Winter Olympics - The Durango Herald

Durango’s Mickel makes U.S. Winter Olympic team

Purgatory athlete will compete in moguls in February in Italy

DATE: Jan 24, 2026 | CATEGORY: Sports

Olympic visitors to Milan get a rare chance to glimpse restoration of a long-hidden Leonardo gem

MILAN – In honor of the Milan Cortina Olympics, Milan cultural officials are for a brief time only allowing visitors access to a long-hidden wall and ceiling painting by Leonardo da Vinci wh...

DATE: Jan 23, 2026 | CATEGORY: Travel

No snow, no problem: The plastic slope surrounded by sheep that produced Britain’s top skier

PENDLE, England – Nestled in the rolling countryside of Ribble Valley in northwest England is a modest ski slope about 140 yards long, 10 yards wide and surrounded by roaming sheep. It’s a g...

DATE: Jan 17, 2026 | CATEGORY: Travel

An uninhabited Scottish isle is home to the golden granite used in Olympic curling stones

AILSA CRAIG, Scotland – If you’re looking to strike gold – silver or bronze, too – look to Ailsa Craig. This uninhabited isle 10 miles off the coast of southwest Scotland is the source of th...

DATE: Jan 3, 2026 | CATEGORY: Travel

From Milan to Cortina, a glance at the 2026 Winter Olympics venues

MILAN – With less than 100 days to go, northern Italy is gearing up to host the Milan-Cortina Olympics, the most spread-out Winter Games in history. The two main clusters of the Games are Mi...

DATE: Nov 16, 2025 | CATEGORY: Travel

Durango’s Barnes twins featured with chapter in new book on Olympians

Barnes twins, author Doug Levy appeared at Maria’s Bookshop on Feb. 26

DATE: Mar 9, 2025 | CATEGORY: Sports

Durango Olympian Mike Elliott dies at age 82

Athlete was a three-time Winter Olympian in cross-country skiing

DATE: Sep 29, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

IOC awards 2034 Winter Games to Utah and pushes state officials to help end FBI investigation

PARIS (AP) — What was expected to be a simple coronation of Salt Lake City as the 2034 Winter Olympic host turned into complicated Olympic politics Wednesday, as the IOC pushed Utah official...

DATE: Jul 25, 2024 | CATEGORY: AP Sports

‘Speed never scared me; Going big never scared me’ 14-year-old mogul skier has her sights set on achieving Olympic firsts

It was a miserable Wednesday morning in Vail – a depressing gloom in the sky and treacherous ice on the roads on and about the Pass. Walking around was no picnic either. Watching students na...

DATE: Apr 13, 2024 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Durango’s Lanny Barnes wins gold medal at the Shotgun World Shoot

Barnes competed in Thailand last week

DATE: Dec 14, 2023 | CATEGORY: Sports

Bode Miller unveils movie on mental health in ski towns in Durango, Pagosa Springs

Famed ski racer will host a screening, panel Wednesday and Thursday

DATE: Oct 14, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Winter Olympics feature three Indigenous women

