Vacationland: Tourism and Environment in the Colorado High Country

Illustrations

viii illustrations IllustratIons Maps 1. The Colorado high country today xvi 2. Evolution of the Interstate 70 corridor 91 3. Routes studied for possible interstate location 119 4. The spread of ski areas, 1934–1980 146 5. Proposed Red Buffalo tunnel route, 1960s 232 Figures Cover of state “lure book,” ca. 1964 frontispiece I.1. “this is Colorado,” state publicity committee ad, 1956 2 I.2. Winter Park, Denver’s mountain playground, ca. 1948 18 1.1. Aspen street scene, early signs of skiing, ca. 1940 29 1.2. Friedl Pfeifer, Walter Paepcke, Herbert Bayer, and Gary Cooper, ca. 1955 36 1.3. Aspen and Aspen Mountain, 1951 40 1.4. Climax molybdenum mine, 1956 46 1.5. Maroon Bells, the ultimate scenic cliché 61 1.6. Dwight Eisenhower painting a Colorado landscape, 1952 63 1.7. Ski in the Sun in Colorado, state publicity committee brochure, ca. 1951 66 1.8. Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad ad, frontier flavor, 1953 70 2.1. Stick to 6 with Sidney Six, highway association brochure, 1956 76 illustrations ix 2.2. Mountain driving before the interstate: Berthoud Pass switchback in winter, late 1930s 84 2.3. Highway map of the high country, ca. 1925 88 2.4. Central Colorado before the interstate: Gore Creek Valley, west side of Vail Pass, 1946 89 2.5. Mark Watrous and Gov. “Big Ed” Johnson, 1956 107 2.6. Postcard view of Eisenhower Tunnel, ca. 1980 123 2.7. Postcard view of Interstate 70 at Genesee Park, looking west toward the “snowy range,” 1970s 125 3.1. “Location of Vail in Colorado,” Vail Associates map, 1960 129 3.2. Buttermilk Mountain, characteristic postwar ski landscape, 1960s 147 3.3. “Picturesque Georgetown,” Victorian ambiance, early 1960s 155 3.4. Suburban nature at the motel, Denver’s East Colfax Avenue, 1947 159 3.5. Making a home in vacationland: Jefferson County brochure, early 1960s 161 3.6. Living the tourist lifestyle in suburbia: Bow-Mar brochure, ca. 1947 163 3.7. Pete Seibert with his scale model of Vail Mountain, ca. 1960 174 3.8. Vail Village, the bend in Bridge Street, late 1960s 176 3.9. Vail Associates ad, family-friendly marketing, 1963 181 4.1. Art Carhart, early 1960s 191 4.2. Recreation zoning scheme proposed by ORRRC, 1962 209 4.3. Zoning to protect scenic viewsheds, Summit County, 1963 219 5.1. “How many compromises will it take?” Aspen Times cartoon, 1960 247 5.2. Vail’s new LionsHead base village, ca. 1973 255 5.3. Sprawl along Interstate 70, Vail Valley, early-1970s 258 5.4. Copper Mountain, an attempt at environmentally sensitive ski-area design, 1973 266 x illustrations 5.5. Making Denver look closer to the mountains than it really is: DOC publicity photo, 1970 271 5.6. Gov. Dick Lamm and John Denver, 1978 273 5.7. Hiding cars from view: Vail’s proposed covered parking structure, 1973 289 5.8. Blunt-force highway building: Interstate 70 cut through the Dakota Hogback, 1969 293 5.9. Highway in harmony with nature: design for Interstate 70 over Vail Pass, 1972 295 6.1. Packaging places as consumer products: Colorado City magazine ad, 1970 304 ...