Arvada Press 022323

Arvada chef wins Food Network’s ‘Chopped’

18 | ISSUE 36

City of Arvada resident survey shows general satisfaction, concern of public safety

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Most Arvadans rated the quality of life in Arvada as “good” in a survey conducted from Oct. 1, 2022 to Nov. 2, 2022 that gauged feedback from 1,200 residents on a variety of issues including housing, public safety, city government and use of tax dollars.

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

When Oscar Padilla — Chef and Founder of Arvada’s Gaucho Parilla (“Cowboy Barbeque,” translated) — won the Feb. 7 episode of the popular Food Network cooking competition “Chopped,” he knew exactly what he would do with the $10,000 prize money: give it to his wife.

“My wife at some point, she put on hold her career,” Padilla said. “She’s sacri ced her dreams to bring me support and help with my dreams and my career. It’s time to pay it back. I want to bring that opportunity to her equal to the opportunity she’s brought to me. It’s so important to me that she continues learning and growing in her career.”

Padilla was born in Los Angeles and has Mexican heritage, which he says inspires his cooking. He and

his wife have two children, and the wood re chef has made a name for himself in the Colorado culinary scene through gigs at Toro and Hotel CLIO.

He opened Gaucho Parilla last month at Freedom Street Social in West Arvada to rave reviews. e restaurant is a spin-o of his wood re catering business; A Fuego. Padilla’s experience working with a variety of meat and open ames helped him greatly on “Chopped” — the theme of which, for his episode, was “Pig Candy.”

Padilla said that he’s been approached to appear on “Chopped” before, but scheduling issues made an appearance unfeasible.

He let the Arvada Press into a little production secret: the chefs who are invited to appear are often given the option between multiple episode themes. Padilla’s episode was lmed in New York in October.

“When they contacted me, I’m so proud to receive that invitation,” Padilla said. “ ey o ered me the opportunity to participate in two di erent episodes. at one I feel is better for me right now, because I’m an expert in open re; wood re is my heritage from my family, is the

cuisine I want to do. Playing and working with re is my passion.”

Padilla’s passion carried him through the rst two rounds of a competition, where he skillfully made an appetizer and an entree from a limited basket of ingredients, wowing the celebrity guest judges both times.

e third and nal challenge of the episode — the dessert challenge — was uniquely di cult for Padilla, who says he prefers to eat sweets than make them. He says he was planning on making churros or a donut, but that plan fell apart when the basket he was given contained premade donuts.

Improvising on the spot, Padilla explained in a frustrated confessional, “I’m not a pastry chef; I’m a wood re chef.”

e momentary discouragement did not go to his head, however. Padilla got to work deconstructing the donuts and fashioning them into Banuelos, a Latin American fried dough fritter.

“I love desserts, I’m amazing with dessert — eating, not making or prepping,” Padilla said. “Sweetness

e City of Arvada shared the results during a Feb. 13 workshop.

e city has conducted biannual resident surveys on odd years since 1997 — with the exception of 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why this year’s survey took place on an even year. e survey was conducted by Probolsky Research; a market research rm based in California.

is year’s survey was the rst that was sent to all residents over the internet, social media, through mailers, phone calls and the city’s website. e survey took about 20 minutes to complete and was o ered in English and Spanish, though only 2% of respondents answered in Spanish.

e survey found that 71.2% of Arvadans rate the quality of life in the city as “good,” while 24.1% rate their quality of life as “fair” and 4.6% rate their quality of life as “poor.”

When asked how Arvada compared to other cities and towns, people answered roughly along the same lines, with 70.5% rating Arvada as “good,” 23% rating it as

JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO

VOLUME

INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 10 |

LIFE: PAGE 12 |

CALENDAR: PAGE 9 |

SPORTS: PAGE 14

Chef Padilla poses in front of celebratory banners and decor — including his daughter’s stu ed pig, Pancho, which appeared on the show.

PHOTO BY RYLEE DUNN

Oscar Padilla brings

South American open

flame cooking heritage to the national stage

71% of respondents rate the quality of life in Arvada as ‘good’

“fair” and 5% rating it as “poor” compared to other municipalities.

Public safety and homelessness are at the top of residents’ concerns across multiple categories.

20.8% of respondents said public safety, drugs and crime are their top concerns, while 18.2% said homelessness was their most pressing worry. When asked to select which issues were most concerning, 67.4% said homelessness, 64.2% said crime in general and 64.2% said the conditions of roads, streets and sidewalks were also a concern.

Latino residents and those with an annual household income lower than $35,000 rank the availability of affordable housing as more pressing than other residents.

In terms of economic stability, 31.9% of respondents reported difficulty paying utility bills, 28.7% reported difficulty affording food, 21.5% reported difficulty paying for basic household needs and 18.5% said they have trouble paying rent or their mortgage. 46.7%

of respondents did not report experiencing economic instability in these areas.

In terms of setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, 37.1% of respondents said general mental health has been the primary issue for themselves or their families.

68.8% of residents said they are satisfied with the services provided by the city, while 24.9% said they are not. Residents who have lived in Arvada for five years or less are more satisfied with the city’s services than long-term residents.

Similarly, 53.7% said they are satisfied with Arvada’s use of their tax dollars, while 39.2% said they are not. Residents over 65 tend to be more satisfied with how their tax dollars are being spent, survey results showed.

Growth and development seem to be a significant area of dissatisfaction, with 51.1% of residents saying they are unsatisfied with how the city manages growth and development. Residents over 40 and those who live in District 4 tend to be more unhappy about growth and development than other demographics.

More information can be found on the City of Arvada’s website.

Data from the 2022 Arvada Resident Survey pertaining to the most pressing issues facing the city, according to residents. PHOTOS COURTESY CITY OF ARVADA

Arvada Elks recognized by Je erson County School Board for giving holiday gift cards to families

families at 14 schools with $100 King Soopers gift cards this December.

BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Arvada Elks Lodge was recognized at the Feb. 9 Je erson County School Board meeting, where the board presented the Elks with an “Our Communities: Our Legacy” recognition for the Elks holiday gift card drive which bene tted 140 Jeffco families.

e Elks provided 140 Je co

Families at Lawrence Elementary, Secrest Elementary, Swanson Elementary, Stevens Elementary, Peak/ Pennington, Oberon Middle School, Arvada North Middle School, Everette Middle School, Arvada High School, Wheat Ridge High School, Little Elementary, Parr Elementary, omson Elementary and Arvada K-8 were among those who received gift cards.

e Arvada Elks Lodge is part of a national organization and was chartered in 1963. Since 1964, the Arvada Elks — the largest chapter in Colorado — have organized an annual holiday food basket fund-

raiser, which they changed to a gift card drive last year after being made aware of the challenges some faced to prepare the traditional Christmas fare that was previously provided. is year, the Elks worked in partnership with school liaisons and local nonpro t Hope, Connection and Community to identify families in need and plan how to best serve them.

Arvada Elks Exalted Ruler Jim Nealon thanked the board for their recognition.

