Brad Pitt recruits Canadian extras

CANMORE, Alberta – Brad Pitt has been turning heads in Canmore. He’s been in Alberta since late summer to shoot a movie called “The Assassination of Jesse James,” the most recent of a long list of movies shot in the area between Calgary and Banff.

Alberta seems to be a stand-in for many other places in the West. A movie now arriving in theaters, “Brokeback Mountain,” was also filmed near Canmore, in an area described as the Kananaskis Country. That story, about two bi-sexual cowboys, is based on a short story by Annie Proulx. She set the story in northern Wyoming.

In the story about Jesse James, some of the action is supposed to take place in Creede, a Colorado town that boomed with the discovery of gold in 1890. It is located near the Wolf Creek ski area, in the southern part of the state. Bob Ford, the former gang member who killed Jesse James to collect a reward (and dodge his own sentence for a murder), ended up in Creede, where he ran a saloon and gambling den.

A new makeshift town has been constructed near Canmore that is supposed to resemble the Colorado town, and a casting call was made for 100 extras. The production company had no problem finding takers, possibly because of all the buzz surrounding Pitt. But, in order to lend some authenticity to the scenes, there was a decided imbalance – four men for every one woman. That’s what the gold-mining camps were like – or worse. Of course, some seem to think it’s that bad in ski towns.

Mountain Village experiencing boom

MOUNTAIN VILLAGE – With $1 billion in work now under way, Vail already is experiencing a building boom at the base of its ski mountain, and Aspen is starting down the same path of massive investment in base-area construction. Telluride’s Mountain Village could soon join the list. The slope-wide counterpart to Telluride, Mountain Village has 1 million square feet of space in the pipeline. Potentially six projects will be built, yielding 500 new condominiums and hotel rooms.

The St. Regis is typical of the hybrid, explainsThe Telluride Watch. Six years in the planning, it is designed to have 100 hotel rooms and 42 condos.

With all this inventory coming on line in the next two to five years, there’s some nervousness over whether the market will be sufficient. Among the optimists are those who say that St. Regis, with its global marketing reach, will generate business

But filling the beds requires improved air transportation, and Tom Hess, president of he Telluride/Montrose Regional Air Organization, says fuel costs and air operations are rising more rapidly than tax receipts. He suggests the new lodges will need to belly up to the partnership, to help subsidize more flights.

Another worry is whether the rising cost of construction could destabilize these plans. China’s hyperventilating economy and the hurricane redevelopment are both pushing costs of everything from timber to cement. One developer says sales may need to reach $1,500 to $2,000 per square foot to justify expansion.

Not least, this added high-end housing will generate more jobs, and the Telluride-Mountain Village never has enough affordable housing.

Poison hits Marine Corps celebration

RED LODGE, Mont. – When the first people who arrived at a celebration for the 230th birthday of the Marine Corps began to feel weak, woozy and irritable, they chalked it up to other reasons.

Some thought it was the consequence of the altitude of 5,500 feet. Others attributed it to lingering hangovers. Yet others thought it was from standing in formation too long. But when a Marine toppled over, they knew something was seriously wrong.

Indeed it was. Quick-thinking Marine corpsman quickly suspected bad air. Later study revealed that a boiler in the lodge where the event was held was malfunctioning.

People were rushed from the lodge, and altogether 42 people were hospitalized, although blood tests revealed carbon monoxide in 70 people. While some had not been there long enough to be affected, others had been there much of the day practicing for formal ceremonies.

All in all, says theCarbon County News, it could have been much worse. Had people gone to bed before the poisoning was discovered, there could have been deaths. The boilers had been inspected as specified, although Montana law does not require carbon monoxide detectors for boilers.

Resorts allege gasoline conspiracy

SUMMIT COUNTY – People in mountain resorts have always griped about the higher prices they pay for gasoline compared to their counterparts in the city. Such complaints are particularly loud in Colorado’s resorts located just across the Continental Divide from metropolitan Denver.

While Gary Lindstrom, a state legislator from Breckenridge, acknowledges that it costs money to transport gasoline into the mountains, he contends those costs do not justify the higher costs charged at the pump. He charges gasoline dealers are engaging in collusion. Gas prices in Summit County have been 50 cents per gallon higher than in metropolitan Denver, only 70 miles away.

Lindstrom wants an investigation although Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said high prices alone do not prove or even suggest illegal conduct by gasoline retailers. What Suthers needs, he added, is evidence.

“The key is the existence of an actual agreement by competitors to fix prices,” he wrote. “Charging similar or even identical prices (for) a commodity by watching a competitor’s price postings is not price-fixing.”

Aspen contractors soiling the landfill

ASPEN – So, what do you think is the most common item taken to the Pitkin County Landfill?

If your answer was dirt, you’re right, although the answer should probably be expanded to include rocks.

Lots of holes are being dug in Aspen, particularly for major hotels. Construction of one big hotel/condominium project now under way is projected to yield 60,000 cubic yards of dirt. That’s 6,000 dump trucks full.

The landfill is accepting it – but requiring the developers to buy some of it back. The landfill has what is called an “aggregate recovery program,” in which what is broadly called “dirt” is sifted into various products, including gravel, mixed rock and topsoil, that can be used in construction.

The Aspen Times reports that landfill officials say they have no choice but to foist the recycled material back onto developers. To not recycle the waste would mean that these major construction projects would soon consume the remaining space in the landfill. County officials are even talking about assessing an impact fee based on the dirt produced.

Telluride real estate up 22 percent

TELLURIDE – Like everywhere else, the real estate market in Telluride area has been a dervish this year. Total sales were up 22 percent during the first nine months. While the lower and middle ends of the market were most prominent, the high-end buyers also are notable. To wit, the average price of a residential lot in Telluride has gone from $686,000 in 2004 to more than $1 million as of September.

Meanwhile, Jackson Hole real estate agents are expecting to pop the $1 billion bubble, while Aspen-area agents expect to surpass $2 billion. The Eagle Valley, based on what happened last year in Vail, will probably go much higher yet.

Gas prices fuel pellet stove craze

TRUCKEE, Calif. – With prices of natural gas rising rapidly, sales of pellet stoves are booming. One store in Truckee reports an increase in sales of 300 to 400 percent during the last two months. The demand is so strong that manufacturers are completely sold out, meaning some purchasers won’t get their stoves until January or February, theSierra Sun reports. The stoves, which burn pellets of wood, cost $1,800 to $3,000.

Summit County unveils ritzy hospital

FRISCO – The new hospital in Summit County will open in early December, and theSummit Daily News says the architecture and building materials make it feel more like an expensive ski lodge than a sterile clinic.

Visitors will find stone columns, slate floors and cherry-colored wood. An iron chandelier adorned with pine cones hangs above overstuffed, chocolate-colored sofas near a fireplace. Private hospital rooms include oversized sofas that convert into beds, so family members can stay.

-----compiled by Allen Best

Aspen retail district getting radical

ASPEN – Billabong, a national surf chain, is opening a snowboard shop on Aspen’s Hyman Avenue. It is, reportsThe Aspen Times, the latest shop that caters to the younger crowd to open its doors in a resort that was once grappling with the “stodgy” label.

“I’ve only been here four years, but it seems like it’s moving more toward a younger crowd,” said Aaron Bock, 27, the manager of the new store. He credits Aspen’s hosting of the X Games during the last four years with this youth movement.

–compiled by Allen Best