Green ski wax in the works

WHISTLER, B.C. - An entrepreneur in Vancouver is creating what he says is a ski and snowboard wax that is friendly to the environment.

"We don't want to come out and throw mud at ski wax manufacturers ... but the fact is ski wax companies and the ski industry have been unwittingly co-opted into polluting mountain areas and watersheds for about the past 20 years," says Tyler Bradley.

"The reason is that things aren't regulated in the chemical industry, and chemical companies weren't regulated to release their medical records and test data. Up until recently, everybody assumed this stuff was safe."

Bradley had set out to create a wax that is not created from paraffin, because it comes from fossil fuels. In doing so, he learned about the chlorofluorocarbons in ski wax. "It's really just a Pandora's Box from there when you see how nasty this stuff is and how little the public knows about it," Bradley told Whistler's Pique newsmagazine.

He also said that applying the waxes without proper ventilation may pose health risks.

Representatives from Intrawest, the major ski-area operator, met with Bradley and said they were interested in learning more.

Bradley is trying to build grassroots interest in his product, called HillBilly Wax, with the expectation of introducing it on the market next winter.

Vail & Aspen real estate on fire

VAIL - It's another barn-burner year in the Vail-area real estate scene. Sales during February were up 20 percent compared to last year despite a depleted inventory.

To keep this outsized rally going, realty agents have resorted to distributing handbills to households soliciting properties. Much of the action is in the lower end, below $500,000, although one condominium fetched $5.4 million, reports the Vail Daily.

In the Aspen market, much the same trend was reported, with sales for the first two months of the year up 28 percent compared to last year. Many sales were in the range of $1,000 per square foot.

"I don't see anything to derail it," Ed Zasacky, a realty agent, told The Aspen Times. Another agent said that off-season this year should be more active than usual.

Crested Butte celebrates PooFest

CRESTED BUTTE - PooFest is returning for a second year at Crested Butte, a dog-friendly town where a good many dog owners poo-poo the idea of cleaning up after their dogs through winter. With the snow melting, those omissions are now becoming apparent.

Last year, 50 people turned out for PooFest and collected 875 pounds of dog-poop from streets, sidewalks and yards. People picking puppy poop this year will get T-shirts - in a brown-and-white design, notes the Crested Butte News.

Southwest enjoys microclimate

CRESTED BUTTE - What a difference in weather just 50 miles can make! That difference has been evident this winter is snowfall amounts in Colorado.

The southern storm track that drenched Los Angeles also left Crested Butte with a snowpack that in late March sat at 132 percent of average. But northeast, 50 to 75 miles as the crow flies, the Vail area was only at 83 percent of average. A little farther north, the Steamboat Springs area was at 80 percent.

It is undeniably a big snow year for Crested Butte, Telluride and Durango - leading to some talk about the "end" of the drought. Climatologists warn against such prattle. One year of poor snow does not create an extended drought, nor does one good year of snow end that drought.

Summit County gay scene slender

SUMMIT COUNTY - When Lindsey Arnold left Miami's South Beach and moved to Breckenridge, she thought she was in lesbian heaven. After all, she observed, the women in Summit County dressed much like lesbians in Florida.

Wrong. In fact, she has found no other lesbians her age. "I really think it's just me," she said, describing the 20- to 32-year-old crowd.

"In a way, that's OK. I didn't move out here to be gay," she told the Summit Daily News. "I moved out here to go snowboarding." However, she sheepishly admits to spending more time on the Internet looking for dates.

The newspaper turned up quite a few gay people in Summit County, including couples with children, but not the sort of social scene found in Denver and other cities. Those who did identify themselves said it's much easier to blend in when in Denver.

The male gays in Summit County also constitute a relatively small group but are more visible than the female gays. "The boys have a bigger scene, but there's a bigger guy scene whether it's New York, Summit County or L.A.," one woman told the Daily News. "They're more social."

Luxury lodge boosts skier totals

SUN VALLEY, Idaho - Environmentalists have long accused the ski industry of making skiing all about real estate. Ski industry executives don't totally deny the accusation.

At Sun Valley, there's new evidence in support of that proposition. A new facility called the Carol's Dollar Mountain Lodge opened in December, offering a luxurious dining room plus various skier support facilities. The facility is at the base of the historic beginners' ski area at Sun Valley, the first destination ski resort in the West.

And the numbers please? Ah, yes. Skier days at this beginners' area increased 43 percent this year.

Sun Valley plans more changes: additional snowmaking plus a significant upgrade of the uphill lift and gondola regime during the coming decade, reports the Idaho Mountain Express.

Wyoming state line problematic

ALPINE, Wyo. - The West is full of straight lines in a ragged-edge world. When counties and states were drawn up, straight lines were often used instead of natural geographic features. Moreover, highways have a way of surmounting natural geography.

Such are the circumstances in a story from Jackson Hole. There, to get more housing for their money, many workers commute across the Teton Range daily to homes in Driggs and Victor, both in Idaho. As well, people commute to another Wyoming county, Lincoln County.

In that adjacent county is a town called Alpine. One real estate agent estimates 950 people commute from Alpine to Jackson Hole. The median price of single-family homes in Alpine is $18,000, as compared to $615,000 in Jackson Hole.

But there are problems. Parents in Alpine want an elementary school, and school officials, who tend to be members of the church of Latter Day Saints (unlike in Jackson Hole), say no. This and other issues of an economic and cultural nature are causing some of the Jackson Hole commuters from Alpine to call for seceding from Lincoln County to join Teton County, which comprises Jackson Hole.

Is that really the answer? Maybe not, one government official told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. They could be just trading one problem for another, as they might feel slighted by Jackson Hole.

- compiled by Allen Best