Vail prepares wildfire response plan

VAIL – Vail town officials are assembling an evacuation plan for town residents and visitors – just in case of a major wildfire, either in the town or the surrounding national forest where lodgepole pine have been hit hard by bark beetles.

The evacuation plan calls for a mass 911 telephone alert to all residences, emergency radio broadcasts, e-mail messages and, possibly, emergency workers using loud speakers to warn of the need to evacuate, reports theVail Daily.

Potential for what Phil Bowden, a U.S. Forest Service wildland fuels specialist, calls a “monster fire” will increase with passing years. Most of the dead trees now standing will have fallen to the ground in 15 years, providing more fuel. But even greater fire potential will arrive in 50 years, when logs remain on the ground and new trees are standing, allowing fire to be spread from tree crown to tree crown.

Meanwhile, efforts will continue this summer to create a moat along the town’s periphery. Trees will be cut and removed on 10 acres of town land and 170 acres of national forest. Residents are also being urged to reduce fire risk by removing any dead or dying trees in their own yards.

Groves of aspen, which are less susceptible to fire, will be introduced in some areas.

Aspen sees shrinking skier days

ASPEN – The bloom is off at Highlands Bowl, the Aspen Skiing Co.’s expansion area at the Aspen Highlands ski area. Several Aspen Skiing Co. resorts are reporting disappointing skier numbers this season.

The virtues of the steep-sided bowl have been praised frequently by skiing and snowboarding magazines since it was opened for public skiing three years ago. The attraction of the new Temmerity Lift last year, combined with wonderful snow, pushed Aspen Highlands to a 15 percent increase in skier numbers and fueled speculation that the ski area would surpass 200,000 skier days this year.

But Aspen Highlands is down 4 percent this winter in visits, reportsThe Aspen Times, and the four ski areas operated by the Aspen Skiing Co. are down collectively 2.5 percent. Unlike last year’s superlative storms, the snow has been so-so this winter.

Meanwhile, the Aspen Skiing Co. continues to plow money into on-mountain improvements at Snowmass Mountain, which does the heavy lifting for the company. Altogether, some $50 million in improvements are planned. This year, a children’s center will be constructed. As well, improvements to a beginners’ area are likely, and a new on-mountain restaurant remains possible.

The company had also launched, in partnership with Intrawest, a $450 million to $500 million redevelopment of the bed base area at Snowmass.

Aspen avalanche claims three

ASPEN – By the books, the three former college chums who set out for 12,340-foot Mt. Shimer, located near Aspen, had done many things right.

The day before their trip, they had consulted avalanche warnings for Colorado. They all had transceivers, probe poles and shovels. And they dug a snow pit at the base of the slope to study the snow bonding.

But when within 500 feet of the summit, all three were caught in a soft-slab avalanche that swept 800 feet down through the trees. Two of the three died.

A report filed on the Colorado Avalanche Information Center website says the avalanche started on a north-facing slope of 38 to 40 degrees, the prime zone for avalanches. The report also points out that the local avalanche center that morning had warned of moderate danger above treeline but pointedly noted elevated danger on north-facing slopes of 30 degrees or more at or near treeline,

News reports said the three had been classmates at the Colorado School of Mines, but one now lived in New York City and the second most recently had been in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The third man, the survivor, lived in metropolitan Denver.

Carbondale student numbers slide

CARBONDALE – Carbondale continues to boom, but enrollment in the local public high school, Roaring Fork, continues to decline. Seven years ago, 350 students attended the school. Now, there are 300. Why?

The Valley Journal says school officials have identified a key reason being something called, for lack of a better phrase, “white flight.” In the last five years, percentages of Latinos in the student body has more than doubled, from 26 percent to 54 percent.

Sources tell the newspaper that causes are more complex.As in many more affluent areas, Carbondale has become a place of two communities: immigrants and people who are past their child-rearing years. As well, the Gen Xers whose children would normally be in high school were a smaller demographic group.

The reduced enrollment seems to have a feed-back loop: Fewer students result in less state aid, which means cutbacks in honors programs, which make the school becomes less desirable to college-bound students.

Parents can choose to send their kids to high schools in nearby Basalt, Glenwood or Aspen, or to two alternative high schools. Although more costly, the community also has two private schools.

Federal aid key to tree removal

SUMMIT COUNTY – If Congress delivers the money, clearing of dead trees on 3,300 acres of national forest land in the wildland-urban interface of Summit County will begin this summer. Tree removal in areas near subdivisions and other crucial areas is expected for the next 10 years – if the money to pay for the work is authorized.

“These projects will not pay for themselves,” Rich Newton, district ranger on the Dillon Ranger District, told theSummit Daily News. “They depend on an input of federal dollars. That money hasn’t reached us yet in terms of our ability to write checks.”

