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96-798: Rollins Pass , elevation 11,676 ft (3,559 m), is a mountain pass and active archaeological site in the Southern Rocky Mountains of north-central Colorado in the United States. The pass is located on and traverses the Continental Divide of the Americas at the crest of the Front Range southwest of Boulder and is located approximately five miles east and opposite the resort in Winter Park —in

192-621: A family of pioneers, constructed a toll wagon road over the pass in the 1873, providing a route between the Colorado Front Range and Middle Park ; subsequently, Rollins Pass was named after John Q.A. Rollins. John Q.A. Rollins was born on Sunday, June 16, 1816 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire and was the son of a New England minister. Rollins is described as being a strong man and an extensive character, popular with almost everybody whom he did not owe and his one predominating fault

288-593: A renewable energy source. In 2015, about 96,000 people were enrolled in Windsource. In 2011, more than 2.3 million electric and 261,800 natural gas customers took part in Xcel Energy's energy efficiency programs for homes and businesses. Xcel Energy also offers customers incentives to install solar panels. At the end of 2011, more than 10,600 photovoltaic systems had been installed, with a capacity of about 121 megawatts (DC). In early 2011, Xcel Energy suspended

384-432: A topographic map , passes can be identified by contour lines with an hourglass shape, which indicates a low spot between two higher points. In the high mountains, a difference of 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) between the summit and the mountain is defined as a mountain pass. Passes are often found just above the source of a river , constituting a drainage divide . A pass may be very short, consisting of steep slopes to

480-410: A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) spiral or loop where trains crossed over a trestle, made a ~90 degree gradual turn to descend 150 feet (46 m), and passed through Tunnel #33 underneath the trestle. A rail station, Corona, was established at the summit of the pass, with a red brick and green roofed dining hall, weather station, power station , and lodging. In summers, the train ride from Denver to Corona

576-611: A cash settlement. The company took responsibility for the deaths of five workers and the injuries to three. The parent company to Xcel Energy, and later Xcel Energy itself have operated the Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant since 1973. Over that time, nuclear waste produced by the power plant has been stored adjacent to the Prairie Island Indian Community . The homes of some members of the community are within 600 yards of

672-926: A combination of renewable energy, efficiency, and natural gas). On May 20, 2019, Xcel Energy announced its intent to close all of its remaining coal-fired plants in Minnesota by 2030 while compensating by increasing solar production capacity by 1,400%. It also declared its plans to continue operating its Monticello nuclear plant near Monticello, Minnesota until at least 2040. Xcel's Energy Capacity by Source Type 2023 Xcel Energy primarily provides energy from wind, natural gas, and coal. It has increased its share of carbon-free energy generation over time. Primarily by adding wind capacity. It has also lowered its greenhouse gas emissions by reducing coal consumption in favor of natural gas. Xcel plans to continue this trend by converting some coal plants to natural gas and closing others. Some environmental activists argue that Xcel

768-616: A documented history as a migratory route, hunting trail, and battlefield among the late prehistoric and contact-period Indians of Colorado. The Indians, both Ute and Arapahoe, used Rollins Pass. While it is possible to ride a horse across the Range at almost any point except some of the higher and rougher peaks, the Indians were as much interested as the white man in seeking a good grade. Instead of wagons they used teepee poles as drag-poles for transportation of supplies and papooses , and it

864-543: A hotel, "at the point of intersection of the Berthoud and Rollins roads." The road began to fall out of use and into disrepair in 1880, approximately one year before early railroading attempts over the pass begun. Guinn Mountain, encircling Yankee Doodle Lake, was used for mining from the early 1870s through the establishment of the railroad in 1904. This area held at least "four silver lodes" or "five patented lode claims, one patented placer claim, several prospect pits and

960-486: A non-vital and seasonal recreational road. Each summer, from 1956–1979, Rollins Pass served as a complete road over the mountain pass for automobiles until a substantial rock fall in Needle's Eye Tunnel in 1979 closed the path over the pass. In 1989, after several engineering studies and structural strengthening of Needle's Eye Tunnel were accomplished, the complete road was re-opened only to close permanently in 1990, due to

1056-585: A powder charge exploded prematurely during the construction of Needle's Eye Tunnel . Along this route were three tunnels: Tunnel #31 ( the tunnel at Ladora ), Tunnel #32 ( Needle's Eye Tunnel ), and Tunnel #33 ( the Loop Tunnel at Riflesight Notch ). All three tunnels today are either completely caved in or have had multiple partial cave-ins. Other notable landmarks on the route included the Riflesight Notch Loop, located at Spruce Mountain:

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1152-568: A rockfall injuring a sightseer. For the past 34 years—since July 1990—no motorized route connects across the Continental Divide, effectively making each side a dead-end uphill route that must be traveled again, downhill, to leave the pass. In 1969, a natural gas pipeline was placed on Rollins Pass. In the mid-1990s, Rollins Pass was closed for the installation of a 10-inch (250 mm) diameter Xcel Energy high-pressure natural gas pipeline. The pipeline, not always under marker, still

