Despite the myriad challenges faced over the last year, Met Rec, in collaboration with its many partners, has helped achieve a lot in 2020. One thing is clear, the Gunnison Valley is a resilient community home to incredible organizations and passionate people.

Early in the year, we convened and re-convened with constituents to collect input for our first-ever strategic plan. Your feedback helped realize our role as an integrator capable of innovating partnerships to accomplish vital community recreation opportunities.

Your outreach confirmed demand for additional developed recreation amenities, such as field space and indoor recreation facilities. We also heard the need to improve access to recreation and concern for high program and equipment costs. Lastly, there was overwhelming interest in supporting trail maintenance throughout the Gunnison Valley.

In response, here is some of what unfolded in 2020 –

Hockey Changing Rooms were built at the Big Mine Ice Arena, a much-needed addition to the facility!

We launched the Field Space Initiative, a collaborative effort aimed at responsibly developing additional recreation fields in the Gunnison Valley. You can learn more about the Initiative here. 

The Hartman Rocks Terrain Park got a major facelift, thanks to the efforts of the Gunnison Valley OHV Alliance of Trail Riders and Met Rec’s Developed Recreation Grant Program.

After prioritizing increased access to recreation as part of our 2020 Community Collaboration Grant Program criteria, we partnered with six local organizations to connect more community members to transformative recreation experiences.

Met Rec partnered with Gunnison County and the National Forest Foundation to help finance stewardship of our public and conserved lands. This partnership helped leverage funding for our local trail groups; Gunnison Trails and the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association. You can learn more about the Gunnison Stewardship fund here.

In the Fall of 2020, outdoor winter recreation stakeholders convened to brainstorm strategies for connecting more Gunnison Valley residents to safe, outdoor winter recreation opportunities. As a result, the 2021 Winter Recreation Initiative was developed, bringing accessible programming to YOU! Learn more about the Initiative’s offerings here. 

2020 also saw many improvements to the Met Rec Television System-

Starting at the Gunnison Studio, improvements were made to increase the system’s reliability. This included replacing all satellite receivers with professional-grade receivers, overhauling satellite dishes to improve reception, installing a new computer to provide the over-the-air channel guide, and the installation of new battery backup power to protect equipment from power glitches and surges. Additionally, new network equipment was installed, enabling us to remotely monitor and diagnose equipment at other sites.

Moving outwards from the Studio, six aging transmitters were replaced with high-end transmitters at some of our hub sites. Improvements were made to grounding and lightning protection to protect equipment from power surges. We also installed a high-bandwidth ethernet bridge to carry programming from Gunnison Studio to W Mountain, preparing us to accommodate the required transition to new technology standards. This upgrade also eliminates the need to utilize unreliable receivers which were prone to failure and weather fade. At the Waunita site, a new solar array and batteries were installed. 

To read more about last year’s work and what’s coming up next for us, please check out our 2020 Annual Report.