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Chapter 1
Living in the Front Range
Alpine Desert.
It conjures up pictures of stark terrain with rocky vistas. If you watch the Travel
Channel, it makes you think Mt. Kilimanjaro. Colorado has more in common with Mt. Kiliman-
jaro than we do our five closest states. We're an Alpine Desert, too. We're classified with high
altitudes, low precipitation in winter and wetter spring and summer seasons. In December, our
snow doesn't just melt--it evaporates. The sun comes
out and so do our sunglasses and sunscreen. What
happens in March through May can make some people
throw up their hands in despair! We swing from wet, icy
blizzards to 70 degree days and back again. We start the
cycle of afternoon downpours and sunshowers, to flash
floods and hail, back to sun and dry, hot days. We also
have experience additional moisture from snow melt in the
Rockies in the form of runoff and increased groundwater.
All of this creates the perfect recipe for foundation
problems!
Top: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania Below: Front Range, CO