriff’s office responded to the call.
A person was driven to a hospital Tuesday morning after an injury at Eldora Mountain Ski Resort that involved arterial bleeding, which nearly prompted a helicopter transport.
The person was injured in a non-collision incident, according to Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Carrie Haverfield. Haverfield did not know the confirmed cause of the injury.
A medical helicopter was requested but was not sent, Haverfield said. On Tuesday, wind gusts at Eldora were expected to be as high as 34 mph, according to the ski resort website.
Information about the person who was injured was available.
The Nederland Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve the $120 million purchase of the Eldora Mountain Ski Resort, bringing an end to the town’s roughly 16-month effort to capture ownership of the closest ski resort to Denver.
Nederland will pay for the purchase through revenue bonds that are backed by the resort’s earnings, including those from lift ticket rentals, food and drinks, and other activities at the resort. The town says that residents are not responsible for repaying those ponds, nor is the town’s general fund on the hook. Once the debt is paid off, Nederland has said, free cash flow could exceed $5 million. Nederland announced its intention to purchase Eldora in July and has been exploring the possibility since August 2024.
Nederland, a town of about 1,500 people nestled next to the Barker Reservoir, is purchasing Eldora from POWDR, a Utah-based company that bought the resort about a decade ago and also owns Copper Mountain. POWDR will continue to operate Eldora for the next two winters. From there, the company 303 Ski will operate Eldora. The town believes it can build a financial reserve in the first few years of ownership that would cushion the blow of a bad snow year. Eldora’s 700 employees will become municipal staff.
Nederland also plans to annex the mountain, which will allow it to collect sales tax revenue and control land use. The town anticipates that sales tax revenue could bring as much as $2 million annually.
A memo to the trustees says that the resort’s facilities and core infrastructure are well maintained and are positioned to support continued and sustainable operations.
“The resort is in good overall condition and represents a high-quality, viable asset for the community,” the memo says.
As the purchase enters its closing stage, Nederland now needs to obtain a special-use permit from the U.S. Forest Service that’s on “substantially the same terms” as the current permit held by Eldora, according to the asset purchase agreement. Nederland must also enter a new agreement with Alterra Mountain Company to stay on the Ikon Pass.
Through the asset purchase agreement, Nederland purchases “key assets” that are vital to keep the ski area operating, from land to buildings to equipment to permits.
Bank of America and RBC Capital Markets are co-underwriters for the revenue bonds.
Ned heads and Eldora powder hounds were cautiously optimistic in a July community gathering about the town’s move to purchase the mountain. Some saw it as potentially a big risk, while others saw it as an opportunity for the small town to bring in more revenue and open the mountain during the offseason.
Town officials said that there will be more community engagement opportunities about the purchase in the future.
NEDERLAND, Colo. — The Town of Nederland is moving toward its purchase of Eldora Mountain Resort, with final transaction documents set for review by the town’s Board of Trustees Tuesday.
The acquisition could be finalized before the end of the year.
For skiers like John Thompson, who spent 107 days on the slopes last year with about 90 of them at Eldora, the potential purchase is a big deal.
“It’s our once-in-a-lifetime chance to do this, and if we don’t do it now, we’ll never get it again,” Thompson said.
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Pictured: John Thompson, owner of Mountain Man & Eldora Mountain Resort enthusiast
The town plans to finance the purchase through revenue bonds tied to lift tickets, rentals and food sales, according to the document.
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Pictured: Eldora Mountain Resort
State Senator Janice Marchman, a democrat who represents Boulder County, sees multiple benefits from the acquisition, particularly for workers who lost their jobs after the Caribou Village Shopping Center fire in October.
“It’ll be good for revenue,” Marchman said. “It’ll be good for the workforce, and it’ll be really good for all of the surrounding areas, as people continue to come up.”
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Pictured: State Senator Janice Marchman, District 15
However, some residents remain cautiously optimistic, concerned about how a poor snow season could impact the town’s other budgeting decisions.
With the town closing in on the sale, Sam Bass, Director of Marketing at Eldora Mountain Resort, provided a statement to Denver7 that said, “The sale process is underway and the timeline is unknown, but all of us here at Eldora are looking forward to a bright future under the Town of Nederland’s stewardship.”
Meanwhile, Thompson and other Eldora enthusiasts hope local ownership will return the mountain to its small-town roots.
