5280 Magazine November 2023

THE DENVER MAGAZINE

30

YEARS EST. 1993

Chasing Powder Epic And Ikon Pass Holders Have Access To Ski Slopes Around The World. Here’s Where You Should Travel This Winter PAGE 60

OUR GO-TO GIFT GUIDE FOR WHEN LIFE HAS BEEN ROUGH ON THOSE YOU LOVE PAGE 72

CAN THE EMBATTLED AURORA POLICE DEPARTMENT EVER TRULY BE REFORMED?

BY KELLEY MANLEY

THE MAN WHO CREATED BLUE MOON BELGIAN WHITE WANTS TO REINVENT BEER AGAIN PAGE 36

NOVEMBER 2023 | 5280.com

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Contents N OV E M B E R 2 0 2 3

60

Chasing Powder

Attention, Epic and Ikon season pass holders: You have access to dozens of mountains around the world. With your lift ticket already covered, why not splurge on a bucket-list destination outside of the United States? Here’s the lowdown on some of the best skiing, riding, and après-ing across five continents.

BY DALIAH SINGER

72

84

Whether you’re easing a minor indignity or trying to soothe serious heartache, these local goods will provide some Centennial State comfort to those you love.

(Bonus: They make darned good holiday gifts, too.)

Can well-traveled police chief Art Acevedo reform the troubled Aurora Police Department, whose racist and violent tactics have been called into question for years?

BY KASEY CORDELL & LINDSEY B. KING

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5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

Internal Affairs

BY KELLEY MANLEY

Aurora Police Department’s interim police chief Art Acevedo

Kevin Mohatt

Spirit Lifters

WE DESIGN TOGETHER. architecture | interiors | planning

aspen | carbondale | denver

Contents N OV E M B E R 2 0 2 3

24

32 36

30

F R O M T H E E D I TO R

12 Ski passes are great for global travel, but they work for hometown hills, too.

CO M PA S S Aspen Mountain opens 153 acres of new terrain. Plus: Five more reasons to wax your planks and boards.

18 INTERSECTIONS

Hale’s 9&CO development has helped transform its namesake intersection into a prime spot for the family (even Fido).

E AT & D R I N K

CO LU M N S

AC T L I K E A LO C A L

In a movie industry upended by strikes, the Denver Film Festival offers consistency.

29 WHAT’S HOT

36 BREWING

132 THE OVERSIMPLIFIED GUIDE TO: RIDING A T-BAR LIFT

22 DESIGN

30 TRAVEL

20 CULTURE

Ay Papi brings the heat with its Caribbean-inspired atmosphere.

24 BIG PICTURE

We tip our caps to the Greeley hatter responsible for Yellowstone’s 10-gallons.

26 HISTORY

Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Airways’ legacy lives on as short-haul aviation looks for a second wind.

Cucina Bella’s Italian-American fusions are a culinary genre of their own.

When it comes to some of Colorado’s most iconic mountain town restaurants, how you get there is just as memorable as what’s on your plate.

32 REVIEW

The youngest restaurant in Platt Park’s Den Corner family, Ototo delivers a delightful dose of originality.

The Colorado man who changed beer wants to revolutionize the industry again—with nonalcoholic, THC-infused brews.

BY TONY REHAGEN

44 ENVIRONMENT

How Denver’s new Waste No More ordinance will divert demolished homes from the landfill remains a work in progress.

BY ELIZABETH MILLER

Five tips for avoiding the heckles and making it to the top of the mountain with your pride intact.

O N T H E C OV E R Photograph by Guy Fattal Whistler Blackcomb

106 DINING GUIDE

5280 (ISSN 10826815) is published monthly by 5280 Publishing, Inc., 1675 Larimer St., Suite 675, Denver, CO 80202. Subscriptions are $19.95 for one year (12 issues). Back issues are available for $6.99 plus tax and shipping by visiting shop.5280.com. Periodical postage paid at Denver, CO, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS (see DMM 707.4.12.5). NONPOSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to 5280 Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 3000, Denville, NJ 07834. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement No. #40065056 Canadian Return Address: DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3. 5280® is a federally registered trademark owned by 5280 Publishing, Inc. 5280 also owns trademark registrations for TOP OF THE TOWN, DENVER’S TOP DOCTORS, DENVER MAGAZINE, and COUTURE COLORADO. © 2023 5280 Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Clockwise from top left: Sarah Banks; Aaron Colussi; Courtesy of Johnny Wilcox; James Stukenberg

15 ADVENTURE

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FROM THE EDITOR

I grew up on East Coast ski hills with names like Canaan Valley Resort, Winterplace Ski Resort, and Snowshoe Mountain Resort. At the very most, there were 1,500 feet of vertical drop and 50-some runs. And at the very least, there were always two inches of solid ice on which your skis chattered and on which you prayed you could set an edge. Still, there was something charming and, for me as a kid, magical about those small resorts, where my parents let me ride lifts with my friends long before cell phones became de facto tracking devices for teenagers.

Three decades later, many of those modest resorts are still around but have become more accessible—and maybe more name recognizable— as they have hitched their chairlifts to the megapasses, particularly the Colorado-born Epic and Ikon passes.

Of course, U.S. skiing destinations aren’t the only ones on those passes. In “Chasing Powder” (page 60), Daliah Singer explores the farther-flung (read: international) resorts that Coloradans with Epic or Ikon passes should consider building a winter trip around.

“Sure, we have amazing skiing right here in the Centennial State,” says Singer, who usually opts for the Epic

^ This month’s “Chasing Powder” feature takes readers to five continents.

Pass, “but your pass is also a figurative passport to other countries’ best resorts—at a discount. You’ll still have travel expenses, but if you’ve already shelled out for the turns, why not make them while on vacation?”

Why not, indeed? I’ve long wanted to visit the French Alps, heard about Japan’s epic snowfall, and understood the draw of taking a ski vacation in Chile in…July. Of course, as an Epic Pass holder, I might also consider more

nostalgic (for me!) destinations: say, Seven Springs or Hidden Valley. Either way, I’d be taking advantage of something I’ve already signed up for—and getting a great experience, too.

Kelley Manley had been helping to report stories on policing across America for the New York Times when the newspaper sent Freelance Journalist her to Aurora. After spending time in Denver’s eastern neighbor, Manley, who lives in the Mile High City, realized there was a local story to be told. She reached out to 5280 with a pitch that became this issue’s “Internal Affairs” (page 84), a piece about how, in many ways, the Aurora Police Department (APD) serves as a microcosm of the country’s ongoing struggles with police reform. The feature, which Manley spent five months reporting, details the many scandals APD recently has faced as well as the changes that interim chief of police Art Acevedo has been trying to bring to the department. Her takeaway from the investigative deep dive? “Policing in America is very complicated,” Manley says. “It’s not as simple as good guys versus bad guys, whatever that means to you. There’s a huge spectrum of gray, and we have to be willing to look at both sides of the fence very critically if we want better outcomes.”

KELLEY MANLEY

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5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

LINDSEY B. KING

Editor lindsey@5280.com

CORRECTIONS

In September’s “How The West Was Won,” we referred to Kenneth Sanders’ wife as Peggy. Her name is Penny. In September’s “Force of Nature,” we said the Land and Water Conservation Fund is financed by entry fees and donations to national parks. Its financing now comes from profits made from offshore oil and gas projects. We regret the errors.

From top: Mike Seehagel/Courtesy of Travel Alberta; Courtesy of Mt. Hotham Skiing Company; Courtesy of Valle Nevado; Courtesy of the Chedi Andermatt; Courtesy of Arai Resort; Arthur Mount

Hometown Hills

25 76

Boulder 36

Louisville

Frederick

Denver

Aurora

Littleton 23-CO-05868

Parker Castle Rock Monument 25

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70

• Next to that Colorful Colorado sign (selfie!)

• After you hucked that backy off a cornice • Around the campfire • Over the backyard fence • In line for tickets at the big game (go local sports!)

• Between the opening act and the headliner • The front seat of a pickup on your way to work

• The tailgate of a pickup after youʼre done with work

• The gun range (of course) • The gun store (of course) • The gun show (OK we get it) • In the checkout line at the organic grocer • When you drop your kids off • After that meeting that couldʼve been an email • While youʼre mucking the stalls

• After anyone starts struggling emotionally • Before anyone starts struggling emotionally • The trailhead (Colorado has more than 1,400 of 'em!)

• While youʼre setting up a ground blind • During potlucks at your house of worship • When youʼre programming the code to your new quick access safe

• Over burgers (soy, beef, bison, whatever) • Waiting for a double oatmilk latte • At the mechanic • With your parents • Around the kitchen table • At the pool, lake, beach or swimming hole • The local brewery (you know the one) • Walking your dog to the dog park to play with dogs

• Everywhere not on this list too

Want to prevent gun violence? Talk about guns.

Talk about how they’re secured. How they’re used. And how to make sure the wrong people don’t get them. Because there are simple actions everyone can take to keep Colorado safe.

Matt Power/Courtesy of Aspen Skiing Company

A DV E N T U R E

Zero To Hero

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.

“Without drastic changes, I believe the ski industry will look radically different in 50 years. There will still be skiing to be had, but

NOVEMBER 2023 / 5280

15

A DV E N T U R E

WHAT’S NEW IN SKI COUNTRY Five fresh reasons to wax your planks and boards. —KM

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

it will be scarce.” To that end, in 2019, the four largest North American ski companies—Powdr Corporation, Vail Resorts, Boyne Resorts, and Alterra Mountain Company (the hospitality venture Aspen Skiing Company partners with)—banded together to create the Mountain Collaborative for Climate Action (MCCA). Under its umbrella, they’ve pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030 and “advocate for climate action through federal, state, and local policies,” among other vague goals. Critics have panned the effort as a public relations stunt lacking any real teeth.

To preserve the on-mountain experience while they campaign for climate solutions, many resorts have ramped up their snowmaking capabilities and switched to renewable energy, but Hero’s is an example of how far ski resorts may have to go to protect their futures.

Sitting almost entirely above 10,000 feet on Aspen’s shady northeastern aspect (Aspen’s base area is at 7,945 feet), Hero’s cooler, high-mountain terrain should hold snow longer as ski seasons shorten and temperatures rise, which, in the best-case scenario, might be by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050. That timeline may seem distant, but the Rocky Mountains’ snowpack already declined by 41 percent on average between 1982 and 2016.

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5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

SkiCo’s $9 million endeavor wasn’t without opposition. Some locals bemoaned the commercialization of a favorite out-of-bounds powder stash.

Others worry about possible harm to the wetlands below Hero’s and to wildlife, in particular the potential disturbance of elk calving grounds. “We have four ski areas, we are known to have some of the shortest lift lines in the entire state, and Aspen Skiing Company is very environmentally focused,” says Aspen City Councilman John Doyle, “so I just didn’t understand why [the expansion] was necessary.” After a contested approval process, including environmental reviews, revisions, and a PR campaign to rally local support for the project, the Pitkin County Commission voted three to one to greenlight the expansion in November 2021.

Despite the victory, Hero’s is still just a Band-Aid, not a cure. “We all love skiing, and that’s why we’re here,” Dawson says. “But how do we evolve to exist in the future?” That’s the question the ski industry is still confronting as a warming world threatens its existence. Right now, those concerns seem far away on top of Aspen Mountain.

As if to prove it, Dawson flips her skis downhill and arcs a graceful telemark turn through some fresh, boot-topping snow. For the moment, winter is still alive and well. —KELLEY MANLEY

^ Aspen Mountain’s new Hero’s terrain features 1,220 feet of vertical drop.

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 this season—the culmination of a three-year, $220 million expansion—the roughly 650-acre ski zone will make the resort Colorado’s second-largest behind Vail. The mountain’s new Wild Blue Gondola will also be North America’s longest and fastest 10-person gondola.

5 Telluride

The Grand—formerly known as the National, Telluride’s hottest eatery—is moving to a bigger space on Main Street this winter (date TBD).

But don’t worry: Legendary barman “Diamond” Dave Derinzy will still serve some of the best cocktails in ski country at the new digs.

Matt Power/Courtesy of Aspen Skiing Company

CONTINUED

INTERSECTIONS

(from $150). Instructors also slip some math into the curriculum, with elementary schoolers learning fractions while slicing peppers and teens practicing how to assess meal costs, a skill that will help them avoid living off instant ramen when they leave home.

4 Bar Car 819 COLORADO BLVD.

With mystery shots, plenty of PBR, and an extensive selection of classic pub fare, 13-year-old Bar Car is as unpretentious as its dark mahogany booths.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t snag a handcrafted cocktail at this 9&CO neighbor. (We’re partial to the Cutie Pie, an easy-sipping, fruit-forward blend of peach vodka, melon liqueur, and pineapple juice.) Whatever your libation of choice, don’t leave without trying this old-school tavern’s specialty: barbecued chicken, pork, or tri-tip paired with a sweet Carolina slaw.

5 Immersive Gamebox 825 ALBION ST.

One For All

Hale’s 9&CO development has helped transform its namesake intersection into a prime spot for a staycation during which everyone—even Fido—can sip, learn, and play. —BARBARA O’NEIL B

1 Dogdrop 985 ALBION ST., SUITE 110

Don’t leave your best friend behind.

Dogdrop, which opened in July, is a membership-based daycare that allows you to deposit your pooch between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., no reservation required (from $60 per month). Plus, it offers curbside pickups and drop-offs and separates its wards into three rooms based on each canine’s energy level and size, so you needn’t worry about E. Ninth Ave. a golden retriever trampling your Shih Tzu.

^

Kochi Cafe specializes in loose-leaf teas.

1

4

18

Colorado Blvd.

E. 10th Ave.

5

3

2 Kochi Cafe

2

4100 E. EIGHTH AVE. E. Eighth Ave.

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

Across East Eighth Avenue from 9&CO,

five-year-old Kochi Cafe specializes in loose-leaf teas, around a dozen of which it sources from a single organic farm in the mountains of northern Thailand. If you need a pick-me-up, the Boulder Blues is a bright mix of strawberry, rhubarb, and Japanese and Chinese green tea leaves, or de-stress with a cup of earthy Red Rocks— red-hued and antioxidant-rich South African rooibos blended with almonds and vanilla flavoring.

If you’ve ever wanted to re-create Squid Game, head to one-year-old Immersive Gamebox. Its motion-tracking headwear—basically a miniature Sputnik satellite strapped on top of a sun visor— and giant touch-screen walls will let you compete in the high-stakes games from the smash Netflix show with up to six of your friends. (Don’t worry, win or lose, you’ll walk out alive.) If you have youngsters in tow, there are plenty of family-friendly experiences, including teaming up with Chase, Marshall, Skye, and other pups from Nickelodeon’s PAW Patrol to clear a rockslide or clean up a mess at city hall. (From $20 for ages 10 and under and $25 per adult.)

3 Little Kitchen Academy 4064 E. EIGHTH PLACE

Since June, this Montessori-inspired cooking academy has been teaching budding chefs ages three to 18 autonomy and healthy eating habits during its three-hour-long cooking classes PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARVIN ANANI

On View Through February 19, 2024 IMAGE: Amoako Boafo, Bella Sontez (detail), 2019. Oil on paper; 28 x 22 in., Courtesy of Private Collection and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles.

Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks is presented in partnership between Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and the Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco. The exhibition is curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah. The presentation of this exhibition at the Denver Art Museum is organized

by Rory Padeken, Vicki and Kent Logan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. It is funded by Vicki and Kent Logan, the Birnbaum Social Discourse Project, U.S. Bank, the donors to the Annual Fund Leadership Campaign, and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Promotional support is provided by 5280 Magazine and CBS Colorado.

C U LT U R E

In a movie industry upended by strikes, the Denver Film Festival offers consistency.

When Hollywood’s actors joined the industry’s writers on strike in July to fight for better pay, royalties, and protections against artificial intelligence, an unnamed studio executive told Variety that “fall festivals are fucked.”

But what the foul-mouthed C-suiter really meant was that, with striking actors barred from promoting studio-backed films, big-budget gatherings like the Toronto International Film Festival lost one of their biggest draws—celebrities. Events focused on independently produced movies, such as the Denver Film Festival (DFF), however, were mostly unaffected. Not only are indie films largely exempt from the strikes against major studios, but DFF attendees also don’t come for star sightings. “They’re looking for the hard-hitting, esoteric fare that they’re not going to be able to see otherwise,” says DFF artistic director Matthew Campbell. So while he can’t promise any selfies with Emma Stone at this year’s event (from $60; November 3 to 12), Campbell can still recommend a trio of films with strong Colorado ties. —CHRIS WALKER

HARD MILES

THE SPACE RACE

ILEANA’S SMILE

This drama is inspired by the true story of Greg Townsend (played by Stranger Things’ Matthew Modine), a Colorado social worker who led a group of boys ordered to attend Ridge View Academy, a medium-security correctional school that opened in 2001 in Watkins, on a cycling trip from Denver to the Grand Canyon. “It’s about trying to get them to turn their lives around,” Campbell says. The filmmakers were so committed to authenticity that the actors rode the students’ real bikes.

In this documentary, Denverite, engineer, and retired Air Force pilot Ed Dwight discusses the racism he encountered while attempting to become the first Black man in space in the early 1960s. Featured alongside famous Black astronauts like Leland Melvin, Dwight doesn’t just appear in the film; he will also make an appearance at DFF’s screening at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science—a venue Campbell says is perfect for a film about the early, turbulent years of America’s space program.

After his band, Dispatch, first broke up in 2004, Denver-born multi-instrumentalist Brad Corrigan traveled to Nicaragua, where he befriended a community of trash sifters. Corrigan’s documentary debut follows the life of Ileana, the young girl who inspired him to found Love, Light, and Melody, a Denver nonprofit that funds schools and art programs for children across Nicaragua.

“We’re going to be the world premiere of the film,” Campbell says. “And Brad’s going to perform an acoustic set.”

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^

The DFF often showcases films with Colorado storylines.

P H OTO I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S E A N PA R S O N S

Source photos: Getty Images (theater, canyon, moon); Courtesy of Pensé Productions (bike riders); Courtesy of Kim Shiflett/NASA (astronaut); Courtesy of AJ Neste (girl); Courtesy of Eric Kelley (crowd)

The Show Goes On

Island Time

Looking for a tropical escape this winter? Ay Papi brings the heat with its Caribbean-inspired atmosphere.

Ay Papi’s beach-chic design is as refreshing as its mojitos.

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Ay Papi is a vibe. From Culinary Creative Group, the Cherry Creek North bar and eatery—which opened just a block away from its sister location, cocktail hot spot Forget Me Not, in July—evokes sultry Havana nights and a posh Miami attitude. Menu highlights include halibut ceviche, Cuban sandwiches, and appropriately rum-centric cocktails, but Ay Papi’s captivating island aesthetic is worth savoring on its own.

“The space is meant to [transport you] someplace you’re not,” says Nicole Lebedevitch, Culinary Creative Group’s director of operations and beverage, of the breezy interior inspired by vintage paintings of the Cuban capital and Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Inside, the back bar’s arched walnut built-ins and brushed-gold shelving ground the

space, while mosaic tile flooring, rich goldenrod-upholstered seating, and soft aqua blue accents add color and interest. Outside, the patio’s pergola is draped with trailing greenery that filters sunlight and blocks views of the buildings above.

But the key to the design is a giant, greenhouse-esque skylight that runs the length of the bar. Hanging plants and white globe lanterns dangle from its rafters, drawing the eye upward to give the narrow room a spacious feel.

“It’s open, light, and airy—beautiful during the day,” Lebedevitch says. “As the sun sets and the light changes, the interior becomes a whole new space.”

If that’s not enough to keep us sipping past happy hour, we don’t know what is.

—JULIE DUGDALE

From top: LC Photostyle/Courtesy of the Culinary Creative Group (2); Colleen O’Toole/Courtesy of the Culinary Creative Group

DESIGN

BIG PICTURE

The Hollywood Hatter

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 hat is a miniature character study. Dutton’s signature 10-gallon, for example, is lighter in color as an ode to old-school Westerns in which the good guys wore white, but Johnson also used a confidential 17-step process to give the cap a worn look that symbolizes Dutton’s willingness to get his hands dirty (like when he killed his maimed horse in the series’ iconic opening scene).

Although the last five episodes of the drama were set to debut on Paramount Plus this month, they have been delayed until 2024. Fortunately, you can crib the Dutton family’s style while you wait: Greeley Hat Works has been making replicas of Yellowstone’s lids since 2020. —BO

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PHOTOGRAPH BY AARON COLUSSI

A charming mountain town. With its own Wassail Days holiday festival, tubing hill, Nordic center & sleigh rides.

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Main Street Of The Rockies

H I STO RY

Prepare For Takeoff

Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Airways closed in 1991, but its legacy lives on as short-haul aviation looks for a second wind.

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Now, the quick trips Autry pioneered might be making a comeback. In May, a report by international management consulting firm McKinsey & Company found that short-haul flights, which it defines as trips from around 100 to 500 miles on a plane with 50 passengers or fewer, could become a $115 billion industry by 2035 as new technologies emerge and roads become increasingly congested. I-70’s notoriously bad traffic has already helped lead to a 27 percent increase in passengers at Eagle County Regional Airport near Vail between 2017 and 2022, says terminal operations manager Jodi Doney.

This short-haul revival isn’t only for die-hard skiers. Last spring, the Colorado Division of Aeronautics and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory began studying, in part, how electric airplanes could be used to connect smaller communities across the state, including for commuting by plane. “If Gordon were still here, he would’ve loved these efforts,” says Dennis Heap, another former RMA executive, of his former boss, who died in 2012. “Gordon always used to say air service needs to be like bus service: accessible to the people.”

—VISVAJIT SRIRAMRAJAN

DENVER

^ Rocky Mountain Airways served 18 Colorado airports in 1976.

Courtesy of Rocky Mountain Airways

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 around Colorado, whether you were an avid skier living on the Front Range or a mountain town local who needed to trek for work, for medical care, or simply to get away.

Then Jimmy Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, which removed federal restrictions on the prices airlines could charge and the routes they could operate. The move increased competition and eventually allowed bigger firms to push RMA and other commuter airlines out of the market with cheaper flights, even though they offered less frequent service and flew to fewer small airports.

“Better highways were a factor, too,” McVenes says. “They made it easier to drive up to the mountains, which wasn’t quite the case before they built the Eisenhower Tunnel or when one storm could tie up traffic for days before weather forecasting improved.”

Dwindling ticket sales forced Autry to sell in 1986, and the airline’s new owners shuttered it five years later, ending short-haul’s heyday in Colorado.

Eat & Drink W H AT ’ S H O T

Molto Bene

While there are many noteworthy restaurants in the Mile High City that focus on authentic interpretations of dishes from hyperspecific 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 Il 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 chicken and barbecue sauce—are Italian-American fusion creations at their best. Drop in for brunch for surprising early-day eats infused with Italian flavors and the Gutierrezes’ Mexican heritage such as breakfast pizza with scrambled eggs and pancetta as well as chilaquiles rojos. —PATRICIA KAOWTHUMRONG

From top: Cucina Bella’s linguine al pesto, spaghettini gamberetti with prawns, and chicken piccata

PHOTOGRAPH BY SARAH BANKS / ST YLING BY CHARLI ORNETT

NOVEMBER 2023 / 5280

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T R AV E L

Off-Piste Eating

When it comes to some of Colorado’s most iconic mountain town restaurants, how you get there is just as memorable as what’s on your plate. —SARAH KUTA

BEANO’S CABIN

In the early 1900s, a Polish immigrant named Frank “Beano” Bienkowski headed west from Chicago to make his fortune in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. On a small plot more than 9,000 feet above sea level, he carved out a life for himself by growing lettuce to sell in the valley below.

Bienkowski’s legend lives on as the inspiration behind Beano’s Cabin, a 37-year-old outpost tucked amid the immaculately groomed ski runs of Beaver Creek Resort.

In the cold-weather months, the only way to reach Beano’s is to clamber aboard a sleigh pulled by a snowcat. (In the summer, you can ride a horse or take a shuttle bus.)

Once diners arrive, Mackenzie Nicholson, who became the venue’s executive chef in 2022, takes over with a decadent fivecourse spread. Indulge in hearty specialties such as elk short loin served with coffee parsnip purée, herbed confit tomato, and a cherry wild boar demi-glace and glazed Thumbelina carrots topped with walnuts, dill, feta, and caramelized yogurt.

From top: Pine Creek Cookhouse; a sleigh ride in the Yampa Valley; the wild boar shank at Beano’s Cabin

Castle Creek Valley, just south of downtown PINE CREEK Aspen, has played many roles over the years: COOKHOUSE Northern Ute hunting ground, silver mining Aspen hub, and failed downhill ski resort, to name a few. Today, it’s the site of a high-end restaurant, nestled among towering evergreen trees and the ghost town remains of Ashcroft.

To dine at Pine Creek Cookhouse—a big, cozy log cabin with antler chandeliers and knotty wooden beams beloved by Roaring Fork Valley residents and tourists alike— guests will need to strap on a pair of snowshoes, click into a pair of cross-country skis, or step into a sleigh hauled by a duo of hulking Percheron or Belgian horses. Those who do are rewarded with sweeping views of the craggy Elk Mountains and a feast of mountain-inspired fare, such as pan-seared ruby red trout and grilled elk, two favorites that are always on the seasonally rotating menu.

HAYMAKER CLUBHOUSE

Steamboat Springs After shredding Steamboat’s signature fluffy powder all day, guests should layer a little Wild West flourish onto their ski getups—a cowboy hat and boots maybe?—before heading to Haymaker Golf Course, situated three miles south of the ski resort on U.S. Highway 40, for supper. Then, they can pile into a sleigh and let two elegant draft horses whisk them around the rolling hills (that also double as cross-country trails). After taking in the scenic Yampa Valley for roughly half an hour, visitors tuck into a four-course dinner in the rustic clubhouse. There, they’ll enjoy the view out the clubhouse’s floor-to-ceiling windows, which, depending on the reservation time, stars either a colorful sunset or the Milky Way as dishes such as butternut squash bisque, braised short ribs, and root vegetable lasagna warm the body from the inside out.

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Clockwise from top: Courtesy of Johnny Wilcox; Courtesy of Steamboat Ski Resort; Courtesy of Madison Miller/Beaver Creek Resort

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REVIEW

Wild Child

The youngest restaurant in Platt Park’s Den Corner family, Ototo delivers a delightful dose of originality. —ALLYSON REEDY ccording 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.

A

^

From left: Bacon mochi; Yasu and Toshi Kizaki 32

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

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 demand attention from diners under the leadership of new chef Inoue Taro.

With hard-to-find-in-Denver dishes on its menu, an atmosphere that simultaneously feels lively and relaxed (Katy Perry plays on the speakers, and there’s a large flatscreen behind the bar), and an ideal location in

Platt Park, the Japanese-street-foodfocused concept is difficult to ignore.

Sushi Den and Izakaya Den mostly share the same refined Japanese menu, but Ototo specializes in more casual bites, such as ramen and skewers charred on a robata grill. The robata style, named for the Japanese word for fireside cooking, uses extremely high, consistent temperatures powered

by Japanese binchotan (white oak) charcoal to grill meats, seafood, and vegetables. Instead of imparting the smokiness many Americans are used to from barbecue, however, binchotan sheds almost no flavor or aroma into its food, making the robata method prized for its clean taste.

