The 2026 Winter Olympics begin this week, and a growing winter sport is about to make its Olympic debut in the coming days.   

Ski mountaineering, often referred to as “skimo,” is a type of endurance racing that sees competitors ski uphill, climb uphill with skis on their backs, and then ski downhill multiple times in a race. Which sounds thrilling – and maybe exhausting, too. 

Nikki LaRochelle, who lives in Breckenridge, is one of skimo’s most visible ambassadors. She’ll provide commentary for ski mountaineering events during broadcast of the winter games from Italy. She’ll be heard on Olympic Broadcasting Services, which beams the different events around the world. 

Nikki was on the U.S. national skimo team about a decade ago. She joined Erin O’Toole to explain her passion for ski mountaineering, and what she’s excited to watch for in the upcoming Winter Games. 

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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Maybe you’ve tried yoga to de-stress and found it’s not for you. Maybe you’ve tried foam stress balls. Or a hundred other ways to unplug or relax. 
 
Today, we’re talking about a practice that uses nature – and the five senses – to help people slow down and reset. Forest bathing is a restorative practice with roots in Japan that sends people into the woods to immerse themselves in nature.

Darlene Rooney-Keller is the owner of Nature Heals Forest Therapy in Longmont. She’s a forest bathing guide who takes clients into nature for immersive, guided sessions.  

She spoke last November with Erin O'Toole about why she finds the practice restorative – and she shared some tips for newcomers who want to try it. And although winter is here, Darlene says you can use these techniques in any season – so we’re listening back to that conversation today. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

When someone decides they need help with a drug or alcohol addiction, or to leave an unsafe living situation, one obstacle they often face is this: While I’m getting help, who will take care of my pets?  

For many people, the bond with a dog or cat is a lifeline. But most in-patient treatment programs or domestic violence shelters can’t allow animals – which can force people to have to choose between recovery or their furry family members.  

This didn't sit well with a former veterinary technician named Serena Saunders. In 2021, she started an unusual nonprofit from her home in Denver called PAWsitive Recovery. She offered foster care for a few pets of people recovering from mental health issues, addiction or abuse.  

It's grown so popular, and the need is so great, that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International is now working to expand it across the U.S. 

Serena joined Erin O'Toole to talk about what pushed her to create the PAWsitive Recovery program – and what it’s like to help people working to get their lives back. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Don't let last weekend's snowstorm fool you: Colorado is midway through an unusually dry and warm winter. And it's likely to continue. The National Weather Outlook publishes a drought outlook forecast that says the entire state is likely to be in a drought three months from now if these conditions persist. 

One major downside of a warm, dry winter is that it can damage or even kill the trees and shrubs outside your home. So we reached out to an expert who helps homeowners prevent that from happening.
 
John Murgel is a horticulturist with the Colorado State University Extension. He told us before the interview that – spoiler alert – you can boil his advice down to one tip: Water your trees and shrubs.

John shared tips on how to approach winter watering with In The NoCo’s Brad Turner. He also shared the CSU Extension’s list of recommendations if you want to plant trees better equipped to survive drier, warmer winters like this one. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

A position on the ski patrol at a Colorado resort is a dream job for many people. They get paid to spend their days on some of the best snow-covered terrain in the U.S. And they help thousands of skiers and snowboarders have a great time in the High Country.
 
But that work can also take a toll. Aside from the physical demands of skiing as a full-time job, there are downright traumatic moments -- like when a patrol team responds to a skier who's badly injured or gone missing. 
 
Winter Park's ski patrol set out in recent years to make sure its patrol members are properly equipped to handle the toughest incidents. Working with a nonprofit called Reponder Alliance, they got their patrol team talking about stress and resilience. The story was featured in a recent Colorado Sun article. 
 
Zachary Akselrad is in his 16th season as a ski patrol employee, and he's assistant director of Winter Park's ski patrol. He talked with In The NoCo’s Brad Turner about how the new approach has made the patrol team better.   

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer and Editor: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

An unusual production of one of the most popular musicals in history presents the final shows of its run this weekend in Boulder.

More than a year ago, the show's director set out to stage the musical Fiddler on the Roof with the rabbi from one of Boulder's Jewish congregations playing the lead role of Tevye. Rabbi Marc Soloway of Congregation Bonai Shalom had trained and worked as an actor, before becoming a rabbi. And had always dreamed of playing Tevye, who wrestles with faith, tradition and persecution.

