Compiled by Allen Best
ASPEN, Colo. — Is new technology such as shaped skis the saviour of skiing?
No, says Aspen Times columnist Roger Marolt, a long-time local. Such devices are destroying the sport, he says, because they take the challenge and hence the triumph out of the sport.
"Nothing is off-limits to the novice anymore," he writes. "It’s the inevitable ‘dumbing down’ of our sport: a byproduct of mass marketing to mature (a.k.a. wealthy) skiers (a.k.a. timeshare purchasers). Take shaped skis for example. Well… they just make skiing easier. Now there’s a thrilling concept.
"They practically turn themselves. Are you invigorated yet?"
As Marolt sees it, the decline began in the 1980s when skier numbers began to drop. Rather than lowering prices to keep people in the game, ski industry executives decided it was simpler to fight over existing customers.
"Retirement community amenities and corduroy-smooth runs were the bait," he explains. "Equipment manufacturers followed suit. ‘Easier’ became synonymous with ‘better.’ The result is that now ski resorts are competing with strolls down the Palm Beach Boardwalk as the recreational activity du jour."
In short, Marolt is saying that by making us all above-average skiers, the new technology eliminates any true triumph of excelling, making the sport… boring. Take a cue from the X Games, with its panoply of jumps, bumps, and rails, stairs, walls, and pits, he suggests. Harder means more exciting means more passion, he argues.
Planner accused of impropriety
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — An associate city planner is being accused of selling scarce development rights to a real estate agent more than a decade ago.
Then, as now, there’s a waiting list for such development rights in the Lake Tahoe area. As explained by the Tahoe Daily Tribune, a real estate agent threatened to expose the planner’s use and sale of cocaine unless she went along with the deal. The real estate agent then sold the improperly obtained development rights for $105,000.
Banff mayor defends need-to-reside rule
BANFF, Alberta — Because Banff, the town, is within Banff National Park, the federal government has some considerable say-so in what happens within the town. One provision is that people who own property there must live there. In other words, no vacation or second homes.
A lawsuit is underway in an attempt to displace that notion, but several Banff municipal officials say it’s proper and just. Opponents of this need-to-reside rule say they are fighting for individual freedoms, but Mayor Dennis Shuler says their real motivation is greed.
Another council member, Bob Haney, says the law is vital to keeping Banff a tourist town. "I see no advantage of having the rich being able to come in and buy up housing stock that is needed to house employees who are delivering a service to the visitors of the national park," he told the Banff Crag & Canyon. Expensive mountain retreats can be purchased elsewhere in Canada, among them Whistler and Canmore, as well as the United States, he said.
Aspen looking at artificial grass
ASPEN, Colo. — Aspen may be going plastic – as in artificial turf. Artificial turf is much better than the old Astroturf, as the city’s parks director, Jeff Woods, reported recently. "It looks and feels very much like regular grass," he said.
The artificial turf would also remove pressure on the city’s other parks and playing fields, and it could absorb the heavy beating of the annual Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Festival, reports The Aspen Times.
Artificial turf was also used for a soccer field built in conjunction with affordable housing and a college campus at Edwards, in the Vail Valley.
Steamboat boss optimistic
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Chris Diamond, president of the Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp., sees the stars lining up for Steamboat and its parent owner, the American Skiing Co.
A six-year decline in the number of destination skiers appears to have bottomed out. Now with new growth of skiers on the East and West coasts, it appears that that growth will spread to the Rocky Mountain resorts. Already, evidence of growth can be found at Steamboat in the fact that the ski school facilities are being maxed out during peak periods.
However, some $10 million to $20 million in upgrades to ski lifts, trails, and the base area at Steamboat are on hold for now. To get banks to give them money, the seven ski areas owned by American Skiing Co. must collectively meet pre-determined cash-flow thresholds. And even when that happens, it’s not certain that Steamboat will get the money for upgrades first, said Diamond. Those upgrades likely to generate the most revenue will get the first nod.
In addition to Steamboat, American Skiing owns The Canyons in Utah, plus two ski areas in Vermont, two in Maine, and one in New Hampshire.