“It speaks volumes for what the Arvada elks lodge does for the Arvada community,” Nealon said. “It meant a lot for us to be recognized. What a special moment to be recognized by

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the board of education; it’s so meaningful that we’re being recognized in our community for our work.”

e Elks will be continuing with their gift card drive model this year

Boxabl, the Las Vegas Manufacturer Whose ADUs Unfold, Ramps Up Production

Manufactured housing started before most of us were born, if you include mobile homes. Modular housing, in which components of a building are put together in a factory and then assembled onsite, is also a part of early housing history. I remember attending Expo ’67 in Montreal, where one of the exhibits (but not an attraction to be toured) was “Habitat ’67,” a funny looking apartment complex adjacent to the 1967 World’s Fair site in which apartment modules were stacked one upon the other.

Then, in 1997, I purchased a home in Golden’s Mesa Meadows subdivision which I learned from a neighbor was built in a Ft. Morgan factory and assembled in one day on the foundation in Golden. Knowing that, I noticed the telltale wide beam in the ceiling which was where the two halves of the one-story home were attached to each other.

It was explained to me that manufactured homes are often of higher quality and better insulated, because they are

done on a factory floor where there is better supervision, resulting, for example, in better insulation. The exterior walls were all made from 2x6 lumber instead of 2x4 lumber to better withstand the stresses of being loaded, unloaded and moved on the building site. Indeed, my Mesa Meadows house was a good one, although I expect the current owners (the third since I sold it) don’t even know that it was not stick-built on site over several months, like its neighboring homes.

Next came the “tiny home” movement in which complete homes were often built on a factory floor, wheeled on a trailer to someone’s lot, and then put onto a foundation. Some tiny homes were put into service as temporary homes for our unhoused population, formerly referred to as “homeless,” on vacant land or in church parking lots — a good idea, but without a conventional connection to a sewer line.

About that time the ADU movement

That’s the title of an article in a February 14th post from MIT — https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/14/1068582/

I have written about and provided my own explanations regarding how heat pumps differ from forced air furnaces and traditional A/C systems, but the article cited above goes the extra mile.

If you’ve spent the night in a hotel or motel, you have probably slept in a room that was heated or cooled by a heat pump, because invariably that’s what those units are which you saw and controlled under each window.

In the above article, heat pumps provide the heating and cooling for every Boxabl home. They are also what heats and cools many electric vehicles, since they require less battery power than conventional electric car heaters.

I was surprised to hear that heat pumps were invented in the 1850s but only started being used to heat and cool homes in the 1960s. It took the global climate crisis and the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels to make them the hottest appliances in new homes.

Speaking of new homes, however, I lamented as recently as last fall that I haven’t found a single new home builder

which has abandoned gas-based home heating or even offers an upgrade to heat pumps. If you know of one, please tell me, because I’d be happy to promote that home builder in a future column.

The MIT article provides some useful information, including about the rebates being offered for heat pump installations. It also debunks the myth promoted by fossil fuel interests that heat pumps don’t work in colder climates. They are actually in use from Alaska to Maine, where, for example, my sister in Kingfield, Maine, installed a heat pump in her home to save on her fuel oil bill. Her fuel oil vendor verified that the adoption of heat pumps has noticeably reduced his sale of fuel oil in that rural community near the Canadian border.

According to the article, 60% of the homes in Norway are heated by heat pumps, as are 40% of the homes in Finland and Sweden (where another of my sisters lives).

“Wherever you look,” the MIT article concludes, “the era of the heat pump has officially begun.” Amen to that!

took off, with many if not most cities and counties changing their singlefamily zoning laws to allow the creation of “accessory dwelling units.” These could be walk-out basements converted to an apartment, but often they were apartments created above detached garages or stand-alone buildings in backyards. The typical ADU ordinance requires three things: 1) the ADU cannot exceed a certain size, 2) it has to have its own off-street parking space, and 3) the property owner has to live in either the main house or the ADU and not rent out both units. Some jurisdictions are considering loosening these rules.

Several locals businesses were created to cater to this new construction opportunity, including Verdant Living, 303717-1962, owned by John Phillips. His ADUs are manufactured in Nebraska and meet local code requirements. You can visit www.VerdantLiving.us for more information.

A company called Villa started building ADUs in a factory southeast of Los Angeles, after California legalized ADUs in 2020. This company delivers and installs its units across the state, with prices starting at $105,000 plus as much as $200,000 for delivery, infrastructure

costs, foundation, and installation.

There’s a Las Vegas startup called Boxabl, whose “secret sauce” is that its ADUs fold up to fit on a standard flatbed trailer and then unfold into the simple unit shown at left or to larger homes, such as the 3-bedroom, 2½-bath, 2-story home (assembled from three units) shown at the bottom of this column.

It’s a father-son company which has not yet gone public. It was clearly inspired by the factory concept of Tesla, not surprising since the son drives a Tesla. Notice the Tesla wall charger and the Tesla battery unit above it on the exterior of the 2-story building. That picture is from the International Builders Show last month in Las Vegas. It drew a lot of attention, and the company now has a waiting list over 100,000, even though it can’t deliver more units until regulators approve its construction.

The company did deliver 156 of its 400-square-foot “casitas” to the Federal government for use in Guantanamo Bay, which helped it build its factory and develop its technology. The company received that multi-million-dollar contract based on its proposal, even though the government knew they hadn’t built anything yet.

After completing that contract, Boxabl got a contract from an Arizona company to build workforce housing. Currently the firm is only building and, presumably, stockpiling its 400-square-foot casitas as it perfects its current factory and equips a second factory next door.

Learn more at www.Boxabl.com

‘Everything you need to know about the wild world of heat pumps’

Members of the Arvada Elks Lodge accepted a recognition from the Je erson County School Board for their holiday gift card drive. COURTESY RICK ASSMUS

Elks gave out over $14,000 to 140 Je co families during the holidays

75 couples say “I do” at Loveland Ski Area

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE

OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

In true Colorado fashion, couples skied down the mountain at Loveland to get to their marriage ceremony, only accessible by ski or board.

On Feb. 14, 12 couples got married and 63 renewed their vows at the 32nd annual Mountaintop Matrimony mass wedding ceremony at Loveland Ski Area, hosted in the Forest Meadow run area.

Couples attending the ceremony came dressed to the nines, in top hats, veils, wedding dresses and kilts, with bouquets in hand.

Barbie and Ken Leach spend winters in Dillion and are celebrating their 50-year wedding anniversary in July. e couple came to renew their vows for what they said was the fourth or fth time at Loveland.

Barbie and Ken have been skiing together for 55 years and show no signs of slowing down. ey are season pass holders at Loveland.

“We think it’s a really wonderful event,” Barbie said. “Everybody is so happy.”

Lena and John Benisch came to the ceremony to renew their vows as well. e couple has been married for 20 years, but this is their rst time at the Loveland wedding.

“It’s epic,” Lena said.  e couple met years ago in an exercise class, where they both immediately noticed each other and John asked Lena on a date. Skiing has always been a hallmark of their relationship.