1248-657: A subsidiary of PSCo since the 1920s, and had become an operating company of NCE after the merger with SPS. In December 2018, Xcel Energy became the first major US utility to pledge to go carbon-free , aiming for 80% carbon reduction by 2030, and 100% reduction by 2050. Utility industry magazine Utility Dive awarded Xcel Energy its 2018 "Utility of the Year" award for its plans for add 12 wind farms , its project with Google to develop new ways for customers to personalize energy management , and its plan to retire 50 percent of its coal-powered capacity by 2026 (and replacing it with

1344-547: A summit and the valley floor. Passes traditionally were places for trade routes, communications, cultural exchange, military expeditions etc. A typical example is the Brenner pass in the Alps . Some mountain passes above the tree line have problems with snow drift in the winter. This might be alleviated by building the road a few meters above the ground, which will make snow blow off the road. There are many words for pass in

1440-457: A time were driven over the pass. The wagon road had one tollgate and the following rate structure: "For each vehicle drawn by two animals, two dollars and fifty cents; for each additional two animals, twenty-five cents; each vehicle drawn by one animal, one dollar and fifty cents; horse and rider and pack animals , twenty-five cents; loose stock, five cents per head ... horse with rider, or pack animal with pack, ten cents." The cost for nonpayment of

1536-657: A toll was the same as causing intentional damage to the road: $ 25. According to the manuscript of Martin Parsons, "Twistin Dogies Tails Over Rollins Pass ", each summer, Mr. Rollins would "build a cribbing of logs ... and would fill the center with rocks and earth, which helped reduce the grade between the hills." The original log cribbing can be seen today on the narrow ridge of Guinn Mountain, north of Yankee Doodle Lake. Rollins also built The Junction House , "a large, two-story hewd-log structure" as

1632-748: Is a U.S. regulated electric utility and natural gas delivery company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota , serving more than 3.7 million electric customers and 2.1 million natural gas customers across parts of eight states (Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas and New Mexico). It consists of four operating subsidiaries: Northern States Power-Minnesota, Northern States Power-Wisconsin, Public Service Company of Colorado, and Southwestern Public Service Co. In December 2018, Xcel Energy announced it would deliver 100 percent clean, carbon-free electricity by 2050, with an 80 percent carbon reduction by 2035 (from 2005 levels). This makes Xcel

1728-416: Is a multi-component rock walled game drive and is but one part of a much larger game drive complex located on Rollins Pass. Byron Olson and James Benedict conducted work at the site in the late-1960s. Present-day archaeology teams built on Olson and Benedict's work to expand the overview of the site using modern techniques. As of 2013, at least 45 blinds as well as 1,307 meters of rock walls are present across

1824-590: Is a three-unit generating station that has become a model for the creative use of fuels: coal, waste wood, railroad ties, discarded tires, natural gas , and petroleum coke . Two of the three Bay Front operating units already use biomass as their primary fuel. Xcel Energy recently proposed a plan to install biomass gasification technology at Bay Front. The waste-to-energy facilities use waste that would otherwise end up in landfills . The Wisconsin waste-to-energy plant burns wood waste in combination with refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Electric power transmission refers to

1920-399: Is credited as the first woman to cross the pass. That day held many challenges, including a two-hour blizzard, "which was of terrific violence" and she remarked in a newspaper article, "the bumping was so hard I thought I was nearly dead." As there was no formal road constructed from "Yankee Doodle Camp on up, only an Indian trail, she and the children had been left behind while her husband took

2016-412: Is dead. Trees affected by the beetles contain 10 times less water than a healthy tree and crown fires can quickly spread. Mountain pass Mountain passes make use of a gap , saddle , col or notch . A topographic saddle is analogous to the mathematical concept of a saddle surface , with a saddle point marking the minimum high point between two valleys and the lowest point along a ridge. On

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2112-502: Is frequently the only flat ground in the area, and may be a high vantage point. In some cases this makes it a preferred site for buildings. If a national border follows the ridge of a mountain range, a pass over the mountains is typically on the border, and there may be a border control or customs station, and possibly a military post. For instance, Argentina and Chile share the world's third-longest international border , 5,300 kilometres (3,300 mi) long, which runs north–south along

2208-577: Is in existence and uses the low pass to reach the Front Range by loosely following County Road 8 in Fraser , utilizing much of Ranch Creek towards the Middle Fork of Ranch Creek below Mount Epworth, climbing the pass near Ptarmigan Point, and following much of the old railbed past Corona at the summit of Rollins Pass. The pipeline continues across the railbed towards and under the twin trestles, down

