Fraser – elevation 8,600 feet – gets below freezing on more than 300 nights a year. It’s recorded a freeze for every single date of the year, and its growing season lasts just a week, thanks to cold air that gets trapped in the bowl-shaped valley where it sits.
In 1956 Fraser called itself the “Icebox of the Nation,” 8 years after International Falls, Minnesota adopted the title because there was money in it as a marketing tool. Meteorologists would say neither place deserves the moniker. But the rivalry persisted until International Falls paid Fraser two thousand dollars to drop its claim. International Falls got the trademark, then forgot to renew it. Fraser leaped on the opportunity, but was countersued. And though it ultimately lost the legal battle to be the Icebox of the Nation, it could compete with Alamosa and Gunnison to be the “Icebox of Colorado."
About Colorado Postcards
Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado.