“John taught me to telemark ski on our rst date,” Lena said. (Telemark skiing is a technique that uses toe-only bindings and combines elements of Alpine and Nordic skiing.)

After sta at Loveland facilitated a dance party with all the couples in Forest Meadow, the short

Barbie and Ken Leach have been married for 50 years in July.

PHOTO BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE

and sweet ceremony was carried out. Some couples brought rings, others brought candy rings, and some just exchanged promises and kisses with their partner.

After the 75 couples said “I do” and sealed their love with a kiss, they donned their skis and boards and took to the mountain. An aprés ski party was waiting at the base of the mountain for the newlyweds and re-newlyweds.

At the party, sta at Loveland made individual wedding cakes for all the couples and had treats and

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Couples said “I do” and shared a special moment together on the mountain.

Many couples donned their finest wedding attire for the event.

I DO

sparkling cider to snack on.

Daisy Warner works at the deli and bakery at Loveland.

is is her rst season working at Loveland, and her rst time taking part in putting together the wedding.

Warner worked with a team to prepare the wedding cakes and treats for the special day.

“Each piece is like its own work of art, she has spent hours getting everything ready for today and a lot of love goes into it,” Warner said of her coworker who did the baking.

Meet Kevin!

After enjoying some treats and music, the couples lined up and showed o their wedding day out ts, with applause deciding who was best dressed.

e best-dressed couple was Barbie and Ken Leach, a popular couple all day. Barbie had donned her original wedding dress from 50 years ago, made for her by her mother.

Ken had on a blazer, and the duo had matching red ower lapels.

e Leach couple won a honeymoon getaway in Georgetown, with a stay at Rose Street Bed and Breakfast and dinner at Coopers on the Creek, and their surprise and elation at the win was enough to warm the chilliest air on the mountain.

and desserts, I have a lot of respect for pastry chefs; it’s a challenge for me. It’s a lot of technique; cake, ganache, to work with chocolate, to work with sugar or caramels. I prefer the fire, the meat, the steam. that is my art. That’s why I’m not touching a lot of the sweetness.”

Despite the curveball, Padilla’s Banuelos won over the judges. He won the competition handily and accepted the prize money in an emotional scene while holding one of his daughter’s stuffed animals —

a pig named Pancho, naturally.

“I feel like my family will be so proud of me,” Padilla said as credits rolled. “Thank you, Pancho.”

Pancho now has a home at Gaucho Parilla in a miniature pigpen, next to a chalkboard celebrating Padilla’s ‘Chopped’ win.

“The last 48 hours have been crazy,” Padilla said days after his episode aired. “Everybody’s seen you on TV; I’m so excited and so impressed about the reaction of the people. “

In addition to supporting his family, Padilla wants to share the cuisine of his culture with Coloradans across the state, which he says has given himself and his fam-

ily an amazing life.

“One of my priorities is celebrating wood fire, the tradition of Latin America — or why not, North America with the traditional barbecue,” Padilla said. “Whatever people want with wood fire or smoke, it’s awesome. Bringing cuisine from Mexico, from Latin America; that is my heritage.”

Padilla continued that that is why he wants to share it with everybody.

“Latin American cuisine I feel is a beautiful world of opportunities to share with Colorado,” he said.

Gaucho Parilla is part of Freedom Street Social, located at 15177 Candelas Parkway in Arvada.

During the best-dressed contest, couples showed o their best moves.

PHOTOS BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE

Loveland made special wedding cakes for all the couples.

The crowd was excited for the ceremony to begin on the mountain.

Flavors of Casa Bonita fill Next Gallery in annual art show

Catch the Casa Bonita-themed works of art until March 6

BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

What could be better than dripping sopapillas from Casa Bonita? A statue of dripping sopapillas from Casa Bonita.

This statue and many more Casa Bonita-themed works of art can be found at Next Gallery in Lakewood, in the same plaza as the famous pink-towered restaurant, as it hosts a Casa Bonita Art Show. Artists from down Colfax Avenue all the way to Georgia have submitted entries for the show, which runs until March 6.

“It’s always had sort of a quirky reputation,” said Betsy “Dolla B” Rudolph, a resident artist and organizer of the show since its start.

She explained that since Next Gallery was priced out of its previous space in 2017 and moved to Lakewood, it’s been hosting the Casa Bonita Art Show.

“We needed to sort of get

our name out, let the neighborhood know we were there,” Rudolph said. “And, also let the neighborhood know we were approachable and not like a fancypants art gallery.”

So, creating a whole show on the “quirky” restaurant next door was her idea to do that.

“It was a great way to attract people who had never been part of an art show,” she said, attracting new and working artists as well. “Every since the people still want it. And I see people through the summer already thinking about their Casa Bonita piece.”

Nowadays, the show is mostly known by word of mouth and tradition, but when Casa Bonita closed during the pandemic, Rudolph said the gallery was worried the show might die as well.

The gallery pushed through, and now, with a renewed buzz due to South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone renovating the restaurant to open again, the art show has a renewed “energy” as well.

Next Gallery is open 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

A Rate Worth Getting Excited

Next Gallery’s Casa Bonita Art show runs until March 6.

IMAGE COURTESY OF NEXT GALLERY

Thu 3/02

Bandaid Brigade @ 7pm Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver Enjambre @ 8pm Bluebird Theatre, 3317 E. Colfax Avenue, Denver

Fri 3/03

8th Annual No Man's Land Film Festival @ 5pm / $50

Mar 3rd - Mar 4th

MCA Denver at the Holiday Theater, 2644 West 32nd Avenue, Denver. aisha@no mansland�lmfestival.org, 970-765-6056

Bleak Mystique @ 7pm Goosetown Tavern, 3242 East Colfax Av‐enue, Denver

Briana JannYne: Ruled By MercuryEP Release Party With Destiny Shynelle @ 7pm Mashroom Studios, 222 Santa Fe Dr, Denver

s e n s e s @ 7pm Globe Hall, 4483 Lo‐gan St, Denver

Forever Man BandTribute to Eric Clapton: Live @TheRose: El Loco

Fandango & Forever Man @ 7pm Buffalo Rose, 1119 Washington Ave, Golden

The New Amsterdams @ 8pm Lost Lake Lounge, 3602 E Colfax Ave, Denver

Eric Martinez: Coal Town Reunion w/ Babaux & the Peacemakers and Jesh Yancy & the Highhopes @ 8pm

The Oriental Theater, 4335 W 44th Ave, Denver

Sat 3/04

Blarney on Belmar @ 12pm Belmar, 439 S. Upham Street, Lakewood. janet@see-janetwork.com, 303-8153504