The selection of skewers rotates nightly, but I was able to taste the duck breast and lamb shoulder. The PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH BANKS

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FAMILY TIES Spinoff restaurants are often left in the shadows of their more famous predecessors, but these Front Range eateries are just as delightful as their older family members. –AR 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

and raw tuna, the dish has almost too much fish for one bowl, but the smart side of yuzu wasabi tempers the robust broth with a citrusy kick.

One notable downside to the dining experience at Ototo is the sake menu. Far shorter than what’s available at the other Den Corner spots, the list comprises only nine bottles, seven of which are available in the single-serving, 300-milliliter size.

However, Ototo offers a decent variety that pairs well with the food offerings. I enjoyed the Hakushika Junmai Ginjo, the perfect mildly sweet accompaniment to the seafood we had.

Because coattail riding is another legitimate perk of being the last born, Ototo benefits from access to the fresh fish selections—nigiri and sashimi—and other menu items (see: the crispy spicy tuna) that have made the venue’s siblings some of the most beloved in town. Ototo may be the offbeat outlier in a family of traditionalists—with its own free-spirited twists and a more low-key vibe—but the restaurant’s draw is undeniable.

^

Ototo’s rotating selection of ramens includes renditions with duck and tuna.

OTOTO

1501 S. Pearl St. ototoden.com The Draw: Japanese street food prepared on robata grills; some of the freshest raw fish in Denver The Drawback: Some skewers are small for the price; limited sake offerings Noise Level: Low Don’t Miss: Pork with kimchi, salmon collar, bacon mochi, maguro ramen

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 Beard wins, but the Neapolitan-style pies coming out of the wood-fired oven are carb-loaded perfection, particularly when devoured alongside an Aperol spritz. 1730 Pearl St., Boulder

Courtesy of Casey Wilson (Pizzeria Alberico)

duck—three curls of the thinnest sliced poultry you’ll ever see, separated by giant scallions charred to a fragrant crisp—is heightened with a sweet teriyaki dipping sauce. The lamb was cooked beautifully with no hint of gaminess and came with a cucumber mint sauce that balanced the umami-rich notes. But my stick had just five small pieces of meat, some of which were the size of marbles.

At $12 to $14 per brochette, a diner could be justifiably disappointed.

(Note: The menu changes frequently, so prices are subject to change.)

By contrast, the salmon collar, grilled over that same binchotan, is a steal at $18. Far and away the best part of the fish to grill, the collar has more fat plus some gelatinous bits from the head that make the meat buttery and rich beneath its crispy, blackened skin. The flesh was even better dunked in the accompanying ponzu sauce.

In true last-child form, Ototo’s bacon mochi was eclectic yet totally captivating. It’s exactly as it sounds: bacon wrapped around bite-size rice cakes.

Greasy and intensely chewy, the dish requires the diner to really like both bacon and mochi. I loved the squishy texture of the mochi, but the fat and grease did make it heavy. Still, it’s the only thing I couldn’t stop thinking about hours, and even days, later.

Priced at $9 for four pieces, it’s worth ordering to try something that goes beyond the usual maki rolls and nigiri available at many other Japanese joints.

A steaming-hot cast-iron dish of thinly shaved pork and spicy kimchi crowned with earthy red chile threads was fantastic—and memorable in a different way. The sharpness of the fermented cabbage played nicely with the juicy meat, and the sprinkling of the pretty garnish was so generous that I had to laugh when I pulled a rogue thread out of my hair later that night.

Ototo simmers a few ramens, including the expected porky tonkotsu and one I hadn’t tasted before: maguro, the Japanese word for tuna. The latter’s broth is made with tuna and whitefish bones, so it has a fishier flavor than the ramen bowls infused with pork and beef parts we’re used to in the United States. Topped with a tangle of noodles and both fried

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BREWING

Twice In A Blue Moon

Keith Villa, the man who changed American beer in 1995, wants to revolutionize the industry again—this time with nonalcoholic, THC-infused beers. Can it be done? BY T O N Y R E H AG E N

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 groundbreaking products, including Batch 19, a pre-Prohibition-style lager; Aspen Edge, an early low-carb beer; and Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale, one of the first nationally available pumpkin beers. But it was Villa’s invention of the original Blue Moon Belgian White in 1995 that was truly visionary.

Today, there are nearly 10,000 breweries in the United States, but 28 years ago, there were fewer than 900. The domestic market was dominated by the still-independent Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors companies. This triumvirate was flooding the country in a clear gold ocean of mostly homogenous (and, some would say, mostly flavorless) mass-produced pale lager. Meanwhile, at Coors, Villa took a traditional Belgian wheat brew and tempered the tartness with coriander and orange peel to create a hazy, flavorful, and faintly fruity beer that helped open drinkers’ minds to possibilities beyond Coors Light. It became the highest-selling nonlager in the country. More important, it helped instigate the craft beer revolution and changed the way Americans drink, and think about, beer.

Most people would call that a career. Not Villa: Just because he said he was done with alcohol didn’t mean he was finished with 36

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES STUKENBERG

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

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BREWING

beer. Before his retirement, he’d already been working at home on another trailblazing brew, an idea, he believed, that would once again alter the beverage landscape. Mere weeks after leaving Coors, Villa and his wife, Jodi, started Ceria Brewing Company in Arvada.

The brewery was built around alcohol-free beer, which delivered its buzz through a novel ingredient: marijuana.

The ensuing six years have been an obstacle course of state and federal legal snafus, distribution woes, and market confusion for Villa’s upstart. But the master brewer remains undeterred in his belief that American drinkers are once again ready for something new, whether they know it or not.

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VILLA DIDN’T START investigating the properties of cannabis until after it became legal recreationally in Colorado in 2012. While growing up in Denver, he says, he avoided illicit drugs altogether. “When I was younger, if you were caught with cannabis and you were a person of color, that’d be the end of your life,” says Villa, who’s Hispanic. “I had a friend who was arrested for possession, and it was a mark that followed them the rest of their life.”

Instead, the young Villa gravitated toward the more socially acceptable beer. (Back then, the drinking age was 18.) But he wasn’t content with the watered-down domestic brands. As a molecular, cellular, and developmental biology student at the University of Colorado Boulder with ambitions to attend medical school, he started homebrewing his own ales. He sought out flavor, which in the time before craft breweries were ubiquitous was mainly the domain of European imports such as Beck’s, St. Pauli Girl, and Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter. Villa loved both tasting different beers and homebrewing and soon garnered a reputation as a bit of a beer geek.

Brewing was still just a hobby on the way to med school—until one day Villa spotted a flyer in CU’s molecular biology building soliciting applications for a research position at Coors Brewing Company. He interviewed and was accepted from a group of more than 75 hopefuls. He started right after he graduated in 1986. He was 23.

Despite the sudden switch in career tracks, Villa was still bound for grad school. Instead of medical school, though, Coors sent him to Belgium, to the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, for a doctorate in science with a concentration in brewing. While in Brussels, he developed a taste for the native abbey-style ales, saisons, dubbels, and witbiers; he studied their histories and the way they were paired with food.

He brought that appreciation back to Denver in the early 1990s.

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BREWING

Upon Villa’s return, Coors put the newly minted Ph.D. on the team in charge of opening the Sandlot Brewery, a taproom and brewhouse in the bowels of the then just opened Coors Field. Given a free hand to experiment on small batches meant exclusively for Rockies fans, Villa wanted to re-create a Belgian wheat.

But he knew right away that the traditional style’s strong, yeast-forward flavor and aroma would likely be too much for Americans used to ice-cold Coors Light at the ballpark. So Villa added Valencia orange peel and coriander to accentuate the sweetness. “I was aiming for first-sip likeability,” Villa says. “For people who’ve never had a craft beer, you give them an IPA, and they’ll go ‘Bleh.’ So you take baby steps. It’s like training wheels. First, they learn to like this, and then they’ll try a fruit beer, then maybe a hoppier German Pilsner, and then you go back to the IPA.” Of course, tipplers were still trepid to try Villa’s gateway beer. Bellyslide Belgian Wit, as it was first called, was far from an instant success; it took years for the brew to catch on at the ballgame. (In 1997, Villa says, he started a campaign to garnish the drink with a slice of orange to further sweeten the deal and grab people’s attention.) Coors had also started bottling Villa’s Americanized Belgian for the beer-curious masses along with a new moniker, which, legend has it, came from an unidentified drinker who said “a beer this good only comes along once in a blue moon.”

By Villa’s retirement in 2018, Blue Moon was available in roughly 20 countries and was the number one “craft” brand—with annual sales of more than $300 million—in the United States.

“Craft” is in quotation marks because Blue Moon’s—and by extension, Villa’s— relationship with the craft beer industry is complicated. While Blue Moon Brewing Company has always been an operating unit of one of the largest brewers on the planet, it has never declared as much on its packaging or in its advertising. To some smaller, independent brewers, this places Blue Moon in the dock alongside other macrobrewers that have quietly bought up and re-released so-called “crafty” beers to siphon market share and street cred from the craft reservoir. In 2015, a California beer enthusiast sued MillerCoors for misleading consumers. The class-action suit was dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge because, although Blue Moon didn’t flaunt its corporate connections, neither did it claim to be “craft,” a term that the court decided had no legal definition anyway.

Regardless of where in the cooler you find Blue Moon or who chooses to read the small print on the back of the bottle, it’s hard to argue that the beer’s novelty and nationwide 40

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From left: Villa’s Blue Moon Belgian White, which was released in 1995, was featured on Jeopardy! in 2015; Ceria Brewing’s nonalcoholic beers have been a bridge while Villa works out kinks with THC brews.

availability during the craft revolution didn’t have an impact. Whether or not craft brewers want to begrudgingly admit it, Blue Moon was a trailblazer. In his aptly titled Beer Bible, which has more than 121,000 copies in print, aficionado Jeff Alworth lists Blue Moon as a “category-defining” brewer, along with craftbeer patron saints Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas, and Boston Beer Company.

VILLA CLEARLY BELIEVES Blue Moon had at least something to do with expanding the tastes of American beer drinkers. And not long after Amendment 64 legalized recreational marijuana in Colorado, in November 2012, he began to think he could broaden their palates again—this time with alcohol-free beer infused with THC. He set up a five-gallon homebrew system and started experimenting. His interest in infusing beer with cannabis was part master brewer’s challenge and part chemist’s curiosity. The entrepreneur inside Villa also saw a business opportunity.

But the more Villa learned about marijuana, the more interested he became in helping dispel the stigma that the plant had accrued over decades of being lumped in with the likes of heroin, LSD, and MDMA as a Schedule I narcotic. “As I dug into the history, the reasons [marijuana] was made illegal didn’t make any sense,” Villa says. “This plant had been blamed for many of society’s ills, but it was never this dangerous thing. It’s natural. We wanted to focus on bringing cannabis to people in a socially acceptable format. People don’t want

to be around smoke. But almost everyone has had a beer. It’s the beverage of moderation, unlike wine or spirits, which are only fit for certain occasions. Drinking a beer is social.”

The first roadblocks Villa faced on his path toward a weed-infused brew were scientific. It is illegal to commercially combine marijuana and alcohol, so he didn’t have to worry about blending those chemicals together. But because cannabinoids are hydrophobic, they don’t readily mix with water. Like a chef trying to whip up a salad dressing, Villa experimented with different emulsifying agents, such as vegetable gum, to ensure the oily CBD and THC extracts would become part of a cohesive liquid. Another issue he had to contend with was that the emulsion agents would stick to the lining of aluminum cans, reducing the potency of the weed-infused beer to almost zero. Villa played with different kinds of can liners and glass bottles before deciding to try a nonstick emulsion agent, which worked.

Another challenge for Villa: figuring out the all-important buzz. What dosage of which strain would approximate the intoxication delivered by a 12-ounce alcoholic beer? Villa eventually landed on five milligrams of THC to equal a five percent ABV brew. And then there was the not-new problem of how to make beer that didn’t contain any alcohol actually taste like beer. While brewers have made strides in nonalcoholic and alcoholfree brewing in recent years, in 2012, most NA beers still didn’t taste quite right. Villa eventually invented, and patented, his own

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process for creating alcohol-free beer and arrived at what he believed were two betterthan-passable styles: an IPA and, of course, a Belgian white.

By 2018, Villa and Jodi were finally ready to launch Ceria, which is the French acronym for the campus of his alma mater in Brussels and also an homage to Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. They released Grainwave Belgian-Style White Ale, infused with five milligrams of THC, in dispensaries in Colorado and California. A year later, they put out Indiewave IPA with both THC and, for “a mellower experience,” CBD in dispensaries in the two states.

But after the initial buzz wore off, Ceria encountered the same challenges other cannabis companies have experienced, including the lack of safe banking options, federal tax codes that don’t recognize cannabis as a legitimate business, and the specter of stunted growth due to the differences in laws between states. Perhaps more important, Villa discovered that, this time around, the American market wasn’t quite ready for his new beer. “As far as consumption methods go, 78 percent of people are purchasing smokeables and 57 percent are purchasing edibles,” says Lisa Buffo, founder and CEO of the Denver-based Cannabis Marketing Association. “Beverages are less than two percent of the market. Flower is by far the leader and will remain so for some time.”

In July 2022, after the pandemic-induced economic slowdown forced many consumers to start cutting their budgets, Villa decided to discontinue production of Ceria’s weedinfused beers altogether. It was a fortuitous move: Today, the brewery is thriving, riding the recent low-to-no ABV drinking wave as sales of its award-winning alcohol-free beers steadily increase across 20 states, including Colorado.

But Villa still dreams of bringing cannabislaced beer to the masses. Like many people inside and outside of the industry, he is waiting for the federal legalization and/or decriminalization of marijuana that seemed imminent when President Joe Biden was elected.

In the meantime, ever the mad beer scientist, Villa is experimenting at home with improvements to his cannabis beers, including working to shorten the onset time of the effects of the THC to the almost-immediate buzz of drinking a beer, exploring the other benefits of cannabinoids such as increased energy or pain relief, and even concocting additional styles and flavors of beer. “We’re in a holding pattern for now,” Villa says. “But we’re ready at the flip of a switch to get right back in.” m Tony Rehagen is a St. Louis–based freelance writer.

Email feedback to letters@5280.com.

ENVIRONMENT

On a quiet street off South Boulder Road in Boulder, an old house was slowly going to pieces. Of the five bedrooms, three baths, formal dining area, and living room, only a few brick wall corners and two chimneys remained standing. The ghost of a floor plan traced the concrete foundation. In the front yard, a crew of three workers de-nailed beams they’d freed by hand from the walls and now-gone roof.

One balanced a two-by-six board on wooden sawhorses and used a pneumatic nail remover to blast nails through the beam. One by one, they pinged onto the driveway. Another crew member measured and trimmed the boards, then piled the lumber onto a trailer.

Built in 1955, the house contained something none of the modern construction nearby could.

A two-by-four board fetched from the hardware store today would likely have thick rings, a sign of young trees felled. In comparison, this lumber’s freshly cut ends revealed the tightly stacked, gorgeous rings of an old Douglas fir.

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“You can’t buy that new,” says Anna Perks, founder of Perks Deconstruction, whose crew had spent about two weeks taking the house down. “You’re only getting that type of wood if you reclaim.”

For the past four years, Perks has made a living by giving that type of wood a chance at a second life. A new Denver ordinance called Waste No More, which, in part, will require construction and demolition projects to recycle and reuse certain materials, may mean her business is about to boom.

Currently, when a homeowner decides to demolish a house, a bulldozer typically scrapes the foundation and dumps the busted pieces into a landfill. A 2,000-square-foot house could turn into 400,000 pounds of waste. Deconstruction—as opposed to demolition—takes a house apart with the goal of reusing or recycling its components. Currently, 30 to 40 percent of the waste headed into Front Range landfills comes from construction and demolition. Local landfills might have space to accommodate that—for now—but the global carbon budget does not, and making new materials instead of using perfectly good existing ones comes with a sizable greenhouse gas footprint. However, Waste No More’s path has already been bumpy, and the effort still faces myriad questions, including whether the consumer mindset can be shifted to welcome the old instead of to crave the new.

THE WORK of disassembling a house starts with removing appliances and fixtures.

Cabinets are unscrewed from the walls, and windows are taken out. Flooring is PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SEAN PARSONS

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

Source photos: Getty Images (6)

A Dying Home’s Secret Treasures

One year ago, voters approved Denver’s Waste No More ordinance, but how the new policy will divert demolished homes from the landfill remains a work in progress. BY ELIZABETH MILLER

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pried up so the tongue-and-groove insets in wood floors are preserved. Electrical wiring is spooled. Plywood is extracted. Roof trusses come out intact. Work on the walls generally starts with nonstructural studs. Materials are sorted into bins. “We’re un-building a house,” Perks says, “taking down items that went in last, first.”

The 36-year-old had worked for Boulder County advising businesses on sustainability and for the zero-waste-focused nonprofit Eco-Cycle before she walked down Denver’s Tennyson Street one day in 2018 and watched a bulldozer crunch through an 1,800-squarefoot brick house. Seeing its white wooden columns crumple and dust plume from smashed walls felt, she says, “like watching a tree get cut down—all that habitat, gone.” She asked the demolition crew where the refuse went. When they told her it all ended up in the landfill, she met with the project manager to ask about alternatives. She was told there weren’t any. “We talk about recycling cans,” Perks says, “and we throw away entire houses.”

So she went in search of possible solutions— and found one in Portland, Oregon. In the early 2010s, the city began experiencing an epidemic of demolition and saw a waste stream that was 35 percent construction and demolition material.

To combat the growing rubbish, in late 2016, Portland started requiring the disassembly and salvage of historical houses, first for pre-1916 construction, then, as the local deconstruction market grew, it expanded to include pre-1940 builds. Recently, deconstruction has accounted for about two-thirds of house demolition permits in Portland, with 550 deconstructions completed from 2016 to 2022. More than five million pounds of lumber, much of it Pacific Northwest timber valued for its tight growth rings, scarce knots, and rough-sawn character, was offered a new fate. The city also saved 4,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is like taking 900 cars off the road.

In March 2019, Perks founded Perks Deconstruction, located in Commerce City, and eventually enrolled in a 30-day construction boot camp at the BuildStrong Academy of Colorado to get a better grasp of construction essentials.

She estimates she had eight jobs that first year.

In 2022, she had 111—eight of which were full-house deconstructions, and the remainder were other deconstruction jobs. Most of Perks’ clients are general contractors who subcontract a deconstruction team like they would a plumber or electrician, and those fees have made for a viable business. But to make her business—and

others like it—more successful, Perks has found ways to sell the house components she reclaims.

As Perks learned, some salvaged materials have ready destinations. Certain scrap metals are valuable to recyclers such as Boulder’s Eco-Cycle Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials, which sells them to be melted and recast. Wires and cable are recycled by stripping the insulation and recovering the wire inside. A bin of nail-speckled wood pieces too small or too damaged to reuse will go to recycling companies—such as A1 Organics— to grind for mulch to be sold to the public.

Concrete and asphalt can be sold to businesses like Boulder Recycled Aggregate, which then peddle the material to private landowners for new pavement.

To keep her employees busy through slow periods, and to create another destination for consumer-friendly salvaged materials, Perks opened a warehouse in Commerce City to sell directly to the public. The inventory includes bundles of lumber; pine, bamboo, and red oak flooring; and concrete pavers. A few chandeliers, including one with hand-painted glass, hang on display, and racks of glass include shutter-style windows from the 1920s. Some of it is “waiting for that unicorn customer,” the

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warehouse manager says, but much of it moves quickly, and at a fraction of the cost of new.

Perks aims, and generally manages, to recycle or reuse about 75 percent of the materials her team pulls from a house, but wood-framed garages present an even better return: They typically can be disassembled in wall sections to be puzzle-pieced back together as new garages or sheds in another setting, saving up to 90 percent of materials.

Reselling materials supports her company’s mission, but it doesn’t do much for the bottom line, at least not yet. There’s just not enough of a deconstruction ecosystem to support the reclaimed pieces of a home. There are voids that must be filled. “We need a little more of everything,” Perks says. “We need more people salvaging, more people buying, more building codes that allow for things like reclaimed lumber to be reused.”

LAURIE JOHNSON, the founder and CEO of the two-year-old nonprofit Circular Colorado, which creates new markets for materials, knows how much trouble those voids can create— particularly when voters mandate changes that businesses, municipal infrastructure, and technology aren’t prepared to make. When

Perks Deconstruction founder Anna Perks removes hardware from a salvaged board.

she heard about Denver’s Waste No More ordinance, she panicked. “I was like, You can’t pass this,” she says of the 2022 ballot initiative.

“There aren’t enough markets for [the materials]. There’s nowhere for it to go.”

Johnson has seen similar ordinances create messes before. Colorado’s 2013 ban on electronic waste in landfills, for instance, led to illegal dumping as people tried to skirt paying $100 to recycle a television, she says, “So [I’ve heard] we have coal mines all over-filled with e-waste.”

The grassroots ballot initiative that created the Waste No More ordinance mandated construction and demolition projects begin submitting plans for recycling concrete, asphalt, clean wood, scrap metal, and corrugated card-

board as of June 1. But well before that date came into view on everyone’s calendar, city staff realized the deadline was unrealistic. The rules—to submit a recycling and reuse plan for construction and demolition projects over 500 square feet in size for the above-named materials or face unspecified fines or, potentially, license revocation—placed impossible and ambiguous demands on contractors, as well as on the infrastructure and businesses that handle recyclable materials.

“One of the biggest problems with [construction and demolition waste] is it’s not like cardboard or plastic where you can just put it in a bale and ship it out—it’s really heavy,” Johnson says. Given that moving materials west means burning fuel over the Rockies and going east requires driving forever, costeffective solutions will have to come through a local reclamation industry. Says Johnson: “We’re in the infancy stage of this.”

To better align Waste No More’s rules with reality, the city and county of Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability & Resiliency convened a task force of stakeholders in March. Over the next few months, the group drafted more realistic expectations and timelines and attempted to align the ordinance

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with existing conditions. The recommendations and revisions were sent to City Council to approve sometime this fall.

“The goal…is to start small, start with what the marketplace can meet currently,” says Blake Adams, zero waste and circular economy manager for the city. At the behest of the task force, City Council is likely to require new construction, demolitions, home remodels, and retrofits over 500 square feet to divert 50 percent of solid waste from landfills by January 1, 2025.

(Technically, the paperwork is available now, and people could start filing these plans today.)

In 2030, that number will jump to 80 percent.

“The intent of this policy,” Adams says, “is to create a very smooth and just transition for that sector.”

Effectively, the policy will require deconstruction, which will not only necessitate new businesses to meet growing demand from home remodelers and builders, but also new strategies for converting some secondhand materials into new products. For instance, asphalt roofing shingles are currently deemed un-recyclable in Colorado. The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment adopted this policy after finding that only .01 percent of the materials gathered by shingle-recycling sites were actually

recycled, causing a massive pile-up of waste. But Johnson is currently working with a sustainable building manufacturer that purchased rights to a technology to treat and pelletize asphalt shingles so they can be reused in paving roads.

Similar strategies need to be created for drywall, painted wood, and many other materials.

There’s also the question of scalability. Perks’ team of 11 took down eight full houses last year and completed dozens of deconstructing jobs for home remodels. The supply of salvaged materials from businesses like Perks’ keeps DIYers and home remodelers going. But there isn’t volume for—or regulatory clarity about—using reclaimed lumber to build new houses. More often, the recovered lumber lands in furniture and other accents. Building codes require energy efficiency ratings for windows in new construction, and few reclaimed windows can be certified as meeting those standards, so they’re not going to land in new builds.

Denver can certainly look to other cities for guidance on these issues. Boulder and Lakewood both have deconstruction ordinances (since 2020 and 2022, respectively), as do about 27 other municipalities across the country. The requirements, plus her network, mean most of Perks’ business has so far happened in Boulder.

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In the three years since Boulder’s deconstruction ordinance went into effect, contractors have reported diverting about 87 percent of waste, by weight, from demolition projects.

It’s progress, but a working group is revising guidelines after discovering that, as written, they allowed contractors to focus on a few materials and prioritize the heaviest. In the worst case, that meant donating some appliances, mulching the landscape, then smashing the house and recycling the foundation—far from the rule’s intent.

Since Boulder’s ordinance was implemented, its waste-processing sites have responded by seeking grants from the Front Range Waste Diversion enterprise fund to meet new needs. For example, Western Disposal Services, a solid waste management company in Boulder County that collects trash, recycling, and compost, upgraded a manual system to semi-automated facilities for sorting scrap metal, wood, concrete, and other materials in early 2022. As a result, the amount of construction and demolition waste diverted from the landfill at Western Disposal’s facility bumped from 24 percent to 62 percent. Resource Central, a Boulderbased nonprofit that works to conserve water,

ENVIRONMENT

energy, and waste, including reselling about 4.5 million pounds of materials like fixtures, wood, and appliances annually, remodeled and expanded its collection facility earlier this year to ease public access, and has plans to double its impact in coming years. For Waste No More to succeed, Denver will need a similar suite of solutions.

“When you start digging into details, it gets really complicated,” says Joe Pitts, materials reuse program director at Resource Central.

“We may not know how to solve all these problems, but at least we’re headed in the right direction with these ordinances.”

IN BOULDER’S Whittier neighborhood, another Perks Deconstruction crew was taking a 1946 house down to its foundation in July. Project manager and co-owner Clemente Castanon walked through a room stripped to the studs, admiring thick, dark beams supporting the upper story.

“This is going to be really nice timber,” he says. Castanon worked at Resource Central for 15 years, watching dusty, decades-old wood emerge from the woodshop planer glowing gold again. He left Resource to find work deconstructing houses, connected with Perks, and bought into her company more than two years ago. “To me, it was amazing to see this old lumber turned into something beautiful.”

That beauty is, well, part of the beauty of deconstruction. It’s also what can help someone such as Emily Freeman do her job. As a circular economy policy adviser for the city of Boulder, Freeman’s goal is to flip the new-isbest mindset and show Coloradans the value in the already-built environment. “Just because you don’t want the layout of your current home or [you] want a larger home on top of the 1,000-square-foot home you purchased,” Freeman says, “it doesn’t mean the materials that were holding that home up are of no value.”

It also doesn’t mean that there aren’t potentially huge fringe benefits of reusing materials.

In her fight to save old-growth trees and mature forests, Ellen Montgomery, public lands campaign director for Environment Colorado, a statewide environmental group, ran through the three Rs—reduce, reuse, and recycle—to see how each approach could protect forests. She found the pattern of throwing lumber into landfills and then cutting more trees one of many problematic practices. At scale, a stream of reusable lumber might spare forests from being cut into boards, save wildlife habitat, and allow mature trees to continue storing carbon.

But, she acknowledges, disassembly and reuse are harder substitutes than what most people do every day to be more eco-conscious. “You might just pick recycled paper or bamboo toilet paper or some other green product, but this is a little more complicated than that,” Montgomery says, adding that people may not even know they have a more sustainable option—either for how they demolish a room during a remodel or what they use to rebuild later. And until these ordinances start to drive an uptick in new businesses, she concedes, options are slim.

Freeman agrees. “Where we’re at with deconstruction in terms of policy and resources is where residential recycling was in the 1990s—it was starting, it was emerging, but you didn’t really quite know what to do,” Freeman says. “Deconstruction really has the potential to shoot off the map and be the next thing.… There’s going to be an evolution as you see more and more of these policies and markets pop up.” m Elizabeth Miller is a New Mexico–based freelance writer. Send feedback to letters@5280.com.

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CHASING

POW Whistler Blackcomb

DER Attention, Epic and Ikon season pass holders: You have access to dozens of mountains around the world. With your lift ticket already covered, why not splurge on a bucket-list destination outside of the United States?