2304-409: Is not acting on plans to stop using coal plants fast enough. Xcel Energy owns and operates three wind farms. In October 2011, Xcel Energy set a world record for electricity from wind power, with an hourly penetration of 55.6% of production from wind. At peak generation wind is the largest source of energy capacity for Xcel. Xcel Energy owns and operates two nuclear power plants : and stores

2400-677: Is run by the FS-ISAC Sector Services team; FS-ISAC is an organization that gathers cyber and physical risk intelligence for the financial services industry. Additionally, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) manages the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center, which is another resource that the energy sector uses to gather threat intelligence. In 2016, Xcel Energy announced

2496-547: Is subcontracted to Quanta Infrastructure Services Group. Current timelines have most of the project being completed by 2027. Another proposal in Colorado involved nearly $ 3 billion in new investment. This was more than nine times the state budget and in addition to the budget for the Colorado Power Pathway program. Expanding the transmission infrastructure is important for adding new renewable systems to

2592-546: Is that a pass can refer to a route, as well as the highest part thereof, while a hause is simply that highest part, often flattened somewhat into a high-level plateau. In Japan they are known as tōge , which means "pass" in Japanese. The word can also refer to narrow, winding roads that can be found in and around mountains and geographically similar areas, or specifically to a style of street racing which may take place on these roads. There are thousands of named passes around

2688-517: The Andes mountains and includes 42 mountain passes. On a road over a pass, it is customary to have a small roadside sign giving the name of the pass and its elevation above mean sea level . Apart from offering relatively easy travel between valleys, passes also provide a route between two mountain tops with a minimum of descent. As a result, it is common for tracks to meet at a pass; this often makes them convenient routes even when travelling between

2784-511: The Antiquities Act , among other federal and cultural laws, recognizes the nonrenewable and vulnerable nature of cultural resources and these laws protect and make it illegal to collect artifacts, including but not limited to: arrowheads , horseshoes , buttons , cans , glass or ceramic bottles , dishware and utensils , coal , railroad spikes , snowshed wood, railroad ties , and telegraph poles from Rollins Pass. All artifacts—from

2880-693: The Continental Divide Trail ; an airway radial (V8), a 10" Xcel Energy high-pressure natural gas pipeline, and two roads: The Front Range was created by the Laramide Orogeny , the last of three major mountain-building events, which occurred between 70 and 40 million years ago. Tectonic activity during the Cenozoic Era changed the Ancestral Rocky Mountains via block uplift, eventually forming

2976-772: The Taglang La at 5,328 m (17,480 ft) on the Leh-Manali highway , and the Sia La at 5,589 m (18,337 ft) in the Eastern Karakoram range. Scotland has the Gaelic term bealach (anglicised "balloch"), while Wales has the similar bwlch (both being insular Celtic languages). In the Lake District of north-west England, the term hause is often used, although the term pass is also common—one distinction

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3072-515: The historical record . Visitors are encouraged to preserve the area for future generations by leaving items in place and sharing photographs and GPS coordinates (if available) with researchers dedicated to telling the story of Rollins Pass and an internet resource has been set up to aid with this project. County sheriffs as well as United States Forest Service Law Enforcement personnel and staff routinely patrol and enforce natural and cultural resources on Rollins Pass as well as in other areas within

3168-412: The "Rollins road" through Boulder Pass was not completed until the first half of August 1873. While the newspaper articles cited "wagons can now be taken over this route without the slightest trouble," other articles countered, "the trail ... is splendid for horses but fearful for wagons" and "the rocks, mud-holes, bogs, creeks, boulders and sidling ledges of that road, can only be appreciated by being seen,

3264-414: The 19th century and all attempts were met with impassable engineering challenges, financing issues, or both: GHS, Jefferson, & Boulder County Railroad and Wagon Road (A.N. Rogers' line) in 1867; U.P. in 1866; Kansas Pacific in 1869; Colorado Railroad (B. & M. subsidiary) in 1884—two tunnels located; Denver, Utah & Pacific in 1881 (construction started and tunnel located). The remains of

3360-728: The Advanced Grid Intelligence and Security (AGIS) initiative, a long-term effort related to power reliability, distributed generation, and information sharing with customers. Through the initiative, Xcel would build an "intelligent grid" in Colorado in order to improve grid security. The company filed a request for permission with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for the program, which would cost $ 500 million. Since 1998, Xcel Energy's Windsource program has allowed customers to designate that part or all of their electricity comes from

3456-535: The China–India border respectively, appear to be world's two highest motorable passes. Khunjerab Pass between Pakistan and China at 4,693 metres (15,397 ft) is also a high-altitude motorable mountain pass. One of the famous but non-motorable mountain passes is Thorong La at 5,416 metres (17,769 ft) in Annapurna Conservation Area , Nepal. Xcel Energy Xcel Energy Inc.