Some of the wood may be used at a wood pellet factory that is being planned in nearby Kremmling. Other, larger trees may be suitable for milling at sawmills, Newton said.

The Summit Daily News explains that the project is the first in Summit County created under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which was created by Congress in 2003. Passed in response to increasing forest fires in the West, that law streamlined regulations but provided little money.

Resort airports due for upgrades

ASPEN – Airports at both Aspen and Vail are getting significantly upgraded and expanded.

The airport at Aspen is in the midst of $120 million in improvements. Some of the work is remedial. The runway, for example, hasn’t been reworked since 1983. That project alone will cost nearly $12 million. In addition, the terminal building, which is similarly aged, will be completely renovated. A parking garage for cars is also planned.

A 1,000-foot runway extension is planned for next year, although environmental approval has not yet been given, reportsThe Aspen Times.

The Eagle County Regional Airport, which serves primarily Vail and Beaver Creek but also Aspen, is also extending its 7,000-foot runway by 1,000 feet. The airport accommodates 727s, but during warmer months can carry fewer passengers because of reduced loft. As such, the runway extension is expected to accommodate both tourism operations as well as vacation-home builders.

Of the $20 million cost for the runway extension at Eagle County, 95 percent is being paid for by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Jackson voluntarily goes smokeless

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Two more bars in Jackson Hole, including the famed Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, are going smoke free this summer.

The Cowboy Bar has thought about banning smokes for years, partly because of concerns about health effects of second-hand smoke on employees but also to reduce maintenance costs. Smoke filters must constantly be replaced, and the smoke makes the building dingy, requiring constant cleaning.

Smoking remains permissible at only three bars in Jackson Hole. Among them is the Virginian, where employees are advised in advance they will be among smokers. One of those smokers, a bar regular identified as “Spooner,” said smokers need a place where they can quietly go and be left in peace. “It’s an honest, crying shame,” he told theJackson Hole News&Guide.

Julia Heemstra, of Teton County Tobacco Prevention, wants a total ban on smoking and also wants to force smokers 10 and even 20 feet away from doors and windows.

– compiled by Allen Best

Vail prepares wildfire response plan

VAIL – Vail town officials are assembling an evacuation plan for town residents and visitors – just in case of a major wildfire, either in the town or the surrounding national forest where lodgepole pine have been hit hard by bark beetles.

The evacuation plan calls for a mass 911 telephone alert to all residences, emergency radio broadcasts, e-mail messages and, possibly, emergency workers using loud speakers to warn of the need to evacuate, reports theVail Daily.

Potential for what Phil Bowden, a U.S. Forest Service wildland fuels specialist, calls a “monster fire” will increase with passing years. Most of the dead trees now standing will have fallen to the ground in 15 years, providing more fuel. But even greater fire potential will arrive in 50 years, when logs remain on the ground and new trees are standing, allowing fire to be spread from tree crown to tree crown.

Meanwhile, efforts will continue this summer to create a moat along the town’s periphery. Trees will be cut and removed on 10 acres of town land and 170 acres of national forest. Residents are also being urged to reduce fire risk by removing any dead or dying trees in their own yards.

Groves of aspen, which are less susceptible to fire, will be introduced in some areas.

Aspen sees shrinking skier days

ASPEN – The bloom is off at Highlands Bowl, the Aspen Skiing Co.’s expansion area at the Aspen Highlands ski area. Several Aspen Skiing Co. resorts are reporting disappointing skier numbers this season.

The virtues of the steep-sided bowl have been praised frequently by skiing and snowboarding magazines since it was opened for public skiing three years ago. The attraction of the new Temmerity Lift last year, combined with wonderful snow, pushed Aspen Highlands to a 15 percent increase in skier numbers and fueled speculation that the ski area would surpass 200,000 skier days this year.

But Aspen Highlands is down 4 percent this winter in visits, reportsThe Aspen Times, and the four ski areas operated by the Aspen Skiing Co. are down collectively 2.5 percent. Unlike last year’s superlative storms, the snow has been so-so this winter.

Meanwhile, the Aspen Skiing Co. continues to plow money into on-mountain improvements at Snowmass Mountain, which does the heavy lifting for the company. Altogether, some $50 million in improvements are planned. This year, a children’s center will be constructed. As well, improvements to a beginners’ area are likely, and a new on-mountain restaurant remains possible.

The company had also launched, in partnership with Intrawest, a $450 million to $500 million redevelopment of the bed base area at Snowmass.

Aspen avalanche claims three

ASPEN – By the books, the three former college chums who set out for 12,340-foot Mt. Shimer, located near Aspen, had done many things right.

The day before their trip, they had consulted avalanche warnings for Colorado. They all had transceivers, probe poles and shovels. And they dug a snow pit at the base of the slope to study the snow bonding.

