SILVERTON – At 9,300 feet, with a single road in and out and a tourism-reliant economy, winters have never been Silverton’s biggest moneymaker.
But this year has been especially difficult. Colorado is coming off one of its warmest winters on record and among its lowest snowfall totals in more than a century, while tourism trends have softened nationwide.
“Never is it an easy-peasy winter, and this one’s harder than most,” said DeAnne Gallegos, spokeswoman for the Silverton Chamber of Commerce.
After a pandemic-era surge in outdoor tourism, Silverton’s economy is settling into its more familiar, volatile pattern. As of 2022, tourism accounted for roughly 87% of the town’s economy and more than half its workforce, leaving businesses vulnerable to unpredictable climate extremes and shifting travel habits.
“This is going to be a big wake-up call for us to be frank, right? Like, when we don't have snow year, what are we going to do?” Gallegos said.
As it turn outs, a lot. The town has made a concerted effort to begin looking forward, and has developed a plan that looks to expand the economy and encourage business growth.
The usual skier-driven winter crowd never fully materialized this season.
“The winter economy has changed,” said Gary Davis, a longtime Silverton resident. “The changing climate – that scares everybody.”
Business owners reported fewer overnight stays at local hotels. Kendall Mountain, the small community ski area, opened for only a few days, and more businesses than usual shuttered their doors for the season.
“It was very slow,” said Paul Zimmerman, owner of the Pickle Barrel. “Obviously, there’s no snow. It wasn’t great.”
Zimmerman also owns a hotel and an indoor hot-tub facility – both typically a draw for skiers – but said they saw little use this season.
Even in strong years, winter represents only a small portion of revenue, Zimmerman said, adding, “It’s always been pretty quiet.”
Summer, when more than 150,000 tourists visit via the Silverton–Durango Narrow Gauge Railroad, is the backbone of the town’s economy.
“What makes us different from other ski towns is we’re actually a summer town. The winter is what we're trying to grow,” Gallegos said. “We’re kind of the opposite.”
This year, even with reduced visitation, the warmer weather brought some benefits.
Holly Huebner, owner of Coffee Bear and president of Silverton’s Chamber of Commerce, said that while the winter ski crowd was slower, weekends were busier dbecause of increased driver traffic made possible by less treacherous mountain roads.
While the lack of snow played a major role, business owners said there are likely other factors at play.
The pandemic was a boon for the town, but some believe that surge has faded. Tourism is trending down not only in Silverton but statewide and nationally, while higher gas and travel costs are pushing families toward shorter or less expensive trips, said Jim Harper, owner of the Grand Imperial Hotel, the town’s mayor pro tem and a chamber board member.
Many leaders in the Silverton community are focused on building a more stable, year-round economy, with collaboration as a key strategy.
A central part of that effort is growing the town’s population in a controlled way, supported by more affordable housing.
Beyond tourism, the town’s primary economic drivers are the school and local government. Expanding the number of full-time residents is critical to creating a more self-sustaining, localized economy, Harper said.
The community has roughly 760 year-round residents in the winter, a number that swells to around 1,200 in the summer as seasonal workers, part-time residents and longtime visitors return.
That fluctuation presents both a challenge and a goal. Harper referenced a 2016 study by the Kellogg Institute that found a community needs about 1,000 full-time residents to sustain essential services – such as schools, grocery stores, restaurants and a post office – on local spending alone.
Silverton has not yet reached that threshold, but building toward a stable, year-round population is the key, long-term priority.
Much of that work is guided by the Compass Master Plan, adopted in 2022 after a roughly two-year process that took input from across the community and required a lot of “blood, sweat and tears,” Gallegos said.
“We got there through conversation, regardless of political affiliations, regardless of the types of music we like, the clothes that we wear, we all had a commonality, and it’s what ... everything else was built upon,” Harper said. “Beyond the confines of our cauldron, nothing else mattered. We wanted to do what was best for us here, which is why we’re all here in the first place.”
Housing and infrastructure are central to that effort. The plan prioritizes creating conditions that allow more full-time workers and families to live in Silverton, rather than cycling in and out seasonally. The creation of the Silverton Housing Authority is one step toward that goal.
Incremental improvements in services are also making year-round living more viable, said Sarah Moore, director of the San Juan Development Association. The local school remains one of the town’s largest employers, and recent additions – including two doctors, one of whom also serves as a pediatrician and school doctor, and a visiting dentist – have improved access to care.
Beyond local government, organizations like Moore’s are helping implement that vision by supporting small businesses through façade improvement grants, business retention efforts and collaborative initiatives.
Collaboration has also been key at the business level.
This winter, Coffee Bear operated as a coffee shop by day and a bar by night to diversify revenue. At the same time, El Bandito – a Blair Street restaurant that can’t remain open full-time in winter – partnered with the cafe to keep its popular locals’ night alive.
On Tuesday evenings, the gathering shifted locations but still served El Bandito’s food, maintaining a sense of continuity for residents while helping both businesses weather the offseason.
“It’d be lying to say that, yeah, everything is great. But I do think part of the culture shift is, like, shifting to this ‘it's not all doom and gloom’ mindset,” Huebner said. “You know, we can support each other and raise each other up during these hard times.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