High 'N' Dry: A Tribute to Def Leppard @ 6pm The King Room, Denver

Jay_Martin @ 7pm Mangiami, 5614 Olde Wadsworth Blvd, Ar‐vada

Herb Ohta, Jr. @ 7pm Swallow Hill, 71 E Yale Ave, Denver

Mon 3/06

YouthTuber - Rooney @ 3:15pm / $176

Mar 6th - May 1st Rooney Elementary, 2200 S Coors St, Lakewood. 720-996-0894

Nathaniel Rateliff w/ Colorado Sym‐phony Orchestra @ 7:30pm

Boettcher Hall, 1000 14th Street, Denver

Steve Bug: Into The Void @ 11pm Void Studios, 1790 S Bannock St, Denver

Sun 3/05

The Thorn @ 2pm Bellco Theatre, 1100 Stout Street, Denver

David Miner & The Reasons to Quit w/ Chasen Wayne & The Honky

Tonk Machine and Jack Fister @ 7pm Star Bar, 2137 Larimer St, Denver

Louser: The March of Ides tour @ 6:30pm Seventh Circle Music Collective, 2935 W 7th Ave, Denver

Tue 3/07

Sophie Holohan at Globe Hall (supporting Trousdale) @ 6pm

Globe Hall Live Music and BBQ, 4483 Lo‐gan St, Denver

Ryan Hutchens at Bar AC @ 6pm Bar AC, 750 15th St, Denver

Carlie Hanson @ 7pm Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St, Denver

Prince Daddy & The Hyena @ 7pm The Oriental Theater, 4335 W 44th Ave, Denver

Pool Kids @ 8pm Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St,, Denver

Wed 3/08

Twisted Insane @ 7pm Jumbo's Sports Bar and Grill, 6111 W Col‐fax Ave Unit B, Lakewood

Bryce Vine @ 8pm Ogden Theatre, 935 E Colfax Ave, Denver

Chiiild @ 8pm Bluebird Theatre, 3317 E. Colfax Avenue, Denver

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Antlers or horns: Need some pointers?

Soon, all of our elk and deer will start to look like females! Only a close inspection from a super-powered camera or a peek out of the living room window will reveal whether an animal is male by the presence of pedicles, the base of growth for the antlers.

ese will initially have the appearance of round wounds on the animal’s head and will heal before the antler growth process begins again. While some animals await antler buds, the horned wildlife can continue to hold their heads high on muscled necks because their head gear will not be detaching.

Although both antlers and horns consist of bone that grows from the skull, the structure of the horn has two layers. Covering the bony part of the horn is a  keratin sheath. e sheath and bone stay in place and in some species continue to grow during the life of the animal. Females also have horns but of a smaller size. Local horned wildlife include bison, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats. Members of the deer family such as elk, mule deer and moose grow antlers which are shed annually. A male-only club, bulls and bucks use antlers for protection from predators, to portray dominant status and to impress the ladies. As it turns out, their antlers impress everyone! But

INSIDE THE OUTDOORS

males pay a price for their proud displays. Bull elk have half the lifespan of female elk  due to reduced overall health resulting from the demands of antler growth.

e velvet will come o in strings during which time the bull is “in tatters.” e antlers are then fully grown and ready to be brandished for mating and territorial displays.

As the hours of daylight shorten, testosterone production lessens which causes the connection between the antler and the skull to weaken. e antlers eventually break away from the pedicle after the rut season concludes.

Christie Greene

Age, genetics, nutrition and overall health in uence the size of antlers. Size matters, but there are more important considerations for breeding. Broken or misshapen antlers can be a sign of genetic weakness, injury or serious illness. For these reasons, elk cows have more interest in antler symmetry over size. Antler ornaments like holiday decorations or hammocks? Only the elk know if such décor adds to a bull’s appeal! e antler growth cycle beings in the spring, triggered by increasing daylight and subsequent testosterone production. As they grow, antlers are covered by velvet which brings blood vessels and nerves to the underlying bone.

After the antlers have reached their full size, the velvet begins to dry. is process is called hardening o . Once the velvet dies, the animal rubs his head against trees or other surfaces.

Antler castings have a role to play besides being fashioned into furniture or cut into dog chews. Dozens of species nibble on shed antlers to gain calcium and other nutrients. Deer will occasionally eat antlers to gain the minerals they lost during the growth of their own antlers.

Find a shed antler?  Be sure to check the calendar before taking it home. In 2018, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to protect winter habitat for wildlife by forbidding antler or horn collection found west of I-25 between Jan. 1 and April 30 each year.

When you see velvet antlers this spring, you can understand the toll it takes on bulls and bucks. Even though their antlers look soft and touchable, keep in mind that hard bone is just under the surface, a fact which elk will be happy to show you if you get too close!

Backcountry adventurers know they’re taking chances

Six people have died in avalanches in the United States since the snow started to y this fall. Every year, an average of 27 people —skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, snowshoers — die this way.

For people who don’t venture into the backcountry in winter, the thought of potentially dying in an avalanche seems crazy. Why put your life on the line for a few minutes of fun? But most of us who ride fresh powder don’t look at it that way: We don’t consider backcountry skiing a death-defying activity.

A couple of years ago, my friend Jenna Malone, who is an avalanche educator and physician assistant in Salt Lake City, told me, “I don’t know anyone who’s stood on the top of a slope and thought, ‘Well, this is going to kill me, but it’s going to be epic powder skiing.’

“We believe that with training, planning, good decision-making, and a solid ski partner who calls us on our blind spots, we can make it safer,” she added.

In 2009, Bruce Jamieson, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Calgary in Albert, cident data collected in North America

to come up with a chart. e data was presented in “millimorts,” or one death per million. One millimort is the chance an average 20-year-old male has of dying from any cause on any day.

Himalayan climbing turned out to be the riskiest activity Jamieson considered, with a one in 40 chance of dying on an 8,000-meter peak, or 12,000 millimorts. Riding a motorcycle eight hours a day earned 605 millimorts, while backcountry skiing in Canada, using usual risk-reduction practices, came in at four.

Of course, not all skiers try to mini-

mize risk. Recently, I saw a group of ve riders swooping down a steep gully, hooting and hollering as they ew by. e avalanche hazard that day was moderate. Still, ve people skiing a  slope like that at one time is outside normal risk-reduction practices and could have easily ended in tragedy.

Jamieson’s data is now more than a decade old, but the likelihood of being killed in an avalanche probably hasn’t changed much. It may have even lessened, considering the growing number of backcountry users in avalanche terrain that are sharing the risk.

When I started skiing in the backcountry decades ago, we would see only a handful of other people. Today, SnowSports Industries America estimates that there are more than six million backcountry riders in the United States, which puts the American avalanche death rate at less than 0.5 per 100,000. Your risk of dying in an automobile accident is one in 107.  ese statistics may be why we don’t feel like we are gambling with our lives every time we head out to ski. And in

general, backcountry users consider themselves responsible risk takers.

We take avalanche courses to learn how to identify dangerous snow conditions. Most of us carry safety equipment: avalanche transceivers, shovels, probes, and in some cases airbags to help improve our odds of survival in a slide. We consult the daily avalanche forecast for our area. We choose our partners carefully.

Still, people die. You can argue that statistically the odds are in our favor, but that doesn’t lessen the tragedy that occurs when a glorious day of powder skiing turns into a nightmare.

Two of this year’s fatalities involved fathers triggering slides that buried and killed their sons. It’s hard to imagine anything more painful for a family.