Summit smoking ban coming June 1
SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — Smoking as of June 1 will be illegal in enclosed public places and bus stops in unincorporated Summit County. The only exceptions to the ban will be private clubs, lodging and, as you might expect, tobacco shops.
County voters by a 2-to-1 margin last year asked for county commissioners to ban smoking in places used by the public. The county’s five towns are not bound to the decision, but most are expected to adopt parallel bans. Only one, Frisco, appears headed in a different direction, as it is entertaining the idea of allowing designated smoking rooms that must have separate ventilation systems.
First Kobe Bryant book issued
EAGLE, Colo. — The first book about the Kobe Bryant affair has been released, months ahead of a possible trial. The writer, Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, is covering the case for a national television station program, CBS’s 48 Hours. He covered the JonBenet Ramsey case for a grocery market tabloid, notes the Vail Daily, which is also a tabloid but with a different flavour of news. A tabloid is a size of paper.
Exploding off-road use hot topic
THE WEST — Off-road vehicle use has become the most politically volatile land-use issue in the country, reports the New York Times. A new front in this "war" is conflicts among off-roaders themselves.
The Times traces the dispute to the end of World War II, when jeeps and dirt bikes first became available to general consumers. But it wasn’t until 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to regulate the activity on federal lands, that the government took an active role in managing its impact.
Meanwhile, the popularity of off-roading has exploded. The number of off-highway motorcycles increased 146 per cent from 1998 to 2002, while Americans purchased almost double the number of ATVs in the same time frame.
The latest chapter is the friction between self-styled responsible off-roaders, usually members of local clubs that promote adherence to existing land-use rules, and the renegades who see that as an environmental appeasement.
One example among the latter is Loren Shirk, a networking engineer in Duarte, Calif., who drives his Chevy Blazer over the sand dunes near Barstow, Calif. "I think my right to go where I want should not be hampered by the whims of somebody else that wants to leave the world looking like it was 4,000 years ago," he said. "The way you succeed in life," he added, "is to go outside the lines."
Another example is Brad Lark, publisher of extreme44.com, a Web site devoted to off-roading. The Tread Lightly program, he said, is "just a veiled form of extreme environmentalism. They spend more time supporting the land closures than they do keeping the land open and opening up closed lands."
The mainline off-roading organization, the BlueRibbon Coalition, estimates that illegal riders accounted for 1 or 2 per cent of all off-road activity, but some law officials and most environmentalists put the figure at much higher – somewhere in the 15 to 20 per cent range, according to a BLM ranger in the desert outside of Barstow.
Whatever the figure, one figure in the California Off-Road Vehicle Association, Ed Waldheim, who refers to scofflaw off-roaders as "idiots," warns that the dispute even within the off-road community is approaching anarchy. The cause, he said, is a "rebellion against the continued erosion of our off-road opportunities on public land."
Snowboarder billed $1,295 for rescue
DURANGO, Colo. — A snowboarder who ducked ropes and went out of area at Durango Mountain resort and then had to be rescued is getting a bill for $1,294 and losing his ski pass. He was the second skier within seven days at the resort to go out of area and need rescuing.
The snowboarder was found to be suffering from mild hypothermia when found about three miles outside of the ski area boundaries. Rescuers said he might not have lived had he spent the night out. As he was, he was gone for nine hours.
Volunteer rescuers are not charging for their time or expenses, but the ski resort is. As well, under Colorado law he could have been charged with a crime for violating the ski area boundary, but that law requires a victim. The ski area refused to be that victim.
Same song, different words
KETCHUM, Idaho — It’s kind of the same song, but the lyrics are different. For years people have been saying they didn’t want to be like Aspen, because of the unsavoury parts of its successes. But an economic consultant for Aspen recently told a group in Ketchum that they didn’t want to be like Aspen, because of its failure.
Well, "failure" might be too strong a word to describe what has happened in downtown Aspen during the last three years, but the retail picture does seem to be out of whack. Commercial space lease rates have hit $140 per square foot even in the face of vacant storefronts. For three straight years retail sales have declined.
