Siding in the Roaring Fork Valley has a harder life than almost anywhere else in the country. The sun is stronger at altitude, snow sits against the bottom courses from December to April, and on a sunny winter day the south wall can go from below freezing to sixty degrees and back. Paint, caulk, and cheap materials give up fast under that cycle.
Fiber cement handles the conditions well and holds paint far longer than wood, which is why it's on most new builds from Basalt to Rifle. Cedar and engineered wood look right on mountain homes and do fine if they're installed with proper clearances and maintained. Vinyl gets brittle in cold and chalky in sun, and we rarely recommend it here.
Installation matters more than material. A rainscreen gap behind the siding lets the wall dry out, kick-out flashing keeps roof runoff out of the wall, and correct ground and roof clearances stop the bottom courses from wicking meltwater. Most siding failures we repair come from skipped flashing, not bad boards.
If you're replacing siding, that's also the moment to check the sheathing and house wrap underneath and fix any rot before it's covered again. Ask for those details in writing on your estimate. Good siding is a system, and the parts you can't see are the ones that decide how long it lasts.