Here’s the lowdown on some of the best skiing, riding, and après-ing across five continents.

BY DALIAH SINGER

NOVEMBER 2023 / 5280

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I stand on the edge of the world with a lump in my throat as big as Decker Mountain, the squared-off summit that sits between me and Whistler Blackcomb, about four miles away. Peaks smeared with chewing-gum-blue glaciers pock the horizon. Beneath the tips of my skis: about 10 feet of gravity and then a majestic flute of snow that unfurls the length of a football field to a flat spot, our camp for the night.

“Dropping!” I announce, before pushing into the couloir, where I land with a light thump. The snow is soft—the result of Mother Nature slow-cooking it all day—and I link a few easy turns before coasting to a stop. I’ve been backcountry skiing and winter camping for a decade in the Rocky Mountains, but this is the only time I’ve ever skied into camp. In Colorado, you have to climb up, up, and away to get anywhere good, which means you’re usually pulling into your hut or tent site on skins with leaden legs.

The Spearhead Traverse is different. The roughly 21-mile, horseshoe-shaped circuit, which links the Whistler side of the British Columbia–based resort to the Blackcomb boundary, starts on a chairlift. With the Epic or Epic Local passes, you cut out 2,500 vertical feet of climbing before you’ve even started the tour. Then you undulate through the glaciated Coast Mountains, hanging between 7,000 and 8,000 feet of elevation for most of the journey.

Plenty of backcountry guides lead clients along the route, whose climbs come in short but intense bursts, but you don’t need their services if, like my crew, you’re handy with a compass and topographical map and can comfortably negotiate—and gear up for—glaciated terrain and maritime snow conditions. So after ticking off a bucket list’s worth of descents inside one of North America’s largest resorts (32 lifts!), my six friends and I had loaded our overnight packs and left the frontcountry behind at the top of the Symphony Express.

We’d spent night one at the Kees and Claire Memorial Hut ($50 per person; reserve online 60 days in advance), just southeast of the ski resort, above Russet Lake. The shelter— which opened in 2019 as the first of a planned three-hut system—has propane cooktops, USB ports, toilets, space for 38 guests, and see-forever views. On night two, we tiptoed across a bolted cable in ski boots to reach camp on the icy shoulder of 8,222-foot Mt. Iago.

Now on our last night, standing in the flat area below Mts. Trorey and Pattison, I watch as my partners cross my tracks and whoop when they drop into the couloir one by one. It’s a group effort to make camp before we pick off the unnamed lines that surround us until the sun dips behind 7,943-foot Decker: We melt snow for drinking water, stamp out squares for tents, and dig a pit for the group tipi. There, we’ll kick up tired feet and sip well-deserved wine straight from the bag to celebrate triumphing over the slopes just beyond one of the world’s most famous skiing destinations. —MAREN HORJUS 62

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EPIC

WHISTLER BLACKCOMB Getting There: Air Canada and United offer direct flights to Vancouver. To reach the resort, rent a car or book a shuttle for the two-hour ride.

Stay: The rooms at Nita Lake Lodge, a lakeside hotel, were refreshed this spring. Even better: The boutique spot is within walking distance of the newly upgraded, 10-person Creekside Gondola.

Eat: Bred, a vegan bakery in the Creekside Village base area, serves espressos and fresh-baked sourdough loaves and gooey cinnamon rolls.

TREE LINES

Between turns, skiers at British Columbia resorts should look for the province’s iconic whitebark pine trees. The five-needle evergreens sit along the edge of treeline, where their seeds sustain local populations of grizzly bears and their deep root systems help retain snowpack. Widespread disease caused by a nonnative fungus led to the pines being listed as endangered in 2012. But conservationists and ski resorts quickly partnered to protect the greenery: The Whistler Naturalists Society has been replenishing the trees at Whistler Blackcomb for more than a decade. In May, Panorama Mountain Resort was certified by the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada as the country’s first Whitebark Pine Friendly Ski Area in recognition of its replanting efforts—5,000 trees and counting—and its partnership with scientists to identify and rear saplings that are naturally resistant to the disease. —JAYME MOYE

Previous spread: Grant Gunderson/Courtesy of Destination Canada This spread, from left: Guy Fattal/ Courtesy of Tourism Whistler; Reuben Krabbe/Courtesy of SkiBig3; Icon: Getty Images

Slip through Whistler Blackcomb’s gates for a multiday backcountry roller coaster on the Spearhead Traverse.

NORTH AMERICA

O’’ER THE RAMPARTS

Whistler Blackcomb

TRAIL MAP Alberta’s trio of ski resorts, collectively called SkiBig3, reside within 50 miles of one another. We highlight one can’t-miss trail at each.

LAKE LOUISE SKI RESORT Run: Saddleback Lake Louise’s snowy back bowls are primarily expert-only territory, but Saddleback is a 1.5-mile groomed cruiser that will lead you from peak to base. Plus, it kicks off with 360-degree vistas from the sixperson Top of the World Express lift.

IKON

SKIBIG3 Getting There: United and WestJet offer direct service to Calgary; the closest resort to the city, Mt. Norquay, is a 1.5-hour drive (shuttles are available).

Pit Stop: Temple Lodge awaits near the end of the trail. The resort as we know it today grew out of this single 1930s timberframe chalet. Now, the chalet is a popular spot to kick back on the expansive deck with tacos and a beer.

BANFF SUNSHINE

MT. NORQUAY

Run: South Divide Look out for Tower 16 on your ride up the Great Divide Express Quad to the start of this wide, 1.8-milelong groomer. That’s the spot where the chairlift crosses briefly into British Columbia—the only lift in the country that spans two provinces.

Run: Lone Pine This leg-burner, dotted with moguls, was one of the first runs in North America to be designated as a double black diamond. Before you drop down its 1,300 feet, scope views of Banff, the town that sits just four miles from the resort.

Pit Stop: Glance to the south as you schuss down the short Lookout Mountain run. In the distance, you’ll spot Mt. Assiniboine, an 11,870-foot peak known as the Matterhorn of the Rockies, thanks to its pyramidal shape.

Pit Stop: Get some liquid courage from a cup of hand-blended, local Jolene’s tea (perhaps with a shot of whiskey?) at the venerable Cliffhouse Bistro. The eatery, perched at the summit of the North American chairlift, first opened in the 1950s and counts Marilyn Monroe among its famous patrons.

Lake Louise

Stay: Mount Royal Hotel in downtown Banff updated the 115-year-old property in 2018 with rooftop hot tubs, a cocktail lounge, and a museum that reflects on the hotel and town’s past.

Side Trip: Local outfitters like Discover Banff Tours offer trips to see the Upper and Lower waterfalls of Johnston Canyon.

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ASIA

IS JAPOW REALLY BETTER? Coloradans are proud of their snow: Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation trademarked “Champagne Powder,” after all. But when it comes to the white stuff, the island nation’s bountiful snowfall may have us beat.

We crunched the numbers and spoke to SnowLocals, a Telluride-based company that plans ski and snowboard trips to Japan, to resolve the debate.

COLORADO

5

Mid-November to mid-April

430

At Wolf Creek, the state’s snowiest resort

6° to 29° Vail in January

JAPAN

5.5

Months in a typical ski season

December to early May

Inches of annual snowfall

At Niseko Hanazono Resort, one of Japan’s snowiest spots

Average temperature range

600

19° to 31° Hokkaido in January

~8% 28

Average moisture content of snow

Ski resorts

~4% 500+

DURING YOUR LAYOVER IN… TOKYO, JAPAN in the capital city from the back in time to old Tokyo a snack—egg rolls, sushi, 1 Take 2 Grab 3 Travel 360-degree observation deck with a train ride to Asakusa, a you name it—and explore the at Shibuya Sky skyscraper. If the weather cooperates, Mt. Fuji may be visible. (Tip: Tickets are cheaper if you book online in advance.)

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shops that line Tsukiji Outer Market, known as Japan’s “food town.”

historical district best known for the Sensoji Temple, the artisan- and eatery-lined Nakamise street, and the Asakusa Hanayashiki theme park.

“Japan has the deepest and lightest snow in the world. Imagine California amounts of snow but with Colorado quality.”

—Charlie Cohn, co-founder, SnowLocals

This spread, from left: Courtesy of Niseko Tourism; Courtesy of Lotte Arai Ski Resort; Icons: Getty Images

Niseko United

RUBR IC IKON

LOTTE ARAI RESORT & NISEKO UNITED Getting There: United offers a direct flight to Tokyo. From there, it’s a subtwo-hour bullet train ride and then a jaunt on a free ski shuttle to Lotte Arai.

To reach Niseko United, hop a domestic flight from Tokyo to Sapporo and then take the local shuttle bus.

Stay: Lotte Arai Resort Hotel is that mountain’s only base area lodging and has plenty of dining options. Setsu Niseko opened last year and is a true retreat at the base of Grand Hirafu, one of Niseko’s four resorts, with indoor and outdoor onsens, a spa, and luxury rooms outfitted with small kitchens.

AT NISEKO UNITED

EARN YOUR BREAKS You physically can’t spend every hour of your trip skiing.

So shred, then give your quads a rest with equally epic downtime activities at two of Japan’s premier resorts.

RIP: Nab first tracks at Niseko Hanazono Resort, one of this Hokkaido icon’s four connected ski areas, by booking a guided cat skiing tour with Hanazono Powder Guides or Niseko Weiss Powder Cats.

REWARD: An effortless adrenaline rush. During the family-friendly snow rafting experience at Hanazono, you’ll sit in the equivalent of a whitewater raft while you get tugged along trails by a snowmobile.

RIP: Surf through deep powder in the Annupuri Bowls, where riders can relish in some of the resort’s steepest and longest runs.

REWARD: Top-shelf cuisine. The eats at venues such as Bar Gyu+ (the area’s oldest cocktail bar, with a Coca-Cola vending machine door as its entrance) and Kamimura, Michelin-starred chef Yuichi Kamimura’s French-inspired restaurant, go well beyond the typical post-ski burgerand-beer combo.

AT LOTTE ARAI RESORT RIP: Enjoy freshies on Lotte Arai’s 14 trails, which saw 866 inches in 2022.

lift, hike to the summit of Mt. Okenashi for some extra pow turns.

REWARD: Sake with a side of history. Lap up the fermented rice beverage— and learn the traditional methods of making it— during a tour of Kiminoi Shuzo or Chiyonohikari Shuzo. The Niigata Prefecture’s plentiful snowfall results in an abundance of fresh water for brewing.

REWARD: Pure relaxation. Hoshizora Onsen has a collection of outdoor hot spring baths at Lotte Arai Resort Hotel.

(There’s an indoor pool and day spa, too.)

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SOUTH AMERICA

PRO TIPS Professional skiers don’t take a summer break. They keep training by booking it to where the snow is just starting to fall—i.e., the Southern Hemisphere. This summer, make like the people who do this for a living and keep the turns coming at Chile’s Valle Nevado, one of the largest resorts in South America (usually open from late June through late September). We chatted with Littleton-born U.S. ski team member Kyle Negomir (catch him in the super-G and downhill races) about a recent trip south.

What’s the mountain like?

Everyone goes down and you expect, Oh, it’s South America, and you think of the beaches in Brazil. But there’s full-time winter skiing…. When I was in Valle Nevado, we had full-on powder for a week. We really couldn’t even train for racing because there was so much snow.

How does the snow compare to your hometown mountains?

You get that same sort of dry Champagne Powder kind of feel, which is pretty unique.

Describe the terrain in Valle Nevado.

You don’t really have mogul runs like you 66

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

do in the United States. You’re above treeline for a lot of Valle Nevado, so there’s not a lot of tree skiing. You’re either on-piste, on the groomers, or offpiste powder skiing.

What did you think of the food down there? Good?

Chileans in general eat a lot of meat….

A super common thing in Chile is they do asado—a Chilean barbecue. You get all sorts of different kinds of meat and sausages, just grilled.

There had to be some good drinks, too.

If you’re allowed those when you’re training, that is.

Everywhere in Chile has these pisco sours, and that’s always the drink you get down there. And a lot of cheap beer.

Anything else potential ski travelers should know?

[Expect] the most spectacular sunsets you’ll ever see in your life. It’s almost as much of a draw as the skiing.

LOCAL CONNECTION If you visit Valle Nevado next season, you can thank a Colorado company for the updated lifts you’ll be riding: In March, Durango-based Mountain Capital Partners (MCP) became the resort’s majority owner.

MCP’s portfolio contains a dozen other ski areas, including Purgatory and Hesperus in Colorado, as well as bike parks and golf courses across the Southwest— but Valle Nevado marks the ski resort management company’s first foray outside the United States. “We love fun ski areas that show a ton of potential,” marketing director Stacey Glaser says.

“What captured it for [managing partner James Coleman] was the beauty, the people, the food, and the incredible skiing.” Experience the resort yourself with the Ikon Pass or on MCP’s Power Pass and Power Pass Select, all of which include seven days at Valle.

This spread, from left: Courtesy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard; Courtesy of Valle Nevado; Icons: Getty Images

5280: We’ve heard the drive up from Santiago is pretty gnarly.

Kyle Negomir: You fly into Santiago and then just drive straight up the mountain for an hour and a half. It’s kind of like driving up I-70 out of Denver, except way more rural on a steep, windy road up the side of this mountain, and you go thousands of feet in an hour. It’s crazy.

RUBR IC

IKON

VALLE NEVADO Getting There: There are no direct flights to Santiago (the closest city, 44 miles away).

Delta, American, United, and other airlines offer connecting routes through cities like Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles; shuttles or taxis are available.

Stay: Hotel Valle Nevado is one of the few lodges that offer direct slope access.

Must-Have Experience: It’ll cost you (as in, $9,000 extra, for up to four people), but booking a heli-skiing tour is worth the splurge. The Andes Mountains are the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere, so you’ll enjoy extra-long runs—with tons of vertical— that’ll get those quads NorthernHemisphereseason-ready.

TRAINING GROUNDS

Incorporate these three can’tmiss trails at Valle Nevado into your own skills clinic.

To sharpen your turns: Lap the advanced-intermediate (outside of North America, these are marked as reds as opposed to, say, a blue-black) and expert runs off the Tres Puntas lift. Don’t forget to snap a photo of Cerro El Plomo, a 17,800-foot peak, along the way.

To find powder: Head up the Ancla lift and point your tips down any of the unnamed—and ungroomed—runs that unfurl below it. (Keep an eye out for Andean condors flying overhead.)

To test your mental toughness: Carefully choose your line down the steep El Dedo trail, one of the mountain’s only double-black slopes.

Valle Nevado

DURING YOUR LAYOVER IN… SANTIAGO, CHILE in a taxi to Cerro San how Chile moved a lunch from various 1 Hop 2 Build 3 Learn Cristobal, the capital city’s from dictatorship to stalls at La Vega Central largest green space, where you’ll find the Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción statue that overlooks the metro area.

Market. Must-haves include mote con huesillo (a drink made from husked wheat and dried peaches) and chirimoya (custard apples).

democracy at the free Memory and Human Rights Museum, which highlights those affected by the violent rule of General Augusto Pinochet.

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AUSTRALIA HAVE SKIS, WILL TRAVEL Don’t leave the country without these four easyto-pack, homegrown pieces of gear. —MH Flylow Daily Driver Gloves, $50 Whether you’re lugging suitcases through inclement weather, helping Junior clip into ice-cold boots, or hitting the slopes, the new, do-it-all Daily Driver gloves from Denver’s Flylow are a ski necessity.

A pliable goatskin leather outer helps maintain dexterity for precise tasks, while a plush fleece lining keeps digits warm when the temps plummet.

MountainFlow EcoTour Poles, $130 Carbondale-based MountainFlow’s adjustable poles are made of super-strong recycled aluminum and telescope from 105 to 140 centimeters, meaning they’ll work for the whole family. They’re also featherlight—coming in at just over a pound for the pair—so they won’t eat up your luggage weight allowance.

Thule RoundTrip Roller Bag, $300 Ease the stress of airport travel with a wheeled ski or snowboard bag such as the recently updated Thule RoundTrip.

(The Swiss company has an office in Longmont.) Internal straps secure two pairs of skis and poles, and a clever S-shaped zipper on the outside helps creative packers add a trip’s worth of gear and accessories in the crevices without stressing the seams.

Obermeyer Quinn One-Piece, $180 Simplify your grom’s packing list with the technical Quinn one-piece from Aspenbased Obermeyer. Parents will appreciate thoughtful features such as synthetic insulation from head to tiny toe, growwith-me hems in the sleeves and legs, an easy-to-manage zipper for potty breaks, and pockets aplenty (aka snack storage).

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EPIC

MT. HOTHAM & FALLS CREEK Getting There: DIA doesn’t offer any direct flights to Australia; you’ll have to fly United, American, or another airline, most likely via San Francisco or Los Angeles, to Melbourne.

Rental cars, buses, or a train will all get you to the hills.

This spread, from left: Courtesy of Thule; Courtesy of MountainFlow; Courtesy of Obermeyer; Courtesy of Flylow; Courtesy of Falls Creek Ski Lifts; Icons: Getty Images

Stay: Visiting Hotham with an SO? Heat things up with an overnight stay in a woodfire-equipped Hypedome or an igloo at Alpine Nature Experience. Keep the family together in Frueauf Village’s one- to four-bedroom rentals in central Falls Creek.

Go Between: Heli-hops are available between the resorts (starting at $200 per person, one-way).

DECISIONS, DECISIONS If you’re willing to drive the two hours between them, you can cross a pair of mountains off your checklist during a visit to Oz. But we won’t blame you if you want to stay put after all the time it took to get Down Under.

Mt. Hotham and Falls Creek appeal to different kinds of skiers: The former is known for its steep, expert terrain, while the latter is all about familyfriendly runs. Here’s what you need to know to make the right choice for your ski crew—and remember, the snow falls from June to October.

MT. HOTHAM

791

FALLS CREEK

Skiable acres

1,112

Intermediate/Advanced

Terrain breakdown

Beginner/Intermediate

72

Number of trails

90

Must-ski run

Wombat’s Ramble is Australia’s longest green run, stretching nearly 1.5 miles. Give it a go on Wednesday and Saturday nights, when it’s lit up from 6 to 8:45 p.m.

Grab a bite

Ory’s Falls Creek opened in the base village last season with a menu of Australian cuisine, which translates to toasties and baked beans in the morning and fresh fish and beef dishes later in the day.

Après spot

Taste brews from across the continent at the Frying Pan Inn, situated in the Village Bowl base area.

80%

Heavenly Valley is a series of primarily black diamond gully runs; beat the crowds from Wednesday to Sunday when the namesake lift opens at 7:30 a.m.

Hit the General—Australia’s highest pub, located near the Big D ski area—for fresh-from-the-oven pizzas (named after Hotham runs) and live music.

Expertly crafted cocktails await at the recently expanded, on-mountain Miss Mary’s.

80%

DURING YOUR LAYOVER IN... MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA at Carlton Wine 1 Eat Room—a locals’ favorite

for its seasonal menu (the stracciatella is a mustorder) and globe-spanning wine list.

Falls Creek

and winter in the 2 Fall Southern Hemisphere

means Australian Football League season at Melbourne Cricket Ground, so catch a match of the sport Aussies call “footy.”

along Southbank, 3 Meander a riverside walk lined with boutiques and eateries as well as the gorgeous Royal Botanic Gardens.

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MORNING After a Swiss breakfast of muesli, house-made jam, and croissants at your hotel, gear up for a morning of off-piste adventures while your legs are fresh. Disembark from the gondola on south-facing Gemsstock Mountain to drop into its steep and deep powder chutes and couloirs. The Felsental bowl delivers exciting, varied descents for experts and intermediates, including Gipfel Couloir.

LUNCH The sunny terrace of Michelin-starred Gütsch by Markus Neff—with its Swiss wines and Ursern Valley specialties, such as local Gotthard pike perch—calls to famished skiers.

Or cozy up inside Rüti Hütte, a generations-old stone cattle barn that sits just above the Andermatt-Nätschen-Gütsch gondola and serves traditional fondue, rösti (a crispy potato cake), and sausages.

AFTERNOON Choose your own post-lunch adventure: Enjoy dramatic valley views while cruising the Sonnenpiste 70 intermediate groomer on St. Anna Glacier, or give your muscles a reprieve with a toboggan ride down Oberalp Pass from the Gütsch-Express gondola.

APRÈS Bask in the alpenglow while raising a glass of cherry-based Bündner Röteli at Gadäbar, a rustic midmountain hut that serves Swiss liqueurs. Then change up your view by hopping the 45-minute train to Sedrun’s beloved BigT bar, where après-ski often turns into an all-night disco party.

DINNER Dramatic peaks set the backdrop for dinner, too: The Japanese, a Michelin-starred restaurant at the Chedi Andermatt, sits at 7,690 feet and is accessible only via Andermatt’s Gütsch-Express. Your go-to order should be the omakase menu paired with something from the extensive sake list. In the village, the traditional Gasthaus Ochsen restaurant is known for its inventive fondue options.

EPIC

ANDERMATTSEDRUNDISENTIS

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IKON

CHAMONIX MONT-BLANC VALLEY Getting There: No airlines fly directly to Geneva Airport (about 60 miles from the resort; shuttles or the bus or train are your best bets for reaching the mountains), but Delta, Air France, and others offer connecting options.

Stay: Situated along Chamonix’s lively core, the 52-room Hotel Richemond is still run by the same family that built it in 1914.

Side Trip: Mer de Glace (which translates to “sea of ice”) is a four-mile-long glacier—with an accessible ice cave—reachable by train from Chamonix.

Getting There: There are no direct flights to Zurich from Denver in the winter (those only run May through August), but United, Lufthansa, and Swiss International Air Lines will all get you there via other stops. To cover the 76 miles to the resort, hop on a train, rent a car, or book a private transfer.

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

Stay: The five-star Chedi Andermatt is an ideal spot to unwind, primarily because of its 26,000-square-foot spa (hello, deep tissue massage) and heated outdoor pool. Plus, you can indulge climate-guilt-free because the eco-friendly property runs on hydroelectric and wind power.

This spread: Quentin Iglesis/Courtesy of Le Brévent; Icon: Getty Images

After a $1.9 billion upgrade in 2021, Andermatt—one of the three areas that comprise the Andermatt-SedrunDisentis resort—transformed from a cozy Swiss ski village into a hot spot for global travelers, with a five-star hotel, new high-speed lifts, and Michelinstarred restaurants. Here, an itinerary for a perfect day. —DONNA SOZIO

EUROPE

SLOPE STYLE

SKI, EAT, REPEAT From snowy peaks to small villages, explore the Chamonix Mont-Blanc Valley’s five distinct ski areas. —DONNA SOZIO 1. VALLÉE BLANCHE

Ski Here: Hire a guide and strap on a beacon to descend 12 miles of unmarked and unmaintained—and utterly spectacular—powder. One of the world’s most famous off-piste runs, this near-mythical itinerary can take half a day to complete.

Then Eat Here: At the summit sits Restaurant Le 3842, which is accessible by cable car and offers unparalleled vistas to go with its traditional eats.

2. LES GRANDS MONTETS

Ski Here: Above the village of Argentière is the north-facing Les Grands Montets, a mecca for freeriders who are drawn to its glacier terrain and flowing bowls.

Then Eat Here: Après at Chambre Neuf, where you can mingle with the locals who come to warm up with a stiff shot of génépi liqueur, talk ski lines, and dance.

3. DOMAINE DE BALME

Ski Here: Broad bowls, wide slopes, and forested runs define this ski area, which crosses the villages of Vallorcine and Le Tour in the Haute-Savoie region.

Then Eat Here: For Savoyard specialties in an authentic alpine hut, step into the Alpage de Balme Restaurant.

4. LES HOUCHES

Ski Here: This FIS Alpine Ski World Cup stop’s tree-lined runs are the area’s best option for beginner and intermediate skiers who will benefit from smaller crowds while reveling in a side of majestic Aiguilles de Chamonix views.

Le Brévent

DURING YOUR LAYOVER IN… ZURICH, SWITZERLAND Old Town’s cobblean authentic Swiss meal to make your own 1 Stroll 2 Learn 3 For stone streets, which are of veal sausage, rösti, and bar at the Lindt Home of lined with colorful buildings and shops. Grossmünster, a twin-towered church built in 1100, is one of the city’s central landmarks.

Chocolate museum. Our recommendation: Take a bus there, then relax on a 30-minute cruise on Lake Zurich back to Bürkliplatz dock; buy a ticket for the public ferry online.

chocolate mousse, reserve a table at Kronenhalle. The restaurant has been in business since 1924, and its walls are covered in original artwork by legends such as Marc Chagall and Joan Miró.

Then Eat Here: Les Houches’ slopes are dotted with chalets and barns-turnedrestaurants. Among our favorites is the 273-year-old Les Vieilles Luges. Dairy reigns here, so order the Gruyère fondue.

5. LA FLÉGÈRE AND LE BRÉVENT Ski Here: The south-facing slopes of La Flégère and Le Brévent are just right for intermediate skiers thanks to the nottoo-steep runs. The snow park will also thrill those who want to catch air.

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SPIRIT LIFTERS The gift-giving season may be nearly upon us, but handing out a bit of joy shouldn’t be relegated to a twomonth time frame, especially when the past few years have delivered more than their fair share of grief.

We perused local shops and sought out dozens of entrepreneurs to find pick-me-ups perfect for every kind of unfortunate, only-in-Colorado situation. Whether you’re easing a minor indignity or trying to soothe serious heartache, these local goods will provide some Centennial State comfort to those you love. (Bonus: They make darned good holiday gifts, too.)

BY KASEY CORDELL & LINDSEY B. KING P H O T O I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y C . J . B U R T O N

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GIFTS FOR LIFE’S MINOR INDIGNITIES 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 recognize her from her photo ID.

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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 your nephew doesn’t get into University of Colorado Boulder: A VMP (Vinyl Me, Please) subscription (starting at $36 per month; vinylmeplease. com) can help him get a musical education no matter where he goes—and you’ll still be the cool uncle or aunt.

STILL LIFE PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH BANKS / ST YLING BY CHARLI ORNETT

WHEN MONEY CAN’T BUY COMFORT (BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE ANY)

Sometimes your heart says, “Do something” and your budget says, “Nope.” You can listen to them both with these free (or very inexpensive) pick-me-ups.

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 heartbreaking 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-thedumps 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 weekly at local businesses and breweries in the metro area.

A SHOP FOR EVERY CRAPPY OCCASION

No matter what the injustice, one of these local gift purveyors is bound to have a present with just the right feel-good factor.

HOW LOUSY IS THE SITUATION?

Real Big Bummer

A Middlin’ Kind Of Misery

Minor Flesh/ Ego Wound

Is it a sad kind of bad or a mad kind of bad?

What’s love got to do with it?

Is the downtrodden a kid?

Sad

Apothecary Tinctura Start with a care package: Nurturing Tea, Perspective essential oil spray, and a journal in which they can pour their hearts out. If that doesn’t help beat back the darkness, consider giving them a consultation with one of this 26-year-old Denver shop’s six herbalists or personal growth coaches.

The Terrorium Shop If your biking buddy is still murderous about getting run off Lookout Mountain Road and totaling his Alchemy bike, this edgy plantmeets-taxidermy shop’s collection of curiosities—potted plants bedecked with skulls, snake vertebrae accessories, and preserved dragonflies—will take his mind off revenge. And if it doesn’t, enroll him in the Berkeley store’s popular taxidermy classes so the only carcass he’s caught with is a legal one.