Avalanches have been called “wicked-learning environments,” a label popularized by psychologist Robin Hogarth in 2015. A wickedlearning environment is one where

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Email letters to kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Deadline Wed. for the following week’s paper. To opt in or out of delivery please email us at circulation@ coloradocommunitymedia.com

A whole new immersive Disney world

Anyone who has fallen in love with a Disney animated lm knows one of the great joys of the studio’s work is getting lost in the astounding worlds that have been created. Now, fans of Disney can wander through many of their favorite worlds in a much more literal sense, thanks to Disney Animation: Immersive Experience.

“ is year is Disney’s 100th anniversary, so we wanted to do something that really honored all the animators,” explained J. Miles Dale, an Oscar-winning producer and creative director of the experience. “What we created is a little bit educational, a little bit entertaining, and provides access to things most wouldn’t be able to see. It all combines to give that magical experience people have come to expect from Disney.”

Created in partnership with Walt Disney Animation Studios and Lighthouse Immersive Studios, the Disney Animation: Immersive Experience is on display at Lighthouse ArtSpace, 3900 Elati St. in Denver.

As Dale explains it, a trip to the famous Disney archives provided a wealth of inspiration for the creative team as they put the exhibit together. Seeing the early pencil sketches of seminal moments like Cinderella’s dress transformation was awe inspiring for the team.

“It was important for us to show how these characters and worlds were created. When you see how it was made and who made it, you appreciate the animation more,” he said. “I love hearing kids who are inspired to be animator after seeing the exhibit. ey feel the magic and see some of themselves in these characters.”

According to provided information,

ABSOLON

FROM PAGE 10

the rules are unclear and feedback is often inaccurate or nonexistent. at means you can’t learn, or may learn the wrong thing from your experiences. Mistakes in a wicked-learning environment can be fatal.

Venturing into winter backcountry is a classic wicked-learning environment. You can arm yourself with all the appropriate safety gear, do lots of prep work on snow conditions and

COMING ATTRACTIONS

additional exhibit features include interactive features within the projection show that move with visitors, and custom bracelets that light up in sync with the projections and speci c movements.

ere’s also the Gazillion Bubbles e ect, where 500,000 cubic feet of galleries are lled with bubbles.

e cumulative e ect is to give visitors an experience like visiting one of Disney’s famous parks — one lled with wonder and escape.

“In a way, watching a movie is a passive experience, but this is very active. You are in the movies, immersed by them,” Dale said. “ e totality of the experience makes it multigenerational. I can’t really think of anything my mother, me, my kids and their kids could all go to together like this.”

Visit lighthouseimmersive.com/ disney/Denver for details and tickets. disneyimmersive.com.

Sadeqa Johnson brings ‘The House of Eve’ to Tattered Cover

Sadeqa Johnson’s newest book, “ e House of Eve,” is a moving testament to an important truth — the more things change, the more they stay the same. An examination of racism and women’s rights in the preRoe era, Johnson blends both wit and powerful humanity to remind all of us how much work there still is to do.

In support of the book — which was selected as Hello Sunshine/Reese Witherspoon’s February book club pick — Johnson will be stopping by

terrain, and keep your eyes open for clues. Ultimately, though, most of the information about snow stability is hidden.

Every time you ski a slope without it avalanching, you are likely to believe you made a smart decision, when in reality you may have just been lucky. Most of us have been lucky.

Molly Absolon is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonpro t dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She writes in Idaho.

at the Tattered Cover Colfax, 2526 E. Colfax Ave. in Denver, at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. She’ll be speaking with L. Alison Heller, a lawyer and author. e event is free and no registration is required. Find the details at www. tatteredcover.com/event.

BIFF celebrates power of story in 19th season e 19th annual Boulder International Film Festival is back for another season of brilliant lmmaking, a chef competition and much more.

Running from ursday, March 2 through Sunday, March 5, the festival will be screening 66 lms from 20 countries, with 45 lmmakers and subjects in attendance. According to provided information, the event will also feature the return of the popular Adventure Film Pavilion, the CineCHEF food competition and a live recording of e Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast with Scott Feinberg.

For those who can’t attend the screenings held at the Boulder eater, 2032 14th St., some of the lms will be able to watch as part of the BIFF at Home! virtual program, running from Monday, March 6 to

Sunday, March 19.

Find the full schedule, ticket options and more at bi 1.com.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — White Reaper at Summit Music Hall

My original pick here was going to be Bruce Springsteen and e E Street Band at Ball Arena, but since tickets sold out pretty much instantaneously (at exorbitant prices, no less), let’s instead turn our attention to another great rock band that’ll be in townKentucky’s White Reaper. e group specializes in the kind of indie guitar rock that has unfortunately gone out of style in the last decade or so. ankfully, their latest album, “Asking for a Ride,” keeps that sonic palette going strong.

In support of the album, White Reaper will be performing at Summit Music Hall, 1902 Blake St. in Denver, at 7:30 p.m. on ursday, March 2. ey’ll be joined by openers Militarie Gun and Mamalarky. Get tickets at www.livenation.com.

Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail. com.

Clarke Reader

Speed dating events in metro Denver o er alternatives to swiping

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

On a ursday night in late January, dozens of people walked past displays of tarot cards and crystals towards a dim room at the back of Full Moon Books in Lakewood. A man at the room’s entrance asked them each to remove their shoes. e smell of burnt sage lled the air.

For a while, people mingled. e event was not to start until 7 p.m., and stragglers arrived until moments before the doors closed. When it was time, a woman wearing a pink velvet robe asked everyone to sit in a circle.

“For all the new people, this is where we’re all going to get naked,” the woman joked. Everyone laughed, and she continued, “ ere will be none of that. is is just a really fun, safe event.”

Danny Neifert, a facilitator of an event called Tantra Speed Date, was playing with the stereotypical understanding of the word “tantra.” For many people, the term brings sex to mind. Although tantra is a spiritual practice that includes sexuality, Neifert said it has more to do with connection.

“Tonight, for the sake of simplicity, we’re just going to swap out the word ‘tantra’ with ‘connection,’” she said to the group. “It’s about connecting to yourself, connecting to the person that’s standing in front of you, connecting to the room, connecting to the building, the soil, the snow, the stars — you ll in the blank in a way that makes sense to you.”

For the next several hours, the attendees took turns rotating from person to person, doing mindful activities with a new partner at each station. At one, a partner mirrored the others’ physical actions. Next, strangers gave each other back massages. Some stations involved speaking — about gratitude, letting go or joy — and at others, people danced. is event is one of several forms of speed dating in the metro Denver area, where singles are stepping out of their comfort zones to nd hope,

chemistry — and maybe even love — beyond the screens and swiping of modern dating.

Paying attention

Guy Shahar is a founder of e Tantra Institute, a New York-based company that aims to help people become “better lovers” through sacred sexuality. e company teaches courses about sexuality, tantra and relationship skills, in addition to hosting events like Tantra Speed Date.

Since 2017, Tantra Speed Date has hosted over 550 events in 40 cities for attendees of all ages.

“Most of the stations are really just about (giving) people instructions that show them how to put their attention on each other,” Shahar said about the speed dating event.

