Maren Horjus

Boulder

Outdoors journalist with a sports problem. Digital director at @5280magazine, 2x author, and Northwestern alum. Formerly @rei and @backpackermag. 🏕❄️🏄‍♀️

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Articles

What We Know About the Attack on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall

5 days ago | 5280.com | Maren Horjus

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available. At least eight people were injured Sunday afternoon when a man threw incendiary devices into a crowd of people near the Boulder County Historic Courthouse on Pearl Street. A suspect is in custody, according to Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn.
The 15 Best Lakes Around Denver

6 days ago | 5280.com | Maren Horjus

With all due respect to God and his handiwork, man has created marvels in Colorado. Hundreds of humanmade reservoirs dot the Front Range, providing drinking water, irrigation, and your launchpad for the best summer ever. Rally your crew, pack your floaties, and load your cooler. Here, our 15 favorite close-to-home escapes for mile-high lake days. The Best Lakes for BoatingAt Horsetooth Reservoir, 57 miles of trails crisscross the foothills beyond the western shore.
How the Colorado Rockies Embarrassed Denver This Week

3 weeks ago | 5280.com | Maren Horjus

As of mid-May, the Colorado Rockies are on track to break the single-season record for losses by 13 games. To honor the club’s pursuit of history, 5280 is compiling a living record of their season—so that future generations of Denverites might someday be able to look back and understand their ancestors’ shame. May 10-16, 2025Current record: 7-36 (.163)Current pace: 26-136It’s been so long since the Colorado Rockies mattered. The club’s lone World Series appearance came in 2007.
Dan Abrams Won’t Sell Out

3 weeks ago | 5280.com | Maren Horjus

Denver turned Dan Abrams into a ski bum—a role he never abandoned after co-founding Flylow, the ski clothing company that captured Colorado’s go-hard approach to slope style. Nothing like the Cactus Pant existed before Flylow brought it to market in 2005: An ultradurable, loose-fitting work pant with sufficient breathability for hiking to sidecountry stashes adjacent to A-Basin and Vail, this category-buster was invented for Colorado’s mountain addicts. Abrams was—and is—one of those.
What Are the Denver Broncos Going to Do in the 2025 NFL Draft?

1 month ago | 5280.com | Maren Horjus

Over the past decade, the highlight of the Broncos’ season occurred when no football was being played. As Denver stacked losing record after losing record, saying farewell to coach after coach, fans could at least rally around the springtime promise of the NFL Draft. It was thrilling! We’d sit at the edge of our seats, spellbound by the sight of a paunchy executive sauntering to a podium.
5 Ways To Celebrate El Día Del Niño in and Around Denver This Year

1 month ago | 5280.com | Maren Horjus

This one’s for the kiddos (and kids at heart). A Mexican tradition since 1925, Día del Niño—or Day of the Child—celebrates little ones and their importance to our future.
Iconic Adventure Travel Gear Brand Eagle Creek Celebrates the Big 5-0

1 month ago | 5280.com | Maren Horjus

For Colorado’s famously active, outdoors-loving population, the perfect vacation is probably an adventure. Whether you’re bike touring through the Loire Valley, bird-watching in New Zealand, trekking to Everest Base Camp, or highpointing a fourteener, your idea of getting out there is diverse and, well, big. In the mid-1970s, however, adventure travel was a new, if growing, idea.
The Oversimplified Guide to Springtime Mountain Safety

Mar 1, 2025 | 5280.com | Alyssa Chutka |Maren Horjus

Any self-respecting Coloradan knows there’s no such thing as the offseason. But whether you’re itching to ski, snowshoe, or hike, it can be tough to plan for spring’s fickle weather and hairy snow conditions. We asked Golden Mountain Guides owner Ben Coryell, who has led shoulder-season trips in the Rockies for 15 years, for his best safety tips for keeping the stoke alive. 1. March weather in Colorado is “variable at best,” Coryell says. (And above 9,500 feet?
Why Are Ski Patrol Unions Everywhere Right Now?

Feb 19, 2025 | 5280.com | Maren Horjus |Jay Bouchard

When 200 ski patrollers in Park City walked off the job on December 27, 2024, they began the first patrol strike in more than 50 years. Operations at America’s largest ski resort were crippled for two weeks as more than 70 percent of the mountain’s terrain remained closed due to a lack of experienced workforce. Amidst abundant snowfall, hourslong lines twisted through the mountain village as furious skiers directed chants—“Pay your employees!”—at the mountain’s owner, Vail Resorts.
The 21 Best Hikes in America for Kids

Feb 14, 2025 | backpacker.com | Maren Horjus

Take a deep breath, mom and dad. Actually, don't. You won't need it on this easy, 1-mile out-and-back along a quiet footpath to an even quieter backcountry hideaway. Between the gurgling brooks and unending birdsong, there's enough to hold Junior's attention while you stroll beneath a canopy of mixed hard- and softwoods. Link the Victory and Ramapo-Dunderberg Trails .5 mile to the Tom Jones lean-to (first-come, first-serve). For more solitude, pitch your tent in the grassy area above the shelter.