Mad

Everything

Nothing

Where do you live?

Westside

Eastside Trunk Nouveau Don’t sleep on the quippy cards, wood earrings, or cheeky tea towels you spot in this Stanley Marketplace treasure trove; the handcrafted inventory from local artists changes regularly. Less fleeting is the warm and fuzzy feeling you’ll get knowing six percent of your purchase goes to the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society, which works to protect Andean bears.

XO Gift Co. Owner Kat Furr has firsthand experience being on the receiving end of little things that make a difference, so she stocks her Wheat Ridge shop with all kinds of items that (figuratively) say, “You’re special.” A quick perusal will turn up locally made jewelry, magnets, greeting cards, candles, and other handmade crafts from more than 50 Colorado makers.

Yes

No

Truong An Gifts If this Federal Boulevard shop’s vibrant display of Pokémon toys and lucky frog and cat figurines doesn’t undo your little one’s doldrums, the sugar high from Hello Kitty and Hi-Chew candies surely will.

Awakening Sister ghosted by her latest Hinge hottie? Introduce her to Awakening, Denver’s emporium of all things sensual, from flavored nipple balms to vibrators and other sexpositive toys. Bonus: She can crib from Awakening’s founding principle when she revisits her dating profile: Seeking mutual trust, respect— and orgasms.

Jolly Goods From Pour Yourself A Cup of Ambition coffee mugs to Pedro Pascal prayer candles, irreverence is the hallmark of this Tennyson Street shop. But you’ll still find plenty of sweet somethings to offer to wounded loved ones, such as colorful clay earrings handmade by owner Nicole WolseyNeech and whimsical succulent pots and bud vases. Even better, none of Jolly Goods’ gifts will bust your budget.

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life—breaks your people’s bits.

BECAUSE THEY…

GET THEM…

SO…

Tore their ACL standing in the lift line at Vail Ski Resort

A gift certificate to Denver Dog Joggers

Spot doesn’t get the shaft (or eat the couch) just because Dad caught a case of the whoopsies. Denver Dog Joggers owner Jacob Venter has logged more than 20,000 miles on the other end of the leash, and today his staff of 35 will tailor your dog’s outing to its fitness level (slow walk, fast walk, jog) starting at $35 per session.

Busted their tailbone slipping on the 16th Street Mall pavers

A month of housekeeping from Clean Queen Maid Service of Westminster

They can focus on healing their booties without bending and straining their sensitive backsides—or worrying about cleaning chemicals. Five-year-old Clean Queen uses nontoxic supplies safe for people and pets. Rates for deep cleans start at $250, depending on the size of the home.

Ripped their lady part delivering a nine-pounder at Rose Medical Center

A week’s worth of dinners from SupperBell

Separated their shoulder in a huskymeets-human TKO at Cherry Creek State Park’s off-leash area

A gift certificate to their favorite salon

Scrambled their brain (temporarily) in a crash on the South Platte River Trail

A Denver Public Library e-card (you’ll need their mailing and email addresses)

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Mama can enjoy the culinary delights backed by Denver restaurateur Frank Bonanno—who was an early investor in the at-home meal delivery service— without having to change out of her slippers. Meals such as bistro filet with artichoke butter and almond-crusted salmon cakes are cooked from scratch daily and, if Mom orders by 2 p.m., will arrive at her door ready to reheat for dinner starting at about $16 per entrée.

Their locks stay locked-in. Ask a stylist to put together a package of wash-and-style sessions, and if that’s not possible, consider a gift certificate for several blowouts from a top-shelf salon like Cedar Hair Studio, Clementine’s Salon, or Luxe Salon.

They can enjoy a screen-free activity while resting their gray matter thanks to the library’s vast collection of nearly 100,000 audiobooks.

The ultimate Colorado breakup mixtape—to play for yourself or your lovelorn friend—courtesy of KBCO’s Bret Saunders.

“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 from Colorado’s uncategorizable DeVotchKa quartet?

“I’m going to burn all my possessions on the kitchen floor,” Nick Urata sings in this haunting mix of strings, accordion, and percussion.

Don’t do it, Nick! You probably have some irreplaceable records in that pile.

“Whiplash”

by Jobi Riccio If Riccio, who grew up in Morrison, is new to you, she won’t be for long. “Whiplash” is yet another example of her exceptional Americana-styled tunes and follows a narrator who’s better off without the cowboy who ran away.

“Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)”

by Dianne Reeves Denver’s Reeves needs a separate trophy room for the myriad Grammy Awards honoring her unparalleled jazz vocal prowess, and her interpretation of this homage to unrequited love from the Temptations rivals the original.

Courtesy of SupperBell

BROKEN BONES Services for when Colorado’s outdoorsy culture—or just everyday

BROKEN HEART

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GIFTS FOR BIG BUT TEMPORARY BUMMERS 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; moore collection.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; unde structable.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 Aerospace: Locally made Laws Whiskey House Four Grain Straight Bourbon delivered by Drizly ($60; drizly.com) and Counter Couture rocks glasses ($14; counter-couture. com) will soften the blow.

Also: Drinks are on you for the foreseeable future.

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GIFTS FOR WHEN THE ONLY REMEDY IS TIME

When your neighbors’ Bernese Mountain Dog delivers his last sloppy kiss: A custom portrait from Longmont’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; fenwayclay works.com) because you have to start the rebuilding somewhere, and Sean VanderVliet’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 at Aurum in Golden Triangle) because while you can’t replace her mom, these designs from Aurum’s owner are precisely the kind of thing she would have worn to tea.

When your sister gets divorced and moves into a RiNo apartment on her own: Large alpaca blankets from Loom Colorado ($130; loomcolorado. com) will brighten her new space. These alpaca throws are handmade in Ecuador and brought to the Centennial State by Pamela Mendoza, a Coloradan originally from that country. As soft as they are colorful, the blankets will be there on the hard days to wrap your sis in a warm hug when you can’t.

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DO SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

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 doorsteps, and in drivers’ seats, I’ve gleaned a few important lessons. —KC

1 Pay attention.

To what brand (and color) of lipstick your bestie wears, what her go-to comfort food is. Observe if she wears silver jewelry or gold. Know her T-shirt size, her favorite colors, the wine varietals she’s most likely to order. What creatures she fears; which ones she’ll step in front of a truck for. Giving shouldn’t be work; it’s just being a good friend.

2 Always be shopping.

Spot a hilarious cat card that will speak to your work wife but have no occasion to give it?

Get it. And the matching socks.

My mom used to squirrel away on-the-nose stocking stuffers starting on December 26—a great habit, but why wait for December to deliver the goods?

If you’ve got a ready stash of personalized pick-me-ups (see at right), it’s that much easier to lighten a loved one’s mood when the universe drops an April turd.

3 Enlist others.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS

Tiny reminders that you’re thinking of the ones you love.

Spouses, parents, siblings, coworkers, and old friends can be great coconspirators when you need help finding just the right window of opportunity to maximize a surprise.

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.

4

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.

Track security risks.

Car alarms. Home security systems.

Nosy neighbors. Vigilant golden doodles. These are but a few of the potential threats to ruining your surprise (and also your day).

Timing is everything.

Keep one of Denver-based photographerdesigner Stephanie Mikuls’ Inviting in Magic affirmation packs ($22; stepha niemikuls.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.

6

When your cousin needs some liquid courage before cozying up around the campfire next to the man of his dreams, hand him his own Colorado Campfire Mountain shot glass from Snow Business ($6; snowbusinesscolorado.com) and fill it with something strong.

5 Just because the casseroles have come and gone doesn’t mean the hurt has. A token of your affection on an otherwise unremarkable Tuesday is worth six pounds of lasagna.

The price tag really doesn’t matter.

It’s never the extravagant thing that wedges itself in the deepest chamber of the heart. It’s the token that says, Not only have I been thinking of you, but I’ve also been listening, and this is how I love you.

Attach a little note that says “Look at the smart person everyone else sees” to one of Denver-based I Like Sara’s pocket mirrors ($11; ilikesara.com) and deliver it to your aunt on the eve of her University of Colorado Boulder master’s thesis defense.

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➽ AN UNEXPECTED GIFT It came in the mail from people I barely knew—and I could not have been more grateful.

WHEN ONLY CHOCOLATE WILL DO 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 in—Mexico City gets canceled.

Pick up: a single serving of Turkey Tail Maitake and Chaga functional mushroom chocolate ($5) From: Boulder’s Moksha Chocolate For when: your bestie’s new elementary school teaching gig means her immune system needs help defending against the kids’ germs.

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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 it. He was sick and scared and needed me, and his big, brown, humanlike eyes watched me walk away. Devastated did not begin to describe how I felt. I cried and cried and cried.

Then, a few days later, a package arrived in the mail. I hadn’t ordered anything, and there wasn’t any identifying information about its contents on the outside. It was oddly heavy for a small parcel, and when I opened it I realized why: It was a stone plaque. On it were paw prints and an inscription that read, “If Love Could Have Saved You, You Would Have Lived Forever.”

It was hard to find details about the sender, but after scouring the paperwork, I deduced that the pet memorial was from some friends of a friend, a couple who had never even met Bodhi and whom I had only hung out with maybe three times. I cried uncontrollably—again—but this time the tears were from a sense of relief. This couple could not have known how culpable I felt, but the words inscribed on their gift made me re-evaluate things. Bodhi was my first dog as an adult, and he had been one of the great loves of my life. I would’ve done anything for him, and the honest truth was that I just didn’t know he had developed chronic pancreatitis. The gift didn’t take away all my shame, but it delivered something I hadn’t previously allowed myself: compassion.

I’ve been fortunate to receive a lot of presents in my life: lovely bestowals on my birthday and during the holidays and, in many instances, for no reason at all, except that someone loved me.

But more than eight years later, I still remember the kindness of that unanticipated gift—and the poignant impact of the simple, stone monument to Bodhi’s life and my love for him. —LBK

The gift didn’t take away all my shame, but it delivered something I hadn’t previously allowed myself: compassion.

WEEKEND RECOVERY

Sometimes the only thing that can help is a weekend away from it all—including people. For these times, consider gifting your wound-licking loved one a weekend at Westminster’s Origin Hotel (rates start at $149). The two-year-old Origin offers the same stylish escape as a mountain hotel without the I-70 headache. Your hurting friend can hide from the world with movies at Alamo Drafthouse (across the street), books from a Tattered Cover Book Store outpost (adjacent to the lobby), and France-meets-the-West meals from the Famille restaurant (downstairs—or via room service if he wants to eat his feelings in solitude).

GIFTS FOR WHEN A LITTLE SELF-CARE IS IN ORDER 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; muddy mint.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 Christkindlmarket 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 Ritual Bath Soak ($18; harvestmoon botanics.com) with rose and lemon will deliver enough ahhhh that you’ll be able to emotionally handle the trip to Whole Foods Market for all the holiday feast fixings.

When you need to let yourself miss your dad, who taught you to ski, took you camping, handed you the rod with a fish on it, and always smelled like newly cut grass and fresh earth: Berkeley’s Wooly Wax Home Décor Luxe soy wax candle in vetiver and oakmoss ($42; woolywaxcandles.com) will remind you of him.

When what was supposed to be a relaxing weekend in the mountains delivered three high-elevation-induced sleepless nights: Press Pause’s Dream tincture ($89; presspause project.com), a fullspectrum CBD night tincture, can restore some lost Zs.

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CARDS FOR WHEN YOU NEED HELP WITH YOUR WORDS—OR THERE SIMPLY ARE NONE 1. Founded by Arley Torsone and Morgan Calderini, Ladyfingers Letterpress (ladyfingers letterpress.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.

3. You’ll need to make a run to Meininger Art Material to grab some basic watercolor paints and a brush, but Englewood-based Lexisworks’ Moon Garden Coloring Cards (lexisworksart.com) give you a chance to not only send a message of love and support but to also deliver a splash of creativity to those in your life who might need a boost.

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3.

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4. This card, from Derek Cadena and Brent Rodgers, the husband-and-husband team behind Denver’s Two Little Fruits (twolittlefruits. com), doesn’t have any words—but, then again, it doesn’t need any. If you’re trying to say, “I’m so sorry that life has lifted its leg on you,” then the cute illustration gets the message across.

5. Made in-house by the creative folks at Wish Gifts (wishgiftsdenver.com), these Colorado-specific cards— there’s an “I Would Get On Colorado Blvd. At 5 P.M. For You” version—let the receiver know, unequivocally, just how much they’re really cared for.

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4.

2. Longmont-based Sweet & Snarky (sweetandsnarky goods.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.

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Due to an avalanche of personal losses in recent years, I became a man of constant sorrow—and an unwitting expert at sending and receiving condolences. The result is I now have a sharply honed sense about the fine art of grief messaging. This is not something to which I ever aspired. Regardless, here are a few suggestions for making your expressions of sympathy both meaningful and memorable.

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 devas-

tated” 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 memory or tell a story about how the lost one affected you.

Avoid reverence if it feels forced. If your relationship with the person you’re trying to comfort is based on a ribald personal history, filthy jokes, and way too many Jell-O shots, a sudden lapse into sober reverence is going to seem strange. If “Well, damn, that sucks” seems more appropriate, why not?

The condolences that have meant the most to me in recent years were variations of the old Hebrew saying, “May your memories be a blessing.” It’s short. It acknowledges the

loss. And it feels like a welcome preview of a time when the pain will subside and special memories may someday make you smile once again. —MARTIN J. SMITH

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THE ART OF CONDOLENCE

A FINAL BEQUEST An undelivered present brought one man some solace amid the chaos.

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 there wasn’t junk, there were mountains of mementos, stacks of unused cleaning products, toys for my niece yet to be mailed, and unopened kitchen appliances. Judging from his documents—which started out neatly arranged in storage boxes and gradually became more disheveled as the dates progressed—he hadn’t cleaned anything in years. It was heartbreaking, mostly because we’d had no idea. My relationship with him had always been strained, but after my mother, from whom he had long been separated, died of cancer nearly a decade ago, we made an effort to talk regularly. He was observant, funny, and sharp until the end.

On our second day of sorting through the disorder, the task before us was so immense that I was in a fog. That’s when someone handed me a small box they’d excavated. It was done up in the colorful tissue paper that my father liked to use as gift wrap, and my name was written on top. His wrap job’s signature hospital corner folds and his confident handwriting delivered a sense of order in the middle of the mayhem. There was so much to do, though, that I had to set it aside unopened. That night, we sat around our Airbnb drinking and reading some old letters we’d found. Then I unwrapped the present: It was a watch. Timepieces were a passion I’d inherited from him, more by proxy than in practice. I was a teenager when he bought this particular chronograph, and he’d promised he’d give it to me someday. It arrived at just the right time. —NICHOLAS HUNT

His wrap job’s signature hospital corner folds and his confident handwriting delivered a sense of order in the middle of the mayhem.

PLANT LIFE

It’s long been customary to send flowers to a wake or a funeral—and even directly to the homes of loved ones in mourning. But here’s the thing: Flowers die. And, well, with death already hanging thick in the air, sending an I’m-so-sorry-alternative to those quick wilters is a thoughtful gift. We suggest heading to South Broadway’s Birdsall & Co., Lincoln Park’s Green Lady Gardens, or Speer’s the Herbery Boutique to pick up a live houseplant—like English ivy, a peace lily, or a snake plant, all of which should do well in Colorado’s dry air. Just remember to ask the knowledgeable staff at each shop for care instructions that you can pass along to the giftee. m

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INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Can well-traveled police chief Art Acevedo reform the troubled Aurora Police Department?

BY KELLEY MANLEY P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y K E V I N M O H AT T

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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 after an Aurora officer shot him on June 1 in an alley behind a strip mall on East

Eighth Avenue and Dayton Street. Richardson and four others had robbed a convenience store, and police said Richardson threatened the store clerk with what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol.

The teens fled when the cops arrived, and Richardson refused to comply with officers’ demands when they pursued him.

On the front steps of the municipal complex, behind a lectern adorned with photos of Richardson, Siddhartha Rathod, a lawyer representing the family, addressed the protestors. “Our Black and brown children have to have the ability to make mistakes and have the same opportunities to surrender and not be shot but to breathe,” he said. Richardson’s family acknowledged that Jor’Dell had made a mistake, but one for which the adventurous teen with an infectious laugh didn’t deserve to die. He’d just finished eighth grade at Aurora West College Preparatory Academy, where he was a star basketball player. Not long after Rathod’s remarks, a pastor beseeched the Lord for justice and change, and Richardson’s 19-year-old brother, Anton, crumpled into his father’s arms and wept.

The community had been through this before, most notably in August 2019, when Elijah McClain, a Black, 23-year-old massage therapist, died after having been restrained by Aurora first responders. Less than a year later, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, McClain’s killing—as well as the shooting death of Breonna Taylor by police in Louisville, Kentucky—became the impetus for a national referendum on police reform.

To the protestors gathered on that June day, Richardson’s death was just the latest example of the racist and violent tactics of a police department plagued by such abuses for years and proof that nothing had changed. “He was murdered,” said Jason McBride, a gang prevention specialist in Aurora, as he surveyed the crowd chanting Richardson’s name. “It’s the same thing by the same police force. It’s something that our community has had to deal with far too often.

And at some point, you know, we’re going to erupt.”

ABO UT T WO HO UR S E ARLIER , Acevedo, 59, had held a press con-

ference on the second floor of the Aurora Police Department Headquarters. Acevedo was sworn in on December 5, 2022, as interim chief and charged with keeping the peace in Colorado’s third most populous—and most diverse—city, which hems in Denver to the east and spans 161 square miles across three counties and vast political chasms.

In an attempt to clarify the circumstances of Richardson’s death, Acevedo played—and made public for the first time—the footage from the body cameras worn by the two responding officers that day.

“What I’m going to do this afternoon, in the spirit of transparency, I’m going to provide the community an overview of where we’ve been, where we’re at, then we’ll release body-worn camera videos of the two primary officers engaged in foot pursuit of Jor’Dell,” Acevedo said as he began his 90-minute presentation. After reviewing a detailed timeline of the incident, he finally rolled the footage, which he had shown the family privately three days earlier.

At 4:22 p.m. on June 1, officers Roch Gruszeczka and James Snapp pulled up to a group of five Black teenagers gathered in front of the Dayton Dollar Mini Mart in west Aurora. Despite the mild spring weather, most of the boys wore sweatshirts with the hoods drawn tightly around their heads, medical masks, and gloves. They had arrived at the scene in a stolen Kia minivan, which was parked in the alley behind the strip mall.

Security camera footage of the teens inside the store from minutes earlier—and subsequent police interviews with the store clerk—revealed Richardson had flashed a weapon to the cashier and demanded vape

This spread, from left: Aurora Police Department Headquarters; Jor’Dell Richardson’s mother, Laurie Littlejohn, with a photo of Jor’Dell, who was shot and killed by an APD officer in June

cartridges, Acevedo said. The group also ordered another customer to stay inside the store while the robbery unfolded.

Body camera footage of the officers’ arrival showed the teens scattering. Snapp and Gruszeczka jumped out of their SUV and chased Richardson, which is when he ran into an alley behind the strip mall, pumping one arm like a sprinter while holding some­ thing near his waist with the other. “Stop! Get on the ground,” Gruszeczka shouted. Richardson didn’t comply.

Within 16 seconds, Snapp tackled Richardson. “Stop, please.

You got me!” Richardson said. Around the same time, in the back­ ground, Gruszeczka, who had by then caught up to them, shouted, “Gun! Gun! Let go of the fucking gun. I’m going to shoot your ass!” as they all wrestled on the ground. Gruszeczka later said he felt Richardson’s fingers on the grip of the teen’s pistol, which had slipped under Gruszeczka’s bulletproof vest. A split second later, the

officer fired a single gunshot into Richardson’s abdomen. As the teen moaned, Gruszeczka tossed away what looked like a handgun, appar­ ently the item Richardson had been holding as he ran. Only 26 seconds passed from the time the officers left their SUV to when Gruszeczka shot Richardson.

By 4:24 p.m., Richardson had lost conscious­ ness, and Gruszeczka radioed for help. The officers began CPR. Sirens blared as EMTs arrived. Minutes later, as Gruszeczka walked away from the scene, he muttered, “God, please be with that kid.”

Acevedo’s press conference, along with the release of the body cam footage, did not help quell the community’s outrage over the kill­ ing. Richardson’s gun, Acevedo revealed that day, was not what it had seemed: It was a pel­ let gun, albeit one that looked identical to a semi-automatic 9 mm handgun and was capable of lethal force. Richardson’s family was made aware of the information just minutes before the press conference. They felt blind­ sided and misled.

Acevedo also provided information about the officers at the press conference. “Neither one of the officers has significant use-of-force issues, incidents, or significant disciplinary his­ tories,” Acevedo said. But he failed to mention that, in February 2023, the city of Aurora had paid out $100,000 to settle a civil case against Gruszeczka and two other APD officers accused of racial profiling and the violation of consti­ tutional rights during a 2018 arrest.

During the press conference, Acevedo stood by his officers. But for some, the body cam footage provoked more questions than it answered and that threatened to jeopardize any progress the department had made over the previous three years. The incident raised many questions: Was changing the culture and policing tactics within APD even possible, and what would it mean for Aurora’s citizens if it were? And was Acevedo, who had survived other controversies in his career, the right person for the job?

“THE CITY OF AURORA IS IN CRISIS,” said activist Maisha Fields, who

runs the Dayton Street Opportunity Center, a community space that serves as a nonprofit incubator as well as ground zero for Fields’ public health advocacy efforts. It was June 1, and as we chatted about the city and the APD, the center buzzed with people prepping for a gun reform rally. Little did we know that just a few hours later, five blocks away, Jor’Dell Richardson would be shot and killed.

A lifelong Aurora resident, Fields, 45, is the daughter of Colo­ rado state Senator Rhonda Fields, and the two share a passion for civil rights. Fields described a city in disarray, noting that since July 2022, Aurora had lost its fire chief, school superintendent, and city manager. The police department, which has 638 sworn officers, has an interim boss in Acevedo.

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As a result of increasing mental health issues, economic hardship, and the instability of the city’s leadership, Fields said, there’s been a surge in violent crime in recent years, reaching record levels in 2022.

“This entire year has been about interim people, a lack of leadership. And when you think about how we fortify our cities, it is with strong leadership, and we have not had that,” said Fields, who is also a member of the Community Advisory Council, or CAC, a group of 12 Aurorans who provide feedback on the city’s police reform efforts to the Office of the Independent Consent Decree Monitor.

Much of the upheaval is fallout from Elijah McClain’s death in 2019, which pushed the Aurora police into the national spotlight and spurred the subsequent examination of the department’s history and practices. In August of that year, a citizen called 911 to report that McClain—who was waving his arms, dancing, and wearing a ski mask while walking home from a convenience store at 10:43 p.m.—looked “sketchy.” McClain died after APD officers used a now-banned carotid chokehold to subdue him, Aurora paramedics injected him with a large dose of ketamine, and he suffered cardiac arrest. The public was infuriated when then police chief Nick Metz declined to fire the officers involved and prosecutors didn’t bring criminal charges against them.

McClain is one of 27 people who have died at the hands of the APD since 2013, according to Mapping Police Violence, part of a national nonprofit focused on ending police violence and reforming current law enforcement policies and practices. The situation in Aurora is emblematic of a series of troubling incidents across the United States, with Black Americans being killed by police at 2.9 times the rate of white people over the past decade, also according to Mapping Police Violence.

By June 2020, a change.org petition calling for justice for McClain had garnered three million signatures. As protestors took to the streets in Denver, Aurora, and across the country demanding police reform after George Floyd’s death, Governor Polis intervened and directed Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to investigate the McClain case under the auspices of Senate Bill 20-217. The Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act, which Polis had just signed into law, expanded the state attorney general’s power to investigate police misconduct, among other sweeping law enforcement accountability measures.

In September 2021, Weiser released the findings of his 14-month investigation in a 118-page report: “Aurora Police has a pattern and practice of racially biased policing, using excessive force, and failing to record required information when it interacts with the community.” The AG’s report found that the APD unfairly targeted minorities, particularly Black individuals, in nearly every type of police contact with the community. According to the report, Aurora had paid out more than $7 million in settlements from 2008 to 2018 for excessive force and constitutional violation claims against the APD.

Weiser also convened a grand jury, which, in September 2021, charged three APD officers and two paramedics involved in McClain’s death with 32 combined counts of criminally negligent homicide, manslaughter, and various assault charges. One month after Weiser made the findings of his investigation public, Sheneen McClain, Elijah’s mother, reached an agreement with the city for a $15 million civil settlement.

The attorney general’s office not only decided to prosecute the McClain case but it also asked that the city of Aurora, under which the APD falls, enter into a consent decree, a legally binding civil agreement that outlined several areas of reform—including use of force, racial bias in policing, accountability, and transparency—that needed to be addressed within five years or the city of Aurora would risk legal action. The consent decree also highlighted more than 70 specific actions—such as de-escalation training, hiring This spread, from left: Air Force veteran and APD whistleblower Justin Parker resigned from the APD after what he describes as “psychological warfare” with other officers; Acevedo on patrol this fall

more minority officers, and creating a transparency portal detailing police actions—that must take place, and it mandated that the city hire an outside agency, or monitor, to track its progress. Almost as soon as the city announced it would enter into the consent decree, pushback from Aurora police officers began.

ON NOVEMBER 16, 2021, Doug Wilkinson, a patrol officer and

president of the Aurora Police Association, one of two police unions in Aurora, sent an email to approximately 235 APD officers criticizing the consent decree. In particular, he denounced its attempt to diversify the force (about 25 percent of APD officers currently identify as a minority, according to Acevedo), categorizing the efforts as favoring “non-whites” and “non-males,” a practice he called sexist and racist. “We could make sure to hire 10% illegal aliens, 50% weed smokers, 10% Crackheads, and a few child molesters and murderers to round it out,” he wrote. “You know, so we can make the department to look like the ‘community.’ ’’ At the time, there was a new police chief at the helm of the APD: Vanessa Wilson, a 24-year veteran of the department and its first female chief. Wilson was promoted to the top spot in December 2019, replacing Metz, who retired shortly after McClain’s death.

She was quick to put Wilkinson on administrative leave and eventually fired him in February 2022, saying in a release that his email violated “the City of Aurora’s Anti-Harassment Policy and the Aurora Police Department’s Directive regarding Discrimination, Harassment and Sexual Harassment.”

Wilkinson’s termination was one of many Wilson carried out in her efforts to reform the department. In June 2020, photos emerged of three APD officers mocking McClain’s death by re-enacting a chokehold in front of the memorial that had been erected where McClain had been detained; they texted the pictures to other officers, including Jason Rosenblatt, who was on administrative leave for his involvement in the McClain incident. Rosenblatt responded “ha ha.”

An APD officer named Justin Parker found out about the photos and reported them to a supervisor, prompting Wilson to fire three of the officers involved in the photos; another officer resigned.

What was almost as disturbing as the photos themselves was how Parker was treated after outing them.

Two years after leaving the APD, Parker, who is 39 and an Air Force vet who served in Afghanistan, said that once the photo scandal broke, other officers refused to show up to help him in dangerous situations. He was called a snitch. His colleagues put sticky notes on his locker that said “rat” and stuffed a pair of cut-off patrol pants with a homophobic epithet scrawled across the front inside his locker. Fellow officers wouldn’t speak to him at the station. Leadership at the highest levels, he said, failed to intervene.

