Bill Jochems, 1971

July, 1971 my family and I moved to Redstone from the San Francisco Bay Area.  Redstone was exactly what we wanted, a small quiet village amidst sublime scenery and close enough to Glenwood Springs for my law practice.  I was still unpacking, when onto my gravel drive crunched a VW and a tiny lady stepped out and asked me to vote “no” in an upcoming election, to form a water and sanitation district.  “Unnecessary” she said, and would promote growth.“Growth” I thought, in Redstone (pop 85) this was my introduction to Paula Mechau.

A few days later, I learned what Paula feared. A retired Air Force Colonel opened the Redstone Inn for presentation of his development plan. He had just purchased the strip of land above Redstone (now Bighorn Ridge) and he hoped to buy more land.  “Imagine”, he said proudly, “a line of condos above Redstone and continuing south to the Castle”.  And the gathered people nodded their approval of a mile long string of condominium buildings.

While I was pondering the Colonel’s plan, and questioning the wisdom of settling here, along came news of the proposed Marble Ski Area. The accompanying real estate development had initial approval from Gunnison County for several thousand houses and condos, surrounding the tiny Town of Marble (pop,65)This ski area would have more houses and condos than Snowmass Ski  Area’s first filing.  So Redstone in 1971 had the prospect of being tripled in size by its own condo development, and twelve miles up the valley another Snowmass. And there was significant local support, for both, more jobs, more business, increased property values, and Redstone getting its place on the map.“You can’t fight progress”, supporters said.

But there were some willing to fight what they perceived as the opposite of progress. J E DeVilbiss,(later District Judge), Michael Kinsley (later Pitkin Commissioner), Marble resident Leo Paschal and I left before dawn one winter morning and drove three hours to Gunnison for a meeting about the Marble Ski Area.  John Zackovich, for the ski area, promised the Gunnison Commissions: “We’re going to develop this valley the way God would have, if He had our money.” (Yes, Zackovich really said that.) Supporters cheered him and heckled us, the opponents.

The ski area battle continued for several years until the developer went bankrupt leaving the poor upper Crystal Valley, with only God’s level of development. The Colonel lost interest in his Redstone condo extravaganza and Redstone’s population of coal miners, hippies, cowboys and standard Americans settled into a contented equilibrium. Years rolled by, coal mines shut down, hippies gentrified, houses got painted more frequently, and Redstone today remains less changed by half a century than any other settlement in the Roaring Fork Valley. Perhaps because of our relative remoteness, we remain a tightly knit community. Let us hope we can stay that way.

Semi Annual Sheep Drive – Before the Redstone Hwy.133 bypass was built.

Author Bill Jochems has practiced law in Glenwood Springs, served on boards of CVEPA, Redstone’s Water and San and Historic Preservation, was Carbondale Municipal Judge, presently serves in his fourth four year term on Pitkin County Healthy Rivers Board and still believes there is no better place on earth than Redstone.