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Pictured: Welcome sign to the Town of Nederland
“Eldora has always been one of the smallest resorts in Colorado,” said Thompson. “It’s always been the place where people go, where they don’t want to spend $1,000 at Vail, they want to just go for the afternoon.”
Documents indicate final authorization of the purchase could come in mid-December.
Read our previous coverage on Nederland’s plan to purchase Eldora below:
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NEDERLAND, Colo. — As Nederland recovers from a devastating fire earlier this month, the community has found support thanks to a nonprofit bringing a mobile laundry unit into the mountain town.
“It was like the nucleus of the town. Everyone went there, hung out. The brewers there, the liquor store was there, the yoga center was there…everybody was there, that was our town, half the town burned down,” James Tigue, Nederland resident, said.
The Colorado Baptist Disaster Relief brought a mobile laundry unit to help the community have a nearby option for getting their clothes washed. Dennis Belz, state director for Colorado Baptist Disaster Relief, said the nonprofit has served the mountain town before after wildfires and other floods, but after hearing about the downtown fire, they saw a need for their mobile laundry unit.
Jacob Curtis
“We saw that it burned down, and knowing that that was the only laundromat in town, and that a lot of people do not have enough water pressure to have their own washing machines. People were traveling 25 to 50 miles round-trip to get their laundry done, and we thought, well, if we can just bring this unit up here and help them locally,” Belz said.
Throughout Saturday afternoon, Linda Belz was moving out different loads of laundry and folding up clean clothes to be ready for pick up. With three washers and four dryers, Linda explained she has to ‘keep them going and synchronizing’ them so it doesn’t drain at the same time.
Jacob Curtis
Tigue came later in the evening to pick up his laundry, expressing his appreciation to Linda and Dennis for helping the communityduring this difficult time. He said, “It’s such a help to community, Ned strong. Everybody in Ned is really strong in supporting everybody. People giving out food, laundry, and money. It’s a great town, Ned strong, stay strong Ned.”
Laundry is done for free by the nonprofit, and people receive a call when their clean clothes are ready to be picked up. Belz explained the mobile unit has been in at least 25 cities helping with disasters, but this visit in Nederland is unique because of the people who live there.
Maggy Wolanske
“One of the things is it’s a small community that has an immediate need. I really enjoyed going to the small communities because you get to know a lot of people. You get to build a relationship with them, and it’s just to have this set up in this little community because of the need they have, I think is very helpful and it just helped us to feel like we’re doing something to really help people that are in that time of need,” Belz said.
Depending on the weather, Belz said the unit will be staying for a month and that there will be another laundry unit from New Mexico going to southwest Colorado to help the flooding victims.
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There is “no credible evidence” that the fire that destroyed businesses in the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland last week was intentionally set, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday afternoon.
The final determination on the origin and cause of the fire is pending, as detectives await the outcome of evidence submitted to a lab for testing and analysis, according to a news release.
And investigator with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives carries evidence from the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland on Thursday. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Over the past week, an investigative team has conducted interviews, has reviewed surveillance footage, has analyzed photographs and videos submitted by the public, and has excavated the fire scene to collect evidence.
Investigators from the sheriff’s office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Response Team; the Nederland Fire Protection District; the Colorado Bureau of Investigation; and the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control are all working on the case. It was not clear how long investigators will remain on scene.
The fire spread quickly through the shopping center in the predawn hours of Oct. 9, destroying more than a dozen businesses. No people were injured in the blaze, but all of the animals at the Wild Bear Nature Center perished. The fire did not spread to the nearby B&F Mountain Market or the Carousel of Happiness. The market, the town’s only grocery store, reopened Sunday. The carousel reopened Thursday.
Seventeen businesses and the sheriff’s office Nederland substation were a “complete structural loss,” the sheriff’s office said in Thursday’s release.
Once investigators reach a final determination of origin and cause, the sheriff’s office, Nederland Fire Protection District and the ATF will provide an update. It was not immediately clear how long that would take.
Big Springs Drive, behind the Caribou Village Shopping Center, is now open.
Investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Nederland Fire Protection District are seen at the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland on Thursday. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Vehicles from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Fire Investigation and Boulder County Sheriff’s Office are seen at the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland on Friday. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Speaking with media at the scene Friday morning, Boulder County sheriff’s spokesman Vinnie Montez said investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Colorado Bureau of Investigation; Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control; and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office were on the scene.
