{"id":795031,"date":"2019-04-21T11:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-21T17:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/above-average-snowpack-will-lead-to-great-outdoor-recreation-according-to-experts\/"},"modified":"2019-04-22T08:44:01","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T14:44:01","slug":"above-average-snowpack-will-lead-to-great-outdoor-recreation-according-to-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/above-average-snowpack-will-lead-to-great-outdoor-recreation-according-to-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Above-average snowpack will lead to great outdoor recreation, according to experts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Snow covers the mountains west of Weld County in 2014. Several snowstorms in the past months added to this year\u2019s snowpack. Colorado has above average snowpack in all river basins this year, likely leading to above-average recreation this summer.<\/strong>
\nJoshua Polson \/ jpolson@greeleytribune.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The melting snow left behind from the winter means it\u2019s time to hang up the skis, but the snowy winter will be a boon for outdoor recreation this spring and summer.<\/p>\n

Recreation officials in northern Colorado say the above-average snowpack \u2014 one of our primary sources of water to drink, water our fields and play in \u2014 will be a boon for outdoor activities like whitewater rafting, paddleboarding, agriculture and fishing.<\/p>\n

As long as the snowpack melts slowly and don\u2019t cause flooding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really happy to see snow levels doing so well, especially after last year,\u201d said Josh Kuhn, water advocate for Conservation Colorado. \u201cHopefully we have a long, steady snow-melt that is going to benefit our rivers by having a long, extended runoff. There will be opportunities for good outdoor recreation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each of the state\u2019s eight basins have a snowpack greater than 100% of their historical average, Kuhn said. The South Platte (116 percent of normal) and Arkansas (135 percent) river basins are the primary rivers in the Front Range, with the other six flowing to the west.<\/p>\n

Even snowpack in the upper Colorado River basin, with all of its water concerns, is sitting at 131 percent of normal, according to data maintained by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Colorado.<\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain Adventures, 1117 US-287 in Fort Collins, is already seeing a \u201cvery promising slow start,\u201d co-owner Kyle Johnson said. \u201cThings are starting to melt. Ice ridges are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

It should lead to a busy summer for the business which offers rafting, fishing and kayaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cRafting season requires water, and we\u2019re expecting good water,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Though melting snowpack can be good for outdoor recreation, melting too fast can lead to flooding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we see temperatures rise quickly, then there is a potential for flooding,\u201d Kuhn said. \u201cAs the climate is changing, we\u2019re seeing less snowpack throughout the decades, even though we have good snowpack this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upcoming season will be a shot in the arm for Garretson\u2019s Sport Center, 3817 10th St. in Greeley. The local, family-owned store has been around for three generations<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes the season last longer,\u201d said Todd Garretson, one of the owners. \u201cThe lakes and reservoirs will stay up past Labor Day. If we have water, we will sell water-ski stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The winter was \u201cgreat\u201d for business, Garretson said, and business should pick up in a few weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t get into watersports until it\u2019s a little warmer,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll build gradually until Memorial Day then really start to take off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the rivers, the snowpack can also affect hiking trails, said Jason Clay, public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife\u2019s northeast region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen snowpack starts to melt, it can create muddy trails, and the things that we look out for is maintaining the structure for the trails so they\u2019re not degrading,\u201d Clay said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a number of trails that we\u2019ve had to close as things are drying out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He advises people to exercise caution when on the river.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do advise people to scout locations ahead of time,\u201d Clay said. \u201cNever boat alone, know first aid. Know if you\u2019re on public land or private land, and respect private property.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Adam Poulisse is the go and do reporter for the Greeley Tribune. Let him know of anything fun going on in the area by calling him at (970) 392-4440 or emailing him at apoulisse@greeleytribune.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Snow covers the mountains west of Weld County in 2014. Several snowstorms in the past months added to this year\u2019s snowpack. Colorado has above average snowpack in all river basins this year, likely leading to above-average recreation this summer. Joshua Polson \/ jpolson@greeleytribune.com The melting snow left behind from the winter means it\u2019s time to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-795031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-21 02:31:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}