“It was psychological warfare,” he said. The environment became so toxic, Parker said, that he attempted suicide.

Paul Poole, 70, a retired APD sergeant who has been outspoken about issues of race within APD, echoed some of Parker’s descriptions of the department. Tall, with a commanding presence, Poole was the fifth Black officer hired by the force when he started in 1981; during his 41-year tenure, he said, he encountered a culture of both overt and implicit racism, misogyny, and homophobia.

As a Black officer in Aurora, “It was difficult,” he said. “It was go along to get along. If you speak your mind, you’ll have problems.”

Upon his retirement in December 2022, Poole sent an email to the entire APD as well as select city officials, calling out an “ ‘underbelly’ of behavior” that had plagued the APD—and law

enforcement in general—for years, including: “ ‘good old boy’ networking systems; the undermining/diminishing of others; acceptable inefficiency, and prejudice.” He cited unnamed officers in the APD who targeted minorities for “sport” and others who were “virtually and literally dangerous on a variety of levels to the community and to the profession.”

During her 27-month tenure, Wilson tried to clean up the APD’s culture. She rolled out de-escalation and DEI training.

A 2021 report found that 35 of 744 APD officers accounted for 40 percent of misconduct investigations. And during her time as chief, at least 213 officers resigned, retired, or were fired, 26 over misconduct claims. But Wilson’s efforts to reform the department and regain the community’s trust, combined with her leadership style, made her unpopular with APD officers.

On September 30, 2021, union members voted 442 to 16 against Wilson in a no-confidence vote. Six months later, under intense political pressure from conservative City Council members, then city manager Jim Twombly fired Wilson. (Wilson filed a notice of intent to sue the city for wrongful termination late last year.) A 2022 Denver Post editorial cautioned that Wilson’s firing sent a “chilling” message to future APD chiefs: “Don’t rock the boat, don’t clean house, and maintain the status quo if you want to keep your job.”

ON A FRIDAY NIGHT in late May, Acevedo sped down Montview Bou-

levard to help apprehend a man suspected of first-degree murder.

He was the only Spanish speaker available and, following weeks of investigative work by the APD’s Major Crime/Homicide Unit, was called in to interpret a warrant for a suspect who’d allegedly shot and killed a 26-year-old man in a fit of road rage.

I’d wanted to observe APD policing up close, so weeks earlier, Acevedo had invited me to join him on a seven-hour ride-along.

“Transparency breeds trust,” Acevedo told me at one point during our 10 hours of interviews over a five-month span.

Around 8 p.m., we pulled up to a small, single-story ranch house about a mile east of the Stanley Marketplace. On-site were a halfdozen officers from the gang unit and Direct Action Response Team (DART), a recently relaunched group that actively targets violent crime. Acevedo hopped out to chat with two of his men, while I stayed in the department-issued Chevy Tahoe. CONTINUED ON PAGE 117

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GUIDE TO CHARITABLE GIVING

This holiday season, consider giving back with a donation to organizations that are making a difference in our local community. Not sure where to start? Keep reading to learn more about the charities that help our vibrant community thrive ›

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Adaptive Adventures Your gift to Adaptive Adventures will help us provide progressive outdoor sports opportunities to improve quality of life for children, veterans, and adults with physical disabilities and their families.

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Butterfly Pavilion A staggering 97% of Earth’s animal species are invertebrates, with no backbone they form the foundation of our planet’s ecosystems. Their survival is intrinsically tied to our own. Invertebrates are everywhere; they live where people live. This aspect makes conservation not an abstract, pie-inthe-sky notion, but something that is active, community building and hopeful for everyone in all parts of the planet. Minimal efforts to protect invertebrates can yield exponential and upwardly cascading results.

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world, our responsibility is clear: to lead the way in invertebrate research, education, and conservation. We exist to foster an appreciation of invertebrates by educating the public about the need to protect and care for threatened habitats globally, while conducting research for solutions in invertebrate conservation.

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As the year comes to a close, we’re reflecting on our strides and the impact of these remarkable creatures on our world. We’re more determined than ever to continue our vital work, which goes beyond our doors.

We’re committed to protecting biodiversity, advancing science, and inspiring future generations to safeguard our environment.

We can’t do it alone – your generosity drives our mission. Join us this end-of-year season to protect the web of life.

Donate today to protect and conserve invertebrates with Butterfly Pavilion. You too can make a world of difference.

6252 W. 104th Avenue Westminster, CO 80020 (303) 469-5441 butterflies.org

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DONATE TODAY

childrensdiabetesfoundation.org/donate

ABOUT US The Children’s Diabetes Foundation serves as the fundraising arm for the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes focusing on patient support, diabetes research, and public awareness for nearly 8,000 patients.

STATISTICS • When a child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the (555) start-up education and appointment 555-0145 fees can be more than $5,000. www.realagency.site.com • Multiple Daily Injection Therapy per year, and over $11,000 for Real Insulin Estate Agentcan exceed $8,000 pregnant women.

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Chelsea Hutchison Foundation The Chelsea Hutchison Foundation (CHF) grants comfort and hope to those affected by epilepsy through providing tangible monitoring resources, vital information, and a safe haven for conversation and community. Our main goal is to raise awareness of SUDEP and to make a positive difference in the lives of individuals and families living with epilepsy. We raise funds to provide education about SUDEP and to provide seizure response service dog grants, lifesaving movement monitors that help to protect against SUDEP and grant wish trips to Epilepsy Awareness Day and Expo at Disneyland. We stay up to date on current trends in medical technology in order to be able to provide the most effective devices as they become available. We respect the value and quality of life of every person living with epilepsy. We provide opportunities that allow individuals and families greater independence, increased confidence, ability to enjoy social environments, and community understanding.

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Denver Santa Claus Shop Denver Santa Claus Shop was founded in 1931 with the mission of “A Toy for Every Girl & Boy!” each holiday season. Nearly 100 years later we have served over one million families in the Denver Metro area, ensuring every child has new toys to open each holiday season. We are an all-volunteer run, non-denominational 501(c)(3) and serve families referred by Denver Human Services, Social Service Agencies, and other partners.

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For four days every December, we set up a giant Toy Shop where eligible families “shop” for toys using point vouchers per child. This allows families the dignity to select the toys and books they know their children will love.

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We depend on monetary gifts throughout the year to purchase toys and books for the Toy Shop. Our “Elves” spend countless hours searching for the best toys they know families will want for their children—much like any toy store. Monetary donations are extremely impactful because our “elves” can purchase toys in bulk at competitive prices. To make a monetary donation, visit denversantaclausshop.org/donate.

Denver Santa Claus Shop accepts new and gently loved toys and books all year long for ages 0–11. We can also help facilitate toy

PO Box 630048, Littleton, CO 80163 (303) 250-7739 chelseahutchisonfoundation.org

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drives at schools, businesses, neighborhood groups, and holiday parties. It’s a great way to come together and give back during the holidays. To donate toys and/or host a toy drive, visit denversantaclausshop.org/get-involved.

We rely on hundreds of volunteers to help run the Toy Shop each year. It would not be feasible without these selfless, generous contributors. Volunteers help with everything from setting up the Toy Shop, organizing toys, assisting families with “shopping,” restocking, clean up, and more. If you are interested in volunteering, visit denversantaclausshop.org/ get-involved.

The 2023 Toy Shop – December 8, 9, 11 & 12 Denver Santa Claus Shop expects to serve nearly 15,000 families this December. Thank you to the generous individuals, corporate and school partners, sponsors, and volunteers who make it possible. It is because of you we have never failed in our mission of “A Toy for Every Girl & Boy!” From a family: “Thank you all for your absolute hard work and effort and love. You never know what battle someone is fighting so thanks for being so generous and kind. Love, Ronni.”

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P.O. Box 102104 Denver, CO 80250 denversantaclausshop.org

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WHO WE ARE: ARR pulls homeless pets from overcrowded shelters, places them in foster homes, and adopts them to loving forever homes. Since 2003, Animal Rescue of the Rockies has rescued well over 10,000 dogs and cats at risk of euthanasia. We’re a foster-home based rescue - we believe pets are happier and better socialized when they stay in a foster home vs. a kennel environment.

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Cobalt Advocates Nothing should stand between you and your health decisions, which is why Cobalt is dedicated to fighting for systems, structures and policies that guarantee reproductive rights and protect comprehensive, universal access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion. Cobalt’s vision is for every Coloradan to be able to make any health decision that is right for them, knowing they can do so free from judgment and that any resource they may need will be available.

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Florence Crittenton Services

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Longmont Community Foundation

Jewish Family Service of Colorado

Longmont Community Foundation provides resources and partners to build communities in the St. Vrain Valley. Sreeya, an Ascend St. Vrain Scholarship recipient, is passionate about public health, pursuing a dual MD and MPH degree. Our partnership with nonprofits, like Cultivate, ensures efficient grocery delivery to seniors through grants.

Your support fuels our mission to meet community needs.

JFS is a nonprofit human-services organization that serves anyone in need, regardless of their circumstances or religious beliefs. Founded more than 150 years ago, JFS currently offers more than 30 programs and services, including food support, housing stability, mental health counseling, aging care, employment support, refugee resettlement, chaplaincy, and disability services. Gifts made on Colorado Gives Day or this holiday season help provide these life-changing programs to those who need them most.

(303) 678-6555 longmontfoundation.org

3201 S. Tamarac Dr., Denver, CO 80231 (303) 597-5000 | jewishfamilyservice.org

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Museo de las Americas Museo has served the Denver community for 32 years through award-winning exhibitions and educational programming. Located in the heart of the Art District on Santa Fe, Museo de las Americas is the premier Latin American art museum in the Rocky Mountain region and a cultural resource for the Latinx community.

It is only through the generosity of people like you that we continue to serve nearly 25,000 people each year. Be a part of Museo’s legacy by making a gift today.

861 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204 (303) 571-4401 | museo.org

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Colorado Coalition for the Homeless At the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, we believe homelessness is solvable. We know there are three key elements to ending homelessness for our most vulnerable neighbors: homes, health, and hope. When people have a safe home, access to holistic, quality healthcare and hope for a better future, lives are transformed and our entire community benefits.

For 40 years the Coalition has been a leader in creating lasting solutions to homelessness throughout our state. The Coalition and its leadership are nationally recognized for our innovative approaches to addressing this complex issue.

Homes: More than shelter Every night more than 4,500 households have safe, affordable housing because of the Coalition’s work. The people we serve are as diverse as our community: individuals and families, veterans and people with disabilities; people who need a lot of help and those who need just a little.

In 2024 the Coalition will open our newest property, Renewal Village, a renovated hotel that will provide transitional housing, permanent supportive housing and housing for veterans.

Health: Healing the whole person Access to comprehensive healthcare is critical.

People experiencing homelessness often have complex physical and mental health needs. Our expert health care teams integrate primary and behavioral health care, dental and vision services, and extensive treatment programs for those

recovering from substance use disorders. This year, more than 16,000 people received health services through the Coalition, where health and healing are paramount.

Hope: A better life is possible Treating everyone with dignity and respect affirms their capabilities and fosters their hope for the future. Housing and health care open the door to other resources and services that support a person’s long-term stability. The Coalition’s supportive services include employment support, case management, childcare for working parents and substance use recovery programs.

Homelessness is solvable when we work together. Join us today to create lasting solutions to homelessness.

Donate today at coloradocoalition.org/donate Learn about other ways to financially support the Coalition and possible tax benefits for you or your company at: coloradocoalition.org/waystogive To volunteer with us, contact volunteers@coloradocoalition.org.

Partner with the Coalition! Become a corporate partner today. Call us at (303) 312-9634 or email giving@coloradocoalition.org.

To learn more about the issue of homelessness, attend our monthly education series. For more information visit: coloradocoalition.org/educationseries.

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WHO WE ARE: The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless works collaboratively to create lasting solutions to homelessness and prevent homelessness for families and individuals throughout Colorado. The Coalition advocates for and provides a continuum of housing and a variety of services to improve the health, well-being and stability of those it serves. The comprehensive approach of the Coalition addresses the causes of homelessness, as well as the consequences, offering critical assistance to over 20,000 individuals and families each year.

(303) 312-9634 coloradocoalition.org

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Conservation Colorado

Denver Rescue Mission

Energy Outreach Colorado

Conservation Colorado is the state’s largest statewide environmental organization. We work to fight climate change, conserve public lands, keep Colorado’s rivers healthy and flowing, and ensure our communities have equitable access to a healthy environment.

Denver Rescue Mission has been serving our neighbors experiencing homelessness and poverty since 1892. The people we serve are among the most vulnerable men, women and children in our community.

We help restore the lives of people experiencing homelessness and addiction through emergency services, rehabilitation, transitional programs, and community outreach in multiple locations across the Denver metro area.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of Denver Rescue Mission and there are many ways for volunteers to get involved, including serving or preparing meals, mentoring adults or children, sorting donated items and more.

Donations are also vital to continue our emergency services and long-term programs. When you give to the Mission, you are providing for the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness through warm meals, safe shelter and basic necessities like showers, restrooms and clothing. Additionally, you are offering life-changing opportunities for men, women and families who need a second chance.

The long-term programs at the Mission guide people on a path out of homelessness toward permanent housing and a productive, self-sufficient lifestyle.

Learn more today at DenverRescueMission.org.

You can give the gift of warmth to your neighbors in need this winter. Gifts from caring people across Colorado are critical to ensuring that those facing energy insecurity have a place to turn when they need it most.

Protecting our environment means preserving what we love about Colorado.

Our stunning mountains, open vistas, and rushing rivers inspire and connect us to the majesty of nature. To fight the complex climate issues we face, Conservation Colorado takes a multi-pronged approach.

We play a critical leadership role in setting conservation priorities both as a thought leader and through convening and collaborating with allies. We build coalitions and close working relationships with decision makers and mobilize community leaders and citizen activists to engage and hold decision makers accountable. In the past few years, this has meant advancing nationally leading climate policies, conserving hundreds of thousands of acres of land, and building equity into every part of our work.

Donate now to help Conservation Colorado fight for Colorado’s climate future.

Mission Statement: Denver Rescue Mission is changing lives in the name of Christ by meeting people at their physical and spiritual points of need with the goal of returning them to society as productive, self-sufficient citizens.

303 E. 17th Ave., Ste. 400, Denver, CO 80203 (303) 333-7846 | conservationco.org/giveonline

6100 Smith Road, Denver, CO 80216 (303) 297-1815 | denverrescuemission.org

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Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC) is a nationally recognized organization dedicated to supporting households with their home energy needs and maintains the highest ratings from independent charity reviewers including Charity Navigator, Candid, and the Better Business Bureau.

Every year, EOC assists tens of thousands of Coloradans through our services including energy bill payment assistance, repairing or replacing heating systems, and lowering home energy costs through energy efficiency improvements and access to sustainable energy sources.

The need for energy assistance has skyrocketed over the past year, and our services are more critical now than ever.

Donations go directly to help our community members in need.

“Knowing that there was somewhere we could turn for help meant everything to our family. Once Energy Outreach Colorado was able to pay our past-due bill, everything changed for us. I was no longer worried about being in my own home. We are so grateful to have a brighter future ahead of us.” – EOC participant Your support can give power to homes and hope to people in need through a gift to Energy Outreach Colorado.

Give at www.energyoutreach.org/donate

303 E. 17th Ave., Suite 405, Denver, CO 80203 (303) 825-8750 | energyoutreach.org

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Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains As a patient, staff member, and donor, Alana turned to PPRM when life threw her an unexpected curveball. This is her story.

The first time I accessed Planned Parenthood services was in college for birth control and emergency contraception. Knowing that Planned Parenthood was available as an expert in this space, I had a lot of trust in them as a health care provider. I feel lucky that I had access to the resources that allowed me to control my timeline and go to college and grad school and explore.

I never had an unplanned pregnancy in my young adulthood, or even until after my first child was born.

I was married and we had just had our first child a year prior when I started having some of the same symptoms I did when I was pregnant.

Pregnancy wasn’t really on my radar because I had an intrauterine device (IUD), which I knew was one of the safest, most reliable forms of birth control available.

So, it was quite a surprise when I took the pregnancy test and realized my contraception had failed. My husband and I talked about what it would be like to have two kids under two. I was exhausted and tired –- as a new mom, I couldn’t imagine trying to do this all over again in nine months. Together we decided it wasn’t the right time for us to have another child.

The abortion itself was really fast and totally painless. Even after being a staff member myself, it wasn’t until you go through it that it reaffirms what we know to be true -– abortion is a safe,

common, and easy process.

I was already a mother when I had my abortion and since then, my husband and I have welcomed a second child. Mothers who have abortions are often vilified, but I see it as the exact opposite -- that they’re ensuring that the children they do have can live up to their full potential.

My story is an everyday, uncontroversial story.

Having an abortion with Planned Parenthood is a reminder that no matter how much you plan, sometimes you get thrown a curveball.

Ultimately, it is still something that I look back on and have no regrets. For me it was the right choice at the right time, and it renewed my commitment to Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains’ mission.

WHO WE ARE: Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM) – including Colorado, New Mexico, Southern Nevada, and Wyoming - has been delivering the highest quality reproductive and sexual health care; teaching medically accurate, ageappropriate sexuality education; and diligently protecting the right to access safe, legal abortion since 1916.

Last year, nearly 50,000 Coloradans accessed care across the state, connecting individuals to crucial services such as family planning, gender affirming care, and abortion services.

Your gift makes a difference in the lives of countless patients. Consider donating on Colorado Gives Day so your impact can go even further: give between November 1 – December 5 at ColoradoGives.org/pprm, or any time at wearepp.org/pprm.

Donate today! Visit our online guide at 5280.com for more information.

7155 E. 38th Avenue Denver, CO 80207 (303) 321-2458 PPRM.org

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Focus Points Family Resource Center

Meals on Wheels for Fort Collins

Sister Carmen Community Center

Focus Points Family Resource Center has a powerful mission—to build better communities by strengthening families.

Meals on Wheels for Fort Collins (MOWFC) was founded in 1969 to provide homedelivered meal services to homebound older adults in need in the Fort Collins, Wellington, and Laporte areas. Our mission is to support the dignity, well-being, and independence of primarily homebound older adults and eligible clients in our community with a hot, nutritious meal and social interaction for up to five days a week. Homebound elderly and disabled adults often experience limitations such as the reduced ability to shop for food and prepare meals due to aging, mobility, disability, or cognitive issues.

Such limitations can create new or worsen existing nutrition-related risk factors increasing the likelihood of hospital stays and permanent placement in assisted living facilities.

Since our beginning, it has been MOWFC’s mission to provide home-delivered, nutritionally balanced meals in order to help homebound adults remain in their own homes living independently. We accomplish so much with every meal that is delivered. In fiscal year 2022-2023, MOWFC delivered over 67,500 meals which is a 12% increase from the year before.

This number continues to grow. We need your help now more than ever to meet this growing need. Because we receive no federal funds (other than COVID recovery funds) to address our mission, we count on foundation grants and the generosity of people like you to help. We are a BBB Accredited Charity and have been awarded the 2023 Seal of Platinum Transparency as well as 4-star Charity Navigator.

Did you know that almost 24% of Boulder County families can no longer make ends meet? It now takes a family of 4 about $104,000 per year to pay for the basics. Our high housing prices, childcare costs, and inflation are contributing to the growing number of people who can’t get by. This has led to an unprecedented number of families who are losing their home or going hungry.

Meet Deisy, Karen, and Soledad, proud graduates of Focus Points’ workforce training program, Huerta Urbana. With skills they learned from Focus Points, these amazing women launched their own cut flower business in their community.

For nearly three decades, Focus Points has brought life-changing, innovative programs and services to the Denver area’s most underserved neighborhoods.

Focus Points is a multi-generational, onestop shop for families to access all kinds of services—early childhood education, workforce development, basic needs assistance, and support for older adults.

We offer free English language classes to immigrants and refugees, both virtually and on-site, as well as free mental health counseling accessible in both Spanish and English. Our service center, located in the heart of Elyria-Swansea, features an urban farm that hosts a local “pay-what-you-can” Farmers’ Market throughout the growing season. Our innovative social enterprise, Comal Heritage Food Incubator, located in the RiNo Art Park, is a full-fledged restaurant serving breakfast and lunch daily, while training refugee women for jobs or entrepreneurship in the culinary arts. Come visit us and learn more about how you can support families and local entrepreneurs right in your own backyard!

2501 E. 48th Ave., Denver, Colorado 80216 (303) 292-0770 | focuspoints.org

1217 E. Elizabeth St. Unit 11 Fort Collins, CO 80524 (970) 484-6325 | mealsonwheelsfc.org

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At Sister Carmen, we’re seeing this crisis firsthand. We’re a non-religious Family Resource Center whose mission is to provide assistance to residents of Lafayette, Louisville, Superior, and Erie who are in need, without discrimination. We help with food, rent, services for those experiencing homelessness, connections to other resources, and more.

In the first 6 months of 2023, we’ve seen a 20% increase in the number of households visiting our food bank compared to the same time in 2022. We’ve helped over 3,000 unique families in the last year alone.

While we’re doing what we can to help, it just isn’t enough. We don’t have enough resources, and we need our community’s support to ensure that EVERYONE has access to safe, affordable housing, food, and basic necessities. This is not just a single individual’s problem, and the solution requires more than one person to help—it requires a community who cares enough to be there for their neighbors in need. If you’d like to help today, please visit www. sistercarmen.org. to make a donation or call 303-665-4342 to learn more.

655 Aspen Ridge Drive, Lafayette, CO 80026 (303) 665-4342 | sistercarmen.org

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Photo Credits: RedLine; Jewish Studio Project; Mirror Image Arts

Rose Community Foundation For nearly 30 years, Rose Community Foundation has helped generous individuals, families and businesses make an impact through their giving.

Our work is rooted in our history and values, and our team deeply understands the challenges and opportunities facing the Greater Denver region.

Donors can tap into our staff’s longstanding relationships with local nonprofit organizations and policymakers that are creating sustainable change in our community.

For David Asarch and his wife Anna, their donoradvised fund at Rose Community Foundation made it easier to identify and support causes that matter to them personally. David credits the Foundation with helping his family develop a holistic philanthropic approach and be thoughtful about their long-term giving. “The support we’ve received from the staff has been invaluable and it’s been rewarding to learn how to ensure grants have the highest impact possible,” says David.

“As our region grows, philanthropy becomes even more important to help people in need.”

For donor-advised fundholder Fred Glick, partnering with Rose Community Foundation helps him to be responsive and flexible with his giving. Fred has been a longtime supporter of local arts organizations, including a robust, collaborative relationship with RedLine Contemporary Art Center. During the COVID-19 pandemic when many arts organizations were forced to suspend operations, Fred used his donor-advised fund to help RedLine continue bringing art to the community.

“One of the things that is valuable to me about having a donor-advised fund is that if my income rises or falls from year to year, I can make a large contribution to my fund one year that allows me to make consistent gifts for years to come,” says Fred. “During the pandemic, I was able to give an additional donation to RedLine, which wouldn’t have been possible without my fund.”

Rose Community Foundation’s staff can facilitate mission, vision, and values conversations, help donors develop giving strategies, and support families working across multiple generations with succession and legacy planning. For individuals seeking a locally informed and connected philanthropic partner, working with Rose Community Foundation is a flexible, efficient, and tax-effective way to take your giving farther.

Contact our team at rcfdenver.org to learn more.

Donors who partner with Rose Community Foundation in their philanthropy receive: • Personalized service from philanthropic advisors who know your giving needs • Resources to help you refine your giving strategy, including webinars, giving guides and toolkits • Invitations to events where you will learn about philanthropy, local issues, and the work of local nonprofit organizations • Support in creating a meaningful and lasting charitable legacy

Donate today! Visit our online guide at 5280.com for more information.

WHO WE ARE: Rose Community Foundation strives to advance inclusive, engaged and equitable Greater Denver communities through values-driven philanthropy. The Foundation envisions a thriving region strengthened by its diversity and generosity, and it utilizes the varied tools at its disposal – grantmaking, advocacy and philanthropic services – to advance this aspiration.

4500 Cherry Creek Drive South Suite 900 Denver, CO 80246 (303) 398-7400 rcfdenver.org

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We Don’t Waste We Don’t Waste believes that nutritious food should go to people, not landfills. 40% of food produced in the US ends up in the landfill, yet 1 in 3 Coloradans are currently experiencing hunger and food insecurity. We Don’t Waste reduces hunger and food waste in the Denver area by recovering quality, unused food from local businesses and distributing it free-of-charge to food pantries, schools, shelters, and more, as well as directly to the community through their Mobile Food Markets. By recovering quality, nutritious food that would have otherwise gone to waste, We Don’t Waste is also protecting our planet from greenhouse gases produced by food rotting in landfills. Since 2009, We Don’t Waste has recovered and distributed over 200 million servings of food.

We Don’t Waste is a simple, innovative concept that has met a need within our community. When companies have food items to donate, We Don’t Waste does two key things to further the mission: (1) pick up the food from the donors’ locations so they don’t have to invest time and resources in transportation; and (2) deliver the recovered food directly to over 90 organizations expertly serving vulnerable, underserved individuals. All food items are provided at no cost to the recipient agency, meaning We Don’t Waste is reliant on support from the community to fund its vital work. YOU can help We Don’t Waste reduce hunger and food waste in our community!

Bethany Christian Services We believe every child, on every continent, deserves a family. Whether infant, toddler, or teen, kids need families—kids thrive in families.

That’s why for nearly 80 years, our faith has inspired us to create safe, stable family environments for children who need them.

KIDS DESERVE TO BE SAFE AND FEEL SAFE But there are times when families face crises like extreme poverty, homelessness, health issues, drug use, or job loss—and their children need care and stability during a difficult time. When children can’t stay with their own families, we connect them with loving, temporary foster families that give them the shelter of home until they can be safely reunited with family.

But when reunification with family isn’t possible, kids need a long-term foster or adoptive family that can provide a safe place for them to heal, grow, and belong.

WHERE YOU COME IN Right now, we’re experiencing a great shortage of available foster homes, especially for teens and sibling groups. Kids need your support. Not everyone is called to be a foster parent, but we’re all called to help.

And every gift you make helps recruit, train, and support more loving foster families for children and teens who need them.

LET CHILDREN FACING CRISIS KNOW THEY’RE NOT ALONE

Will you give a child the gift of family?

Your compassion will change the world one child, one family at a time.

FOR A CHILD IN FOSTER CARE, EVERY DOLLAR, EVERY GIFT COUNTS • $25 makes sure kids get birthday and holiday gifts, so they don’t feel forgotten • $50 provides clothing, shoes, and supplies to kids who come into care with nothing • $100 helps cover extracurricular fees for class trips, sports registration, drivers ed, or prom so kids don’t miss out on being kids • $150 provides transportation like bus tickets or gas cards so parents can visit their children in foster care, keeping kids connected to their families during a traumatic time • $250 helps cover the cost to recruit a loving foster family for a child in need of a safe place to stay Thank you for standing with children during some of their darkest moments. Together, we can make a difference.

DONATE NOW! Learn more about Bethany in Colorado Springs at Bethany.org/ColoradoSprings

Together, we can do everything possible to ensure kids have a stable, nurturing family.

SAVING FOOD • PROTECTING THE PLANET • FEEDING PEOPLE

6090 E. 39th Avenue, Denver, CO 80207 (720) 443-6113 | wedontwaste.org

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5585 Erindale Drive, Suite 106 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 (719) 591-7595 | Bethany.org/ColoradoSprings

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Volunteers of America Colorado For over 125 years, VOA Colorado has been changing the lives of people in our state. Through our hunger services programs, veterans’ services outreach, housing support and emergency shelters, and other initiatives, our mission is to transform lives through caring and empathetic support and impactful, tangible assistance that empowers the individual, families, and the community.

