VAIL, Colo. — Zippety-do-dah, zippety-day. Vail Mountain is getting into the zipline business in a major way, with plans for 366-metre-long ziplines atop the mountain, plus two ropes courses.
Vail Resorts says this is just a glimpse of what can be expected in the future should the U.S. Forest Service approve plans for expanded use of the ski mountain during summer use.
President Obama two years ago signed legislation, the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act, which gives the Forest Service expanded authority to permit non-skiing activities at ski areas. These new ziplines are consistent with the spirit of that law.
Vail hopes to have its expanded array of summer amusements in place by June 2015 — assuming, once again, that the Forest Service approves. Vail is seen by those both within the ski industry and the Forest Service as a test case for what will be permitted under the new law.
Chihuahua soon to be real doggone has-been
MONTEZUMA, Colo. — Transformation of Summit County from a mining economy to one based on recreation and leisure began in 1946, the year that Arapahoe Basin opened for business as a ski area.
Later, it was followed by Breckenridge in 1961 and then Keystone and Copper Mountain, plus golf courses and you name it.
But the transformation continues in small ways. The latest moving part involves the 43 acres of Chihuahua, a town created during the boom in silver mining in the 19th century. The land is located at about 3,000 metres just west of the Continental Divide; between the Keystone and A-Basin ski areas.
The town was part of the same excitement in silver mining that produced Aspen, Leadville and other mountain towns. For a time 200 people lived there after incorporation in 1880. Historical lore includes stories of brothels and outlaw hangings before forest fire destroyed everything in 1889. So much for Chihuahua.
In that brief spell, 500 long and skinny lots were created. In theory, they could still be developed. But the valley of the former town has valuable wetlands, and it also serves as a trailhead for a couple of 4,300-metre peaks, Grays and Torreys.
Since 2002, the landowner and the Forest Service have been working with Summit County officials to affect a land exchange. The swap has been completed, with the Forest Service getting the Chihuahua site, and the private landowner getting 21 acres of National Forest land near a gondola at the Keystone ski area, which is about nine kilometres away. The zoning permits 24 houses.
Summit County favoured the exchange, because it's all for clustering development in a few areas, instead of a hodge-podge of development scattered around the county. It already has plenty of that. A development at Chihuahua would have scarred a delicate high mountain meadow.
Adam Poe, of Western Land Group, said that the exchange was difficult in part because the townsite is so unusual, maybe even unique. Appraisals require comparables, and there just wasn't much to work with, he says.
As for that town, it still legally exists. For some reason, nobody ever bothered to disincorporate it. That legal footnote is scheduled for later in August.
Friends-with-benefits passes still expanding
PARK CITY, Utah — Ski areas across the West continue to become the industrial equivalent of Facebook buddies as they try to compete with that 800-pound ape of marketing power called the Epic Pass.
The latest announcement comes from Utah, where Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort have banded with Alta and Snowbird in a new friends-with-benefits package. Season-pass privileges now include three single-day lift tickets at each of the other ski areas.
Elsewhere, Crested Butte and 11 other resorts have become buddies with a similar deal: buy our pass and you can get three days at any of the other resorts.
Those other resorts: Utah's Snowbasin, California's China Peak Sierra-at-Tahoe, and Mountain High; Oregon's Mt. Hood; Washington's Steven's Pass; Montana's Bridger Bowl; Arizona's Snowbowl; and New Mexico's Angel Fire.
Mansions sell for less than the asking prices
ASPEN, Colo. — Even mansions have their price points. That's the news in Aspen, where a 16,000-square-foot house built just before the dark curtain of the recession descended was sold recently at an auction.
For several years, a price tag of $43.8 million had been assigned the house, according to The Aspen Times, but with no takers. The owner rejected offers in the $20 to $30 million recently. Put up at auction, it fetched only $14 million.
Another house had been listed for $20 million but sold for $9.75 million at auction.
Norwegians lose big to lodging scammer
JACKSON, Wyo. — What a surprise that was. Five families from Norway had thought they were booked into a swank 10,000-square-foot lodge during high summer in Jackson Hole. Turns out they had paid $13,900 to a scammer.
The lodge had received no money. But the cheque had been cashed by someone in Florida. Those purporting to represent the lodge had e-mail addresses in Norway.
The 19 Norwegians had to scramble to find a place once they got to Jackson. They now are trying to recover their money. But the Jackson Hole News&Guide suggests it won't be easy.
"You get a posting online, on Craigslist or somewhere, for a rental, and often the owner doesn't even know it's up there," said Sgt. Cole Nethercott, of the Jackson Police Department. "The house may not even be for rent. So you have victims on both ends."
This particular listing was placed on VRBO, and its parent company, HomeAway, will refund up to $1,000 of user's reservations costs after they fill out a fraud claim form. As for the wrong-doing, it's one for the FBI.
"If we could offer your readers one piece of advice to avoid situations like these, it would be that if you are planning to stay somewhere, always call the front desk, owner or manager of the property," wrote a representative of the lodge in question in an e-mail to the newspaper's reporter.
"Talk with someone on the phone, not just email, even if it's an international call."
Jasper happy to lose ground to caribou
JASPER, Alberta — Parks Canada has announced closures of backcountry areas in Jasper National Park this winter in an effort to help protect woodland caribou from wolves.
The Jasper Fitzhugh explains that it has been shown that wolves walk on snow compacted by skis to get a better shot at killing caribou, a species in declining numbers. The park has not quite 200.
One of the backcountry skiers in Jasper says she's just fine with the closures in two areas. Loni Klettl told the newspaper that after adjustments, Parks Canada left skiers areas that the caribou don't use during winter, but give the "caribou the space they need."
June flood created a sushi bar for bears
BANFF, Alberta — Bears seem to be drawn to a river segment where spring floods resulted in larger numbers of dead fish, as well as places where fish are easily caught. As a result, a portion of the Banff National Park has been closed in what the Rocky Mountain Outlook describes as a sushi bar for bears.
"With such attractive smelly food there for bears, there's a considerable risk that people might startle a bear and a bear may act defensively while in the presence of food attractants," explains David Gummer, a wildlife biologist for Banff National Park.
Osprey and bald eagles also have been drawn to the fish kill.
Carcass fee ends in strategy about wolves
HAILEY, Idaho — Blaine County has decided to suspend any landfill charges for carcasses from livestock producers. The thinking is that the charges, just $15 for a large animal and $5 for a calf-sized animal, have caused livestock grazers to leave carcasses on the range. That, in turn, draws wolves, and when wolves mingle with livestock, the wolves usually end up losing. This is the same county where Sun Valley and Ketchum are located, and there's considerable support for wolves there.
