Ear to the

ground

“Durango’s full of a bunch of elitists. This place is a rip-off.”

– Jaded transplant hopeful cruising Main Avenue and giving the report back home via cell phone

Back in business

The games have begun. The Colorado ski season kicked off last week on lucky Friday the 13th with Arapahoe Basin firing up the lifts. A-Basin was the first resort in North America to open for the 2006-07 ski season, just edging out reigning opening day champion Loveland Ski Area, which opened the next day.

This year marks Arapahoe Basin’s 60th anniversary and will be the resort’s earliest opening in its history. “We have wanted this title for a very long time, and we’re excited to see it finally come to fruition,” said Alan Henceroth, Arapahoe Basin general manager. “Our entire team has put in tremendous effort to make this happen and they can all be proud.”

Although much of Colorado has already received 2 to 3 feet of natural snowfall this year, this race has been a battle of the snowmakers from the beginning. A-Basin took advantage of an arctic cold front to make snow at full capacity most of the week leading up to the 13th.

The Four Corners area has been blessed with even fouler weather than the Front Range. Already this year, 51 inches of snow have fallen at Wolf Creek Ski Area, which is is on track for its first pre-Halloween opening in many years. The ski area has set its tentative opening day for next Friday, Oct. 27.

Meanwhile, nearly 6 inches of snow fell at the Purgatory base area early this week, and Silverton Mountain Ski Area is continuing to be the recipient of large dumps. Both areas are on track for traditional openings around Thanksgiving.

Sport utility coverage

Durango has landed on another Top 10 list. Our beloved burg has again been linked with Dodge’s flagship SUV, making No. 6 on a “Top 10 Worst Car Names” list.Clarion, the University of Denver newspaper, compiled the list and added a little colored commentary to each listing.

For the Durango, the paper wrote, “This is a ‘rugged’ place. Don’t you feel more rugged just driving one of these behemoths?”Other notable entries were: the Hummer at No. 10 – “Interestingly, could also top a 10 best car names;” the Ford Probe at No. 8 – “Really, enough said;” the Chevy Avalanche at No. 4 – “A large mass of snow and ice that breaks off from a mountain and slides at high speeds down, killing and crushing everything in its path. Charming image, no?;” and the champion, the Nissan Armada – “The Spanish naval fleet was destroyed by Great Britain in 1588 ... This is neither a ship nor a car I would take to war.”