3552-746: The English-speaking world. In the United States, pass is very common in the West , the word gap is common in the southern Appalachians , notch in parts of New England , and saddle in northern Idaho . The term col , derived from Old French, is also used, particularly in Europe. In the highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas, passes are denoted by the suffix "La" in Tibetan, Ladhakhi, and several other regional languages. Examples are

3648-533: The Forest Lakes. Plans to build a longer tunnel at a lower elevation were better planned and financed; the single-track Moffat Tunnel opened just south of Rollins Pass on Sunday, February 26, 1928. The Moffat Tunnel eliminated 10,800 degrees of curvature along the Rollins Pass route; the tunnel resulted in considerable time savings as well as money that was used for snow removal atop Rollins Pass. After

3744-641: The National Forest System. On both sides of Rollins Pass, the road prism contains both prehistoric and historic artifacts buried under the surface. Any improvements to the rough road through regrading, including paving, would first require extensive sectional archaeological excavations by the United States Forest Service . In several places, on or just under the surface, historical artifacts are covered with geotextile stabilization fabrics having characteristics that match

3840-486: The Olson site; the purposes of which were to funnel game upslope to waiting hunters. Both radiocarbon and lichenometric dating suggest occupation by Native Americans spanning the last 3,200 years, with diagnostic tools suggesting even older use of the site, dating back to more than 10,000 years ago. Game drives at other locations on Rollins Pass yield hundreds of additional blinds and miles of rock walls. Rollins Pass has

3936-679: The Power for the Plains Initiative, Xcel Energy built hundreds of miles of transmission lines and substations totaling $ 3 billion in investment. The lines supply Kiowa NM, Lubbock TX, and connect other towns in the Texas panhandle. The transmission system is operated on a non-discriminatory basis under the open access requirements of the Federal Government . This means that all wholesale buyers and sellers of electricity can use

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4032-606: The Rocky Mountains as they exist today. The geologic make-up of Rollins Pass and the surrounding areas were also affected by deformation and erosion during the Cenozoic Era. Many sedimentary rocks from the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras exist in the basins surrounding the pass. Paleoindians and early Native Americans were the first to utilize Rollins Pass as a natural, low crossing over the Continental Divide for

4128-1083: The Washington County Light & Power Co. in 1909. When H. M. Byllesby began building his utility holding company across the Northwestern region of the US, he renamed it the Consumers Power Co. in 1910 and which was renamed the Northern States Power Co. in 1916. While the bulk of NSP's territory grew across central and southern Minnesota (starting from the Twin Cities), it acquired territory in North Dakota (centering on Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot) and extended southwest into South Dakota (centering on Sioux Falls). NSP's system also extended east into Wisconsin, but because of utility ownership laws in that state, it

4224-537: The area contained only negligible amounts of any metal. Samples from the Avalon placer claim , located on the South Fork [of] Middle Boulder Creek north of Guinn Mountain, and from the creek bottom were collected and panned; no gold was found." Despite this record, gold claims were nevertheless worked nearby with no published record of success. There were multiple prior efforts to build a railroad over Rollins Pass in

4320-616: The area for more than six months and very cold and snowy weather may occur nearly year-round. It was these heavy snowstorms that led to the financial demise of the Moffat Road and served as the incentive for construction of a permanent railroad tunnel through the Rocky Mountains and into Middle Park. Following scuba dives , no evidence exists that locomotive, rotary, or wreck debris rests at the bottom of Yankee Doodle Lake or Jenny Lake. However, many derailments, wrecks of Mallet locomotives , accidents resulting in injury and/or death, and/or

4416-616: The city of Roswell, New Mexico and its 2,000 residents. The financial strain of creating this new enterprise soon overwhelmed him and he sold the franchise to W.H. Gillenwater, who named his utility the Roswell Electric Light Co. He later sold the company to an investment firm in Cleveland, Ohio, which already owned the Roswell Gas Co. Northern States Power Company's timeline begins with the organization of

4512-576: The combined risk of the temporary design of the storage facility, unpredictable flooding and single evacuation road in the event nuclear waste is released from containment. Xcel Energy faces more than 200 lawsuits filed by victims of the Marshall Fire , which started on December 30, 2021, Boulder County, and spread across Superior and Louisville counties in Colorado. Two people died and more than 1,000 homes and commercial properties were destroyed, resulting in more than $ 2 billion in property damage. It

4608-676: The company merged with SPS to form New Century Energies ( NCE ) in 1995. Northern States Power and Wisconsin Energy Corporation had planned to merge into a new outfit that was to be called Primergy - but in 1997, the merger fell through because of the time it was taking to gain the required approvals from state and federal agencies. After the failed Primergy merger, NSP (both the Minnesota and Wisconsin companies) merged with New Century Energies to form Xcel Energy. In 2005, Xcel sold Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power to Black Hills Corporation . Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power had been

