In a time of national climate dereliction, Patrick Church is a radical optimist. A New Hampshire native turned Crested Butte high country adventurer, Patrick’s first winter in Gunnison County saw record-low snowfalls.

“It was worse than any of the local life-timers could remember,” Patrick recalls. “We were looking at a future of skiing on rocks.”

Patrick dove headlong into local organizing that culminated with the Crested Butte Town Council joining dozens of winter sports communities across North America in declaring a climate emergency. His work helped bring 20 stakeholders together to craft a Climate Action Plan for the town, including a target for 100% clean energy by 2030. In December, 175 locals came out for the plan’s official ratification.

“It’s clear that our civilization was going to have to tackle this energy transition issue at some stage, at some point,” Patrick says. “We’re just lucky to be the ones alive when that happened. We’re the ones who get to figure this out.”

Not satisfied with the town’s historic announcement, Patrick and friends packed the house for a Gunnison County Climate Action Conference at Western Colorado University. The conference brought winter sports enthusiasts, climate researchers, businesses and policymakers together to discuss climate change threats in the High Country and what locals could do.

He ended January with a training of 30 volunteers and was working to help enroll customers in a new community solar garden offered by Gunnison County Electric Association — until the program was overwhelmed with demand and sold out.

“This is all about love for these mountains,” Patrick says. “This is the least we can do for them.”