Biggest rivalry in Beijing will be in the hockey rink

DATE: Feb 2, 2022 | CATEGORY: Sports

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Colorado history gets weird, wild, wacky at Fashion Do’s and Don’tsAnnual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Cowboys. Fancy ladies. Gold miners. Even-toed ungulates that some in Durango might consider more like rats.Where can you find a runway show that takes you on a whirlwind tour through the weird, wacky and wildly exaggerated 150 years of Colorado history? Only at Durango’s annual Fashion Do’s and Don’ts, held Wednesday, where models and audience members wore costumes celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial – the theme of this year’s two-week Snowdown celebration.Standout acts included the Ghosts of Durango, which featured four of Durango’s most famous ghosts: a Rochester hotel ghost in a Victorian get-up of a more “modern” variation; the Strater Hotel’s head of housekeeping, also head of more discreet services; a young girl haunting El Rancho’s bathroom; and Sheriff Bob Thompson, killed in a 1906 gunfight. according to emcee Suzan Lane. A Another act was the Secret Circus Society, featuring Rubi Starr, Jeni Gross, Tabatha Joy Bettin, Adrienne Young and Ethan Deffenbaugh dressed as a car and the roadside pests better known as deer. Group members said the inspiration for the costume came from lived experiences driving Durango roads. The two-person Cantine Couture act starred Leslie Ponce and Tyler Frakes in an homage to the plentiful variety of Mexican restaurants found in any Colorado town. Ponce, dressed in comically large Mexican pointy cowboy boots, ambled down the runway as if taking a stroll under the hot, dusty, high-altitude sun, while Frakes flitted about the stage in a bright yellow salsa dress. Ponce said this year’s costume had been tough to decide, but the final decision was inspired by TikTok videos of Mexican cowboys in pointy boots. This was the duo’s third year strutting down the runway. Why they keep coming back for more, Frakes said laughing, was, “for the fame, the glory and the attention.”

Fashion Do’s and Don’ts has been one of the most highly anticipated Snowdown events since its inception in the 1990s. It has more than doubled in size over the past several decades. Last year, there were a record number of models, and in order to keep the event at a manageable size, this year’s fashion show was the first one to require the acts to audition. But many of the models were unfazed by the change. “It was actually easy,” said Jodi Zuber, one part of the two-person duo that made up the 1950s Texas Invader Ski Couple. Her partner-in-costume, Danny Jaques, said they had been doing this for several years, and it’s good with everything going on in the world to “get some levity and let your hair down.” The performers were not the only ones in costume. Audience members also dressed in a wide variety of unique takes on what makes Colorado, Colorado. JonBenet Ramsey made a miraculous appearance, being played by an 82-year-old woman, as did Casa Bonita, an ensemble that included a taco, sopaipilla and gorilla in chains – to name some of the characters. By the end of the show, people were in high spirits, as usual. “It was just delightful,” said a first-time audience member. If blessed with the chance to get the much coveted tickets – he said he would jump on it. jbowman@durangoherald.com

Annual Snowdown event has become so popular, auditions are now required

Photos: Snowdown 2026 Fashion Do’s and Don’ts

Photos: Durango High School basketball teams lose to Montrose High School

Photos: Local girls high school wrestling at La Plata TriDurango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Durango girls wrestling went 2-0 to win Tri on Thursday night at Bayfield

Photos: Fort Lewis College women’s and men’s basketball take on Westminster UniversityBoth Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Both Skyhawks teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon

Photos: An afternoon in 2004 with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as he works on Capitol HillDurango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Durango Herald Photo Editor Jerry McBride had the chance to spend an afternoon with the late Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, photographing him during meetings and around the Capitol.

Photos and video: ICE protests return to DurangoAbout a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

About a dozen protesters tried to block federal agents from leaving with a detainee on Thursday

The Durango Herald’s year in photos 2025

Photos: Chapman Hill fires up the snow guns

Durango’s Mickel makes U.S. Winter Olympic team

Olympic visitors to Milan get a rare chance to glimpse restoration of a long-hidden Leonardo gem

No snow, no problem: The plastic slope surrounded by sheep that produced Britain’s top skier

An uninhabited Scottish isle is home to the golden granite used in Olympic curling stones

From Milan to Cortina, a glance at the 2026 Winter Olympics venues

Durango’s Barnes twins featured with chapter in new book on Olympians

Durango Olympian Mike Elliott dies at age 82

IOC awards 2034 Winter Games to Utah and pushes state officials to help end FBI investigation

‘Speed never scared me; Going big never scared me’ 14-year-old mogul skier has her sights set on achieving Olympic firsts

Durango’s Lanny Barnes wins gold medal at the Shotgun World Shoot

Bode Miller unveils movie on mental health in ski towns in Durango, Pagosa Springs

Winter Olympics feature three Indigenous women

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