Discover Colorado full special presentation: Holiday favorites
[Music] coming up the people and places that make Colorado special biggest Christmas tree in the United States we'll share a one-of-a-kind way to discover our state from 14,000 ft up this is truly a unique attraction to the United States and so if you truly want a once in a-lifetime experience of going to a 14,000 ft Mountain this is it we mush across Colorado's back country and get in some turns at the snowiest ski resort in North America they have so much snow that we just we come we don't even have to look we just snow plus celebrating the rich family tradition behind some of Colorado's Hidden Treasures we're just so thankful for the opportunity to raise our children and such a unique setting uh it's just it's hard to find something like this anymore with such deep uh Rich family history and tradition thanks for watching this Denver 7 plus special presentation of discover Colorado I'm Katie Lal we'll show you those stories and more over the next half hour but let's start by getting in the holiday spirit and what better place to do that than the North Pole and no we're not traveling 4,500 miles for this story we head to the base of Pikes Peak where festive Family Fun is the spirit of the Season welcome to the North Pole come on [Music] in Colorado but if you just address a letter to Santa it ends up here the post office wants to deliver all the mail so they find a home for a Santa letter and where he at the North Pole Santa workshop is a family oriented amusement park for families with younger children when the park was built in 1956 I was 5 years old my mother and father were heavily involved in the park my mother did all the buying for the park and my father was you know in charge of building the park and so I spent most of my days at the park and if I was in school when I got off the bus I would come up I had jobs that I did I was in charge of some of the animals and had to feed the goats baby goats and we bottle fed them and I did that and so you know the park was my playground both my children work here they worked here when they were kids and they both decided that this is where they would go ahead and work and happy that they did I think it's it's good for the family good for them good for me we have 26 rides open eight different gift shops magic show Santa Claus kids can ride their rides as many times they want we have people that fly in to do nothing to come to S Workshop we're generational at this point where we have there's not hardly a day goes by that I don't have a grandparent come up and say you know I came here 50 years ago with my grandparents and I just want to let you know how unique it is for us to come back as Grandparents with our grandchildren and experience many of the same things that that I was able to do with my grandparents 50 years ago we're 65 years old this year and we haven't changed what we're about we are an old dinosaur that is very happy with what we have we have a very small Niche but a very loyal Niche that comes every year they are certainly emotionally invested in the park everybody in here is for the same thing they're all just in here enjoying themselves having fun those are the memories that they that the mothers and daddies will take with them and the children because they are spending time and that is the hardest thing that people can give anymore cuz everybody's busy and so when you're you're asking a mom or dad or the family to come for 4 hours you're asking a lot because they've all are busy but you know at the end of the day it's going to be a fun day for them and that's really all you're trying to do is is provide a fun day for the family and we can do that we stay on America's Mountain for our next story it has been taking people to the summit of Pikes Peak for 130 years and the views they haven't gotten any less Majestic join me for a ride on the Pikes Peak Cog [Music] Railway we're one of only two Cog Railways in the US and about 40 around the world most are located in the Alps and so this is truly a unique attraction to the United States and so if you truly want a once in a lifetime experience of going to a 14,000 ft Mountain this is it the original Construction uh started in 1890 the first trip to the summit was completed on June 30th 1891 so we just celebrated our 130th anniversary uh this June we actually just did a a full renovation and overhaul of our Railway we have a a center rail a third rail called a rack Rail and that's what the Cog wheel that's underneath the train hooks into and pulls the train up the mountain where a typical Railway gets their motoring and braking power through the outside rails we get ours through that Center rail the ride is just fantastic um obviously with our new track and new trains it's super smooth um you can sit back let us do the work and you're going to go through four different climate zones you're going to see all sorts of wildlife as you go up the mountain you're going to feel that transition as you start going higher and higher and you know feel the less oxygen in the air and um then once you get to the summit it's truly a a unique feeling once you're up there okay it is all aboard we're getting ready to go