VOA Colorado has more than 50 distinct programs, and as a nonprofit, faith-based organization, we serve 150,000+ people in need each year. Our work touches the minds, bodies, and hearts of people in our community who are vulnerable and at-risk – seniors, children, veterans, the homeless, and the hungry. Our programs and services build and strengthen communities and create opportunities, foster unity, and provide essential resources to those in need.

This holiday season, VOA Colorado would love your help in sharing the light through hope and possibility! Please consider making a gift to help fellow Coloradans in need at voacolorado.org/donate.

Project Angel Heart Project Angel Heart’s purpose is to deliver comfort and support through high-quality nutrition services, including medically tailored meals, while also advocating for the principles of “Food is Medicine.” Regardless of a person’s background or circumstances, they believe everyone should have access to the nutrition they need—especially when they’re sick.

Each week in Project Angel Heart’s kitchen, they create meals from scratch, made in partnership with a registered dietitian, that are tailored to meet the specific dietary needs of people living with severe illnesses such as cancer, heart failure, HIV/AIDS and more.

This year, Project Angel Heart will celebrate a historic milestone: they will deliver their 10-millionth meal.

Carol’s story. Meals Help Her ‘Re-Enter the World’ When her husband of 60 years was diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carol quickly became his primary caregiver despite living with severe osteoporosis—a condition that causes bone breaks and fractures. Like many caregivers attending to a sick loved one, Carol forgot about her own needs. She started skipping meals, and her health declined quickly.

“Edward was my only focus at the time,” she shared. “I was so tired. Eating was the last thing on my mind.”

Although they thought they would have several more years together, Edward passed only a few months later. Without family and a support system, this sudden loss left Carol grieving, tired, and alone. Her weight became dangerously low, and she was diagnosed

2660 Larimer Street, Denver, CO 80205 (303) 297-0408 | voacolorado.org

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with protein-calorie malnutrition, which, if prolonged, can result in changes in organ function.

Carol knew about Project Angel Heart because her husband had been a client shortly before he passed. She had received meals as his dependent but was reluctant to apply for meals on her own—believing others needed them more. However, after dropping to a mere 89 pounds, Carol’s doctor sent a referral.

Since starting on their program, Carol has noticed an immediate impact on her health.

She added that having healthy meals in her freezer serves as a reminder to eat. “Sometimes I wouldn’t have an appetite, but I’d still take out a meal and heat it up, and then before I know it, it’s all gone,” she said with a smile.

What’s more, Carol has gained eight pounds and has more energy. She began attending community music events, re-engaged with her church, and started working on her yard. Carol said, “Since receiving Project Angel Heart meals, I feel like I re-entered the world.”

In honor of their 10-millionth meal, a group of donors have organized a $250,000 match.

That funding and the donations that support it will cover the cost of every meal and nutrition counseling session for every client in December. Join them and make your gift go further!

To learn more and get involved, visit ProjectAngelHeart.org

DENVER OFFICE & KITCHEN

COLORADO SPRINGS OFFICE

4950 Washington Street, Denver, CO 80216 (303) 830-0202 projectangelheart.org

1625 W. Uintah Street, Suite I Colorado Springs, CO 80904 (719) 323-0084

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Photo Credit: Nick Hall

The Nature Conservancy

Street’s Hope/ Voluntad

Every acre we conserve, every mile of river protected, every species brought back from the brink begins with you. To address the complex challenges facing our planet, we need ambitious and innovative solutions.

By supporting The Nature Conservancy, you’re supporting a future where nature and people thrive.

Voluntad provides services to empower human trafficking survivors, from safe housing to mental health support.

Voluntad works to bring awareness and education to our community in the fight against exploitation and human trafficking.

We envision a world where all people can choose the direction of their own lives, free from exploitation.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: It’s happening here, and you can help.

Join us to make a difference for Colorado’s future.

2424 Spruce St., Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 444-2950 | nature.org/colorado

PO Box 9794, Denver, CO 80209 (720) 420-9951 | voluntad.org

Womens Global Empowerment Fund

The Wild Animal Sanctuary

Women’s Global Empowerment Fund supports women and families through economic, social, and political programs in some of the world’s most marginalized regions. Our initiatives provide women with the framework to create sustainable opportunities that address inequality and advance the access, participation, and voices of women. We support women to become their own advocates—and enable communities to create their own solutions— to move themselves, their families, and nation toward a more stable and equitable future.

A 33,000-acre network of sanctuaries with over 1,000 lions, tigers, bears, wolves, and other rescued animals.

Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association People often say they give to “make a difference.” This phrase means different things to different people. Donating to the Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association (RMDSA) means you WILL be making a difference and helping us fulfill our mission to empower individuals, educate families, enhance communities, and together, celebrate the extraordinary lives of people with Down syndrome.

Your donation enables us to be there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for individuals and families needing support, provide meals during hospital stays, and visit with new parents of babies with Down syndrome. Your donation also gives us the funding to provide educational consultants to support children navigating the school system and ensure they receive the special services and support necessary to succeed, as well as to our adult program, Higher Visions for Education, which provides learning and growth opportunities for adults with Down Syndrome as they transition into adulthood and beyond.

These are just a few ways your giving will make a difference! We could not do this vital work in our community without this support. Donations make all our programs and services possible and help us to keep assisting families free of charge.

To those of you who may be first-time donors, we urge you to explore our website, RMDSA.org, to learn more about our programs and see how we strive to serve individuals with Down syndrome and their families across Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.

Please help us save more lives!

Denver, CO | microfund@gmail.com (303) 520-7656 | wgefund.org

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1946 County Road 53 Keenesburg, CO 80643 (303) 536-0118 wildanimalsanctuary.org

3033 S. Parker Rd., Ste. 504, Aurora, CO 80014 (303) 797-1699 | RMDSA.org

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WANT TO SEE YOUR NON-PROFIT FEATURED HERE? Freedom Service Dogs

Denver Urban Gardens (DUG)

At Freedom Service Dogs (FSD), we transform lives by partnering people with custom-trained assistance dogs. FSD serves veterans and active-duty military members with PTSD or combat-related injuries, children and teens with autism, and individuals with physical disabilities. Your support helps provide service dogs to our clients free of charge, along with lifetime support that includes ongoing training and successor dogs when a service dog retires.

Through community workshops, compost training, 200 community gardens and 20 food forests across six counties, Denver Urban Gardens is working toward a sustainable urban future where people are deeply and directly connected to the earth, each other and the food they eat.

Volunteer, donate or become a Sustaining Steward and help support DUG’s mission to provide access, skills and resources for people to grow healthy food in community and regenerate urban green spaces.

Visit www.dug.org to get involved.

7193 S. Dillon Court, Englewood, CO 80112 (303) 922-6231 | freedomservicedogs.org

Share your non-profit’s mission with 5280 readers.

To learn more, contact Angie Lund at angie@5280.com or 720.266.6253.

dug.org

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A We’ve got you covered! Search through our extensive directories for the top medical, law and real estate professionals in Colorado.

EXPLO R E N OW AT D I R E C TO RY. 5 2 8 0.CO M

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Dining Guide

PRICE KEY

Average Entrée $ $$ $$$ $$$$

under $15 $16 to $20 $21 to $30 $31 and higher

SYMBOL KEY

Indicates a restaurant featured in 5280 for the first time (though not necessarily a restaurant that has just opened).

Indicates inclusion in 5280’s 2023 list of Denver’s best restaurants. These selections are at the discretion of 5280 editors and are subject to change.

A5 STEAKHOUSE

$$$$

LoDo / Steak House This unfussy chophouse by the team behind Forget Me Not and Tap and Burger features perfectly seared steaks, hearty sides, and draft cocktails. Never pass up the beef tartare katsu sando and the chickpea fries to start your meal. Reservations accepted. 1600 15th St., 303-623-0534. Dinner AFRICAN GRILL & BAR

$$

ANNETTE

$$$

BLACKBELLY

$$$

LoHi / Mexican Chef Dana Rodriguez’s welcoming LoHi taqueria invites diners to connect over plates of tacos, shareable entrées, and drinks infused with the Chihuahua, Mexico–born matriarch’s own line of agave spirits, Doña Loca. Order the molcajete. Reservations accepted. 2890 Zuni St., 303-284-6738. Dinner

$$$

RiNo / International Immigrant and refugee women develop the skills to operate their own food businesses by serving up renditions of their family recipes at this indoor-outdoor restaurant.

Try the pupusas or the plato caribe, fried fish with tostones and coleslaw. Reservations not accepted.

1950 35th St., 303-292-0770. Breakfast, Lunch

$$$$

CUCINA BELLA

Aurora / American James Beard Award–winning chef Caroline Glover’s Annette delivers a lineup of seasonal salads, pastas, wood-fired proteins, and other comforting bites in a modern, inviting space. Don’t skip dessert, particularly if pecan pie is on the menu. Reservations accepted. 2501 Dallas St., Suite 108, Aurora, 720-710-9975. Dinner Boulder / American Chef Hosea Rosenberg’s carnivore-friendly menu focuses on charcuterie, small plates, and daily butcher specials. Try the koji-cured heritage pork chop. Also check out the adjacent butcher shop and market, which serves breakfast and lunch. Reservations accepted. 1606 Conestoga St., Boulder, 303-247-1000. Dinner THE BRONZE EMPIRE

Cory-Merrill / Chinese This comfortable restaurant specializes in Chinese hot pot, which features an aromatic, bubbling broth for cooking fresh ingredients right at your table. Reservations accepted. 1591 S. Colorado Blvd., 720-599-8888.

Lunch, Dinner BRUTØ

LoDo / International Executive chef Michael Diaz de Leon highlights heritage grains and house ferments created by Mara King in a Latin-influenced, omakase-style tasting menu. Tack on the cocktail pairing to make the experience even more special. Reservations accepted. 1801 Blake St., 720-325-2195. Dinner 106

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

Fanciful Fare

There’s nothing regular about the Regular, Brian De Souza and Syd Younggreen’s four-month-old fine-dining restaurant in LoDo. Born out of the Guest—the couple’s previous tasting menu concept, which reopens in an adjacent space this month—the à la carte venue hosts a streamlined menu influenced by the cuisine of De Souza’s native Peru.

Pair elegant seafood-driven bites such as the tuna mojama—thinly sliced ahi, pepper confit, and avocado purée atop house-made brioche—and the sashimi-cut, cevichelike salmon tiradito with a visually stunning cocktail such as the sake-and-gin-based Tears of Dawn.

CANTINA LOCA

$$

COMAL HERITAGE FOOD INCUBATOR

$

$$

Windsor / Italian Brothers Luis and Heriberto Gutierrez run this easygoing Italian spot in a strip mall. Go for the garganelli alla Burrata, a veggiepacked pesto pasta topped with creamy cheese, or any of the pizzas. Reservations accepted.

9660 E. Alameda Ave., Suite 104, 720-550-8957.

Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

DAUGHTER THAI KITCHEN & BAR

$$$

LoHi / Thai This date-night-ready Thai restaurant from Ounjit Hardacre serves beautifully plated dishes and inventive cocktails with an elegant ambience to match. The menu features tried-andtrue favorites such as pad thai and massaman curry alongside a rotating lineup of rare-inDenver specialties. Reservations accepted. 1700 Platte St., Suite 140, 720-667-4652. Lunch, Dinner EARLY BIRD RESTAURANT

$

Westminster / American This breakfast and lunch spot offers a well-balanced menu and local ingredients. Also try the Greenwood Village location.

Reservations not accepted. 11940 Bradburn Blvd., Westminster, 303-469-9641. Breakfast, Lunch FOX AND THE HEN

$$

LoHi / American This sunny brunch eatery brightens up any morning. The animal-style hash brown smothered in American cheese and special sauce (an homage to In-N-Out) is a must-order, but any of the elevated toasts or egg dishes are a smart way to start your day. Reservations not accepted.

2257 W. 32nd Ave., 303-862-6795. Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch

WANT MORE DINING OPTIONS? Visit our online listings at 5280.com/restaurants.

Courtesy of Alex Chan at Bird Tree Productions

Lakewood / African Explore a bevy of dishes from across Africa at this warm and inviting restaurant run by the Osei-Fordwuo family. Peanut soups, fried fish, samosas, and jollof rice are just some of the crave-worthy options you’ll order again and again. Reservations accepted. 955 S. Kipling Parkway, Lakewood, 303-985-4497. Lunch, Dinner

EXPERTS IN PRIVATE DINING

LET US EXCEED YO U R E X P E C TAT I O N S 801 Fish Denver offers guests the freshest finned fish and crustaceans from the most pristine coastal waters of the world.

Featuring a vibrant, shimmering atmosphere, 801 Fish provides guests with a dining experience unlike any other in Denver. The menu is inspired by the flavors of the ocean, transporting our guests straight to the coast.

Whether enjoying our unique oval bar which features a world class raw bar, or entertaining a large group in one of our private dining rooms, 801 Fish offers an exquisite upscale dining experience for any occasion. Come and enjoy selections from our private wine cellar, or simply join friends at the bar for Happy Hour. 801 Fish is the perfect mix of fun, elegance and sophistication, located in the heart of Denver.

HOST YOUR NEXT EVENT WITH 801 FISH 999 17TH STREET DENVER, CO 80202 801FISH.COM • (720) 407-3474

DINING GUIDE FRASCA FOOD AND WINE

$$$$

Boulder / Italian The elegant cuisine always wows at Frasca, an ode to the cuisine of northeastern Italy from master sommelier Bobby Stuckey and chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson. Splurge on executive chef Ian Palazzola’s nine-course Friulano menu. Reservations accepted. 1738 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-442-6966. Dinner

$$

GLO NOODLE HOUSE

West Highland / Asian Blackbelly’s Chris Teigland and Ariana Pope bring Asian fusion fare to West Highland with Glo Noodle House.

Reservations accepted. 4450 W. 38th Ave., Suite 130, 303-993-4180. Dinner

HIGHLAND’S INDIAN CUISINE

$$$

Highlands Ranch / Indian Enjoy upscale curries, biryani, and tandoori selections at the first Indian restaurant in Highlands Ranch. Reservations not accepted. 9344 Dorchester St., Suite 101, Highlands Ranch, 720-420-9374. Lunch, Dinner

IL PORCELLINO SALUMI

Berkeley / Deli This market and deli strives to provide the highest-quality, locally raised cured meats in Colorado. Pick a selection to take with you, or enjoy a fresh salumi platter or sandwich in-house. Reservations not accepted. 4324 W. 41st Ave., 303-477-3206. Breakfast, Lunch

ISTANBUL CAFE & BAKERY

$$

Washington Virginia Vale / Middle Eastern Inside the shopping center at the intersection of South

$

Monaco Parkway and Leetsdale Drive, friendly owner Ismet Yilmaz prepares authentic Turkish pastries. Reservations not accepted. 850 S. Monaco Parkway, Suite 9, 720-787-7751. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner JAMAICAN GRILLE

$$

Lincoln Park / Jamaican This family-owned Jamaican restaurant serves classic Caribbean-centric dishes like jerk chicken, fried plantains, and rice and peas. Reservations accepted. 709 W. Eighth Ave., 303-623-0013. Lunch, Dinner

JERUSALEM RESTAURANT

$$

KAHLO’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT

$$

LA DIABLA POZOLE Y MEZCAL

$

University / Middle Eastern You can’t beat this spot’s tasty, affordable, and traditional Middle Eastern fare, including gyros, baba ghanoush, and sambusas. Reservations accepted. 1890 E. Evans Ave., 303-777-8828. Lunch, Dinner

Westwood / Mexican Enjoy plates of mole and enchiladas verdes, plus a wide menu of juices and smoothies, in a space decorated with the art of Frida Kahlo. Reservations accepted. 3735 Morrison Road, 303-936-0758. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Ballpark / Mexican This lively eatery from James Beard Award finalist Jose Avila serves up comforting pozole and other traditional Mexican fare at affordable prices. Reservations not accepted. 2233 Larimer St., 720-519-1060. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

Wake up with the Jubal Show

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

$$$

MARIGOLD

$$$

MISFIT SNACKBAR

$$

Lyons / European This small, light-filled restaurant serves seasonally driven French- and Italian-influenced fare. The pink-peppercornlaced farinata (chickpea pancake) is a delicious mainstay of the frequently changing menu; the amaro-centric cocktail program is also delightful.

Reservations accepted. 405 Main St., Suite B, Lyons, 303-823-2333. Dinner City Park / Contemporary You’ll never be bored by the imaginative, flavor-packed offerings from chef-owner Bo Porytko at this eclectic concept housed inside Middleman cocktail bar. Start with the chips and dip: smashed potatoes with an everchanging house sauce. Reservations not accepted.

3401 E. Colfax Ave., 303-353-4207. Dinner NOBLE RIOT

$$$

RiNo / American Find charcuterie boards, fried chicken, and other bites at this sommelieroperated natural wine bar. Reservations accepted.

1336 27th St., 303-993-5330. Dinner

Drive home with JR

Commercial free weekends 108

LUCINA EATERY & BAR

South Park Hill / Latin American Bold flavors from Latin America, the Caribbean, and coastal Spain tantalize at this lively restaurant. Try the mofongo, a plantain mash with pork belly chicharrón, or the two-person paella with rotating toppings only served on Fridays and Saturdays. Reservations accepted. 2245 Kearney St., Suite 101, 720-814-1053. Dinner

HIGH-RISE A ND MID -RISE S TUDIOS, ONE- A ND T WO -BEDROOM A PA RTMENTS. As a beacon of unapologetic self-expression and fearless fun, RiNo has become the ultimate Denver locale for those with a craving for the eclectic. At NOVEL RiNo, you have easy access to all the most coveted hot spots, plus easy connectivity with the 38th Street only two blocks away.

AMENITIES 01. Corvus Coffee: ground-floor café lounge for a quick pick-me-up 02. Amped up rooftop restaurant and cocktail bar with ridiculous views* 03. Buzzing social lounge with private karaoke and podcast studio* 04. 6th floor year-round heated pool and hot tub with heated pathway* 05. Outdoor kitchen space with four firepits and skyline views* 06. Dog spa, so even four-legged friends step out in style* 07. Fitness center with top of the line equipment + dedicated yoga studio* 08. Bike shop fully equipped to service, and store, your two wheels* 09. Curated resident events and local business partnerships *HIGH-RISE AMENITIES

1350 40TH STREET, DENVER CO. 80205   NOVELRINO.COM | 720-515-7466 |  

DINING GUIDE NOISETTE RESTAURANT & BAKERY

$$$

LoHi / French Chefs Tim and Lillian Lu serve elegant renditions of bourgeoisie-style specialties (French home-cooked comforts) in a romantic, light-drenched space. Tear into the perfectly crisp baguette to set the Parisian scene for your dining experience. Reservations accepted. 3254 Navajo St., Suite 100, 720-769-8103. Dinner, Brunch OTOTO

$$$

Platt Park / Japanese From the team behind Sushi Den and Izakaya Den, this sleek eatery breaks away from its Den Corner counterparts by focusing on more casual Japanese eats. Try the yellowtail collar grilled over white oak charcoal. Reservations accepted. 1501 S. Pearl St., 303-942-1416. Dinner PHO DUY

$

Q HOUSE

$$

Westwood / Vietnamese Slurp down delicious bowls of noodle soup at this popular Vietnamese mainstay. Reservations not accepted. 925 S. Federal Blvd., 303-937-1609. Lunch, Dinner

City Park / Chinese Enjoy a modern take on Chinese cuisine at this City Park eatery operated by chef Christopher Lin, an alum of Momofuku in New York City. Reservations accepted. 3421 E. Colfax Ave., 720-729-8887. Dinner THE REGULAR

$$$$

LoDo / Contemporary The à la carte menu at this upscale restaurant features charming touches of

Peruvian cuisine. Go for seafood-forward plates and the beautiful cocktails. Reservations accepted. 1432 Market St., 303-955-1557. Dinner SAFTA

$$$$

RiNo / Mediterranean At Safta, acclaimed chef Alon Shaya and his team serve modern Israeli fare.

Crave-worthy specialties include hummus, labneh, and other dips accompanied by wood-oven pita and crispy Persian rice with cherries and sunflower seeds. Also check out the weekend brunch buffet.

Reservations accepted. 3330 Brighton Blvd., Suite 201, 720-408-2444. Dinner, Brunch SAP SUA

$$$

Congress Park / Vietnamese This smart eatery from husband-and-wife duo Ni and Anna Nguyen finds its culinary footing in Vietnamese flavors.

Herbaceous offerings like chrysanthemum green salad and culantro-capped tomato toast are favorites of the menu, as are seafood plates like the hamachi collar with a coconut caramel glaze.

Reservations accepted. 2550 E. Colfax Ave., 303-736-2303. Dinner SPUNTINO

$$$$

Highland / Italian Enjoy the eclectic and locally sourced menu at this Italian-inspired, husbandand-wife-owned spot. Go for any of the dishes with Southern Indian influences—a product of chef Cindhura Reddy’s heritage—like malai kofta gnocchi. Don’t miss the house-made gelatos for dessert. Reservations accepted. 2639 W. 32nd Ave., 303-433-0949. Dinner

STONE CELLAR BISTRO

$$$

SUNDAY VINYL

$$$

Arvada / Contemporary Visit this farm-to-table spot in Olde Town Arvada for beautifully presented dishes made with local produce by chefs Jordan Alley and Brandon Kerr. Don’t miss the foie gras parfait or the hot honey fried chicken. Reservations accepted. 7605 Grandview Ave., Arvada, 720-630-7908. Dinner LoDo / European This Union Station restaurant offers warm hospitality, exquisite cuisine, and an extensive wine list, all to the soundtrack of a vinyl-only playlist. Order the duck-liverstuffed gougères (French cheese puffs) and any of the sweet treats. Reservations accepted.

1803 16th St., 720-738-1803. Dinner TOCABE, AN AMERICAN INDIAN EATERY

$

TOFU STORY

$$

Berkeley / American Feast on Indigenous fare such as fry bread tacos made with ingredients sourced from Native producers at this fastcasual spot. The company also has an online marketplace for Native-produced bison and pantry goods and donates prepared meals to tribal communities in need. Reservations not accepted. 3536 W. 44th Ave., 720-524-8282.

Lunch, Dinner

Aurora / Korean House-made tofu is the main draw at this airy Korean eatery from chefrestaurateur J.W. Lee. Order the spicy seafood soondubu stew featuring silken tofu with the

SAVOR THE MOMENT

leave the details to us

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5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

5280 M A G A Z IN E P ROM OT ION

SCENE PROMOTIONS | EVENTS | SPONSORSHIPS

NOV 1 -DEC 5

NOV 3-11

Colorado Gives Day

Denver Arts Week

Let’s start a wave of generosity. Give early for Colorado Gives Day to support causes you care about the most to lift up our local community with over 3,400 nonprofits to support. It’s easily the best day to give.

Across The Mile High City

Give today at coloradogivesday.org.

Celebrate all things art in The Mile High City, with over 400 events around the city. Catch First Friday Art Walks, Free Night at the Museums, the Denver Film Festival, and more!

Event Calendar at denverartsweek.com.

NOV 18 -JAN 1

DEC 2

Winter Wonderlights

9News Parade of Lights

Chapungu Sculpture Park at Centerra | 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Downtown Denver | 6:00 p.m.

This FREE walkable lightshow spectacular features over 175,000 lights and a 30 minute choreographed light show set to your favorite holiday music. Don’t miss special LIVE nights Nov. 18, Dec. 2 & 16th for visits from Santa, Reindeer, Characters, Ice sculpting, performances and more.

Join us at the 9NEWS Parade of Lights on Saturday, December 2nd! Bring your family and friends and celebrate this FREE holiday spectacular, complete with illuminated floats, helium balloons, marching bands, and vibrant cultural displays. This celebration will include Major Waddles the Penguin and Santa!

Learn more at winterwonderlightsloveland.com.

Learn more at denverparadeoflights.com.

5280SCENE | 5280SCENE.COM

DINING GUIDE

5 ACRES IN THE TREES

8369 Burning Tree Trail, Franktown, CO 80116 | $1,199,000.00

individual-size, pressure-cooked rice that’s prepared tableside. Reservations not accepted.

2060 S. Havana St., Aurora, 303-954-9372.

Lunch, Dinner UCHI DENVER

$$$$

Curtis Park / Japanese This bustling eatery from James Beard Award–winning chef Tyson Cole delivers artful and inventive Japanese small plates and sushi made with some of the freshest fish in town. Visit for the daily happy hour.

Reservations accepted. 2500 Lawrence St., 303-444-1922. Dinner

Nestled on 5 acres of heavily treed land, this 2-story offers 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. Hardwood flooring flows through the main level leading to the sunken living room with wood burning fireplace and formal dining area. The family room features a wood-burning fireplace, a wood ceiling and access to the deck. The kitchen boasts granite countertops, maple cabinetry and a new GE Profile double oven and a gas cooktop. The main floor offers a primary bedroom with an en-suite.

A powder bath and a laundry room complete the main level. Upstairs, 3 bedrooms await, alongside a spacious bath. There’s also a loft with a built-in desk.

Enjoy an unfinished walk-out basement, a 3-car garage and a shed. Outdoors, newer stucco exterior, a tiered composite deck and mature trees invite you to embrace Colorado’s beauty.

THE ROWLEY GROUP (303) 841-1021 info@therowleygroup.com | TheRowleyGroup.com

Off the Walls A podcast about the stories & people behind Denver's street art Listen today Supported in part by:

UNCLE

$$

URBAN VILLAGE GRILL

$$$

Speer / Asian This reliable Pan Asian noodle house from chef-owner Tommy Lee has a revolving menu of steamed buns, small plates, rice and curry bowls, and ramen. Also try the Highland location. Reservations not accepted.

95 S. Pennsylvania St., 720-638-1859. Dinner

Lone Tree / Indian Chef Charles Mani serves classic and contemporary dishes from regions across India at this eatery inside Park Meadows Mall.

Order the chef’s tasting menu, a multicourse feast featuring Urban cauliflower, butter chicken, and other popular dishes. Reservations accepted.

8505 Park Meadows Center Drive, Suite 2184A, Lone Tree, 720-536-8565. Lunch, Dinner VITAL ROOT

$$

THE WALNUT ROOM

$

XICAMITI LA TAQUERÍA

$$

Berkeley / American Justin Cucci’s fourth eatery focuses on quick, healthy food. Grab a seat in the airy space and nosh on creative, wholesome fare such as cashew “queso” dip or a sunflower risotto.

Reservations not accepted. 3915 Tennyson St., 303-474-4131. Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

RiNo / American At this laid-back live-music venue, the drink of choice is PBR. Try the Mile High pizza made kitchen-sink-style with more than 10 toppings. Reservations not accepted. 3131 Walnut St., 303-295-1868. Lunch, Dinner Golden / Mexican This long-standing joint serves cooked-to-order burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and alambres (skillet dishes). Reservations not accepted. 715 Washington Ave., Golden, 303-2153436. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

YAHYA’S MEDITERRANEAN GRILL & PASTRIES $$

City Park West / Mediterranean This family-run restaurant serves silky hummus, a variety of excellent grilled kebabs, and from-scratch sweets.

Try the beef koobideh. Reservations accepted.

