{"id":797060,"date":"2026-08-01T08:21:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T08:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/797060\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T08:21:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T08:21:27","slug":"adam-palmer-documentary-details-his-sustainability-impact-in-eagle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/797060\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Palmer documentary details his sustainability impact in Eagle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just about everyone who knew Adam Palmer<\/a> talks about a sudden, electric realization shortly after meeting him: this is an extraordinary human.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a common epiphany when Palmer was on a stage, trail or a remote, snowy peak. It struck just as often in meetings as Palmer cajoled others to join him on a mission to clean up his community\u2019s carbon footprint.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And now, despite his death in 2021, everyone gets a chance to feel the inspiring light of Palmer, thanks to a new movie touring the state. \u201cThe Casual Enormity of Adam Palmer\u201d documentary is both a celebration of the mythical father, husband, musician, athlete and community leader and a call to arms in the fight for clean, renewable energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Palmer died on the first day of February 2021 in an avalanche in the San Juans<\/a> outside Silverton that also killed Eagle entrepreneur and fellow town councilman Andy Jessen<\/a> and local architect and father Seth Bossung<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Adam Palmer and Benny, atop Craig\u2019s Peak in Eagle County. (Ben Zeeb, Special to The Colorado Sun)<\/p>\n

The well-named documentary details Palmer\u2019s lasting impact on his community, from raising two daughters to spearheading a transformative effort to wean a giant swath of the Western Slope off coal. He was one of the first green-minded board members to push the Holy Cross Energy utility toward clean energy. (The 45,000-member electric cooperative reported 100% of its energy from wind and solar farms in March<\/a>, reaching a milestone first pushed by Palmer in the early 2000s.)<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam\u2019s spirit is very much with us today. To know Adam was to know joy in so many ways,\u201d said Bryan Hannegan, the president and CEO of Holy Cross Energy, who was one of more than two dozen people interviewed for the documentary. \u201cJust embracing the opportunity and being optimistic. Waking up optimistic, man there is nothing we can\u2019t do and a lot of that I gained by being around and in his aura.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palmer landed in the Eagle River Valley in the 1990s helping Vail Mountain seed one of the resort industry\u2019s first recycling programs. He rocketed into a career focused on energy and sustainability helping Eagle County develop efficient building codes and founded Energy Smart Colorado, which has audited the efficiency of 11,000 homes and supported 5,500 home energy improvements. He helped script an Eagle County Climate Action Plan<\/a> that was pioneering in its day, pushing for cleaner air with electric vehicle charging stations long before the EV boom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis sustainability and environmental work at the county level was putting Eagle County on the map statewide for really important local government action and partnerships that were happening in his community that we were able to talk about at the Capitol and statewide,\u201d Colorado Rep. Julie McCluskie said in the movie.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThe Casual Enormity of Adam Palmer\u201d documentary explores the impact of Adam Palmer in the Eagle River Valley. This drone footage shows the commemoration of the Adam\u2019s Way mountain bike trail in 2022. (Handout)<\/p>\n

Today, the Adam Palmer Sustainability Fund<\/a> is carrying on his legacy, with projects in the Town of Eagle that include Adam\u2019s Way, a sustainable community of high-efficiency, affordable homes for local employees that was built by Habitat for Humanity and Eagle County School District. The fund also helped Walking Mountains and local parents at Eagle Valley Elementary switch the heat at a greenhouse at the Walking Mountains Science Center campus in Edwards from natural gas to solar power.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fund has a mission \u2014 the champions of the fund call it their B-HAG, or Big Hairy Audacious Goal \u2014 of raising $2.6 million for an endowment that will fund more than $280,000 in sustainability projects in the town of Eagle every year.<\/p>\n

If you are already exhausted from hearing about Palmer\u2019s relentless motor, buckle up. He also helped found the Hardscrabble Trails Coalition, which has carved some 150 miles of single track on federal and town-owned lands around Eagle. He was instrumental in securing funding for a surf wave in the Eagle River in town. He got a bunch of hockey folks together to build and maintain an ice rink in Eagle\u2019s Town Park. He played music with several bands over the course of three decades in the valley. He served on the Eagle town council.<\/p>\n

And, per the Palmer way, he was a gifted mountain athlete who excelled at skiing, river surfing and mountain biking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so accomplished as an endurance athlete that he just thought anything was possible and anything was attainable,\u201d said his neighbor and longtime outdoors partner Ben Zeeb, who has an almost limitless supply of adventure stories with Palmer. \u201cJust keep moving forward and keep charging and you could accomplish anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun to be like Adam Palmer\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The movie celebrates Palmer\u2019s unique ability to unite diverse voices in a singular mission. Many people spoke of his uncanny ability to calm nerves with his laughter and easy-going vibe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always so good at bringing everyone together \u2026 and trying to find a solution that\u00a0 worked for everyone,\u201d said Laura Turitz, the president of the Hardscrabble Trails Coalition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to do it now I realize how challenging it is and Adam did it with so much skill. It just seemed effortless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s wife Kalie still marvels at his relentless drive. In the movie she recalls many years ago hearing people call him \u201cEl Jefe\u201d and \u201cEl Presidente\u201d when he formed the trails group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWait, you\u2019re on another board,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t want to just do things the normal way \u2026 and they saw through Adam\u2019s life that you can make things happen in a way that is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Adam Palmer, left, and Ben Zeeb check out early season conditions from atop Craig Peak on New Years Eve 2020. (Jason Blevins, The Colorado Sun) <\/p>\n

His oldest daughter, Montana, is an aspiring musician who plays a song she wrote after her dad\u2019s death in the documentary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montana says she feels herself becoming \u201cmore and more like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fun to be like Adam Palmer,\u201d she said. \u201cI think everyone should be like Adam Palmer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Casual Enormity of Adam Palmer\u201d premiered at the Capitol Theater in Eagle in June, kicking off a statewide tour that is raising money for sustainable energy nonprofits at every stop. Each film showing includes a panel of local sustainability advocates discussing how everyone can play a role in transforming their communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The movie tour includes these stops:<\/p>\n

Saturday at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride<\/p>\n

Wednesday at the Dairy Art Theater in Boulder<\/p>\n

Aug. 7 at the Alma Stone Church in Alma<\/p>\n

Aug. 13 at the Backdoor Theater in Nederland\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sept. 9 at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen<\/p>\n

Sept. 10 at the Paradise Theater in Paonia<\/p>\n

Sept. 17 at the Crystal Theater in Carbondale<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bringing out all these amazing stories and amazing people and our goal is to really pay it forward in each of the places we go and hopefully give everyone the courage they need to step up their efforts around sustainability in their own communities,\u201d said Geoff Grimmer, an Eagle town councilman and director of the Adam Palmer Suitability Fund.<\/p>\n

Type of Story: News<\/p>\n

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just about everyone who knew Adam Palmer talks about a sudden, electric realization shortly after meeting him: this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[4671,192,79,10171],"class_list":["post-797060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-eagle-county","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}