It’s not gone forever. The Rifle-provided bus to Sunlight Mountain, a service that usually takes local kids to go skiing at a reduced cost, was placed on hold this season due to COVID-19. Recreation Program Manager Austin Rickstrew said, however, the bus is slated to return next season. “Because of COVID restrictions, we couldn’t get as many kids on the bus, so we couldn’t afford to operate it,” he said. Usually the service costs about $11,000 a year to operate — an expense incurred by the city’s parks and recreation department. However, since the city estimated they could only ...