For decades, the San Juans were valued primarily for what could be pulled out of them. These mountains were a brutal, dangerous locale defined by the extraction of silver, gold and other metals. As Wo...

After three months of desperately dry Colorado weather, there’s finally good news. ENSO-neutral conditions are now present and favored from April-June (80% chance). “From May-July 2026, El Niño is lik...

For anyone driving the lonely stretch of Colorado Highway 141 through the West End of Montrose County, the sign for “Disappointment Valley” usually prompts a chuckle or a sympathetic sigh. It sounds l...

Thursday, April 9 Adult craft night: making earrings out of old books, from 5:156:30 p.m. with the Ouray Public Library in the San Juan Room of the Ouray Community Center, 320 Sixth Ave. Sign up requi...

This week marks our seventh anniversary of owning the Plaindealer. I always remember the date because of April Fool's Day. We were careful to avoid April 1 as our closing date for purchasing the paper...

Early this month, spring 2026 seemed to be yet another hot, droughty season across the West. Since then, March has been abysmally dry and scarily warm, thanks to a highly unusual heat dome parked over...

It’s not uncommon for track athletes to break in a new pair of shoes at the dawn of a new season. But it is exceedingly rare for all of them to have the chance to set a new course record, which is exa...

Wyatt Earp wasn’t born a legend. He was an opportunist, a man with a keen eye for the next horizon and a knack for finding — or perhaps stirring up — chaos wherever he set his boots. While history boo...

At intense moments of a close basketball game, there’s nothing that Ridgway senior Sophia Scranton savors more than to hunker down in her defensive stance, slide in front of a hapless dribbler and wit...

A newly appointed Ouray city councilor who has attended just half of the board's meetings in person this year has asked fellow councilors to relax rules requiring councilors to attend meetings in pers...

Thanks to warming sun, wet snow showers, spells of shirtsleeve weather, earlier sunrises and later sunsets, meteorological spring (March 1) is upon us. It’s been an a-ha moment these last two weeks as...

Dear Editor: On a beautiful, warm winter day I propped open the front door of the Decker Room at the Art Space on Clinton Street. My intention was to invite in the sun and any passersby who might be e...

"I'll believe it when I see it" and "seeing is believing" are two phrases that haven't aged well. Nowadays, I'm skeptical of videos friends send me, photos that look like someone manipulated them and ...

For those of us lucky enough to step onto our decks or open our front doors to a view of the northern San Juans, one silhouette dominates the horizon: Mount Sneffels. Known as the "Queen of the San Ju...

The majority of high school student-athletes in Ouray County are headed on a post-graduation pathway in a career in something other than sports. But for some, their drive to excel extends to a desire ...

In the seven years we've owned the Plaindealer, it has become pretty obvious that we need more resources to help cover stories related to public lands, environmental issues and climate challenges. We ...

The year 2025, Ouray’s hottest year ever recorded, began with a very cold, dry month. January 2025’s mean temperatures were 4.8 degrees below normal both day and night, making it the only below normal...

So far this winter we have had a reprieve from icy sidewalks and snow shoveling — a far cry from what Silverton experienced with the legendary "Big Snow” in March 1884. We are complaining about the pe...

Birdwatching is one of the most accessible hobbies for people of all ages. Little special equipment is required, though beginners often find binoculars and a guidebook to help them identify bird speci...

Ridgway coach Jonny Zaugg dedicated to helping young c limbers of all skill levels When Jonny Zaugg returned to Ridgway several years ago, he saw an opportunity to give back to the community and be th...