However, Nederland Fire Protection District Chief Charlie Schmidtmann said none were expected to be able to access the charred remains until Saturday afternoon.
Schmidtmann said there is still no word on the cause or source of the fire, which spread quickly through the shopping center in the predawn hours Thursday, destroying every business located there.
Montez said he did not want to speculate the fire being related to any past threats made at the shopping center. He said that officials plan to “canvas, research, interview and review submitted videos and photos” in their investigation.
He reiterated that there are no reported injuries and no reports of anyone who might have been camping in the area.
The sheriff’s office is asking for anyone who has photos or video from before, during or after the fire to contact the office at bcsotips@bouldercounty.gov, by phone at 303-441-3674, or at bouldercounty.gov/safety/sheriff/.
State, federal help
By 12:40 p.m. Friday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Rep. Joe Neguse, whose 2nd Congressional District includes Nederland, had arrived to speak with gathered reporters and to offer their help to business owners and others affected by the fire.
U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse speaks as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis looks on during a press conference with local and state representatives at the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland on Friday. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
“We look forward to doing everything the state can, with Boulder County, to work with Ned to support the small businesses and, rather, the residents of Nederland at this time,” said Polis said, who called the shopping center “the linchpin of the community.”
Polis said that the state will work to ensure any unemployment insurance gets to affected business owners and employees “seamlessly.” The governor also told reporters that the state could help direct affected locals to the state’s Office of Economic Development for any relevant resources.
The area around the shopping center is expected to be closed for up to a few weeks as investigators determine the origin and cause of the fire, Polis said.
Neguse took the opportunity to note that members of the ATF have been working without pay during the federal government shutdown, adding that he hopes the shutdown comes to a close soon.
He said that business owners and residents affected by the blaze can contact his office if they need help accessing federal assistance or getting any crucial documents.
“This community is a strong community; it is a wonderful, eclectic community,” Neguse said. “It will rally in a way that it has already rallied, and I’m excited to tell my daughter, who loves the (Carousel of Happiness), … that it will be open here in short order.”
With B&F Mountain Market in the background, firefighters extinguish hot spots from a fire at the Caribou Village Shopping Center in Nederland on Thursday. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Effect on community
Nederland’s only supermarket, the B&F Mountain Market, will remain closed “all weekend,” a store manager said early Friday.
When asked how the situation looks, Derek Gregory said he is “not sure.”
The grocery store, which shares a parking lot with the shopping center, was closed and blocked off on Thursday morning. It might have sustained smoke damage, Montez said.
Town Manager Jonathan Cain said that the town hopes to get the store open soon.
“It’s a pretty critical resource not just for the town of Nederland but the entire region,” Cain said, speaking to reporters on Thursday. “We want to keep it open and a resource for the community.”
Nederland Mayor Billy Gilbin, speaking Friday afternoon, said he hopes the B&F Market will open as soon as Monday.
The grocery store is the only one of its size in Nederland. Gilbin said the town’s food pantry has been “beefed up” and that the Mountain People’s Co-op is open for business for those who need groceries in the meantime.
On Friday, one road remained closed due to the fire: Big Springs Drive eastbound from Colo. 119. Motorists headed to subdivisions east of the fire site were asked to use Peakview Road.
Schmidtmann said Friday that firefighters used hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to fight the blaze, adding that the building was up to code but had no fire suppression mechanisms. Residents in the area are no longer being asked to conserve water.
Flames engulfed a strip mall in Nederland early Thursday morning, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents, according to the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
As of 5:51 a.m., the fire had been “knocked down substantially,” but continued to burn, sheriff’s office spokesperson Vinnie Montez said in a video posted by the agency.
The flames are contained to the Caribou Village Shopping Center at 20 Lakeview Drive in Nederland, Montez said.
While crews continue to battle the fire, Montez said the following road closures remained in place:
Eastbound Big Springs Drive at Colorado 119, also known as Bridge Street
Westbound Big Springs Drive at Conger Street
Eastbound Lakeview Drive at Colorado 119
And westbound Lakeview Drive at Conger Street
It’s unclear exactly when the fire started, but emergency officials issued an evacuation order for areas around the shopping center and near Barker Meadow Reservoir at 3:28 a.m. Thursday.
The evacuation area is bordered to the north and west by Colorado 119, the south by Peakview Road and the east by the end of the Barker Meadow Reservoir, the map shows.
Information about the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage was not immediately available.
