What Our Mountains Make Possible

When the Winter Olympic Games open in Italy later this week, athletes from across the country will compete under the American flag. Among them will be competitors with roots right here in Colorado's Third District, including Durango's own Charlie Mickel.

For a community like Durango, that matters.

Charlie Mickel grew up skiing in Southwest Colorado and will compete in freestyle moguls, one of the most demanding events in winter sports. It is a discipline that rewards toughness, balance, and consistency more than flash. Anyone who has spent time on our mountains understands what that kind of training looks like. Early mornings, cold days, and a willingness to get back up after a hard fall. Those traits are familiar in Durango, whether you are an athlete, a small business owner, or a family trying to make ends meet in a mountain town.

Charlie will be joined on Team USA by Alexander Ferreira of Aspen, competing in freeski halfpipe, and Hailey Swirbul of El Jebel, who returned from retirement to compete in cross-country skiing. Each has taken a different path, but all come from communities shaped by the mountains and by a culture that values perseverance over shortcuts.

What unites these athletes is not celebrity. It is the environment that formed them.

In Durango and across the Third District, the outdoors are not a luxury. They are part of daily life and part of our economy. Public lands, working forests, and reliable water are not abstract policy ideas here. They are the foundation for tourism, agriculture, recreation, and quality of life. They are also where young people learn what they are capable of.

That connection is personal for me. When I work on issues involving land management, water infrastructure, and responsible access to public lands, I think about communities like Durango that depend on getting those decisions right. Growth brings opportunity, but it also brings pressure. Preserving what makes our region special while keeping it affordable and economically viable is one of the central challenges facing Southwest Colorado.

The Olympic Games often focus attention on the final result. The race, the score, the podium. What we see less of is the years of preparation that come before it. That reality resonates here. In rural and mountain communities, success rarely happens overnight. It is built through steady effort, community support, and a willingness to do the unglamorous workday after day.

As these athletes compete on the world stage, they represent more than themselves. They reflect the character of the places that raised them. Charlie Mickel's presence in the Olympics is a reminder that world-class achievement can come from a town like Durango, shaped by community, landscape, and hard work.

I will be watching and cheering, along with many others across the Third District. Not because these athletes are famous, but because they are ours and because they remind us why these communities are worth protecting and fighting for.