2207 E. Colfax Ave., 720-532-8746. Lunch, Dinner

ZOE MA MA

LoDo / Chinese This cozy counter-service spot offers Chinese home-style cooking. Order the Sichuan braised beef noodle soup. Also try the Boulder location. Reservations not accepted.

1625 Wynkoop St., 303-545-6262. Lunch, Dinner

$

 These listings are in no way related to advertising in 5280. If you find that a restaurant differs significantly from the information in its listing or your favorite restaurant is missing from the Dining Guide, please let us know. Write us at 5280 Publishing, Inc., 1675 Larimer St., Suite 675, Denver, CO 80202 or dining@5280.com.

112

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

Untitled 237042, acrylic, 36” x 36” © Karen Roehl

Rabstract O Epassions HL

Represented By: TIERRA MAR GALLERY 225 CANYON RD, SANTA FE, NM 87501 WWW.TIERRAMARGALLERY.COM KARENROEHL.COM

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

WOODFORD RESERVE

TEQUILA HERRADURA

ESPRESSO MANHATTAN

HORSESHOE MARGARITA

DRY MARTINI

BONDED MOCHA

‘Tis the season to dazzle.

Make Every Sip Exceptional.

A Gin Created to Cocktail.

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

The Bottled-In-Bond Act Set The Bar. We Keep Raising It.

1 oz Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon

2 parts Tequila Herradura Silver

3 oz Fords Gin

1 part freshly squeezed lime juice

½ oz dry vermouth

2 oz Jack Daniel’s Bonded

INSTRUCTIONS

¼ oz creme de cacao

¾ oz Coffee Liqueur ½ oz Sweet Vermouth 2 dashes Angostura® Bitters INSTRUCTIONS Add ingredients to a shaker tin with ice. Shake vigorously until chilled and diluted. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with espresso beans or a lemon peel.

Crafted Carefully. Drink Responsibly.

½ - ¾ part agave nectar INSTRUCTIONS Combine all ingredients and shake with ice to chill. Strain over fresh ice and garnish with a half-salt rim and lime.

Please Drink Responsibly.

Herradura is a registered trademark. ©2023 Brown-Forman Corporation. All rights reserved. Tequila, 40% ALC/VOL, Imported

by Brown-Forman, Louisville, KY.

Woodford Reserve is a registered trademark. ©2023 Brown-Forman Distillery, Inc.. All rights reserved. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 45.2% ALC/VOL. The Woodford Reserve Distillery, Versailles, KY.

114 | W I N T E R S I P S | N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3

FORD’S GIN

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass and fill with ice.

Stir, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive or a lemon twist.

Please Cocktail Responsibly.

Fords Gin is a registered trademark. ©2023 Brown-Forman Corporation. Fords London Dry Gin, 45% Alc/Vol. The Fords Gin Co., Louisville, KY.

JACK DANIEL’S BONDED

INGREDIENTS 1 oz cold brew ¼ oz coffee liqueur INSTRUCTIONS Shake, pour, and top with sweet cream cold foam.

Live Freely. Drink Responsibly.

Jack Daniel’s is a registered trademark. ©2023 Jack Daniel’s.

All rights reserved. Tennessee Whiskey, 50% ALC/VOL, Jack Daniel Distillery, Lynchburg, TN.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

HAPPY HOUR NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD.

KNOB CREEK

OLD FASHIONED A spirit-forward classic cocktail that is simple to create.

Try adding seasonal flavor enhancers. With just a few ingredients and garnish, you will be sipping soon.

INGREDIENTS 1 ½ parts Knob Creek® Bourbon 3 Dashes of Angostura® Bitters Pinch of raw sugar Orange peel to garnish INSTRUCTIONS In a rocks glass, muddle the sugar and bitters. Add ice, then pour the bourbon on top. Stir gently to mix.

Garnish with orange peel.

KEEPER’S HEART IRISH + AMERICAN WHISKEY

KEEPER’S CREMA Enjoy the most-awarded new whiskey in this tasty twist on an Irish Coffee.

ART OF ALCHEMY BLENDED SPIRITS

AOA-KAY A whiskey forward, wellbalanced cocktail that compliments any occasion.

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ oz of AoA Whiskey

Cappuccino mug

½ oz of Fruitful Blood Orange Liqueur

1 scoop Sweet Science Keeper’s Heart Whiskey Ice Cream (or other ice cream) 1 oz Keeper’s Heart Irish + Bourbon Cask Strength 4 oz very fresh, very hot coffee (or 2 shots of espresso)

As temperatures drop, warm up this season with one of these tasty local cocktails. Whether you fancy gin, tequila, whiskey, or something a bit sweeter, these businesses have the perfect drink for you. Make them at home or visit the locations and ask for their Winter Sip. #5280WinterSips

4 oz of Soda Water INSTRUCTIONS Build all ingredients in a Collins glass with ice and garnish with a lemon or lime wedge.

INSTRUCTIONS Shock mug beforehand with boiling water and leave it for at least 30 seconds. Discard hot water and add whiskey.

Add ice cream to whiskey and top with coffee.

SCAN THE QR CODE to see the digital version.

NOVEMBER 2023

| W I N T E R S I P S | 115

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

BRECKENRIDGE DISTILLERY

801 FISH

SPRING 44

APRES WINTER

ROSA POSSENTE

A cocktail worth celebrating winter’s adventures. *Can be served hot or cold

A well balanced cocktail with a warm nod to the holiday season.

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS

Colorado artesian spring water and local honey elevate your favorite espresso martini.

1½ oz Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey

1 ¼ oz Botanist Gin

INGREDIENTS

4 oz apple cider

1oz Lemon Juice

1 oz Black Currant Puree

¾ oz Apple Cider Shrub*

INSTRUCTIONS

INSTRUCTIONS

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine ingredients in a shaker tin; shake and strain over a large ice cube; garnish with 3 dashes of cardamom bitters and a torched rosemary sprig.

Add Spring44 Honey Vodka, espresso and coffee liqueur to a shaker filled with ice and shake. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with coffee beans.

Heat up (or chill) cider and puree.

Add Breckenridge Bourbon Whiskey and stir. Garnish with a lemon wheel and mint bouquet.

1oz Cocchi Rosa

*Apple Cider Shrub:

HONEY VODKA ESPRESSO MARTINI

As temperatures drop, warm up this season with one of these tasty local cocktails. Whether you fancy gin, tequila, whiskey, or something a bit sweeter, these businesses have the perfect drink for you. Make them at home or visit the locations and ask for their Winter Sip. #5280WinterSips

2 oz Spring44 Honey Vodka 1 ½ oz espresso ½ oz coffee liqueur, optional

1C. Apple Cider Vinegar 1C. Granulated Cane Sugar Heat mixture until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.

Allow to cool before using.

116 | W I N T E R S I P S | N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3

SCAN THE QR CODE to see the digital version.

Kevin Mohatt

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 89

It can be unusual for a chief, or any command staff, to be out on patrol, but it’s a trademark of what Acevedo called a “lead from the front” approach. Four days after being sworn in, he went out on his first patrol. “They need to see us, feel us out there with them,” he said of the value it brings to staff morale. It also gives him an opportunity to observe his officers’ work.

A few minutes after exiting the vehicle, Acevedo returned to my window. “He confessed,” he said. “He said the gun’s here.” After debriefing with some of the officers, Acevedo got back into the Tahoe. “That was good police work,” he said. “That’s our second murder suspect picked up today.” Then he shouted like a satisfied uncle out the window to his officers: “Proud of you guys.”

Over our seven hours together, Acevedo assisted in a drunken dispute between two cousins and then explained—in Spanish—to several Hondurans, who’d been pulled over for driving suspiciously and were living in the United States without documentation, how to get an ID at the consulate. Acevedo also responded to a robbery at a liquor store on Peoria Street (a false alarm) and helped with a car crash on East Colfax Avenue, where an elderly woman rubbernecking recognized Acevedo from a community meeting.

“All we’re ever exposed to is when a police officer screws up, betrays the oath of office,” Acevedo told me. “What we don’t see, between those horrific incidents across the country, is the hundreds of thousands of times they do the right thing.” He lamented the binary way in which many people view policing. “The issues that we deal with are complicated,” he said. “It’s not black and white.”

At one point, we stopped by his office at APD Headquarters. It featured a Darth Vader figurine, some pictures of his family, and a photo of Acevedo with his pal Shaquille O’Neal, one of several celebrity friends he’s collected over the years. We walked the halls of HQ, and Acevedo pounded fists and joked with his troops. “I love cops. I love cop humor,” he said as we pulled away, the bluish tint of his mobile dispatch computer washing across his face.

Over the course of the evening, I met about a dozen officers, nearly all white men.

There was a former long-haul trucker, an exfarmer, and the son of a cop. Most of them felt

Acevedo believes a “lead from the front approach” helps with reform in police departments.

called to the profession by a genuine sense of duty, and that responsibility had been tested during the 2012 mass shooting at Aurora’s Century 16 theater in which 12 people died and 82 were injured. One of the officers told me he “always wanted to put bad people in jail.” Another said that over the years his motivation had changed from the thrill of the chase to making sure his fellow officers “are doing their jobs right.”

They said the consent decree and SB-217 had initially worried officers, but once they understood the reform efforts and their implications, it really hadn’t changed the way good officers were policing. It was the bad cops and some veteran cops, who’d come up in a different time, they said, who were most resistant to change.

Late in the evening, an officer who recently became the father of premature twins texted a photo of the preemies, still in the NICU, to Acevedo. “Right on. Twenty days old. Wow. That’s so sweet,” he said with a smile. With all the high-fives, backslapping, and endorsements of him from officers during our patrol together, it wouldn’t be difficult to think that Acevedo is among the most popular police chiefs in the country. But that’s not the case, and indeed, Acevedo has been dogged for years by controversies.

ACEVEDO WAS SWORN IN AS chief of the Miami

Police Department (MPD) in April 2021.

Billed as a reformer, he’d come from Houston, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez went so far as to call Acevedo the “Tom Brady or Michael Jordan of police chiefs.”

Upon his arrival, Acevedo made changes to MPD leadership and implemented various reforms, including to the internal affairs unit, which investigates police misconduct. But according to media reports, the department and city officials didn’t take a liking to his

actions and outsize persona, and by October 2021 the Miami city commission fired him.

Acevedo argued that he was terminated for being a reformer and a whistleblower. During his time in Miami, Acevedo uncovered “a pattern of unlawful use of force by officers” that was, at times, covered up by the chain of command, he wrote in a September 2021 memo to the Miami mayor and city manager.

He also accused city officials of thwarting his reform efforts and of corruption.

In January 2022, Acevedo took his grievances to a federal court, where he filed a whistleblower lawsuit, which is currently being litigated, against members of Miami’s city government. (In September, one of Miami’s city commissioners was arrested on corruption charges unrelated to Acevedo’s case.) The imbroglio wrought a toll on Acevedo—and his reputation. “Speaking truth to power can be very complicated, and quite honestly, it can be very painful for the person doing that,” he said. “But that’s what you’ve got to do to be an effective leader.”

Acevedo’s worldview can be traced to his experience as a Cuban immigrant. Born in Havana in 1964, Acevedo and his family moved to the United States when he was four-and-a-half and settled in Los Angeles.

Life in Castro’s Cuba, Acevedo said, taught him about tyranny and injustice and made a fighter out of him. “Having lived in a country where everything was taken from us,” he said, “my parents raised us to stand up for ourselves, stand up for others, and stand up for what’s right.”

He took those pugilistic tendencies with him to the California Highway Patrol, where he started his career in 1986 and stayed until 2007. In 2004, it was reported that explicit photos of Acevedo and a female fellow officer, with whom he allegedly had an affair nearly 10 years earlier, were found in his patrol car.

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The woman filed a $5 million sexual harassment lawsuit against Acevedo that claimed he had shown the photos to fellow California Highway Patrol officers, according to a 2004 AP article. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. Acevedo denied he kept any explicit photos or ever showed such photos to others. In 2008, another judge awarded Acevedo nearly $1 million after he filed a lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol related to the photos. But the episode was a stain on his reputation, one that has persisted.

In 2007, Acevedo left California for Austin, Texas, where he became the city’s first Latino police chief and was tasked with instituting 160 reforms mandated by the Department of Justice related to police misconduct and racially biased policing, which he’d inherited from his predecessor.

According to Ken Casaday, former head of the Austin Police Association, Acevedo achieved nearly all of them. But in 2016, an Austin police officer shot and killed a Black teenager, potentially undermining Acevedo’s legacy of change, which had garnered him national attention.

Acevedo met with then President Barack Obama in 2016 to discuss police reform and

sat on a racial justice panel with Joe Biden at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Acevedo preached the gospel of community policing, the importance of transparency, and the power of accountability. After George Floyd’s death in May 2020, he marched in the streets with protestors and penned a Washington Post opinion column. “Moving our profession forward,” he wrote, “begins with a sustained commitment to accountability.”

He brought his signature maxim, “You lie, you die,” to all of his departments. Although his critics panned him as a media-obsessed narcissist, he became one of the most recognized police chiefs in America—one who now has more than 93,000 followers on X, previously known as Twitter.

While the controversy around the shooting was unfolding in Austin, Acevedo left to become the chief of the Houston Police Department, one of the largest departments in the United States, with more than 6,500 officers. (Acevedo was Houston’s first Latino police chief as well.) But adversity followed him to Houston, this time in the form of a no-knock raid gone wrong in 2019. Four officers were shot, and the two homeowners were killed in the raid, which had been

executed based on false information allegedly provided by a Houston police officer.

Critics blasted Acevedo, saying his positions on police brutality, accountability, and transparency were at odds with his handling of the case.

Two years after his departure from Houston, Acevedo detractors in Texas still speak of him with reproach. According to Christopher Rivera of the Texas Civil Rights Project, Acevedo “has done nothing to hold police accountable for the violence they impose on our overpoliced communities.”

Doug Griffith, the president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said, “I’m glad he’s not our problem anymore.”

REFORMING A POLICE department is a balancing

act. Do too much and you risk estranging your officers; do too little and you risk alienating the community. Acevedo faced a tall task as he worked to set APD on track to meet its consent-decree mandates. Most notably, he had to implement better training as it pertains to use of force, create clearer expectations of appropriate police behavior, and improve leadership. In other words, he had to rebuild the place from the ground up.

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I N T E R N A L A F FA I R S

Upon arriving in December 2022, Acevedo conducted a survey that assessed his officers’ opinions of their leaders. Forty-seven percent indicated they “did not trust the intentions, motives, and integrity of the department’s executive staff.”This concerned Acevedo, who said he believes a department’s culture starts at the top and trickles down to the rank and file. “I don’t think the cops are the problem,” he said. “I think it’s leadership. It all comes back to leadership.” In his eyes, the lack of captaincy and training has been responsible for many of the episodes that have sullied the APD’s reputation in recent years.

So Acevedo began revamping the department’s command staff, demoting one division chief, an APD veteran who was “stuck in the old way of policing,” Acevedo said. He also installed as deputy chief Heather Morris, who followed him from Houston to Miami and then to Aurora. Morris was critical to revamping the internal affairs unit that investigates misconduct in Houston, and Acevedo wants her to do the same in Aurora. He nearly doubled the size of the Internal Affairs Bureau and launched investigations into problematic officers, including Douglas Harroun, who allegedly punched a disabled woman in the

face last January. Harroun resigned before he could be fired and now faces felony assault charges for the incident.

As of July, the Internal Affairs Bureau had reviewed 17 cases, resulting in one suspension, six written reprimands, and 10 resignations (officers often resign before they’re fired to avoid blemishes on their resumés). In total, 64 APD officers have resigned, retired, transferred, or been fired in 2023, according to a September 2023 staffing report. In April, the Civil Service Commission, the group that has had final say over all APD hiring, firing, and disciplinary decisions, ceded hiring power to the chief.

Citizens at a July town hall bemoaned the lack of police presence, and some city officials were troubled by the attrition. Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, a Republican who chairs the public safety committee and was instrumental in Wilson’s ousting, said Acevedo is “overpolicing the police.” Marc Sears, a sergeant at the department and the president of the Aurora chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, the city’s other law enforcement union, is upset about what he perceives as Acevedo’s excessive disciplinary approach and said, “The punishments don’t fit the crimes.”

Staffing changes aren’t the only reforms Acevedo has implemented. He’s ramped up accountability tools—a service called Truleo, for instance, analyzes video footage from officers’ body cameras to determine compliance with proper police conduct—as well as recruitment efforts of female and minority officers.

This summer, the APD launched a youth violence intervention program. By July, all of his officers had completed the use-of-force training mandated by the consent decree.

More important, said Jeff Schlanger, the independent consent-decree monitor for the city of Aurora since February 2022, Acevedo has “created a culture where use of force is questioned.” He added, “I think he has done a generally very good job at embracing the consent decree and moving it forward toward substantial compliance.”

Acevedo’s actions have not been so well received inside the department. “This guy is a freaking cancer,” said Sears, who added that the allegations that the APD is racist “are insane” and that he doesn’t believe the consent decree was necessary. Tony Cancino, a detective at the department and the president of the Aurora Police Association, the other union, also criticizes

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Acevedo’s leadership. “It’s not what this city needed,” he said. “It’s not what these officers needed, and it’s becoming quite a hindrance for us to be able to do our job out of fear for being punished.”

The fact that officers are resisting reform may be a good thing. “When officers are held accountable, there is pushback,” Poole, the retired sergeant, said. “If both unions are saying what’s going on is going on, and they aren’t happy with him because he is holding people’s feet to the fire, then maybe he is doing things that are necessary to do reform.”

And the reforms don’t appear to be negatively impacting policing in Aurora.

Aggravated assault, murder, motor vehicle theft, and sexual assault in Aurora were all down through July, compared with the same time frame in 2022. Reid Hettich, cochair of the CAC, attributed this, in part, to Acevedo, of whom he said, “[He’s] not perfect, but I think it’s the best job, best fit, we’ve seen.”

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outside of the Aurora Municipal Building as a swarm of people gathered behind it. It was shortly after 5 p.m. on June 16, an hour or so after the conclusion of Jor’Dell Richardson’s funeral, and his body—dressed in a blue paisley shirt—lay inside the vehicle.

Richardson’s shooting had abruptly ended Acevedo’s honeymoon in Aurora. Some community members, who’d been cautiously optimistic about him, were upset by his handling of the incident. In the weeks after Richardson’s death, two investigations into the killing were launched: one by the state’s 18th Judicial District and another by the APD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.

There was an emergency CAC meeting, two press conferences held by Richardson’s attorneys, and two citizen town halls, including one in which a young man stood up and said to Acevedo, “Resign. Go home. Get the fuck out of here.”

Acevedo’s supervision of the Richardson case had not been without missteps, most notably alerting the family of the pellet gun just minutes before his June 9 press conference and not being forthcoming about Gruzceczka’s involvement in the previous civil case.

Further, Acevedo offended the Richardson family when, in offering them condolences, he said, “Your boy didn’t suffer.” To which Richardson’s father responded at the rally before the procession: “My son died in a dirty alley.

Scared. Alone.”

Acevedo said he felt pressure to be transparent with the community before he had all of the information about the case. He also said he found out about the pellet gun the evening before his press conference and

I N T E R N A L A F FA I R S

didn’t want the information to be leaked before he had the opportunity to share it, which is why he waited to tell the Richardsons. The family doesn’t buy it. “He was being reckless or deceptive,” said Edward C. Hopkins Jr., one of the lawyers for the family. “Both are bad.”

Even some of Acevedo’s former supporters, such as Thomas Mayes, a community leader and CAC member, have started to doubt him.

“It takes a long time to build trust, but it only takes a moment to destroy it,” Mayes said. “I think it’s going to be very difficult for him to get the confidence of the community.”

In August, a city official, who requested anonymity, said they weren’t sure if Acevedo would survive the Richardson case or the mounting frustrations among APD cops. His fate will likely depend on who wins the mayoral and City Council races this month. If there’s a Democratic majority, Acevedo stays; if not, much like Wilson, he’s out, this official said.

For his part, Acevedo said the City Council has offered him the permanent job as chief, but he isn’t sure yet if he’ll take it.

Why is he going through so much trouble for a job he’s unsure of? “I didn’t come here to collect a check,” he said. “I came here to

make a difference.” Poole had a different take. “Acevedo’s at a seminal moment in his career,” he said. “If you’re trying to resurrect yourself, this is the perfect time to do it.”

If Acevedo is successful in Aurora, it could quell questions from the past and cement his legacy as a reformer.

On September 6, District Attorney John Kellner, from the 18th Judicial District, announced he would not bring charges against officers Snapp and Gruszeczka.

His decision read, “The evidence shows that Officer Snapp was legally justified in using physical force during this incident, and that Officer Gruszeczka was legally justified in using deadly physical force.”

“We disagree with the DA’s assessment of the evidence,” said Rathod, one of the Richardsons’ lawyers, who added the family felt the decision was “another slap in the face” in a long series of injustices. In October, Acevedo announced the findings of the APD’s own Internal Affairs Bureau investigation, which found that there was no sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to prove criminal wrongdoing.

The trials against the officers involved in Elijah McClain’s death began in mid-September

and have reopened old wounds. The officers maintain their innocence, and many community activists expect them to be acquitted, an outcome that could prove disastrous for the city. Should that happen, the APD is prepared for riots such as the ones that swept through Aurora in June 2020, when protestors chained shut the doors of a police station and tried to burn down the building.

Back at the municipal complex, as the hearse led the procession west down East Alameda Avenue, the protestors crooned “Amazing Grace.” Its low, plaintive notes took to the cloudy sky above Aurora. Then an activist leading the march began a calland-response chant with the crowd.

“What do we want?” she shouted.

“Justice!”

“When do we want it?”

“Now!” “Say his name!” she yelled.

“Jor’Dell Richardson!”

“Say his name!” she repeated.

“Jor’Dell Richardson!” m Kelley Manley is a Denver-based freelance writer and frequent contributor to the New York Times.

Email feedback to letters@5280.com.

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FIVE STAR PROFESSIONAL PROPRIETARY RESEARCH PROCESS NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES Three sources of nominations: – Firm nominations – Prequalification based on industry credentials – Peer nominations REGULATORY CONSUMER COMPLAINT REVIEW All candidates must demonstrate a favorable regulatory history.

CANDIDATE SUBMISSION OF PRACTICE INFORMATION Candidates must complete either an online or over-the-phone interview.

EVALUATION OF CANDIDATE PRACTICE Candidates are evaluated on 10 objective evaluation and eligibility criteria.

Taxation Rick Whipple ∙ WhippleWood CPAs

Investment Professionals Certified Public Accountant

FIRM REVIEW OF AWARD CANDIDATE LIST All candidates are reviewed by a representative of their firm before final selection.

Brian Chase ∙ JDS Professional Group Gregory Zick ∙ Zick Business Advisors, Inc.

2023 AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Estate Planning Attorney

Finalization and announcement of Five Star Professional award winners.

Frank J. Danzo ∙ Chayet & Danzo LLC Continued on FS-9

questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2,580 Denver-area wealth managers were candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2022: 2,132, 235, 11%, 10/1/22, 1/17/22 - 7/15/22; 2021: 2158, 206, 10%, 10/1/21, 1/4/21 - 7/30/21; 2020: 2172, 213, 10%, 10/1/20, 1552, 515, 33%, 9/1/16, 2/23/16 - 8/26/16; 2015: 3008, 517, 17%, 10/1/15, 2/19/15 - 8/17/15; 2014: 4385, 528, 12%, 10/1/14, 2/19/13 - 8/17/13; 2013: 2083, 607, 29%, 10/1/13, adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory or FSP’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM — F S - 2

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Bruce G. Allen AIFA®, CIMA®, CPWA®, General Securities Principal Twelve-Year Winner 370 17th Street, Suite 3580 • Denver, CO 80202 Office: 303-592-5535 • Fax: 303-592-5534 bruce@bgaillc.com • www.brucegalleninvestments.com

I created Bruce G. Allen Investments, LLC to help our clients build, manage, protect and transition their wealth. We take a comprehensive approach to wealth management by touching on the four cornerstones of investments, credit and liability management, risk management and estate and trust matters.

Advisory services offered through Bruce G. Allen Investments, LLC., a Registered Investment Advisor. Securities offered through M. S. Howells & Co., member FINRA/SIPC. M. S. Howells & Co. and Bruce G. Allen Investments, LLC are not affiliated.

Availability of services is subject to applicable licensing requirements.

This award was issued on 10/01/2023 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 12/12/2022 through 06/30/2023. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed were considered for the award; 247 (10% of candidates) were named 2023 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, 10/1/20, 1/20/20 - 8/14/20; 2019: 2146, 262, 12%, 10/1/19, 1/21/19 - 8/23/19; 2018: 2255, 267, 12%, 10/1/18, 1/18/18 - 8/21/18; 2017: 1716, 287, 17%, 10/1/17, 1/18/17 607, 29%, 10/1/13, 2/19/12 - 8/17/12; 2012: 1965, 611, 31%, 10/1/12, 2/19/11 - 8/17/11.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment F S - 3 — LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

— WEALTH MANAGERS —

Christopher Lynett Managing Director – Investments

11

YEAR WINNER

Eleven-year winner Christopher Lynett

Personalized Planning and Investments Focused on You With over 21 years of experience serving clients in the Denver community, Chris is excited to announce the addition of financial advisor Quinston Daugherty to Wells Fargo Advisors. Chris and Quinston work every day to deliver exceptional customer service to their clients, focusing on: • Forging lifelong relationships with clients and their families • A disciplined approach to investment management • A unique approach to wealth preservation • Identifying what is most important to you and your family through an in-depth planning process Christopher is a 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Five Star Wealth Manager.

143 Union Boulevard, Suite 1050 • Lakewood, CO 80228 Phone: 303-679-2104 • Cell: 720-802-5700 chris.r.lynett@wellsfargo.com www.fa.wellsfargoadvisors.com/chris-lynett

Investment and Insurance Products: NOT FDIC-Insured NO Bank Guarantee MAY Lose Value Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. [PM-01242025-5830822.1.1].

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2,580 Denver-area wealth managers % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2022: 2,132, 235, 11%, 10/1/22, 1/17/22 - 7/15/22; 2021: 2158, 206, 10%, 10/1/21, 1/4/21 - 7/30/21; 2020: 2172, 213, 10%, - 8/9/17; 2016: 1552, 515, 33%, 9/1/16, 2/23/16 - 8/26/16; 2015: 3008, 517, 17%, 10/1/15, 2/19/15 - 8/17/15; 2014: 4385, 528, 12%, 10/1/14, 2/19/13 - 8/17/13; 2013: 2083, adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory authority or FSP’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP’s consumer complaint process; feedback 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the

by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.

LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM — F S - 4

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

— WEALTH MANAGERS —

Virtuent Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors

11

YEAR WINNER

Left to right: Scott Shuler, Client Performance Analyst, Vice President; 2023 winner Meghan McGuire, CFP®, MS, RICP®, First Vice President – Investments, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 winner T.H. Williams, PhD, CFP®, Private Wealth Financial Advisor, Managing Director – Investments; Vicki Hansen, Senior Registered Client Associate; 2019 and 2023 winner Mick Pepper, Senior Vice President – Investments; Susie Kaufman, Senior Registered Client Associate

Investing in What Matters … You Your team matters: The professionals at Virtuent Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors have over 92 years of collective experience in wealth management. Our team takes a holistic approach to planning. We are fully invested in our clients’ success and will be with you every step of the way. Put our experience, imagination and energy to work for you. Philosophy matters: Our relationship-driven, disciplined approach to wealth management helps ensure our clients stay focused on their long-term objectives. Planning matters: Life is full of changes, both positive and negative. World events inspire euphoria and despair. Markets bounce up and down. In the midst of unpredictability, an investment plan can provide foundation and clarity. The process matters: We begin with open direct communication and strive to deliver value throughout lifelong relationships with our clients. Relationships matter: Investing often evokes emotion. Having a plan and an advisor to coach you can help you stay focused on your long-term objectives.