In his eyes, lack of attention is the number one challenge people face in modern dating, partly because of technology and partly because of the number of potential partners.

“A hundred years ago, who could you date? e people from your neighborhood, the people around you,” he said. “Now you can date anybody in the world… You open up any of those dating apps and you could be swiping on a di erent person in less than a second.”

His speed dating event, he said, is designed to put people in situations where they must focus on each other.

“Like a mirroring exercise, right?” he said. “I’m watching you, and I’m responding to what you’re doing… My attention is on you… Getting people to bring their attentions to each other is a really beautiful way to fool them into connection and intimacy.”

Once people surrender to paying full attention, Shahar said it’s easier to tell if there is chemistry between them.

After the initial connection, Shahar said other things become important as a relationship continues.

“ at connection isn’t necessarily compatibility,” he said. “You might have an amazing connection, or let’s say amazing chemistry… but their habits might be totally not compatible with yours. If you want a sustaining relationship, then you need to nd some points of compatibility or you need to be able to work with habits.”

at being said, Shahar thinks having the opportunity to initially sense a

connection is a powerful way to see if there’s any potential with a person.

“(To) just start your relationship o with that kind of intimacy and connection just seems like a really great, really beautiful way to get yourself o on the right foot,” he said.

Is a few minutes enough?

For speed dating skeptics, it may seem improbable that a person could have any sense of real connection after an encounter that lasts only a matter of minutes.

Dr. Randi Smith, a practicing psychologist and psychology professor at Metro State University Denver, said a few minutes might not be enough to tell a lot about a potential partner –but it can show some things.

“ ere’s some really recent research that suggests that we’re able to pick up on somebody’s relationship anxiety, their attachment anxiety, in a very brief interaction,” she said. “So can we predict whether this relationship will have legs, whether it will have a future? Probably not, but we might be able to weed out some people whose anxiety might prevent them from having a good relationship with us.”

In addition, Smith said quick interactions can give people a sense of physical attraction and even immediate emotional attraction based on how it feels to talk to a potential partner.

On a deeper psychological level, she said people at speed dating events are probably thinking about reciprocity of liking. is idea is that people tend to like those who like them.

“Speed dating is very strategic, right?” she said. “You have little time, you’ve got to gure out how to make these choices, and so our brains are going into high strategic, albeit unconscious, responses. And it doesn’t make a lot of sense for a person to

Rosenblum’s company co-hosted a speed dating event at Brewability Lab in Englewood on Feb. 2.

PHOTO BY HAN LOYD; HEPCAT PHOTOGRAPHY

SPEED DATING

invest energy and interest into somebody who’s not going to reciprocate that energy and interest.”

Alex Zaborenko, who attended the January Tantra Speed Date event, said reciprocity is important to him in terms of relationship goals as well, not only attraction. As someone who is looking for non-monogamous relationships, he said online dating pro les and open communication help him nd people who have the same goals in mind.

“I don’t want or need just one magic person to connect with me on every level that I might connect with a partner,” he said. “Once I reached the conclusion, then it just felt much better that I can communicate what I’m looking for honestly and they can choose what they want to do with that information.”

Are you worth my (client’s) time?

For Abby Rosenblum, investing time and energy in the right people is part of her business model.

Rosenblum is the founder and head matchmaker at e Social: Modern Matchmaking, a Colorado-based service that also hosts speed dating events.

Rosenblum’s services focus not only on helping her clients nd potential partners, but also on building their con dence and making dating enjoyable.

“ e sad part is I think we’re almost taught that dating should be di cult, should be frustrating and should be some kind of just negative thing in your life,” she said. “So a lot of the work I do is trying to teach people that dating can actually be fun, which is a crazy concept to almost everyone.”

When setting up dates, Rosenblum looks for people with values and physical appearances that t with what her clients are looking for.

“And then the other thing I look for too (is) like, is this person ready to date?” she said. “Are they in a good place? … Because you can meet the greatest person ever tomorrow, but if they’re like, ‘I just got red from my job and I hate everything,’ you might not connect with them in as good of a way.”

Rosenblum works mainly with singles in stable careers who are looking for serious, committed and monogamous relationships. As a matchmaker, she helps lter out potential partners who do not align with her clients’ stages of life so she can ensure they are investing their time and energy in relationships that could have a future.

Rosenblum, who works mainly with heterosexual clients, often collaborates with the head matchmaker at Denver’s Cupid, a matchmaking service that works with LGBTQ+ singles.

Like Smith, she doesn’t think speed dating events are a silver

bullet for knowing if a relationship will work, but she said they can still be bene cial. Her company hosts speed dating at its events, including a single mingle that happened the rst week of February in Englewood.

In Rosenblum’s speed dating games, participants receive conversation prompts to help people learn something about their partners, from travel dreams to relationship goals.

“It’s like, ‘OK, am I curious to get to know them more?’ she said. “ at’s really the only thing you need to know after that ve minutes, because it’s hard to know anything else… What’s the harm in meeting again?”

A new hope for dating

Andrea Cunningham has been dating on and o for the past 10 years. She decided to attend the January Tantra Speed Date event when her housemate invited her because she thought it would introduce her to spiritually open minded people.

“He actually said, ‘Do you want to go to a woo-woo speed dating event?’ and my thought was ‘Oh, yeah, that might be my kind of people,’ because I’m not nding a lot of woo-woo folks on OkCupid,” she said.

At 58 years old, Cunningham is looking for someone who is compassionate, exible and open to “more heart-centered ideas,” she said.

Going into the speed dating event, Cunningham was feeling skeptical, she said. Mainly, she thought speed dating would be intimidating, but it wasn’t.

“I think maybe my whole idea about speed dating was wrong,” she said. “Maybe you’re not just awkwardly trying to talk with people 10 times in a row for five minutes. Maybe there’s more to it than that… That was welldesigned.”

After her experience (and several dates that arose from the event), she said speed dating might be giving her new hope after taking a pause from dating for a while.

“I was trying to do a little online, I wasn’t getting anywhere, I stopped,” she said. “Then this came up — it may kick me into gear again.”

Renewing excitement about dating and personal connection is a goal of many speed dating events, especially in a world where fewer and fewer people feel connected to each other.

In Shahar’s speed dating events, re-connecting is the greatest benefit and goal.

“If you are tired of feeling disconnected from the world, and you want to have a moment of connection, this is a really great way to step into that,” he said. “Is it for everyone? No, I don’t think it’s for everyone. But it is for people that are like, ‘Hey, I want to create something magical within my relationship life and my dating life.’”

Danny Neifert and her demonstration partner show an activity where partners mirror each others’ actions at Tantra Speed Date.

PHOTO BY NINA JOSS

Attendees chat at the Single Mingle event, co-hosted by The Social: Modern Matchmaking at Brewability Lab in Englewood on Feb. 2.

PHOTO BY HAN LOYD; HEPCAT PHOTOGRAPHY

Full Moon Books is Lakewood is one of the Tantra Speed Date venues in Colorado.

