An outdoor industry gathering that organizers are calling the first of its kind is set for this week in Denver, filling a space left by the national industry’s largest show.

Starting Thursday, the Big Gear Show will kick off four days in the Colorado Convention Center, where Outdoor Retailer last year ended a run in favor of a return to its former stomping grounds in Salt Lake City. The Big Gear Show will be joined by another young event: (e)revolution, bringing together makers, retailers and enthusiasts of e-bikes, the fastest growing sector in cycling.

The scene will be similar to Outdoor Retailer: Brands, manufacturers and business people converging to make deals, and journalists covering some of the latest and greatest products to hit the hiking, biking, paddling and camping worlds.

But Colorado’s Outdoor Recreation Industry Office Director Conor Hall stressed: “We’re not trying to re-create a trade show like OR.”

This will be on a smaller scale, said Kenji Haroutunian, who oversaw the first Big Gear Shows in 2021 and 2022 at a big parking lot at Utah’s Deer Valley Resort. Those were attended by close to 2,000 people, he said. (When it came to Denver in 2018, twice-ayear Outdoor Retailer was said to attract 85,000 people.)

Rather than household names, think “smaller, more energetic, more

hungry brands,” Haroutunian said. Think “non-usual suspects,” he said, and “up and coming stories.” Those were stories waiting to be told, he said — “exhibitors who are led by BIPOC and other communities that haven’t been able to rise up in the industry and get attention.”

The focus on diversity and inclusion was important to the Big Gear Show sell, Hall said. Also important, he said: the focus on the general public.

On Saturday and Sunday, anyone can buy a ticket to the show, where a bike track and climbing wall are expected for gear testing. Other exhibits and panel discussions are expected in what is being called the industry’s first “business-to-business-to-consumer” event.

With business-to-business Outdoor Retailer, “I was always a little frustrated with that piece of it, because we were giving them public funding, and it wasn’t open to the public,” Hall said. “I understand why of course. That was the trade show model, and business was being done and whatnot.”

The model has been due for a change, Haroutunian said. His 36 years in the industry saw him direct Outdoor Retailer between 2007 and 2014.

“In a world where you can see stuff online and see it in 3D and watch it in action, that’s sort of an obsolete model,” Haroutunian said.

He added that consumers have “very much become a big influence on brands and decision making,” speaking to web reviews and personal connections made with company missions and actions.

“Making the whole (show) experience more open is the new model, and that’s what we’re doing,” Haroutunian said.

That makes sense in trying to solve some of the “serious issues” the industry is facing, Hall said, mentioning equity and the balance between recreation and conservation.

“We’re not going to move toward real change if we’re not engaging the public in a real and genuine way,” Hall said.

Bigger ideas are in the works.

Hall has envisioned a “South by Southwest-style gathering” for the industry — a super-charged, multifaceted extravaganza that is “extremely ambitious,” Hall granted.

“We really view the Big Gear Show and (e)revolution as a really foundational part of that,” he said.

• A historic tourist stop in Colorado is about to debut with a new look and feel.

Above 11,300 feet along Monarch Pass, the old snack and gift shop beside the scenic tramway has been redubbed Monarch Mountain at the Crest — a nod to the neighbor ski area that acquired the property last year. Monarch Mountain ownership has announced a grand opening set for Saturday.

The all-day celebration will include reduced fare for the tram, which in the 1960s started taking passengers to thrilling views of several mountain ranges. While new operators last year got busy on tram maintenance, they also began transforming the building’s 10,000-square-foot-space.

The interior is part visitor center for Chaffee and Gunnison counties on either side of the pass, part restaurant and part sports shop.

The restaurant is called Freshies, specializing in burgers, fries, milkshakes and smoothies. The sports shop is called Elation, a hiker- and mountain biker-oriented counterpart to Monarch Mountain’s ski and snowboard shop down the road.

The ski area bought the property last year with additional parking in mind. Ownership saw potential beyond that, said Monarch spokesman Dan Bender.

“It gives us a summer operation,” he said. “People have always asked me, ‘Are you gonna do mountain biking?’ And it’s like, Why would you compete with the premier mountain bike trail in Colorado that’s 2 miles away from you?”

That’s the Monarch Crest Trail, in the vicinity of Monarch Mountain at the Crest. The property has also been a popular stop for thru-hikers on the Colorado and Continental Divide trails.

Bender said new ownership is embracing the reputation of waystation, positioning the building as a rest point and resupply center accepting mailed packages. The goal is also to have what hikers and bikers need in the shop, everything from gear to snacks.

Saturday’s grand opening is set for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Along with half-price tram rides, guests can take advantage of 20% off retail and taste shakes and smoothies.

Monarch Mountain at the Crest is expected to operate from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through September. Regular price for tram tickets will be $15 for adults and $12 for kids 12 and younger.

• Operators have posted rules and prices for shuttles and parking this summer at one of Colorado’s busiest 14,000-foot mountains.

From June 17 to Sept. 17, climbers seeking Quandary Peak must either pay for a ride to the historically packed trailhead or pay more for a parking spot there.

From Breckenridge, the round trip shuttle is $7 for non-summit County residents; residents can ride for free by emailing proof of residency 48 hours in advance. Visitors booking the shuttle will receive an emailed confirmation, which includes a code for free parking at Breckenridge’s South Gondola garage.

From 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., shuttles are expected to run about every 30 minutes to Quandary’s trailhead. The shuttle also runs to the similarly popular Mccullough Gulch trailhead between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For hikers wishing to park directly at the trailheads, they’ll have to pay between $10 and $55.

For full day, 5 a.m.-3 p.m. parking — the option encouraged for Quandary hikers — a reservation is $30 Monday-thursday, excluding holidays. For Friday-sunday and holidays, a parking spot is $55.

For short-term, four-hour parking, reservations for those non-peak days are $10, while Friday-sunday is $20.

This will be the third summer for the shuttle and parking regime. It launched in response to mounting troubles for land managers and first-responders around the small parking lot off Colorado 9. With the lot regularly full, search-and-rescue teams reported issues with access, while highway patrol saw hazards with cars parked up and down the roadside.