4704-566: The dump of one caved adit ." This caved adit, once 365 feet (111 m), then lengthened to 850 feet (260 m), is still shown as a mine on United States Geological Survey topographic maps as the Blue Stones Mine . This tunnel exposed a "five-foot vein of ore varying in values from $ 16 to $ 25 per ton." It was concluded that the "Guinn Mountain area has little or no economic potential," despite listings of important mineral strikes in period newspapers. Further, "ten samples collected in

4800-536: The era of powered flight, Rollins Pass provides an attractive way to cross the Continental Divide between west and east at a relatively low point for aircraft. Not only does the enroute airway radial, Victor Eight , cross the pass; but also a rotating airway beacon was established in the mid-to-late 1940s and first appeared on aeronautical sectional charts in March 1948 as a star, indicating a beacon. The beacon and its supporting infrastructure have since been removed due to

4896-537: The first major US utility to set such a goal. Xcel Energy was built on three companies: Minneapolis-based Northern States Power Company (NSP), Denver-based Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), and Amarillo-based Southwestern Public Service (SPS). Southwestern Public Service Co. (SPS) dates its origins to 1904 and the Pecos Valley in New Mexico when Maynard Gunsell received an electricity franchise for

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4992-584: The first year of operations, an annual report to stockholders showed "marked savings in operating costs" by 24.86%. Savings were seen in other areas, including in fuel reductions ($ 89,074.45 savings; $ 1.3 million in 2018 when adjusted for inflation), engine servicing ($ 156,188.89 savings); whereas gross tons per train hour increased by 34.84%. After the Moffat Tunnel opened, the tracks over Rollins Pass remained in place and were maintained at least as late as July 1929 as an emergency route. This emergency route

5088-781: The general area between Winter Park and Rollinsville . Rollins Pass is at the boundaries of Boulder , Gilpin , and Grand counties. Over the past 10,000 years, the pass provided a route over the Continental Divide between the Atlantic Ocean watershed of South Boulder Creek (in the basin of the South Platte River ) with the Pacific Ocean watershed of the Fraser River , a tributary of the Colorado River . The abandoned rail route over Rollins Pass

5184-784: The grid. However the cost can be significant. Colorado regulators did not approve Xcel's plan to build additional transmission in Baca County which is a large potential wind energy generator. Instead, they sought proposals that involve constructing renewable energy sources connected to the existing grid. In Minnesota, the budget for a new 465 mile transmission line doubled to $ 1.14 billion and Xcel cited inflationary pressures. Opponents of Colorado's Power Pathway Program highlighted that cost overruns in transmission construction will be pushed to consumers. The Federal Energy Information Administration stated in 2023 that transmission lines typically cost $ 1.17 million to $ 8.62 million per mile. Under

5280-487: The high voltage power lines for long distance transport of electric energy. Xcel Energy owns and operates 110,000 miles of such lines. Xcel has proposed significant plans for updating its transmission system with a budget of $ 7.4 billion from 2022-2027. The Colorado Power Pathway, approved by regulators in 2022, gives Xcel $ 1.7 billion to expand transmission infrastructure in eastern Colorado. One proposal in Colorado involved nearly $ 3 billion in new investment. Construction

5376-684: The introduction of the Low-Frequency Radio Range systems to replace visual navigational aids . The rough road that was once used to service and reach Beacon Peak at the Continental Divide, branches off of the Rollins Pass road, and is closed to all forms of motorized traffic per the current Motor Vehicle Use Maps. Plans to convert Rollins Pass into an historic automobile road were first published in November 1949. Several years later, on Saturday, September 1, 1956, Colorado lieutenant governor , Steve McNichols , opened Rollins Pass as

5472-417: The latter tunneling attempt can still be seen on the northern slope of the rock wall at Yankee Doodle Lake and the detritus from the attempted excavation of the tunnel was placed at the northernmost part of the lake where pulverized granite tailings can be seen rising out of the water. These tailings were definitively from the 1880s tunneling efforts as they are not visible in the early stereoscopic images from

5568-433: The loss of portions of rail manifests occurred on both sides of the pass: Despite the challenges documented above, by 1918, it was reported that 45 or 46 engines were part of the motive power of the railroad along with 3 rotary snowplows. Several locations for the Moffat Tunnel were scouted prior to the selection of the present-day location; one possible location was identified at high altitude between Yankee Doodle Lake and

5664-720: The modern route. The route through the Moffat Tunnel became part of the mainline across Colorado for the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad , later the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad , and now the Union Pacific Railroad . The Moffat Tunnel continues to be used for both the Amtrak 's California Zephyr that provides service between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California as well as for the winter and sometimes summer Ski Train that operated between Denver and Winter Park from 1940 to 2009; in March 2015 and from 2017–present,