PHOTO BY NINA JOSS

Columbine girls hoops has 4th quarter run to down A-West

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA — Columbine senior Araya Ogden looked as comfortable on the basketball court Feb. 17 as she does on the softball diamond.

Ogden — Columbine’s ace softball pitcher that led the Rebels to the Class 5A state championship last Fall — scored a career-high 14 points to lift Columbine to a 39-36 road victory against Arvada West.

It was the Class 6A Je co League nale for both Columbine (10-13, 5-5 in league) and A-West (15-8, 7-5).

“I usually don’t take shots like that, but no one was scoring,” Ogden said of her 3-pointer in the third quarter that cut A-West’s lead to 32-24. “I had to take that upon myself to give us some energy.”

e Wildcats led for the majority of the game after jumping out to a 10-0 lead to start the game. Columbine’s rst points didn’t come until late in the rst quarter when freshman Taylor Speir drained a 3-pointer.

“ at has been who we are all year,” Columbine coach Greg Bolding Jr. said of battling back from the early doubledigit de cit and turning it on in the fourth quarter. “We had some young kids who stepped up big at the end of the game. We had seniors like Araya show today that she can play a little basketball too. She put us on her back

to get the win tonight.”

left in the fourth quarter when junior Malorie Byrne made a 3-pointer. However, Columbine went on a 13-0 run over a 5-minute span in the fourth quarter. A pair of free throws by Ogden with 43 seconds left gave the Rebels their largest lead of the game at 37-33.

“We de ntely weren’t ready when we came out,” Ogden said of A-West taking

to prove ourselves. We came out with some more energy.”

A-West sophomore Saylor Swanson ended a 6-minute scoring drought for the Wildcats with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 37-36 with 21 seconds left. Columbine junior Emily Allison — the Rebels’ leading scorer who was held scoreless through three quarters

— made a pair of big free throws with 12 seconds left to give her nine points in the four quarter.

e Wildcats weren’t able to get o a good look at a 3-pointer in the nal seconds in an attempt to send the game into overtime.

A-West was hoping it will have a chance to host a rst-round state playo game for the second straight year.

e Wildcats opened the postseason last year with a 24-point home victory against Broom eld before bowing out in the second round in a close game on the road against Regis Jesuit.

e Wildcats received the No. 16 seed and will host a rst-round game against No. 17 Legend in the 32-team 6A state tournament that begins Tuesday, Feb. 21.

Columbine advanced to the Sweet 16 last season before losing to Arapahoe. e win assured the Rebels to make the postseason eld. Columbine is the No. 24 seed and was scheduled to face No. 9 underRidge on the road Feb. 21.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Bolding said of where Columbine is seeded. “I think right now the state of Colorado right now is completely open. You get a team that plays for four quarters there are a lot of opportunities out there.”

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

Arvada West senior Ellie Pugliese, left, dives on Columbine senior Araya Ogden during the first half Feb. 17 at Arvada West High School. The Wildcats su ered a 39-36 loss, but still grabbed the No. 16 seed for the Class 6A state tournament that was scheduled to begin Tuesday, Feb. 21.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Arvada West boys end losing skid before playo s

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA —It became a waiting game.

Arvada West’s boys basketball team had to wait and see if its 16-7 record is good enough to grab a top16 seed to host a rst-round game in 32-team Class 6A state tournament that begins Wednesday, Feb. 22.

“We’ve battled all year for that seed,” A-West senior Jasper Padia said after the Wildcats nished o their regular season with a 45-34 home victory over Columbine on Feb. 17. “We might not have played our greatest tonight, but we got the win. at’s all that matters at the end of the day.”

A-West was right on the bubble when it comes to getting a top-16 seed and hosting a rst-round game Wednesday, Feb. 22, for the 6A state tournament. e Wildcats came up short getting the No. 18 seed and having to go on the road to face No. 15 Fountain-Fort Carson in the opening round of the postseason.

e Colorado High Schools

Activities Association released the 32-team brackets for 6A, 5A and 4A on Sunday, Feb. 19.

“ at a good question. I hope so,” A-West coach Je Parriott said after the win against Columbine. “ ere are too many variables to really know, but we did what we had control over. I thought we played really well defensively tonight.”

A-West held Columbine (1310, 6-6) to seven points in each of the rst three quarters. Senior Ty Afraimi led the Rebels with 11 points. Senior Levi O’Brien was shutout in the rst half before nishing with nine points on the night.

It was a far cry from what O’Brien did to the Wildcats in their rst conference meeting back on Jan. 25.

“Last game O’Brien came out hot,” Padia said referring to O’Brien scoring 26 points in the opening half in their rst meeting. “We had to make sure he didn’t come out hot and play the defense we’ve kind of gone away

from the last couple of games.”

A-West fell out of contention of winning the league title with backto-back losses to league champion Valor Christian and Bear Creek. e Wildcats were in danger of heading into next week’s postseason on a 3-game losing streak.

“We just needed to turn this around,” Parriott said of ending the losing streak. “We’ve played just so poorly the last week and a half. We were able to do that tonight and get the win.”

Padia led the way with a gamehigh 13 points. Fellow seniors Zion omas (8 points) and Carson Nichols (7 points) helped close out the victory in the fourth quarter. Nichols had a big 3-point play early in the fourth quarter that pushed A-West’s lead to 32-21. omas scored six points in the nal quarter.

“I loved his energy tonight. He always plays hard,” Parriott said of omas. “He just had an energy tonight that was contagious with the guys.”

A-West honored its four seniors — Ethan Kerstiens, Nichols, Padia and omas — before the game. e Wildcats hope their four seniors will get one more game on A-West’s home court.

“Senior Night played a big role in it,” Padia said of the emotion of possibility the last game on the Wildcats’ home court. “But at the end of the day it was just another game where we needed to get the win to secure our seed and second-place in league.”

A-West and rival Ralston Valley (16-7, 7-4) nished 3 games behind conference champion Valor Christian (16-7, 11-1).

“Winning 16 games and having the chance to host a rst-round playo game, nishing (tied) for second in the league,” Parriott said. “I’m really proud of these guys.”

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

Columbine senior Levi O’Brien (5) drives baseline on Arvada West senior Zion Thomas during the second half Feb. 17 at Arvada West High School. The Rebels and Wildcats both made the 32-team field for the Class 6A state tournament that begins Wednesday, Feb. 22.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Pomona captures 5th straight team title in record-setting form

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

DENVER — Pomona’s wrestling machine steamrolled to its fth straight Class 5A boys state team championship Feb. 19 at Ball Arena.  e Panthers broke their teampoint record of 256.5 points set last season. It was Pomona’s 10th overall state wrestling team title and seventh over the past eight seasons.

“I thought we would,” Pomona coach Sam Federico said when asked if he thought the Panthers would have another record-breaking state tournament. “Our freshmen are really good and we have some great leadership with our seniors.”

Pomona racked up 278.5 points while sending a program record nine wrestlers — Zaidyn Quinonez (106), Derek Barrow (120), Mark Cardenas (126), Jakob Romero (138), Kalob Ybarra (144), Vincent Cabral (150), Dante Hutchings (165), Jose Rosales (215) and Adrian Arellano (285) — to the championship bouts.

