Hayduke lives on in Winter Park

WINTER PARK – A couple decades ago, the view between Winter Park and Fraser was one of the most appealing in Colorado. In summer, the meadow was emerald green, with conifers in the middle ground and the white-fingered cone of Byers Peak in the background.

But this land along Highway 40 is also prime commercial space, and the two towns have taken turns allowing development. Of late, four new billboards have been erected along the highway advertising a real-estate project called “Grand Park.”The Winter Park Manifest reports a good many phone calls, letters and raspy comments; meanwhile, police are trying to track down the person or persons who applied a chainsaw to one of the billboards.

Such vandalism came to be called “monkey wrenching” after a 1975 novel by Edward Abbey calledThe Monkey Wrench Gang. Among the characters was a Vietnam War vet called George Washington Hayduke, which caused some wags to produce bumper stickers that say “Hayduke Lives.”  That also became the title for another book by Abbey.

In a way, Hayduke lives in another sense. The character was at least partly based on Doug Peacock, a self-educated expert on grizzly bears who has spoken recently in several of the ski towns.

Aspen writer takes Friedman to task

ASPEN – The practices of many evangelists are very different from what they preach, and the same can be said for some environmentalists. Take climate crusader Al Gore, his 10,000-square-foot home, and galloping electrical consumption.

Gore was in Aspen this summer to talk about climate change, and so was Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist famous for his fearless war writing, three Pulitzer Prizes, and his most recent book,The Earth Is Flat.

Friedman also has written frequently about climate change and energy in recent years and has been sharply critical of the Bush Administration.

But Aspen Times columnist Paul Andersen notes that Friedman’s walk is very different from his green talk. For his engagement in Aspen, for example, he arrived by private jet. Also, Friedman lives in an 11,400-square-foot home located along a golf course near Washington, D.C.

“For Thomas Friedman to pontificate on going green is like an overweight physician telling his equally obese patients to go on a diet,” says Andersen.

“There are plenty of affluent people who share Friedman’s and Gore’s desire for guilt-free conspicuous consumption,” he says. “They buy carbon offsets the way sinners bought indulgences during the Middle Ages.”

In a 2006 article,Washingtonian Magazine said that Friedman’s annual income easily surpassed $1 million. In addition, he married into one of America’s richest families, the Bucksbaums, who were pioneers in the development of shopping malls. The family has a home in Aspen.

Black bear kills mountain biker

CANMORE, B.C. – A 31-year-old Calgary woman who was mountain biking on trails near the Panorama ski resort was killed by a large black bear. Searchers found her body being aggressively guarded by the bear, which was shot.

A spokeswoman for Panorama Mountain village told the Invermere Valley Echo that the woman had departed the patrolled trails. It was not clear, however, that being off a marked trail made any difference.

Paul Visentin, the wildlife officer for the area, told Whistler’sPiqueNewsmagazine that there was no good reason for the bear attack. No kill was found nearby, nor was it a mother with cubs, he said. The bear was healthy, “None of the normal situations that we look at came into play here.”

As of 2006, there had only been 56 documented killings of humans by black bears in North America during the previous 100 years.

Meanwhile, in Banff National Park, a grizzly sow chased two mountain bikers who mistakenly came between her and her cubs. The two bikers were forced off their bikes, and at one point the sow waved and huffed close to one of the bikers. The bears then quickly left. Parks Canada planned to do nothing, reported theRocky Mountain Outlook, as the behavior is typical of a sow who believes her cubs are threatened.

Extreme athletes turn to real estate

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – What do you do once you’ve become the first person in history to snowboard off the summit of the highest mountain on each of the seven continents?

In the case of Stephen Koch, he became a professional speaker, returned to guiding – and this year got his real estate license. Koch’s career choice, says the Jackson Hole News&Guide is part of a theme of professional athletes who have posted their dirt-selling shingles.

“I do this so I can live here,” says Rick Armstrong, once known as “Sick Rick” for his propensity for enormous cliff jumps while on skis. He appeared in both Warren Miller and Teton Gravity Research ski films.

Armstrong tells theJackson Hole News&Guide’s Michael Pearlman that the transition from athlete to agent has been more natural than many people would expect. As a professional athlete, he had to sell himself, and that’s a skill that transfers well to wooing potential clients.

Telluride readies for bird flu

TELLURIDE – If it happens, a hangar at the airport on the mesa near Telluride will become a morgue, and the middle/high school will become an emergency hospital.

The “it” is arrival of an HS5N1 pandemic, better known as the bird flu. Some 185 people have died of the virus, mostly in Asia, but there is enough fear that 54,000 turkeys were killed on a farm in Virginia.

The Telluride Watch reports that local emergency officials believe Telluride will be in relatively good shape should a pandemic happen similar to the flu that killed somewhere between 18 to 100 million people in 1918-1920. After all, Telluride lies at the end of a box canyon, and access can be relatively easily controlled. On the other hand, it is vulnerable to gas and electricity outages, as the backup routes into the town are minimal.

Of course, being isolated did the people nearby no good when the flu epidemic hit in 1918. About 10 percent of the population died, ironically with those in the prime of their lives being hit hardest.

Fraser to stay off the leash

FRASER – Dogs are still running free in Fraser – in theory, provided they are under the voice command of their owners.

That theory has been challenged in the last couple of years. Several people say they are afraid to walk the streets of the town, for fear of an attack. In response, town trustees reviewed a law that would have mandated leashes.

But in a 5-to-2 vote before a standing-room only crowd, the board rejected the proposed law. The dominant thinking was that a leash law would punish those people who have their dogs under voice control. To ensure enforcement, the town is considering hiring what used to be called a dogcatcher.

This majority vote, says theWinter Park Manifest, did not sit well with one of the trustees, Vesta Shapiro. “How many years will it be before I can walk around this town safely,” she said, and then swiveled her chair around, her back to fellow trustees.

Qwest exec sentenced to jail

BEAVER CREEK – Oh, the world can be small at times. Consider this most recent round of corporate thievery, capped last Friday by the sentencing of Joe Nacchio, the former chief executive of Denver-based Qwest, the telecommunications company.

Nacchio was ordered to serve six years in prison, fined $19 million and ordered to pay back $52 million in ill-gotten gains that he received in 2002 when he knew his company was facing financial risk. In essence, he was convicted of lying.

These crimes were those of “overarching greed,” said the judge, Edward Nottingham.

Nottingham grew up, at least partly, in Beaver Creek, on a ranch owned by his father, Willis. This is the same Beaver Creek near Vail that later became a major ski resort.

Beaver Creek, always a favorite of the corporate types, has become more prominent in recent years in a left-handed way. Several of its big houses were owned by people who have become full-time residents of the “big house.” They include Adelphia founder John Rigas and his son, Tom Rigas, who received prison sentences of 15 and 20 years respectively. Tyco’s former chief executive, Dennis Kozlowski, was sentenced to 8.5-25 years in jail.

— compiled by Allen Best