Part of the problem, explained Ford Frick, managing director of Denver-based BBC Research and Consulting, is that rising real estate prices have resulted in people moving down valley. "A real estate economy uses – or doesn’t use – a downtown much differently than one that caters to destination guests," Frick told the Ketchum gathering, which was attended by the Idaho Mountain Express. A result, he noted, is that some retail businesses have migrated down the valley along with their customers.
Also part of Aspen’s problems have been growth in non-retail businesses and strict city regulations that prohibit businesses from effectively displaying their signs and products. One way to help bring a revitalization, he says, is increase height and density for the downtown area.
Park City closing gate on gated communities
PARK CITY, Utah — Park City’s planning commissioners want to preclude gates erected on even private streets, allowing them only near a "major traffic or parking generator," like a ski area, and with a few other criteria.
"It sets a very high standard for when a gate is appropriate," said Chris Larson, a planning commissioner who favors the change. "That pretty much rules out a lot of Park City.
While the city council has final authority in this matter, The Park Record suggests a similar mindset. The city has "generally opposed gated streets" and in one case went to court to prevent a homeowners’ association from erecting a gate to prevent non-property owners from driving on a street. But even when gates will be allowed, under the proposed law, access must be provided for pedestrians, bicyclists, and equestrians.
Yoga embraced by guys now even kindergartners
TELLURIDE, Colo. — As it has across the Americas, yoga seems to be everywhere in the ski towns. Aspen Magazine this winter has a story about yoga becoming a guy thing. In Telluride, it’s also a kindergartner thing.
The Telluride Watch explains that yoga classes for preschoolers began at the local Elks Lodge several years ago, which in turn has led to yoga for kindergarteners at various public schools. At Telluride High School, students can take yoga in lieu of ski P.E. Several cheerleaders who did so were surprised at their added flexibility.
Pop & candy machines disappear from schools
JACKSON, Wyo. — Students returning from Christmas vacation discovered that the cafeteria was different – no more pop and candy machines, but instead machines dispensing juices, granola, and fruit.
The junk netted the high school $75,000 a year, helping subsidize food operations. However, the Jackson Hole News & Guide says that sales of the new, improved foods seem to be just as brisk. Other schools in the district had previously eliminated the junkiest of the junk food.
Breck woman to live on in bodies of others
BRECKERNIDGE, Colo. — A 25-year-old employee at the Breckenridge Resort died recently from severe brain injuries suffered from an after-hours accident in the terrain park. But because she had agreed when getting a driver’s license that her organs and tissue could be used if she died, about 50 people will now benefit.
In another case at Breckenridge, a 15-year-old boy was hit by a car while walking to school. A 62-year-old woman started swimming for physical therapy after receiving his heart. She didn’t know it then, but the boy had been an avid swimmer.
In Colorado 76 per cent of automobile drivers are willing donors, reports the Summit Daily News, a somewhat higher percentage than in Summit County
Woman survives after plunge into reservoir
GRANBY, Colo. — A woman who drove her snowmobile into the icy waters of a reservoir barely survived, with her body temperature dropping to 80 degrees before she was flown by helicopter to a Denver hospital. Initially in critical condition, her condition was later upgraded to "fair," reported the Sky-Hi News.
She and two companions were snowmobiling on the ice of Shadow Mountain Reservoir, a reservoir used in trans-mountain diversions. After she drove into the open water portion of the reservoir, a companion drove his snowmobile toward the edge, but his snowmobile fell through. He managed to get himself out and went for help. A second man then tried to push a ladder to the woman from the edge of the ice, but he also broke through. Arriving rescuers plucked him out, and then the woman, who was unconscious and floating in the water.
Real estate sales defy conventional wisdom
PARK CITY, Utah — Last summer a statistician with the Park City Board of Realtors went out on the limb, predicting $700 million in sales for the year. He was wrong. Sales were $772 million, a record in the Park City area. Now, some real-estate agents are predicting even more sales this year.
Sales prices of single-family homes registered with the Board of Realtors rose 14 per cent. The inventory of mansions dropped, but the more active market continued to be the mid-sized single-family homes. Condo prices dropped 13 per cent although volume increased.