Holly holds the record for most individual state champs in a single state tournament. e Wildcats had seven state champions back in 1972.

Pomona captured ve individual championships. Freshmen Quinonez, Barrow and Ybarra, along

with seniors Cabral and Rosales all won individual state titles.

“It is a blessing to be apart of this team,” Cabral said. “When I came to Pomona I knew I had to work hard just to make the line-up, let alone win a state title. It is amazing to have an environment with everyone around you to have the same mindset.”

Cabral placed 6th as a freshman, could crack the varsity line-up and wrestled JV as a sophomore and placed third last year.

“It feels amazing. I’ve worked for it since I was a little kid,” Cabral said after winning the 150-pound title.

“I would come watch the (state) tournament and I could just image myself getting my hand raised. Now it is nally here and it feels amazing.”

Pomona had a good mix of upperclassmen and youngsters in the nals. e Panthers had four seniors, three freshmen, along with one junior and one sophomore. Pomona placed all 13 wrestlers it quali ed for the state tournament with a pair of third places, along with a fourth and sixth place nisher during the consolation matches that nished up in the afternoon at Ball Arena.

“We knew our freshman class was a strong class coming in,” Barrows said of the seven freshmen who

made varsity this year. “We knew if we would win our matches we would win the state title easy.”

ere is already a mindset that Quinonez, Barrow and Ybarra have a chance to join the exclusive 4-timer club three years from now.

“We talk about it for sure,” Barrows said of the opportunity to become a 4-time state champion and nish o as a senior in three years with Pomona having won 8 straight team titles. “It is de ntely good to just focus on next year. We are looking for three 4-timers our senior year.”

Rosales, who had wrestled up to heavyweight his rst three years, captured the last individual title of the night for Pomona and the rst for his career.

“It feels great. I feel like a champion,” Rosales said. “I wanted to go out, wrestle as hard as I can and get the business done.”

Chatfield continues to dominate girls tournament

Chat eld’s girls wrestling squad won its fth straight team title — 2 pilot years and 3 CHSAA sanctioned seasons —  in a tight race with Discovery Canyon and Pomona. e Chargers nished with 133 points. Discovery Canyon took second with 128 and Pomona third

with 116. Chat eld seniors Janessa George (110) and Taylor Miess (135) both picked up their rst individual state titles of their prep careers.

George had the biggest win of the night upsetting perviously undefeated Loveland senior Morgan Johnson who was attempting to win her fourth individual state title. George pinned Johnson in the rst period.

Freshman Ryen Hickey (140) locked up the team title for the Chargers with a second-period pin of Mead sophomore Ashley Booth. Pomona grabbed a pair of individual titles with junior Persaeus Gomez nishing o a perfect 20-0 season with a victory at 120 pounds. Freshman Timberly Martinez capped o a 24-0 record with a major decision over Central of Grand Junction junior Mollie Dare. Pomona junior Desza Munson came up just short of winning an individual title. She lost to Discovery Canyon senior Jainda Garcia in the 145-pound championship.

Je erson picks up another individual title

Je erson sophomore Samuel Rosales won the Saints 10th individual

Chatfield continued its run on girls wrestling state championships. The Chargers edged Discovery Canyon and Pomona on Feb. 18 at Ball Arena. Chatfield also won three individual state championship titles, including the biggest upset of the night.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

state title in the program’s history

Feb. 18 at Ball Arena.

After losing in his state championship bout last season, Rosales dominated Centauri junior Riley Valdez in the Class 3A 120-pound match. e sophomore took a 16-8 major decision.

“It felt great,” Rosales said. “I put a lot of hard work in. I went after it. I just wanted to make my family

proud.”

Je erson nished 18th in the team standings with 41.5 points, but Saints’ coach Oscar Fonseca is excited about how young his team is with plenty of returning wrestlers next season.

“We’ll have ve returning state quali er coming back next year with two state placers,” Fonseca said.

Dennis Pleuss is the Sports Information Director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

Chatfield freshman Hannah Rocklin was all smiles after her consolation semifinal victory at 115 pounds Feb. 18 at Ball Arena. Rocklin placed fourth to help the Chargers to another girls wrestling team title.

PHOTO BY DENNIS PLEUSS/JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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DIRTY JOBS

‘Trying to end the fallacy of being paid in powder:’ Loveland Ski Patrol take steps toward unionization

BY OLIVIA JEWELL LOVE OLOVE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Ski patrollers and paramedics at Loveland Ski Area submitted a petition on Feb. 14 for a representative election to vote on unionizing as the Loveland Ski Patrol Professional Union under CWA 7781, the Professional Ski Patrols of America.

Ski patrollers at the ski area have said they face dangerous working conditions every day, but according to six-year veteran patroller Anthony Potter, less than 7% of the patrollers are year-round employees who are eligible for health insurance through work.

Most of the employees are like Michael Earles, a seasonal employee who earns an hourly wage. He works as a river ranger in the o -season to make ends meet.

Earles is currently in his second season at Loveland, but said he’s someone the rookies are looking to for answers simply because the team can’t retain many patrollers for longer than a few years.

“I’m a second year, I shouldn’t be the guy with all the answers,” Earles said. “I want to see us be able to retain our experienced patrollers.”

Potter grew up in Idaho Springs and now lives in Silver Plume. He said retaining patrollers will make for a safer mountain, and the highly trained team should be compensated fairly.

“Our job is pretty dangerous and

stressful, and we’re just trying to end that fallacy of us being paid in powder,” Potter said.

Potter has been on Ski Patrol at Loveland for six years. He makes $24.75/hour, with Emergency Medical Training and Outdoor Emergency Care certi cations.

“My realm of specialization is in the avalanche side of things, and that honestly takes a lifetime to learn some of those skills,” Potter explained.

Potter leads avalanche mitigation e orts with explosives and ski guiding in Dry Gulch, and specializes in avalanche forecasting. Still, he faces the stigma that all ski patrollers do, that they are “ski bums” doing

unskilled labor.

“I would argue that we are highly skilled, as EMTs, that’s no light duty right there,” he explained. Not to mention the safe transport of patients o expert terrain in unfavorable weather conditions.

As a second-year member of the patrol, Earles makes $21.25/hour with EMT certi cation. He said he knows of some lift operators who come away with a higher hourly wage than he and other patrollers.

“ ey aren’t expected to put their physical and mental health on the line every day,” Earles said.

e patrollers stressed that their e orts towards organizing aren’t about greed, but earning a livable

wage and being fairly compensated for a dangerous job.

“We’re not doing this out of malice, we have so much love for the mountain, Loveland, our team,” Potter said.

e petition was submitted with 70% support from members of the patrol and paramedics at Loveland. e next steps will include discussions with management at Loveland as to when an election could take place.

Loveland Ski Area received the noti cation of the petition late Feb. 14 and did not have a comment at the time of publication.

Michael Earles and a team member on patrol at Loveland Ski Area.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHAEL EARLES

Anthony Potter is a six year member of the patrol team.