Eleven-year winner T.H. Williams, PhD, CFP®, Private Wealth Financial Advisor, Managing Director – Investments

5613 DTC Parkway, Suite 1000 • Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Phone: 844-925-0888 • th.williams@wfadvisors.com www.virtuentwmg.com • @THWilliamsWFA • linkedin.com/in/thwilliams Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, C ertified finanCial Planner™, and the CFP® mark (with plaque design) in the U.S.

Investment and Insurance Products: NOT FDIC Insured / NO Bank Guarantee / MAY Lose Value Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. [CAR 0623-03017].

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

This award was issued on 10/01/2023 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 12/12/2022 through 06/30/2023. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed considered for the award; 247 (10% of candidates) were named 2023 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of 1/20/20 - 8/14/20; 2019: 2146, 262, 12%, 10/1/19, 1/21/19 - 8/23/19; 2018: 2255, 267, 12%, 10/1/18, 1/18/18 - 8/21/18; 2017: 1716, 287, 17%, 10/1/17, 1/18/17 - 8/9/17; 2016: 2/19/12 - 8/17/12; 2012: 1965, 611, 31%, 10/1/12, 2/19/11 - 8/17/11.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.

F S - 5 — LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

— WEALTH MANAGERS —

Willis Ashby and Nick Weisert Five Star Wealth Managers • Operating independently with no broker-dealer • Investment fiduciary putting your interests first • Managing client assets since 1992

12

YEAR WINNER

Left to right: Twelve-year winner Willis Ashby, President, CFP®; Alison Ashby; Three-year winner Nick Weisert, CFP®

Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Willis: 303-220-5525 • willis@integrafinancial.ws Nick: 303-819-1820 • nick@integrafinancial.ws www.integrafinancial.ws

We provide high-value, personalized investment planning services tailored to you throughout your financial life. As investment fiduciaries our primary responsibility is to you, not a broker-dealer. We believe the true measure of our success is client satisfaction and retention.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified finanCial Planner™, and the CFP® mark (with plaque design) in the U.S. Integra Financial, Inc. is a registered advisory firm registered with the SEC.

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

Werley Thorpe Financial Group of Wells Fargo Advisors Integrity and Experience Matter • Listening to better understand your personal financial power • Assisting in your financial strategies built on trust and confidence

10

YEAR WINNER

Left to right: William Werley Jr., Senior Vice President – Investments; 2014 – 2023 winner Elizabeth Thorpe, Senior Vice President – Investment Officer; William Werley Sr., Vice President – Investments

143 Union Boulevard, Suite 1050 Lakewood, CO 80228 Office: 303-763-8300 betsy.thorpe@wellsfargoadvisors.com www.wtfinancialgroup.net

Being a valued client of the Werley Thorpe Financial Group of Wells Fargo Advisors means our clients deserve and experience a personally tailored plan that assists in achieving their life goals that align with their investment plans. We pride ourselves on bringing you the opportunity to work with a team of 125 years of integrity based experience. Elizabeth is a 2014 – 2023 Five Star Wealth Manager.

Investment and Insurance Products: NOT FDIC-Insured NO Bank Guarantee MAY Lose Value Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. [CAR-0723-00276].

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2,580 Denver-area wealth managers were candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2022: 2,132, 235, 11%, 10/1/22, 1/17/22 - 7/15/22; 2021: 2158, 206, 10%, 10/1/21, 1/4/21 - 7/30/21; 2020: 2172, 213, 10%, 10/1/20, 1552, 515, 33%, 9/1/16, 2/23/16 - 8/26/16; 2015: 3008, 517, 17%, 10/1/15, 2/19/15 - 8/17/15; 2014: 4385, 528, 12%, 10/1/14, 2/19/13 - 8/17/13; 2013: 2083, 607, 29%, 10/1/13, adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory or FSP’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM — F S - 6

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

— WEALTH MANAGERS —

Peak Asset Management, LLC Simplify and Secure Your Financial Life • An exceptional client experience built on long-term relationships of trust • Deep expertise in building personalized investment portfolios and financial plans

5

• Independent, fiduciary and fee-only advisors

YEAR WINNER

Left to right: Four-year winner John McCorvie; Three-year winner Tara Hefty; Five-year winner Julie Pribble; 2023 winner Terry Robinette

1371 E Hecla Drive, Suite A Louisville, CO 80027 Phone: 303-926-0100 peakam@peakam.com • www.peakam.com

Peak Asset Management is a Registered Investment Advisory firm founded in 1994.

We offer personalized portfolio management and financial planning services.

Wealth brings opportunity, but it can also bring complexity. As trusted advisors, it is our job to help our clients simplify and secure their financial lives.

Peak Asset Management, LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. Third-party rankings and recognition from rating services or publications are no guarantee of future investment success. Working with a highly rated advisor does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance or results. These ratings should not be construed as an endorsement or evaluation of the advisor by any client and are based on information prepared by the advisor. See below for additional disclosures.

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

Adam J. Moeller President

Where Clients Come To Win at Retirement • Independent fiduciary with 19 years of success • Wealth management, asset protection, income planning, long-term care alternatives, estate planning

2

YEAR WINNER

Two-year winner Adam J. Moeller

4600 S Syracuse Street, 9th floor • Denver, CO 80237 Phone: 720-974-4800 • adam@myajmfinancial.com • www.myajmfinancial.com

Adam was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. His mom was a teacher in Cherry Creek schools, and his dad was a Lutheran minister. He is married to his beautiful wife, Jennifer, a prominent attorney. They have three children: Jackson, Jordan and Sophia. After college and getting a degree in finance, his basketball talents allowed him to play professionally. His competitive nature and desire to do the best thing possible for all clients is why he started his independent fiduciary firm. When Adam is not meeting with clients, he is coaching, fishing or golfing.

Adam prides himself in educating his clients on the why, what, when and how of planning for retirement. Adam has been published in The Wall Street Journal and Forbes. Tune in every weekend at 8 a.m. on KOA 850 AM and 94.1 FM for Mile High Money with Adam Moeller.

Encompass More Asset Management LLC is a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and only transacts business in states where it is properly registered, or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements.

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

This award was issued on 10/01/2023 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 12/12/2022 through 06/30/2023. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed considered for the award; 247 (10% of candidates) were named 2023 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of 1/20/20 - 8/14/20; 2019: 2146, 262, 12%, 10/1/19, 1/21/19 - 8/23/19; 2018: 2255, 267, 12%, 10/1/18, 1/18/18 - 8/21/18; 2017: 1716, 287, 17%, 10/1/17, 1/18/17 - 8/9/17; 2016: 2/19/12 - 8/17/12; 2012: 1965, 611, 31%, 10/1/12, 2/19/11 - 8/17/11.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.

F S - 7 — LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

— WEALTH MANAGERS — Robert H. Bastiaans

Heather Dianne Holtzinger

CFP®, APMA®, MSFS, CLU®, ChFC®, BFA™, Private Wealth Advisor

12

YEAR WINNER

Owner

R.H. Bastiaans and Associates A private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC 7979 E Tufts Avenue, Suite 120 • Denver, CO 80237 Office: 303-689-7424 bobbastiaans.com

2226 W 29th Avenue Denver, CO 80211 Phone: 303-477-4939 heather@gvadv.com www.gvadv.com

Understanding Your Goals and Dreams

Building Wealth

• Planning for the certainty of uncertainty • Developing strategies tailored to your needs • 2012 – 2023 Five Star Wealth Manager award winner For 46 years, I have been helping clients develop financial planning strategies that address multigenerational planning as well as day-to-day needs. My talented team and I strive to enhance our clients’ abilities to make financial and investment decisions.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified finanCial Planner™, and the CFP® mark (with plaque design) in the U.S.

Heather has over 15 years of experience in the financial industry. As a woman, business owner and principal owner of Grandview Investment Advisors, LLC, she brings a unique perspective and understanding of her clients’ needs and financial goals.

Heather moved to the U.S. from Zimbabwe with her parents and two siblings in the 1980s. With just five suitcases and $100 dollars, Heather saw first-hand what hard work and dedication it takes to make the American dream a reality. Heather’s life experiences allow her to better understand her clients’ different walks of life, listen to their needs and work to create a specific financial investment plan. She enjoys helping each client meet their overall financial goals.

Not FDIC or NCUA Insured No Financial Institution Guarantee May Lose Value Investors should conduct their own evaluation of a financial professional as working with a financial advisor is not a guarantee of future financial success.

Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Member FINRA and SIPC.

Grandview Capital, LLC and its management (Grandview) does business as Grandview Investment Advisors, LLC. Grandview is a Registered Investment Advisor firm. Being “registered” does not imply a level of skill or training.

Additional information about Grandview is available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. Content for Grandview Capital, LLC can be found under CRD# 139202.

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

Brad Hablutzel President, CFP®, CFS™, CTS™, MBA

7200 S Alton Way, Suite B290 Centennial, CO 80112 Phone: 720-617-4400 bhablutzel@mosaicretirement.com www.mosaicretirementplanning.com

3

YEAR WINNER

Where Retirement Plans Resemble a Work of Art; A Mosaic.

• Proactively looking after staff and clientele like angels and working toward being good stewards for one another Mosaic Retirement Planning, LLC is a comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory firm. Its founder has been providing proactive solutions to retirees and pre-retirees since 2007 based on the belief that it’s always right to do the right thing, foremost putting clients’ interests first. Mosaic believes in transparent, incentive-based pricing, where its clients’ success is a precursor to its success. Mosaic has adopted a financial planning process recommended by the CFP® board, which is widely regarded as the gold standard for financial planning. Mosaic’s mission is to have a positive impact on the lives of the community, one family at a time.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified finanCial Planner™, and the CFP® mark (with plaque design) in the U.S. Investment advisory services offered by duly registered individuals through CreativeOne Wealth, LLC a Registered Investment Adviser. CreativeOne Wealth, LLC and Mosaic Retirement Planning are unaffiliated entities.

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

Thomas Obarski LPL Branch Manager

7887 E Belleview Avenue, Suite 1100 Greenwood Village, CO 80111 Direct: 303-740-6620 tom.obarski@lpl.com www.lpl.com/tomobarski

12

YEAR WINNER

• 2012 – 2023 Five Star Wealth Manager

It’s an honor to have received the Five Star Wealth Manager award again.

My focus continues to be providing you with investment education and working toward the protection of your retirement assets. I thank you all for your business.

Securities offered through LPL Financial. Member FINRA/SIPC. FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2,580 Denver-area wealth managers were candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2022: 2,132, 235, 11%, 10/1/22, 1/17/22 - 7/15/22; 2021: 2158, 206, 10%, 10/1/21, 1/4/21 - 7/30/21; 2020: 2172, 213, 10%, 10/1/20, 1552, 515, 33%, 9/1/16, 2/23/16 - 8/26/16; 2015: 3008, 517, 17%, 10/1/15, 2/19/15 - 8/17/15; 2014: 4385, 528, 12%, 10/1/14, 2/19/13 - 8/17/13; 2013: 2083, 607, 29%, 10/1/13, representative; 2. Actively or as a principal of a registered investment for a minimum of 53.years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint (As defined the wealth manager Been subject to a regulatory adviseradviser representative; 2. Actively licensedlicensed as a RIAasoraasRIAa principal of a registered investment adviseradviser firm forfirm a minimum of 5 years; Favorable regulatory and complaint historyhistory review review (As defined

by FSP, by theFSP, wealth manager has not;has A. not; BeenA.subject to a regulatory FSP’s consumer complaint Unfavorable feedback maybeen havediscovered been discovered of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered FSP’s consumer complaint feedback not be representative or FSP’sorconsumer complaint process.process.

Unfavorable feedback may have throughthrough a checkaofcheck complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered throughthrough FSP’s consumer complaint process;process; feedback may notmay be representative of of 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients.

Evaluation – considered: 6. One-year client retention 7. Five-year client retention 8. Non-institutional discretionary non-discretionary clientadministered; assets administered; 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients.

Evaluation criteria criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. rate; Five-year client retention rate; 8. rate; Non-institutional discretionary and/orand/or non-discretionary client assets their practice and therefore not manage their clients’ assets.

The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager FSP publication. or this publication. withStar a Five Star Wealth in theirinpractice and therefore may notmay manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five StarFive Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager

by FSP by or this WorkingWorking with a Five Wealth LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM — F S - 8

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

— WEALTH MANAGERS —

A wealth manager can help with retirement planning, legal planning, estate planning, banking services, philanthropic planning and risk management.

Continued from FS-2

All award winners are listed in this publication.

Wealth Managers

Tyler Gregory Bernard ∙ Lincoln Financial Advisors

Kimberly Louise Curtis ∙ Wealth Legacy Institute

Gustin D. Fox-Smith ∙ FS Advisors

Kenneth Christopher Acampora ∙ DURABLE Wealth Management

Donald Billings ∙ Charles Schwab & Co.

Brian Jay Friedman ∙ GHP Investment Advisors

Christopher M. Biren ∙ Eagle Strategies

Jordan Mark Dechtman ∙ Dechtman Wealth Management

G. Martin Agebrand ∙ Morgan Stanley

Matthew Blake ∙ Moss Adams Wealth Advisors

Cynthia Diane Alvarez ∙ Wambolt & Associates

W. Greg Denewiler ∙ Denewiler Capital Management

Sherri L. Bliss ∙ ERSI Wealth Management

Douglas Maurice Applegate ∙ Centennial State Wealth Advisors

Angus Elder Dillon ∙ Wells Fargo Advisors

Kean O. Boucher ∙ Boucher Wealth Management Group

Mark Dale Arlen ∙ Lincoln Financial Advisors

Kathleen Ann Drake ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Alexa B. Brascetta ∙ Valorem Financial

Michael Gary Ball ∙ Transform Wealth

Stephen Roland Brubaker ∙ ERSI Wealth Management

Stephen Dreiling ∙ Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management

Gerald Allen Graham Jr. ∙ Cetera Advisors

John Lee Arnold ∙ Robert W. Baird & Co. Laurie Dolores Barela ∙ Vargas Wealth Management

Justin Rowe Byrd ∙ LPL Financial

Brandon Carl Drespling ∙ Triumph Capital Management

Whitney Winslow Grimm ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Ali Barghelame ∙ Barghelame Wealth Advisors

Robert Logan Campbell ∙ Transform Wealth

Jared David Barkmeier ∙ Mariner Wealth Advisors

Robert Schuler Eberhardt ∙ Eberhardt Wealth Management

Sameera Gupta ∙ Merrill Lynch

Madison Anne Carter ∙ Morgan Stanley

Daniel I. Barotz ∙ Focused Alpha

Mark William Christofferson ∙ Wells Fargo Advisors

Gordon William Bauer ∙ LPL Financial

Michael Andrew Cohen ∙ Sagemark Consulting

Bruce Richard Bendell ∙ Transitions Wealth Management

Peter Jon Coleman ∙ Coleman Capital & Risk Management

John Russell Bennett ∙ First Command Financial Planning

Bartley Arthur Corfee ∙ Corfee & Associates

Carol Dailey Fabbri ∙ Fair Advisors

Richard Paul Costner ∙ G5 Financial Group

Jodi Rene Fleisher ∙ Morgan Stanley

A. Raymond Benton ∙ Lincoln Financial Advisors

Samantha L. Ediger ∙ Morgan Stanley Daniel David Ellis ∙ Western Wealth Management Chad Nathaniel Ernzen ∙ Edelman Financial Engines Galina Yakovlevna Esterby ∙ Morgan Stanley

Shelley Nicole Ford ∙ Morgan Stanley

G. Todd Gervasini ∙ Wakefield Wealth Management Daniel Gilbertson ∙ Summit Wealth Group Stephen Mark Gordon ∙ Cornerstone Asset Management James M. Graham IV ∙ LPL Financial Elbert Clark Griggs ∙ Griggs Wealth Management

William Henry Hamel ∙ RBC Nicholas Manning Hamilton ∙ The Hamilton Group Chad Michael Harmon ∙ A & I Wealth Management Roger Kent Harris ∙ R. Kent Harris & Associates, Ltd. Mark Clive Healiss ∙ Lincoln Financial Advisors Shelley Elizabeth Hertel ∙ LPL Financial Jennifer Hilts ∙ LOTUS Financial Partners

This award was issued on 10/01/2023 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 12/12/2022 through 06/30/2023. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed considered for the award; 247 (10% of candidates) were named 2023 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of 1/20/20 - 8/14/20; 2019: 2146, 262, 12%, 10/1/19, 1/21/19 - 8/23/19; 2018: 2255, 267, 12%, 10/1/18, 1/18/18 - 8/21/18; 2017: 1716, 287, 17%, 10/1/17, 1/18/17 - 8/9/17; 2016: 2/19/12 - 8/17/12; 2012: 1965, 611, 31%, 10/1/12, 2/19/11 - 8/17/11. This year, we honored 11 Denver-area investment professionals with the Five Star Investment Professional award.

Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.

F S - 9 — LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

WEALTH MANAGERS— INVESTMENT PROFESSIONALS All award winners are listed in this publication, Guy Wesley Holman ∙ TCI Wealth Advisors

Tupper Gordon MacDowell ∙ Robert W. Baird & Co.

Malcolm A.W. Horn ∙ Alliant Retirement & Investment Services

Alana Margaret Macy ∙ Bloom Wealth Advisors

Jeffrey Thomas Huff ∙ Redpoint Capital Management Sebrina Chriselda Ivey ∙ GHP Investment Advisors Geraldine Ann Janiczek ∙ SRS Capital Advisors

Kimberly Maez ∙ Chrysalis Wealth Management Jesse Randall Maggio ∙ Mariner Wealth Advisors Michael William Malarney Jr. ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

David Christopher Partheymuller ∙ The Normandy Group Edward William Pearl ∙ Wells Fargo Advisors Kirk Robert Peterson ∙ Peterson Financial Services Russell West Petrin ∙ Morgan Stanley Matthew Bishop Pezel ∙ Charles Schwab & Co.

Gary Alan Mangelsdorf ∙ LPL Financial

Nicholas Dean Phillips ∙ Morgan Stanley

Reid Michael Johnson ∙ MBA Wealth Management

George N. Maniatis ∙ Prime Capital Investment Advisors

Renee Elizabeth Pichette ∙ Mercer Global Advisors

Lorie Jones ∙ Fidelis Wealth Advisors

Deric Kriston Martin ∙ Morgan Stanley

Nick Ryan Jones ∙ Morgan Stanley

Quinn A. Martinez ∙ Clear Creek Investment Services

Stephanie L. Herdahl Jordan ∙ Next Generation Wealth Systems

Ryan L. Mason ∙ Vivant Financial Services

Eric Scott Johnson ∙ Millennial Wealth Management

Linda Susan Kalat ∙ Morgan Stanley Tom Michael Kapaun ∙ PFS Investments Andrew Michael Kark ∙ Mz Kark & Assoc.

Jennifer E. Kast ∙ ERSI Wealth Management Amy King ∙ Valorem Financial Maggie Merrill Kirchhoff ∙ True North Partners Garry Ron Kirkland ∙ Peak Wealth Advisors Andrew Abraham Klein ∙ Paramount Associates H. Scott Koplar ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC David Benjamin Kraatz ∙ Morgan Stanley Nick Damon Krenz ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Paul Gerard Kropatsch ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Tom Arthur Krusic ∙ Intellicents Investment Solutions Nathan James Kubik ∙ Transform Wealth Ryan James Landsberg ∙ Plante Moran Financial Advisors

Dan L. Mayer ∙ Triumph Capital Management

Nick Stewart Pirnack ∙ LGA Christine Lynn Plentyhoops ∙ Primerica Advisors David Jon Pocs ∙ LPL Financial Jacob Brian Ray ∙ Colorado Wealth Group Jerry Robert Reiff ∙ Morgan Stanley

Derek Michael Tuz ∙ Aegis Financial Partners David Anthony Twibell ∙ Custom Portfolio Group Carin Dawn Wagner ∙ GHP Investment Advisors Rhonda Wagner ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Robert Newman Webster ∙ Webster Investment Advisors

William Thomas McNary ∙ Mercer Global Advisors

Michael D. Rosenthal ∙ Elevate Wealth Management

Levi Carson Wedel ∙ Financial Integrity

Terry Melonakis ∙ Melonakis Financial

Kevin William Ruebesam ∙ Thrivent Financial

Marcel Herbert Wehr ∙ Marc Wehr CPA CFP®

Brandy S. Merriam ∙ Householder Group

Haley Ann Sanders ∙ Altitude Wealth Management

Brian David Williams ∙ G&W Wealth Management

Kathy Mezei Mezei Raabe ∙ Seneca Financial Advisors

Kevin Christopher Schmeits ∙ Sageview Advisory Group

Brian Douglas Williams ∙ Morgan Stanley

Ann Marie Milinazzo ∙ Hadad-Milinazzo Financial Group

Aaron David Schmiedel ∙ Wells Fargo Advisors

Jonathan Edward Miller ∙ Parsonex Advisory Services Lauretta Carlene Moell ∙ Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Gabrielle Mollick ∙ Mercer Global Advisors Matthew Stephen Monks ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Jeff James Nelligan ∙ Morgan Stanley

Stacia Marie Schumacher ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Clayton John Shearer ∙ Strategic Partners Financial Group Gary Shirman ∙ Boulder Wealth Advisors Nadia Shokohi ∙ Shokohi Wealth Management Group J. Kim Simmons ∙ Dynamic Financial Services Mark Sindrich ∙ Sindrich & Associates

Lloyd Evans Sprague ∙ True Wealth Advisors

Daniel Albert Noven ∙ SRS Capital Advisors

Brian Timothy Stark ∙ Triumph Capital Management

Alice Margaret Olsen ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Rush Barrett Steelman ∙ Private Client Wealth Advisors

Angie M. Osili ∙ Williams Investment Network

David Lee Stevens ∙ David L Stevens & Assoc.

Daniel Richard Palm ∙ Robert W. Baird & Co.

Adam J. Strickman ∙ Ethos Financial Partners

Christopher William Parsons ∙ Wells Fargo Advisors

Theodore James Swenson ∙ Valorem Financial

Charles David Partheymuller ∙ Normandy Capital Management

Jessica J. Tai ∙ Robert W. Baird & Co.

Andrew Charlton Lyford ∙ Charlton Investment Services

Matthew Lindsay Trontel ∙ Robert W. Baird & Co.

Kevin John McNab ∙ ACE Wealth Partners

Patrick Edward Nolen ∙ Nolen Western Company

Geoffrey Russell Luchetta ∙ High Point Financial Group

Lee Trexler ∙ Wells Fargo Advisors

Gregory Alan Wambolt ∙ Wambolt & Associates

Mike Nielson ∙ Nielson Wealth Management

Kathryn Ann Lizotte ∙ GPS Wealth Strategies Group

Scott Tremlett ∙ Paramount Associates

Cory Philip Robinson ∙ Triumph Capital Management

Chad Allen Leigh ∙ Leigh Wealth Management Group

Austin Alan Lewis ∙ Lewis Wealth Management

Jennifer Koonz Trembley ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Brian Thomas Robinson ∙ Robert W. Baird & Co.

Deirdre Marie McGuire ∙ GHP Investment Advisors

Darin Michael Snow ∙ Denver Private Wealth Management

Richard Jason Levine ∙ Synergy Financial Partners

Kristy Toshiko Tochihara ∙ Trailhead Wealth Management

Damian Daniel Walsh ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Chad Aaron McDonnell ∙ Segall Bryant & Hamill

Neil Norman Nichols ∙ Intentional Wealth

Carla Sue Leverman ∙ UBS

Charles Edmond Tobler ∙ Star Financial Services

Adam Robinson ∙ SevenWealth

Michael Robert McDonald ∙ LPL Financial

Sean Laws ∙ Cetera Wealth Partners

Matthew Edward Lengel ∙ Denver Private Wealth Management

Jeff M. Thompson ∙ Colorado Financial Partners

Thomas Emanuel Wolf ∙ Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Taylor Nolen Yionoulis ∙ Nolen Western Company Ali K. Yousaf ∙ Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Michael Gene Zahler ∙ Wells Fargo Advisors Diane Powell Zing ∙ Trilogy Capital

Investment Professionals Marilyn R. Burnside ∙ Marilyn R. Burnside LLC Lisa Hardin ∙ Hardin Waldrip Law PLLC Miranda K. Hawkins ∙ Hawkins Gordon Elizabeth D. Mitchell ∙ Ambler Keenan Mitchell Johnson David Osterman ∙ Osterman Law Firm Kimberly Raemdonck ∙ Legacy Planning & Probate, LLC Karen Shirley ∙ Holmes Shirley Law Kirsten Waldrip ∙ Hardin Waldrip Law, PLLC

Barbara Elizabeth Terrazas ∙ GHP Investment Advisors

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified finanCial Planner™ and federally registered CFP (with plaque design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements. The Chartered Financial Consultant® credential [ChFC®] is a financial planning designation awarded by The American College.

questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2,580 Denver-area wealth managers were candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2022: 2,132, 235, 11%, 10/1/22, 1/17/22 - 7/15/22; 2021: 2158, 206, 10%, 10/1/21, 1/4/21 - 7/30/21; 2020: 2172, 213, 10%, 10/1/20, 1552, 515, 33%, 9/1/16, 2/23/16 - 8/26/16; 2015: 3008, 517, 17%, 10/1/15, 2/19/15 - 8/17/15; 2014: 4385, 528, 12%, 10/1/14, 2/19/13 - 8/17/13; 2013: 2083, 607, 29%, 10/1/13, adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory or FSP’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth LEARN MORE AT FIVESTARPROFESSIONAL.COM — F S - 10

AC T L I K E A L O CA L

THE OVERSIMPLIFIED GUIDE TO:

Riding A T-bar Lift

T-bars can make even experienced shredders nervous: Skiers (especially those in line at Breckenridge’s Horseshoe Bowl) often heckle riders who fail to mount the lift and jeer them to the back of the line. Keeping your spot—and your cred—requires more than holding on tight. — N I C H O L A S H U N T

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Each T-bar can hold up to two skiers. Whether you’re riding solo or not, stand to one side of the dangling, upside-down T’s central shaft and hold your poles in your outside hand.

Keep an eye on your approaching ride by looking over your inside shoulder. As the cross bar hits your backside, grab the shaft with your inside hand, then use your other one to position the crossbar just below your butt. Your buns will keep it from sliding upward.

There’ll be slack in the line to give you time to get in position, but don’t lean back before the line goes taut or you’ll fall. Instead, keep holding onto the shaft and stand with your knees slightly bent to absorb the jolt as the rope catches. Then let the crossbar take most of your weight.

Once you’re moving, the easiest way to eat snow is by crossing your tips. Try to keep both skis flat on the ground, not on their edges. Stay loose to soak up any bumps or ruts.

To dismount, use the central shaft to pull yourself forward off the crossbar with your inside hand and ski away from the lift at the same time.

Once you're clear, let go.

5280 / NOVEMBER 2023

ILLUSTRATION BY SIMONE MASSONI

CHARLIZE THERON NAVITIMER FOR THE JOURNEY