But tragedy struck in the months between the initial planning and opening night. An anti-Semitic attack in Boulder last June saw a gathering of Jewish residents firebombed, leading to multiple injuries and one death. Many of the victims attend Congregation Bonai Shalom.

Ultimately, the cast and crew moved forward with the Fiddler performances, and the show opened earlier this month. Rabbi Soloway – and the show’s director, Sarah Nowak – spoke with In The NoCo’s Brad Turner before the final shows this weekend. Those performances sold out within minutes of going on sale. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer and Editor: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

It was a mystery that haunted Colorado search and rescue groups for almost two decades.  

In September 2005, a 35-year-old woman named Michelle Vanek went missing while hiking on Mount of the Holy Cross, a challenging fourteener in Eagle County. Vanek had been hiking with a friend, but they split up after Vanek grew tired and decided to take an easier trail down the mountain. 

She was never seen again, although hundreds of people searched for her in the days after she disappeared. 

All of that changed a few months ago.  An all-women group of rescuers used new technology to revive the search. They used digital maps and drones that conducted searches from the air – and ultimately discovered her remains.  

Reporter Jason Blevins wrote about the search for the Colorado Sun. He spoke with Erin O'Toole in October about how searchers solved this mystery, and how their work could reshape the way Colorado's search and rescue teams approach similar cold cases.  We’re listening back to the conversation today. 

An idea borrowed from nature is helping people to rehabilitate some mountain landscapes devastated by wildfire. 

Crews installed a series of small, wooden dams in the foothills west of Fort Collins to repair wetlands following the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires.  They’re essentially manmade beaver dams, built from logs and lumber to raise the water level and slow the flow of water in places. 

A team of researchers with the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado State University wanted to know how effective the dams have been at restoring mountain ecosystems. What they found so far is encouraging. 
 
Tim Fegel is one of the researchers studying the effects of the dams. He spoke with In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole about how the areas are healing themselves in ways that wouldn’t happen without the manmade structures. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer and Editor: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Denver composer Nathan Hall’s album of percussion music focuses on some unique instruments: They’re hand-carved from stone and date back several millennia.  

Lithophones are polished, resonant rocks shaped like baguettes. Archaeologists say that Indigenous people used the stones somewhere between 2,000 and 6,000 years ago near what’s now Great Sand Dunes National Park.  

Nathan wrote a series of pieces to be performed on the stones and recorded the music with a Colorado group called Perc Ens. The resulting album, called Gentle Worship, is out now.  

Nathan talked with In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole last October about collaborating with Marilyn Martorano, the Colorado archaeologist who studied the lithophones. The music he wrote combines the ancient stone instruments’ sounds with modern instruments like woodblocks and timpani. We’re listening back to that conversation today. 

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Sign up for the In The NoCo newsletter: Visit KUNC.org
Questions? Feedback? Story ideas? Email us: [email protected]
Like what you're hearing? Help more people discover In The NoCo by rating the show on your favorite podcast app. Thanks!
 
Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.

Camping is one of the most popular ways to enjoy Colorado’s outdoors and breathtaking scenery.

And there’s been a surge in demand for camping over the past several years, according to a recent report from the Center for Western Priorities. That demand makes it harder to try to snag a campsite during the peak summer months, when thousands of people are vying for a limited number of spots.

But there’s another option: camping in winter.

Patricia Cameron says with a bit of extra preparation – and the right mindset – winter camping can open up a whole new way to enjoy Colorado’s outdoors. Patricia is the founder and executive director of Blackpackers, an organization that specializes in introducing underrepresented and economically vulnerable groups to backpacking and the great outdoors. And she's become an expert on cold-weather camping over the years.

“I know it's intimidating,” she told In The NoCo’s Erin O’Toole. “I know it can be kind of scary to think about what that looks like to be cold, but it's easier than people think it is. And you don't learn that until you go out and give it a go.”

Patricia joined Erin to talk about what you need to plan your own camping trip this winter, and why she fell in love with camping in the cold.

Read Patricia’s guide to winter camping in Colorado. Blackpackers also organizes trips for first-time winter campers and recently began offering classes on outdoor education topics like orientation and navigation.