on the train and at the top I've heard they have some really great Donuts let's check it [Music] out the first structure up here was actually a weather research station for the Army for the military and then once tourism and we built the Pikes speak Highway and people started coming that facility transitioned over into the first Visitor Center we've uh done a complete redesign of the summit facilities the new Summit Visitor Center offers guests brand new opportunities to explore the history the people the place first we wanted to make sure that the experience was very Dynamic and engaging and interactive so guests will find both static displays information on timelines but also interactive pieces on a clear day when you don't have any clouds from the summit of Pikes Peak you can see downtown Denver they say you can see four states um and that's looking onto to the Horizon so we do actually talk about what you can see if you take the interpretive Loop outside um you can explore and there's some interpreted markers that actually show you what Peaks you're seeing how far away they are the famous Donuts our biggest feedback in our public process was don't get rid of the doughnut so it is a top secret recipe if you take a doughnut up here it's a it's it's a cake doughnut it has cinnamon sugar on it um we do not recommend taking that doughnut downhill it has a tendency to deflate so science experiment for kids what happens to a pike donut at altitude for most people this is the only time they will ever set foot on a 14er um it's it's magnificent between the views and the experience itself you have the opportunity to experience Wildlife such as marmots big horn sheep it gives you that opportunity to experience Mother Nature at its best what an amazing experience and the beauty of Pikes Peak it is open year round and accessible to everyone I had so much fun riding the Cog Railway it's also a Choose Your Own Adventure to get to the top we think it is an absolute spot worth discovering in our colorful Colorado staying at elevation Wolf Creek ski area has the bragging rights as the snowiest ski resort in North America but as Landon Hoff shows us its humble atmosphere might be its biggest draw really gives me a peace of mind to be able to be up here sliding around and looking at the great views in the South San Juans welcome to Wolf Creek ski area wolf Creek's just a beautiful place nestled in a rather convenient pocket of the San Juan mountains in Southwestern Colorado a very beautiful part of uh the the Rocky Mountains the resort sits just south of Wolf Creek Pass at more than 10,000 FT elevation between two mountain ranges and colliding weather patterns so it makes a basically an l and we're right at the the Apex of that L the result of that geography a microclimate that brings this Ski Resort the most snow in Colorado they have so much snow that we just we come we don't even have to look we just know it's known for being a a Powder Mountain uh we consistently get 430 in uh that's our average snow depth but even with that big time Snow Wolf Creek has a rather small time feel we try very hard to uh provide a a good skiing experience at an affordable price but it's not just because of the $92 peak season lift tickets we wouldn't be anywhere else it's also because Wolf Creek is family-owned and what a ski family it is by the way Davy pitcher's parents started Santa Fe ski resort and his oldest brother runs Discovery ski resort in Montana you get raised into the business um you end up doing everything and wolf Creek's roots in the ski industry have helped shape the experience here we really like seeing families come up and have a good time so everything is geared uh towards that type of uh um skiing experience it can be challenging it can be an easy gromor day you can go in the trees so come on down to bagosa Springs it's a great place to be and enjoy a powder day on the 1600 Acres of skiable terrain at Wolf Creek so when you get on the mountain you really feel like you're skiing by yourself even though there's quite a few people around but be warned after visiting Wolf Creek you just might want to move to Southwest Colorado if we could live here we'd probably move tomorrow honestly yeah this is our second home while we were here my husband found a condo down in southp we love that little town and we bought it on the spot for Denver 7 in Pagosa Springs looking at condos to buy I'm Landon Hoff you heard it there Wolf Creek regularly gets over 400 in of snow a year and a fun fact in the winter of 1978 to 79 the resort saw a whopping 870 in that is the largest single year total on record in Colorado still ahead the largest Christmas tree lighting in the country happens in a small Colorado Mountain mountain town Christmas Mountain is a 750 ft outline Christmas tree with 10,000 LED bulbs plus a 12m tour through the Yampa Valley like you have never seen before those stories after the [Music] break welcome back to this Denver 7 plus special presentation of discover Colorado we're bringing you the stories of the people and places that make our state so amazing our next story takes us back to the High Country where we capture the magic of the holidays this is Salida Colorado a Charming