Skiers and snowboarders flooded the Dolores Community Center on Saturday for the 16th annual Dolores Ski Swap.
The event, started by Cindy Vermeule after her son had grown out of his equipment in the middle of the winter, was intended to offer an opportunity for residents to find reasonably priced gear.
“The first one we had was pretty minimal, and we did it over at the school in the cafeteria area,” Vermeule said. “And it has grown over the years, tremendously.”
“It’s not only the swap,” she said. “It’s a real community social event.”
She noted that the Dolores basketball team worked the concession stand with profits going to support the basketball program, Telluride Ski Resort had a table selling passes, and Dunn Deal Resale from Durango brought merchandise.
And all of the swap’s merchandise profits are put into a scholarship fund for kids in the regional ski program to help fund the ski trips to Telluride.
“We really enjoy supporting the ski club, and we love seeing people in Dolores being able to get up there and learn how to ski,” said John Dunn of Dunn Deal Resale.
Clay Tallmadge, who has helped with the ski swap and regional ski program for about 12 years, said that there are more than 40 kids in the ski program this year, and the scholarships provided from the swap are a big help to the program.
“I think this is a great community event,” he said. “I think that skiing is one of the best things that we have going in Colorado. And for people to be able to get stuff at a discounted price and be able to pass stuff on to other people is an opportunity to keep skiing at a reasonable cost.”
