GEM Director publishes second book

When Tim Nicklas came to the Grand Encampment Museum (GEM) as the new director in 2018, he had already published one book and several historical articles. Nicklas said he loves to write, especially historical narratives. He began writing 'around the turn of the century', for the Winter Park Manifest, a small town newspaper. Nicklas has always been fascinated by history and the connections in the communities where he lived.

Nicklas was working for the Grand County Historical Society Museum when the 100th anniversary of the first winter carnival took place in Hot Sulfur Springs, Colorado. Nicklas collaborated with other historians and volunteers to put together a celebration of this milestone. Two months later they had another carnival.

During this time publishers were vying for a book contract to write the Winter Park book. The director of Winter Park marketing told the publisher, The Donning Company Publishers, if they hired Nicklas to write the book, Winter Park would give them the contract.

His first book, "Winter Park Resort, 75 Years of Imagining, More" was published in 2014.

Nicklas moved to Encampment to take the reins as the Grand Encampment Museum director in 2018. He settled in and went to work, learning the history of the valley and getting to know all of the amazing supporters.

About three years after coming to Encampment, Nicklas was surprised by a call from Donning Publishing company, asking him to write a book about Copper Mountain's Resort, in celebration of it's 50th year anniversary. Nicklas told the publisher to give him a few days to think it over.

While pondering this project, Nicklas remembered meeting Pat Lynch, a local resident that had spent years in the Copper Mountain area working for the United States Forest Service. Nicklas reached out to Lynch and found a fountain of resources and research material.

He called Donning and accepted the contract to write the book in one year.

Nicklas ran into a couple snags visiting Copper Mountain. In 2021, they were doing Olympic testing at the resort and couldn't accommodate a visit from him until December 2021.

Nicklas was able to visit a few times and thanks to the generosity of Lynch, he was able to complete the book at 2:30 a.m. the day of his deadline in early October, 2022. Nicklas said the last three days were grueling and he couldn't even remember how many thousands of words he wrote.

His second book, "Copper Mountain Resort: Fifty Years of Fortitude" was published in December 2022.

Both books showcase not only original photos from Nicklas private collection, but many historical photographs as well. Nicklas pointed out one interesting commonality in the photos, he said the majority of people look happy and are smiling.

Nicklas hasn't begun writing another book, yet, but he is mulling over an idea regarding an event called the "Grand County Massacre". It should prove to be a nail biter.