5760-499: The names of their apex stations. Fremont Pass , for example, is not named Climax Pass ; nor is La Veta Pass referred to as Fir Pass . The elevation of '11,660 feet' commonly attributed to Rollins Pass (note the McClure sketch later in this article) "reflects what might have been an original survey value obtained during either the late wagon road era or early railroad construction. ... The actual benchmarked survey elevation value of

5856-578: The native environment of Rollins Pass, leave no trace and trail ethics apply to all visitors. Trundling is discouraged for safety and environmental concerns as well as to preserve artifacts. Rollins Pass consists of several distinct floral environments including lodgepole pine and quaking aspen at lower elevations, and krummholz at tree line. Above tree line, the landscape consists largely of small perennial wildflowers , cryptobiotic soils , and alpine tundra . The latter being extremely fragile and if damaged, can take 100–500 years to recover. Leaving

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5952-496: The nuclear waste containment site. The island is very vulnerable to seasonal flooding because it is on the bank of the Mississippi River . While in 1991, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission capped the storage of nuclear waste on the island to 17 casks, the legislature has since permitted this number to increase. Environmentalists and members of the Prairie Island Indian Community have been working since 1994 to have this nuclear waste transported away from their reservation due to

6048-440: The old wagon route on the spine of Guinn Mountain, and then towards Eldora . The pipeline undergoes internal inspections "at least" every seven years with the deployment of a smart pig inside the pipeline. A majority of Rollins Pass is located within the boundaries of two national forests— Roosevelt National Forest and Arapaho National Forest —and as such, is federal land. The Archaeological Resources Protection Act along with

6144-453: The only wonder is that a wagon can be taken over at all." Other articles were a bit more grim, referring to the wagon road as a "little more than the rocky ridge of a precipice along which lurked death and disaster." Newspaper records reflect on Friday, June 12, 1874, James Harvey Crawford along with his wife, Margaret Emerine Bourn Crawford, made pioneer history as the first (nonindigenous) couple to cross Rollins Pass by wagons, and Mrs. Crawford

6240-475: The prehistoric to the historic—on the pass are objects of antiquity and are being studied and documented by universities and government agencies. The material record of Rollins Pass is illegally carried away each year—some by poachers—others in the backpacks of well-intentioned visitors who want a souvenir ; but once artifacts are removed, a place can never again reveal the mysteries of the past. Each artifact has important scientific and cultural value and theft harms

6336-514: The purposes of communal hunting of large game, including bighorn sheep and elk . There are more than 96 documented game drives , including the Olson game drive, found largely above timberline and near the summits of multiple mountain ridges. Handmade rock walls drove prey toward hunters waiting in blinds. These unique high-altitude constructs were built, refined, and continually used over millennia. The game drives built on—and over—Rollins Pass have international significance. The Olson site (5BL147)

6432-439: The rails were removed the following summer: the west side was cleared by Tuesday, August 11, 1936, and the east side 14 days later; contractors toiled non-stop, including overnight to remove both the rails and ties. A wye on the passing siding at the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel is currently utilized for short-turning some modern services and marks the spot where the Rollins Pass line, if it still existed, would have merged into

6528-427: The service was rebranded the Winter Park Express . The original 1922 law that authorized the construction of the Moffat Tunnel specified that it should also be used for automobile traffic, with automobiles being placed on a ferry of flatbed railcars. To date, this has not happened. The pioneer bore used to originally construct the Moffat Tunnel was later converted into the Moffat Water Tunnel by Denver Water . In

6624-443: The soil and permeability of the existing roadbed. There are several drystack retaining walls on both sides of the pass, built without mortar, helping ensure they retain soil but not water. There are several ghost towns on or near Rollins Pass, the most notable being Arrow, Corona, Ladora, the East Portal construction camp, Mammoth, and Tolland. There are also at least a half-dozen other established settlements, dating back to both

6720-449: The solar rebate program before reaching a settlement a month later with representatives of solar power companies to restore the solar incentive program until it is fully reviewed by the Public Utilities Commission. On August 1, 2002, Xcel Energy Inc. was sued because of engaging in "round-trip" energy trades that provided no economic benefit for the company, and because the company lacked the necessary internal controls to adequately monitor

6816-506: The spent fuel from these nuclear plants on site in independent spent fuel storage installations. (ISFSIs). Biomass electricity comes from organic fuel sources. Xcel Energy has contracts for about 110 megawatts of electricity from biomass generators. Two in northern Minnesota are fueled by forest harvest residue, such as treetops and limbs. A third facility, brought on line in 2007 in western Minnesota, generates power using turkey litter. Xcel Energy's Bay Front plant in Ashland, Wisconsin ,

6912-589: The summit of Rollins Pass is 11,671 feet ( NGVD29 ), obtained during a 1952 second-order level line run from State Bridge to Denver by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (predecessor to the National Geodetic Survey ). When adjusted to NAVD88 , the elevation is, without doubt, 11,676.79 feet." Rollins Pass has been in continuous use for millennia: first as a sprawling and internationally significant game drive complex that

