Standing inside his kiosk in the 500 block of Main Avenue, 15-year-old Collin Crowdes greets tourists with a big smile and a breath of fresh air – something many travelers need after coming from sea level to this town at 6,512 feet in elevation.

Crowdes opened Durango Oxygen on June 19 near the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Depot. He offers customers an opportunity to inhale 90% to 98% pure oxygen, which he says can make them feel refreshed and able to breathe again.

“I don’t see a lot of entrepreneurs who are youngish, like I am, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could run (a business),” he said. “It’s going to make me unique and I’m really hoping it sets me apart when it (comes) time for me to go to college.”

Before Durango Oxygen, Crowdes launched online businesses, one of which entailed running a website and handling marketing for an artist.

He said his previous entrepreneurial endeavors have given him the business knowledge necessary to start Durango Oxygen.

For Crowdes’ grandmother, Caroni Adams, his desire to open Durango Oxygen came as no surprise.

“Heavens, he’s been doing it since he was 10. He doesn’t understand he’s not grown up yet,” she said.

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Adams said Crowdes has been working for five years, first at Animas Chocolate & Coffee Co. as an intern, then as a volunteer at the Fish Connection.

“He likes getting up and going to work,” Adams said. “And I keep saying to him, ‘Slow down, you got your whole life to work.’ But he just likes it.”

Crowdes said he financed 90% of the opening and operational costs for Durango Oxygen with his personal savings.

“I did take out a small loan from my dad, and I'm really grateful for that,” he said. “It’s been support from my whole family that has made this possible.”

Crowdes’ mother and grandmother are both business owners, a fact that Adams said may have influenced Crowdes’ entrepreneurial ambition.

Crowdes said the idea of starting an oxygen bar stemmed from a family friend who ran one at Purgatory Resort.

When that bar closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, it opened an opportunity, Crowdes said.

“There were no oxygen bars in Durango,” he said. “It seemed like a natural choice.”

Durango Oxygen consists of two stations that sit on the kiosk counter. Each station offers customers four flavors that provide varying sensory effects, Crowdes said.

“Two are going to be relaxing, and two are going to give you energy,” he said.

Air is forced through the flavors, causing them to bubble and mix with oxygen from an oxygen concentrator kept in the kiosk. The resulting gas is then delivered to the customer through the nasal cannula that Crowdes provides to each customer.

“They’re like the ones you get when you’re in the hospital,” he said.

“You put it in your nose, and then over your ears,” he said, inserting the nose bit into his nostrils and tucking the tubing behind his ears.

“Now you’re able to connect to these tubes down here,” he said, gesturing to the tubing attachment protruding from each oxygen station.

“Ten minutes can feel like a cup of coffee, whereas 20 minutes on oxygen can feel like a full night’s rest,” Crowdes said.

Most of Durango Oxygen’s business comes from tourists, he said.

“When they’re coming back down from Silverton (9,318 feet in elevation), they finally feel those effects of altitude and want something that’s going to rejuvenate (them),” he said. “Anytime after 3:15 is going to be the busiest time for us, just because that’s when trains start rolling in.”

Crowdes offers 10-, 15- and 20-minute sessions for $10, $15 and $18, respectively. Customers with a paid train ticket can receive $2 off any session.

Crowdes said he has been hitting sales goals and is excited to see where the summer takes him.

“I’ve always said (with) Collin, it’s not a matter of what he’s going to do in life, it’s what he’s not going to do, because he's so talented,” Adams said. “He could just go anywhere and do anything.”

lveress@duarngoherald.com