BANFF, Alberta - Parks Canada insists it will thwart any attempt to circumvent a cap on commercial development in Banff. Legislation adopted in 1998 asserted that 3.89 million square feet of commercial space then approved would be allowed, plus an extra 350,000. An element of uncertainty exists about whether the 1998 survey of commercial space was wrong, and hence a little more space might be added, according to the Rocky Mountain Outlook .
Aspen riders ready for races
ASPEN, Colo. - It's spring-time, more or less, in the high country of Colorado, and thoughts are starting to focus on the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, formerly called Quizno's Pro Challenge. A seven-stage race set for August, it is expected to draw some of the most sturdy and experienced bicycle riders in the world to Colorado mountain towns
Downtown Aspen will be the finish line for the fourth day of racing, and what a challenge it will be. The race will start at Gunnison and end at Aspen, both at 8,000 feet in elevation, but along the way riders must cross two 12,000-foot passes, with harrowing descents. Those routes dwarf the literal highpoint of the Tour de France, an 8,728-foot col in the Alps.
In Aspen, bicycle enthusiasts predict crowds double in size of those of the Fourth of July.
The Aspen Times points out that Aspen has long been infatuated with bicycles, perhaps second only to skiing as a local obsession. Even a century ago, after mining was already petering out, races in the region drew up to 1,000 spectators.
Then, in the 1970s, there were some local riders who took their avocation very seriously. "We were club riders, having a good time," says Michael Ernemann. "Every day we'd go out and ride 30 or 40 miles, then come back and drink vino, in the great European tradition," he told the newspaper's Scott Condon.
Mountainfilm comes to Telluride
TELLURIDE, Colo. - Mountainfilm in Telluride, a four-day festival over Memorial Day weekend, has always sought to have an edge to it, an engagement with the broader world somewhat belied by the title or the setting. This year, however, the edge was painful.
One of the guests that organizers had hoped to honour was Tim Hetherington, the director and producer of a film about U.S. soldiers in a remote valley in Afghanistan. The film, Restrepo , named after a soldier in the company killed in fighting, was screened at last year's session.
Hetherington himself was killed recently in Libya while trying to photograph fighting at Misurata. "That there is one less person out there striving to tell the truth about some of the most difficult stories of our time is a loss for all of us," said David Holbrooke, festival director, on the website.
Too, Greg Mortenson seems to be absent from the lineup of guests. He had been a featured speaker several times at the festival, most recently last year.
Climate activist Bill McKibben of 350.org will return, as will Tim DeChristopher, who was convicted March by a federal jury of making false bids on natural gas leases in Utah, an act of monkeywrenching that he described as an effort to bring attention to global warming. And there will be a focus on mountaintop-mining in West Virginia, and dozens of other causes from across the planet.
Altogether, 60 films will be shown at this year's festival, among them the premiere of "Cold." In an interview with The Telluride Watch , Holbrooke described it as an "unbelievable mountaineering film."
Last year featured the premier of "Gaslands," which went on to attract fame and notoriety across the country - even earning an Oscar nomination for best documentary.
Record snows help skier numbers
ASPEN, Colo. - In Aspen as in Whistler, destination business seemed to be flat this winter. But as a whole, ski areas did marginally well - thanks both to good snow and proliferating discounted season passes.
The Denver-based National Ski Areas Association reported 60.1 million skier visits for the season, just slightly below the pre-recession record of 60.5 million.
Michael Berry, president of NSAA, attributed the strong numbers to widespread good snow conditions. But the snowfall was too much of a good thing in California, where it limited weekend travel.
"La Niña gave, and La Niña took," he quipped in an interview with the Aspen Times .
Skier numbers generally have sagged well below population growth in the United States for the last 30 years. For whatever reasons, skiing just hasn't caught the imagination of younger and often more ethnically diverse populations as it did with the baby boomers.
Berry told the Times that skier numbers are bolstered by boomers, who have stuck to the slopes at ages when previous generations have departed.
The Aspen Skiing Co. this summer plans to invest $26 million in a new quad lift and restaurants at its four ski areas, which includes Snowmass.