7008-526: The top of the pass, or a valley many kilometers long, whose highest point might only be identifiable by surveying . Roads and railways have long been built through passes. Some high and rugged passes may have tunnels bored underneath a nearby mountainside, as with the Eisenhower Tunnel bypassing Loveland Pass in the Rockies, to allow faster traffic flow throughout the year. The top of a pass

7104-596: The trading of its power. Xcel paid $ 80,000,000 in a settlement. The Cabin Creek Fire occurred on October 2, 2007, at Xcel Energy's Hydropower Generation plant in Georgetown, Colorado . On June 1, 2011, Federal prosecutors opened their charges that Xcel Energy was criminally liable for the deaths of the five RPI workers. The jury found Xcel Energy not guilty. On December 19, 2011, RPI Coating plead guilty to workplace safety violations and paid $ 1.55 million in

7200-595: The trail can cause erosion , land degradation , possible species extinction , and habitat destruction and it is for these reasons vehicles, including off-road vehicles , are not allowed to leave the established road. There are at least two marked revegetation areas on Rollins Pass: one at Yankee Doodle Lake; the other at the summit leading to the historic dining hall foundation. The mountain pine beetle epidemic, beginning in 1996 and continuing through present day, affects many forested areas in Colorado, including those on Rollins Pass. One out of every 14 trees in Colorado

7296-611: The transmission system under the same terms and conditions used to serve Xcel Energy's own retail customers. In 2017, Xcel Energy partnered with the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center to create a new "threat information sharing community" intended to share cyber and physical security intelligence with the energy sector. The new community is called the Energy Analytic Security Exchange (EASE). It

7392-411: The wagon pulled by a pair of mules, a team of horses and a yoke of oxen on up and camped. Then he came back for her with the team and the running gear only of the wagon, and she had to hold the children on someway, despite the dreadful bumping" with the "wagon almost standing on end." The pass was used heavily in the latter half of the 19th century by settlers and at one time as many as 12,000 cattle at

7488-556: The wagon road and railroad eras, scattered across Rollins Pass. There are also several historic gravesites across Rollins Pass. One granite headstone at Arrow reads, "R.M. Smith | June 28, 1842 | Nov. 12, 1909." One marker near the Eldora Ski Area states that it holds two members of John C. Frémont 's third expedition in 1845–1846, although this is disputed. Rollins Pass has unique floral, faunal, and riparian zones that spread across multiple Colorado counties; to best preserve

7584-499: The wagon road era of Yankee Doodle Lake; further, the attempted tunnel was not part of the later rail line that ultimately summited Rollins Pass. In the early 20th century, David Moffat , a Denver banker, established the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway with the intention of building a railroad from Denver toward Salt Lake City, Utah by way of a tunnel under the Continental Divide. Surveys began in April 1902 and construction

7680-405: The wood planking of the sheds. Delays affected the timeliness of both newspaper and postal mail deliveries. Coal smoke and toxic gasses collected in the snowsheds causing temporary blindness, loss of consciousness, and sometimes death. Workers on the Moffat Road had an adage: "There's winter and then there's August", reflecting the fact that in the high mountains of Colorado, snow will often cover

7776-945: The world, some of which are well-known, such as the Khyber Pass close to the present-day Afghanistan-Pakistan border on the ancient Silk Road , the Great St. Bernard Pass at 2,473 metres (8,114 ft) in the Alps , the Chang La at 5,360 metres (17,590 ft), the Khardung La at 5,359 metres (17,582 ft) in Ladakh , India and the Palakkad Gap at 140 metres (460 ft) in Palakkad , Kerala , India . The roads at Mana Pass at 5,610 metres (18,410 ft) and Marsimik La at 5,582 metres (18,314 ft), on and near

7872-582: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and lay dormant for many decades after it was shuttered in 1947; in 2015, it was made the focal point of a senior living community center, after it was meticulously restored. Despite the fact that the line was enclosed in almost continuous snowsheds (wooden tunnels) near the summit of the pass, trains were often stranded for several days (and in some cases up to 30–60 days) during heavy snowstorms because snow could fall or be blown through

7968-534: Was advertised as a trip, "from sultry heat to Colorado's north pole;" tourists could stand in snowdrifts in the middle of July or August. Tours launched from the Moffat Depot, a small building constructed in the Georgian Revival style, featuring two-story tall windows, intricate exterior brickwork, and roofline pommels. This building, located several city blocks northwest from Denver Union Station ,

8064-438: Was also known infrequently as Rollinsville Pass. In Grand County, Rollins Pass is sometimes given the sobriquet of Corona Pass , named for the apex station at the summit, Corona. This nomenclature dispute provoked the ire of former railroaders; in fact, Frederick Bauer remarked, "[Rollins Pass is] incorrectly called Corona Pass by neophytes and some locals." It is inconsistent, as well as atypical, to refer to mountain passes by

