Public art problematic in Vail

VAIL - But is it art? That's the question that town officials and community members in Vail have been getting in regards to sculptures in Seibert Circle.

Seibert Circle, located at the head of Bridge Street, a stone's throw from Vail's dominant ski lift, the Vista Bahn, was named after Pete Seibert, who in 1957 skied up what is now Vail Mountain and basically said, "This is the place."

As the Brigham Young of Vail, many people thought that Seibert deserved special hero-type recognition in the circle bearing his name. Some envisioned a statue. But the town's Art in Public Places Board had other ideas. The board finally chose a renowned sculptor from Texas, Jesus Morales, who created objects in stone intended to suggest the cliffs, creek and other aspects of where Vail is located.

After five years, some love it, others detest it but, most important, many pedestrians are utterly indifferent. The stark plaza never became a popular gathering place. One reason is that, running short of money, the town did not install the "water feature" that the art board had thought essential.

What to do? The Town Council has heard several options, including spending money at this later day for a water feature or, perhaps, gas utilities to create a fire pit. Others want to move the Morales sculptures elsewhere in the town, going back to the blackboard on this. And a few say just leave it alone.

Monarch expands its expert terrain

MONARCH PASS - Nearly every ski area is attempting to strengthen its portfolio of terrain. Gotta have enough gentle stuff, enough moderate and advanced slopes - and, since we're in the age of extreme, a healthy dose of experts-only slopes.

Monarch, a ski area located between Crested Butte and Salida, figures it is now in the running as one of those all-round ski areas. It has moved 170 acres of steeps that were previously used for Sno-cat skiing into the area accessed by lift.

This expansion will help make Monarch the "best ski area in Colorado," the ski area's majority owner, Bob Nicolls, told the Crested Butte News. He acknowledged that his ambition raises eyebrows, as Monarch is relatively small but insists that the resort will get there in "two or three more years."

Canada aims for Chinese tourists

WHISTLER, B.C. - Canada has been designated as a place where Chinese can go as tourists in the future, causing measured expectations in Whistler of a boom in Chinese similar to that of the early 1990s when Japanese were 15 percent of the visitors to Whistler.

Barrett Fisher, executive director of Tourism Whistler, which has been studying the Chinese potential for several years, warns against premature expectations. "Could it become 10 to 15 percent of our market share in the next 10 to 15 years? That's our hope," she told Pique magazine.

Canada has been lobbying for the open door policy, something called approved destination status, for five years, and agreements remain to be worked out. One of the things that could discourage Chinese tourists is if the Chinese government requires a hefty deposit, say of $12,000 per person, that tourists must pay before leaving. Although intended to discourage defections, it could also discourage foreign visits.

In Whistler, there is also some concern that the Chinese economy, after growing so rapidly (9 percent last year) is ready for a long breather, just as the Japanese economy tanked about a decade ago. Yet another concern is that the Chinese might decide to stay home to ski and otherwise recreate. They have the mountains, they have the snow and it's just a matter of infrastructure.

But countering these pauses are the great potential. Unlike the U.S. and Canadian populations, where the growth in skiers has been painfully slow, the number of Chinese taking to snow sports is growing at an astronomical 1.5 million per year.

Sun Valley desperate for a runway

KETCHUM, Idaho - The Ketchum-Sun Valley area needs a new or at least improved airport in order to keep up with the ski town Joneses of the West. That has caused airport and other local officials to study sites up to an hour away.

Think outside of the box, said one local man, who proposed to shave off some hills, fill in some valleys and - presto, an airport site closer to the resort strip. So, reports the Idaho Mountain Express, at long last the airport officials agreed to give his idea closer scrutiny.

No dice, they said. All of this cutting and filling would cost $100 million to $150 million, not counting the cost of the airport, and even so it wouldn't be quite large enough. So it's back inside the box of looking at flat places farther away.

Summit real estate tops $1 billion

SUMMIT COUNTY - Summit County last year rejoined the billionaire club in real estate. Total dollar volume for the county was $1.1 billion, 29 percent more than the previous year - although still behind the record set in 2000. Busiest of all was Breckenridge.

In comparison, neighboring Eagle County, where Vail is located, tallied twice as much real estate volume, at $2.2 billion. Eagle County has a population about twice as big (and includes some Aspen suburbs), and prices are also marginally higher. The Aspen area is also in what might be called the billionaire club, with sales last year surpassing $1.6 billion.

Sales in both I-70 corridor communities continued to sizzle early in the year. At Vail, for example, pre-sales of condominiums were so hot that the company decided to auction units that are slated to be finished in 2007, notes the Summit Daily News.

Hemingway house sparks legal fight

KETCHUM, Idaho - A legal scrap is expected over the final home of the novelist Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway's widow, Mary, gave the house to The Nature Conservancy, and that group now has decided to turn the 13-acre property into a literary library and museum. The property would be taken over and maintained by the Idaho Hemingway House Foundation.

Neighbors, however, do not want to see it turned into an attraction and have offered to pay the market value, which is estimated at $5 million - on the condition that the house be moved. They are expected to file suit to block the library and museum plans, reports The Associated Press.

Free papers fetch big bucks on eBay

ASPEN - Local newspapers in Aspen are free, as they are in most larger ski towns, but the Aspen papers that announced the death of Hunter S. Thompson actually seem to be worth something on eBay. A set of four papers, two of The Aspen Times and two of the Aspen Daily News, were running $31 after attracting 10 bids.

Assisted-living gets facelift in Eagle

EAGLE - County commissioners are revisiting the idea of building an assisted-living facility in Eagle County. They had talked about doing so four years ago, but an expert said the cost was more than the county could handle. Typically, Medicaid pays $500 to $600 less than the actual cost of keeping a person in assisted living.

The Eagle Valley Enterprise also reports that demographics are a factor. Between 7 percent and 12 percent of the population must be 75 or older to support an assisted living center, and the last census showed fewer than 3 percent in Eagle County

However, county commissioners wonder if the increasing number of affluent, middle-aged people who now live in the Vail area might want to bring their aging parents closer to them, helping make it more affordable for lower-income locals.

- compiled by Allen Best