But when within 500 feet of the summit, all three were caught in a soft-slab avalanche that swept 800 feet down through the trees. Two of the three died.

A report filed on the Colorado Avalanche Information Center website says the avalanche started on a north-facing slope of 38 to 40 degrees, the prime zone for avalanches. The report also points out that the local avalanche center that morning had warned of moderate danger above treeline but pointedly noted elevated danger on north-facing slopes of 30 degrees or more at or near treeline,

News reports said the three had been classmates at the Colorado School of Mines, but one now lived in New York City and the second most recently had been in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The third man, the survivor, lived in metropolitan Denver.

Carbondale student numbers slide

CARBONDALE – Carbondale continues to boom, but enrollment in the local public high school, Roaring Fork, continues to decline. Seven years ago, 350 students attended the school. Now, there are 300. Why?

The Valley Journal says school officials have identified a key reason being something called, for lack of a better phrase, “white flight.” In the last five years, percentages of Latinos in the student body has more than doubled, from 26 percent to 54 percent.

Sources tell the newspaper that causes are more complex.As in many more affluent areas, Carbondale has become a place of two communities: immigrants and people who are past their child-rearing years. As well, the Gen Xers whose children would normally be in high school were a smaller demographic group.

The reduced enrollment seems to have a feed-back loop: Fewer students result in less state aid, which means cutbacks in honors programs, which make the school becomes less desirable to college-bound students.

Parents can choose to send their kids to high schools in nearby Basalt, Glenwood or Aspen, or to two alternative high schools. Although more costly, the community also has two private schools.

Federal aid key to tree removal

SUMMIT COUNTY – If Congress delivers the money, clearing of dead trees on 3,300 acres of national forest land in the wildland-urban interface of Summit County will begin this summer. Tree removal in areas near subdivisions and other crucial areas is expected for the next 10 years – if the money to pay for the work is authorized.

“These projects will not pay for themselves,” Rich Newton, district ranger on the Dillon Ranger District, told theSummit Daily News. “They depend on an input of federal dollars. That money hasn’t reached us yet in terms of our ability to write checks.”

Some of the wood may be used at a wood pellet factory that is being planned in nearby Kremmling. Other, larger trees may be suitable for milling at sawmills, Newton said.

The Summit Daily News explains that the project is the first in Summit County created under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which was created by Congress in 2003. Passed in response to increasing forest fires in the West, that law streamlined regulations but provided little money.

Resort airports due for upgrades

ASPEN – Airports at both Aspen and Vail are getting significantly upgraded and expanded.

The airport at Aspen is in the midst of $120 million in improvements. Some of the work is remedial. The runway, for example, hasn’t been reworked since 1983. That project alone will cost nearly $12 million. In addition, the terminal building, which is similarly aged, will be completely renovated. A parking garage for cars is also planned.

A 1,000-foot runway extension is planned for next year, although environmental approval has not yet been given, reportsThe Aspen Times.

The Eagle County Regional Airport, which serves primarily Vail and Beaver Creek but also Aspen, is also extending its 7,000-foot runway by 1,000 feet. The airport accommodates 727s, but during warmer months can carry fewer passengers because of reduced loft. As such, the runway extension is expected to accommodate both tourism operations as well as vacation-home builders.

Of the $20 million cost for the runway extension at Eagle County, 95 percent is being paid for by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Jackson voluntarily goes smokeless

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Two more bars in Jackson Hole, including the famed Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, are going smoke free this summer.

The Cowboy Bar has thought about banning smokes for years, partly because of concerns about health effects of second-hand smoke on employees but also to reduce maintenance costs. Smoke filters must constantly be replaced, and the smoke makes the building dingy, requiring constant cleaning.

Smoking remains permissible at only three bars in Jackson Hole. Among them is the Virginian, where employees are advised in advance they will be among smokers. One of those smokers, a bar regular identified as “Spooner,” said smokers need a place where they can quietly go and be left in peace. “It’s an honest, crying shame,” he told theJackson Hole News&Guide.

Julia Heemstra, of Teton County Tobacco Prevention, wants a total ban on smoking and also wants to force smokers 10 and even 20 feet away from doors and windows.

– compiled by Allen Best

Deer Valley visionary passes reins

PARK CITY, Utah – Edgar Stern, the vision behind the Deer Valley Resort, is passing the reins to his son, Lessing Stern, who is now the chairman of the board of the resort’s parent company, Royal Street Land Co.

The elder Stern arrived at Park City in 1971 and helped engineer a partnership with the mining company that owned much of the land around Park City. That effort yielded ownership of Park City Mountain Resort. But Sterling ultimately envisioned a ski area that pampered its visitors on the slopes as much as it did in the hotels, explainsThe Park Record. That resort became Deer Valley. The elder Stern, 84, now spends most of his time in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.