8160-436: Was always intended to be temporary until what would later become the Moffat Tunnel was constructed and opened; therefore this overmountain route was constructed with more cost-effective materials: using wooden trestles (made of all Oregon fir) instead of iron bridges or high fills and wyes instead of turntables . Construction of this route was exceptionally dangerous and deadly: in a single day, 60 Swedish workers were killed when

8256-463: Was better known nor counted more warm friends than John Q.A. Rollins." John Rollins capitalized on this and received approval for his toll wagon road on Tuesday, February 6, 1866. The Council and House of Representatives of Colorado Territory passed an act signed by the governor approving the wagon road as the "Middle Park and South Boulder Wagon Road Company." Records reflect the incorporators as "John Q.A. Rollins, Perley Dodge, Frederic C. Weir." Yet,

8352-554: Was concealed from the public until then. Xcel estimated the leak to be 400 thousand gallons of contaminated water containing radioactive tritium . The leak occurred in a water pipe that runs between two buildings. Following the Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas Panhandle, which began February 26, 2024, Xcel Energy acknowledged that its facilities played a role in the ignition of the fire. The fire became

8448-486: Was hand-constructed and used by Paleoindians more than 10,000 years ago through the mid-19th century; followed by nearly two decades as a wagon road from 1862–1880; as a rail route (under survey , construction, and later operational) from 1880 to 1928; as a primitive automobile road from 1936 to 1956; and since September 1, 1956 as a seasonal, unpaved motor vehicle road. The pass is traversed by Paleoindians and Native American game drive complexes, hiking trails, including

8544-573: Was his failure to pay his debts. Newspapers cited that he was so careless about his credit that he could not keep track of all his creditors, and in turn, they had trouble keeping track of him. Rollins died on Wednesday, June 20, 1894 and is buried in Colorado's oldest operating cemetery, Riverside , in block 5, lot 12. His simple tombstone reads, "John Q.A. Rollins | Colorado Pioneer of Rollinsville and Rollins Pass." Colonel Rollins' newspaper obituary mentions, "No man in Northern Colorado

8640-610: Was listed as one of the most endangered sites in Colorado. Rollins Pass is the sole, official name recognized by both the United States Geological Survey and the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) ; a decision card was issued on Wednesday, December 7, 1904. The pass was first known as Boulder Pass —one of two variant names accepted by the BGN—the other being Rogers Pass . The pass

8736-405: Was necessary that they follow easy grades and broad level country, wherever practical. The first recorded use of the pass (then known as Boulder Pass or Rollinsville Pass ) by a wagon train was in 1862, nearly 14 years before Colorado became a state. Directions for wagons traveling from Rollinsville to Winter Park were published in newspapers. John Quincy Adams Rollins, a Colorado pioneer from

8832-572: Was needed only once for a several day-long closure: on Thursday, July 25, 1929, dry rot of wooden timbers caused a collapse and 75 feet (23 m) of rock caved-in and blocked the Moffat Tunnel near the East Portal. It took until Tuesday, July 30, 1929 for the tunnel to be cleared of debris. Permission to dismantle the rails on Rollins Pass was granted by the Interstate Commerce Commission on Saturday, May 18, 1935 and

8928-485: Was nominated for and accepted into the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 because of significant events and engineering feats accomplished by railroading efforts in the early 20th century. In 1997, additional areas on the pass were added to the National Register of Historic Places to include achievements made by John Q.A. Rollins and his toll wagon road that traversed the pass. In 2012, Rollins Pass

9024-595: Was operated as an entity separate from the rest of the company. Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) was formed in 1923 to provide an electric generating station for the Denver area. By 1924, it had acquired most of the electric companies in northern and central Colorado. Originally a subsidiary of Cities Service Company , it became an independent autonomous operation in November 1943. By this time, it served 80 percent of Colorado's gas and electricity needs. As demand for energy continued to grow, so did PSCo. Eventually,

9120-697: Was started in January 1903, beginning on the east side of Rollins Pass. However, the railway only reached Craig, Colorado . This entire line from Denver to Craig was known as the Moffat Road . The line included a 23-mile (37 km) stretch over the top of the Continental Divide, at Rollins Pass, with a two to four percent grade and switchbacks along many sections; the result was one of the highest adhesion (non-cog) standard-gauge railroads ever constructed in North America. This corridor over Rollins Pass

9216-507: Was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history. The official investigation blamed the fire on a loose wire owned by Xcel and a week-old fire started by members of the Twelve Tribes that was smoldering. On March 16, 2023, Xcel Energy announced that a significant unplanned release of radioactive water from its Monticello nuclear power plant took place on November 21, 2022, which was reported only to state and federal authorities but

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