{"id":22236,"date":"2025-05-16T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-man-climbs-skysteps-eight-times-for-80th-birthday\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:12:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:12:39","slug":"durango-man-climbs-skysteps-eight-times-for-80th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-man-climbs-skysteps-eight-times-for-80th-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango man climbs SkySteps eight times for 80th birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Robert
Robert Winslow celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday by holding a fundraiser, raising money for area nonprofits by climbing the SkySteps eight times, one round for each decade of his life. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango resident Robert Winslow rose to the occasion of his 80th birthday this week when he completed the SkySteps \u2013 a 529-step staircase leading from town to Fort Lewis College \u2013 eight times, once for each decade of his life, to raise money for a good cause.<\/p>\n

A little red in the face, the newly minted octogenarian said he was feeling fine as he snacked on a mix of peanut butter pretzels and chocolate energy bars. He was perched on a folding chair in the shade of a tree, recouping after his sixth round before finishing his climb.<\/p>\n

He said he trained and completed eight rounds on the SkySteps several times before the big day on Wednesday, even once completing nine rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel great today and am not sore or in any discomfort,\u201d he told The Durango Herald<\/em> on Thursday. \u201cToday, I\u2019m wearing compression socks, which can help improve recovery by reducing muscle soreness and swelling, improving blood circulation, and potentially aiding in faster recovery times.\u201d<\/p>\n

After completing the climb on Wednesday, Winslow went to 11th Street Station where he enjoyed pizza and the company of friends, he said.<\/p>\n

\"Robert
Robert Winslow celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday by climbing the SkySteps in Durango eight times to raise money for the San Juan Mountains Association and La Plata County Humane Society. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Winslow has lived in Durango 44 years and uses the SkySteps to exercise when trails are muddy and snowy. Instead of holding a regular birthday party, he said he wanted to \u201cpush back against the tide\u201d and do something different. But climbing the SkySteps wasn\u2019t just about self-determination. He wanted to give back to a community he loves.<\/p>\n

His climb was a fundraiser for two organizations dear to him \u2013 San Juan Mountains Association and La Plata County Humane Society \u2013 in which donors could pledge whatever amount for each round completed or each step he ascended.<\/p>\n

\n

To donate<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s not too late to donate to Robert Winslow\u2019s charities. To give in honor of Winslow, visit:Humane Society: la-plata-county-humane-society.snwbll.com\/robert-winslow-s-80th<\/a>San Juan Mountains Association: www.coloradogives.org\/story\/Dlys3f<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As of Thursday, Winslow had raised $3,127 for SJMA<\/a> and $1,438 for the Humane Society<\/a>, according to the fundraisers available online. He said more donations were expected and he\u2019d break at least $5,000.<\/p>\n

He said although there are many nonprofits deserving of support, he chose SJMA because he was a longtime sponsor of Durango Nature Studies, which was integrated into SJMA, and he wanted to contribute to something local that benefited children\u2019s education and the environment. He has also adopted a number of dogs from the Humane Society over the years, so he wanted to support it, too.<\/p>\n

Friends and supporters met Winslow at the SkySteps to cheer him on, accompany him up the steps and watch out for him.<\/p>\n

Houston residents Laura Sponaugle and Molly Slattery, who met Winslow along the Colorado Trail three years ago and have remained friends, said they traveled to celebrate Winslow\u2019s birthday with him.<\/p>\n

\"Laura
Laura Sponaugle, who traveled from Houston to celebrate with Robert Winslow for his birthday, said Winslow is a \u201ctrail angel\u201d \u2013 they met in 2022 while hiking the Colorado Trail and have been friends ever since. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s really freaking cool and it\u2019s really impressive,\u201d Sponaugle said of the support people have shown Winslow.<\/p>\n

She said Winslow caring enough about Durango to throw a fundraiser on his birthday, and the support he\u2019s received in return, shows he is a pillar of the community.<\/p>\n

Sponaugle said Winslow is a \u201ctrail angel\u201d in helping people along the Colorado Trail, and she\u2019s kept in touch with him. She said she didn\u2019t realize she could share so much in common with people from older generations until she met Winslow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever we can do to help you keep being a badass and keep being an activist in the community in so many ways, we\u2019re here to help you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Winslow compared his strategy for taking on the SkySteps to a long-distance runner establishing his or her pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you get into that rhythm, it makes it easier. That\u2019s what I like to do,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 When I first did the Sky steps, I would have to stop and catch my breath and breathe. Now I don\u2019t have to stop. I just keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Robert
Robert Winslow is no stranger to the outdoors or physical exercise. He taught wilderness studies and outdoor education at Idaho State University for six years. In 1971, he was the 36th person to through-hike the entire Appalachian Trail from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Shenandoah Mountains. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

He said each climb takes about eight minutes to reach the top, and it takes him about 15 minutes to descend the steps.<\/p>\n

Winslow is no stranger to the outdoors or physical exercise. He taught wilderness studies and outdoor education at Idaho State University for six years. In 1971, he was the 36th person to through-hike the entire Appalachian Trail from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Shenandoah Mountains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have so much gratitude for the amazing life that I\u2019ve had,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve met so many wonderful people and traveled all over the world, been in all seven continents, and I\u2019ve been very fortunate to go to the places I\u2019ve been to and seen what I\u2019ve seen, and to meet the people that I\u2019ve met.\u201d<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winslow marks milestone with a fundraiser for nonprofits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[408,364,950,28,714,976],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-charity","tag-community","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-human-interest","tag-outdoor-recreation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77626,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22236\/revisions\/77626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22236"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}