community in the heart of the Rockies so you've got this very flavorful really artsy downtown and at the base of downtown is the Arkansas River which just hugs our downtown it's a fixture of the so-called banana belt we all love the outdoors that's why we're here and Prides itself on the recreation here we can go skiing we can fish we can bike all on the same day we have a a state of-the-art skateboard park with a population of just over 6,000 though it doesn't even crack the top 100 largest cities in Colorado that's according to census data but this time of year it's not the size of the town in the holiday spirit it's the size of the holiday spirit in the town what happens the day after Thanksgiving and they do Christmas big in these parts this is Christmas Mountain Christmas Mountain is a 750t outlining Christmas tree with 10,000 LED bulbs and it's this small town tucked away in the southwatch mountains that boasts the largest Christmas tree lighting in the country I have had the privilege of flying over Tenderfoot mountain or Christmas Mountain USA um in the month of December and the pilot has you know tipped his wings and been like hey everybody you got to check this out biggest Christmas tree in the United States the Christmas Mountain tradition began in 1989 since the beginning it's been a group of volunteers and small businesses in Salida that keep Christmas Mountain alive and in case you didn't know maintaining a Christmas tree the size of a mountain face is no small task but there could be mock 70 mile winds up there and snow and cold and somebody has to go up there and do the repair so it's it's not a flat I mean we're talking glies and little Ravines and it's steep you know and the celebration doesn't stop at the 700 50 foot tree either cida rings in the holiday season with holiday park at the base of Tenderfoot Mountain complete with lit Christmas trees a parade and of course Santa Claus Santa lights the mountain and everybody cheers and the hold it's huge for Denver 7 in Salida Colorado and very much in the holiday spirit I'm Landon [Music] Hoff such a fun celebration there fireworks and all the Christmas festivities don't end on December 25th either you can go check out Christmas Mountain and Holiday Park until January 9th so now we go from marryt to mushing it is a oneof a-kind way to explore a Colorado Winter Wonderland on the back of a dog sled join us on this trip to the Yampa Valley the dogs have a really addictive personality they're definitely the star of the show they wake up every day and are saying let's go do this again they make up with the same Vigor and that same desire you and I don't want to go to work you know like I'm ready to go to Vacation these guys are pretty passionate about it and so being able to go work with somebody that likes to be there or an animal that you know that wants to go do what it's doing is part of the reason we started doing this at Grizzle te we bring people out and teach them to drive dog teams we try and offer a Hands-On active activity where we get to take him out in the back country and teach him to drive a dog team for 12 and 1 12 miles and hope to get that accomplished in a half day program right now I've got about 110 dogs two kids and a partridge and a Paar tree my wife and I have been running this program together for about the last 19 years we've got a 4-year-old and a six-year-old so they've become an active part of it these kids they you know they love the dogs they call them all their doggies they're basically siblings to the kids some days I keep thinking we're going to wake up and find them in a dogghouse if we're not lucky personally I think that we have the best trail in Colorado we provide the most hands-on experience it's the longest trail for people to go out we have kids from 8 years old the people that are 80 years old come out and drive dog team so it's kind of designed for the everyday individual the unique thing is is for the most part when we're able to run out of our kennel we run on a private Ranch so that we get to control and send people out in a safe environment and take them out and um get to have a pretty private and unique experience they can take their kids and their family and go drive a dog team for a morning or an afternoon we have a ton of people that go ah you know we went and dog SED in Alaska we've done it before and then they show up here and go wow that was 100 times better cuz I actually got to drive the team it was 10 times longer and really got an idea of kind of what it was to be honest Colorado is a perfect spot for it cuz it's not 40 below most of the time so it's sunny and nice outside and you get to see beautiful Vistas I like to think I've got a special connection with the dogs I've on their parents their grandparents they're great grandparents they grow up in our house with our kids from puppies and they're like people they all got their own way of going some want to jump all over you and never leave you alone some of them go you know I'm just kind of a shy guy I like to get pet twice a day and then kind of do my own thing they want to purpose and they want a job and that what makes them happy and gives them satisfaction so to be able to provide that opportunity