And where would you think the top markets are for Aspen? New York, of course, but Denver and Colorado's Front Range comes in second, followed by Chicago and Los Angeles, revealed Dave Perry, senior vice president for the company in a meeting with local officials. Then it's Australia, Miami, and Brazil.
In Whistler, meanwhile, skier visits are expected to top two million visitor days. Resort officials attribute the strong numbers to a strong pre-season campaign aimed at regional and local skiers. Numbers in that category were up 28 per cent.
Whistler Blackcomb set a record for the number of season passes and frequency passes sold prior to the first of the year. This is in line with NSAA statistics, which show that 36.2 per cent of total skier visits this season came from season passes, up from 34.3 per cent the prior season.
But destination visitor numbers at Whistler Blackcomb from international markets have not returned to their pre-recession levels, said Dave Brownlie, president and chief operating officer.
Jackson Hole in the money
JACKSON, Wyo. - Teton County, which is largely the same as Jackson Hole, lives in rarified company. It is just one of three places with a per-capita income of more than $100,000.
Tops
is a county in Texas of just 45 residents that sits over an incredible amount of hydrocarbons, reports Jonathan Schechter, while the third is Manhattan. Even Aspen and Pitkin County are down the list a ways.
However, Teton County ranks above all others in the country in income per capita from investments, and in no other county do residents get a lower percentage of their income from pensions.
What does this say? In part, says Schechter, a long-time analyst of business and demographics for the Jackson Hole News&Guide , this means that the prices are set at the margins, which is to say the wealthy.
The gap between "wealthy versus working stiff" will likely widen in coming years, Schechter predicts. Builders and craftsmen enjoyed a middle-class lifestyle, but no more, no more.
Quintessential Colorado
FRASER, Colo. - The Byers Peak Ranch has one of the most iconic views in the West. As seen from Fraser, the 12,804-foot peak has a classic profile, and in the foreground is the meadow, velvety green in summer, the scene altogether constituting what one writer described as "quintessential Colorado."
Might another scene that has become quintessential Colorado soon appear? The Sky-Hi Daily News reports that developers propose 1,436 housing units and 350 short-term rental units on the 295-acre parcel, which they seek to annex into Fraser. And if Fraser refuses? A Grand County planner tells the newspaper that the land only has entitlement to eight units under Colorado law.
The newspaper reports considerable statements of opposition at this still-early stage of review.
Crested Butte plans app
CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. - Everywhere, people are developing apps - short for applications - for Internet-connected cell phones. And that's the plan in Crested Butte, where officials are persuaded that visitors will find it valuable to wander around the older part of the town and, when curious, link to a website that will provide information about old buildings of interest. Development of the app is expected to cost $2,000, reports the Crested Butte News.
Despite all its snow, A-Basin to pare days
DILLON, Colo. - As of mid-May, snow continued to fall prodigiously on mountaintops in Colorado. Still, Arapahoe Basin plans to stay the course, ending normal operations on June 7, but taking up three-day weekends as long as the snow and customers last.
"Having our greatest season in years, ideally we would like to stay open on weekends until the Fourth of July, but it's too early to know what the conditions will be to make that call," Alan Henceroth, chief operating officer of the resort, told the Summit Daily News .
In 1995, a year much like this year, the resort along the Continental Divide had ribbons of skiable snow until early August. The resort elevation ranges from 10,780 feet at the base to a peak of 13,050 feet.
Air access in doubt
MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. - How much of a portal can the airport near Mammoth Lakes become?
For nearly two decades, local boosters have wanted to make Mammoth, located on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, less remote. Currently, it's a five to 6 six hour drive to either Los Angeles or the Bay Area. At one time, airport boosters even thought they could get 757s into the airport, delivering passengers from Chicago and Dallas.
That hasn't happened for any number of reasons. Still, Mammoth hopes for more expanded air service. Vail-based airline consultant Kent Myers has said the airport will garner close to 150,000 enplanements per year by 2020, or about 1,000 passengers a day.
Not everybody buys that projection. John Walker, who sits on the local Airport Commission, tells The Sheet that estimate is too optimistic. He cites the runway width, which precludes any planes larger than 737s.
At stake is whether Mammoth needs a $20 million passenger terminal. The Federal Aviation Administration typically pays 85 per cent, leaving locals on the hook for just $3 million to $5 million.