and still give them something to go do and have people experience that an outdoor setting where you get to go out and enjoy the beautiful Yampa Valley why I guess what I'm still doing it's not the easiest thing in the world to do by any means but it's neat to be able to be outside and work with dogs that want to be happy all day you know what more do you want still ahead the only thing richer than the flavor of a delicious Palisade Peach is the family tradition of a farm that grows them it means a ton for me to you know be able to raise our boys in the same environment that I was raised in and carry on all those Traditions that story is [Music] next Palisade peaches they're known for their sweetness that's unique to their corner of Colorado and we're about to show you a love for the famous fruit that's unique to the farm that grows them you got dirty on your nose is it gone okay we're married family Orchards is a seven generation Family Farm I'm part of the sixth generation so grew up here my whole life our sons will are the Seventh Generation if they you know decide to keep it going we've been here since 1897 we have our Fruit Stand that's right next to our Packing Shed right off the highway uh we sell all of our fruit there and our vegetables then we of course sell our right peaches so the stuff that we can't sell commercially but a lot of people want to pick up peaches to eat right now and then on the weekend we take people on um free wagon tours so we'll take them and give them a tour of the Orchards and kind of tell them how everything you know how everything's done around the farm we give out some free peach ice cream for everybody who takes the wagon tour James a Clark was the first generation uh to come here he was originally driving cattle on the Oregon Trail he was living in Iowa at the time and he heard about uh pal St in this area being the Empire so he went home packed up his family and moved them here and then planted some of the first uh peach trees in the valley we met in 2014 we got married and moved to Denver and worked there for a while and then came back to the farm I didn't have any agriculture background the whole farming peaches was completely new to me and so I really developed an interest to get serious about it after I'd watched her dad Dennis and in his position and what he has to do from the day to day and seeing the family and the the family history and and everything they have going here I was very thankful to have such a great mentor um without much experience in family history [Music] to I don't know I'm just kind of an emotional guy I guess Palisade is very unique to Colorado you can't just grow peaches anywhere in Colorado we have the really warm days and then the really cool nights they call it the million-dollar Breeze that comes through the canyon and cools it down just enough to where it really increases the sugar content in the peaches so it makes for really big juicy sweet peaches um but it's like the perfect microclimate the first ancestors that planted trees were just kind of testing it out and everyone saw how high quality uh the peaches were people love Colorado peaches for their flavor and size and and so more people were able to plant more trees and it's it's really become a local staple here in Colorado and in neighboring states certainly uh most people are familiar with the Palisade peaches and and all the farmers here put a lot of energy and and grow real high quality produce I know I'm not a Clark but I when we were coming back and forth from Denver I could tell how much this Farm meant to McKenzie and then the more I was around it the more I became connected to it and and seeing how much work is is put into the farm and just to raise raise peaches is a ton of of work and we're just so thankful for the opportunity to raise our children in such a unique setting uh it's just it's hard to find something like this anymore with such a deep uh Rich family history and tradition and we just want to instill the the values of work ethic I'll try to get this one this one's always going to get me I've always wanted to come back and keep the farm going and it means a ton for me to you know be able to raise our boys in the same environment that I was raised in and the same lifestyle and um Carry On all those Traditions what a pleasure it was meeting the Clark family and what a pleasure it is seeing our state through the lens of Colorado photographers every day we can't talk about discovering Colorado without it to the half the thousands of photographers sharing amazing views of our state on social media you're looking at just a few of our favorites and if you want to join in on the fun join the Facebook group discover Colorado through your your photos thanks to everyone showing off the beauty of Colorado there that does it for this Denver 7 plus special presentation of discover Colorado remember you can stream every episode in the series on your TV for free anytime just search Denver 7 on your Roku Apple Fire TV Apple TV or Android and install the Denver 7 plus app now you can also head to the Denver channel.com discover colado to read more about the people and places we feature I'm Katie LEL happy discovering
2023-12-12 14:30
