Big winter tied to global warming

ASPEN – It’s an inconvenient truth of another nature. This winter has been cold across much of ski country in Colorado, with among the lowest temperatures in 15 winters.

Proof that global warming theory is bunk?

No. Climatologists have long warned against ascribing any single weather event – be it a warm and dry winter or a hot, hot summer – to global warming.

The reverse is also true. Epic winters will always remain possible; they’re just likely to be shorter and more rare.

“Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get,” says John Katzenberger, director of the Aspen Global Change Institute, in stressing that climate change is all about long-term averages.

The Aspen Times points to the real-estate market to make the same point. Sales during December plummeted 22 percent. “But using the performance in that one month to predict how the market will perform for the next five to 20 years would be ridiculous,” notes the paper’s Scott Condon.

Writing in aColorado Central, a magazine based in Salida, outdoorsman Hal Walter arrives at the same conclusion. “I find a certain irony that in the age of global warming I am freezing my ass off,” he says. Still, he says, the broader evidence of change over time and the globe is compelling. “It’s absurd to think that man’s activities – particularly the overuse of fossil fuels – have not had at least some effect in all this.”

For the record, it’s been plenty cold this winter in Fraser, the self-proclaimed “icebox of the nation. There have been plenty of 30-below nights. However, in the mid-1980s the thermometer occasionally got to 40 below.

In Eagle, old-timers report similar trends. It’s a good winter, with some 10-below nights. But a few decades ago there were spells of 30 below.

Extreme rescues on the rise

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Backcountry rescues are on such a rise in Jackson Hole that local authorities are considering billing adventurers

That such a drastic measure would be considered says much about the frustration of local authorities, who say that annual rescue costs have increased from $15,000 only eight years ago to $160,000 now. Three-quarters of that budget is devoted to having a helicopter on call. Costs of operation are an additional $1,500 per hour.

The Jackson Hole News&Guide says that the irritation is elevated by the risk faced by rescuers. In late afternoon on New Year’s Day, a snowboarder broke a cornice and slid 1,300 vertical feet. Rescuers marched up the mountain in the dark, reaching the man by midnight, ministering to him until he could be flown out the next morning. However, they almost didn’t go. According to the newspaper, rescuers debated an hour before voting – by a narrow margin – to execute the rescue because of the dangers. Some say they believe the man would have died without their help.

Traditional search-and-rescue teams have traditionally eschewed charges, for fear it will discourage calls for help but have had no qualms about charging for helicopters.

Doug Meyer, the coordinator of Teton County Search and Rescue, said he expects to respond to 10 events by winter’s end. Some involve skiers and snowboarders who use the lifts of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort to access what is called the “resort backcountry.”

Teton County Sheriff Bob Zimmer indicated he’s had enough of “extreme” adventuring.

“The word extreme is thrown around everyday,” he told the newspaper. “You go out, put yourself in harm’s way, get yourself cliffed out, stranded, and we then take five or 25 volunteers and put them in harm’s way to rescue you when you use poor judgment.”

Nederland celebrates high notes

NEDERLAND – Caribou Ranch was a storied place in its time. From rocker Joe Walsh in 1972 to Christian singer Amy Grant in 1985, dozens of well-known musicians recorded at the studio.

Chicago, Elton John, Carol King also recorded there, as did Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Rod Stewart, among several dozen others.

The studio’s popularity owed to its soothing mountain scenery but also its remoteness. It was located just east of the Continental Divide, halfway between the college town of Boulder and the ski town of Winter Park. Musicians tended to hunker down with their work, free of distractions.

But there was also something else – the thin air at 8,300 feet. “You could sing an octave higher,” says Jim Guercio, who founded and operated the recording studio. Rod Stewart recorded “Tonight’s the Night” at Caribou for that very reason. “Could never hit the notes (at sea level),” Guercio told theRocky Mountain News, a Denver newspaper.

Bass player Kenny Passarelli, who recorded with Elton John and Joe Walsh (“Rocky Mountain Way”), said that after a few recordings, other musicians came to associate Caribou with a particular sound they had not heard before.

“I was showing the band and everybody the control room, and Elton John asked if it was where (Rick Derringer’s) ‘All American Boy’ was done. I said ‘yes.’ He said, ‘That’s the sound I want.’”

Thin air wasn’t a high note for everybody. Freddie King, the bluesman who weighed 300 pounds, needed an oxygen mask. And John Lennon, who spent four days at the ranch serving backup on an Elton John recording, also wanted hits of oxygen.

Jackson Hole employers worried

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. – Winter is a slower time in the economy of Jackson Hole than is summer. That’s why it’s all the more concerning to employers there that they can’t find enough hired hands to clean the sheets, wash the dishes and do all the other tasks in a service-oriented tourism economy.

Sharpening the tension, reports thatJackson Hole News&Guide, is the fact that the federal cap on H2B temporary worker visas was reached Jan. 3, well in advance of Jackson’s high season. That leaves some employers considering recruitment from Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories, where visas are unnecessary. Others may use J1 student visas, although they tend to draw more transient and less loyal workers.

The wages are relatively high, about $14/hour for many jobs as housekeepers, which is too low to interest U.S. citizens but high enough to draw Mexicans. A business owner, who spoke to the newspaper only on the condition of anonymity, said he takes whatever document prospective workers give him.

“Now I just have everyone complete I-9s, show me their driver’s licenses and Social Security cards,” he said. “We all know they’re not legal, but we look the other way.”

The business owner estimated that his Mexican workers make $4,000 to $7,000 a month.

Would higher wages draw U.S. citizens? Mark Walker, a restaurateur, thinks not, but he also says he can only pay so much. “You can’t pay $30 (per hour) for unskilled labor.”

Frisco takes major sustainable step

FRISCO – Frisco town authorities have adopted a new building code, one that demands greater conservation of energy and environmentally friendly building designs and materials.

The new building code demands the basic level of LEED certification of all new buildings, reports theSummit Daily News. LEED has four levels of certification: basic, silver, gold and platinum. The basic level demands a 14 percent improvement in energy efficiency.

“It’s been a long process to get buy-in from all the stakeholders, including builders,” said Carly Wier, director of High Country Conservation.

Some building professionals now insist that the LEED building process costs no more. What all agree is that buildings built to the higher standards can result in substantially lower operating costs.

In Summit County, architect Tim Sabo credits Frisco with leadership. “It’ll help to break out of the box of the conventions of building today.”

Frisco has been working with other towns and the Summit County government on the revised building regulations. Other jurisdictions will be asked to adopt similar or identical codes.

Agritourism arrives in Steamboat

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – It’s called agritourism, this idea that farmers and ranchers can make some money off visitors, and if the idea has been around for decades, it’s getting new attention in the Yampa River Valley.

TheSteamboat Pilot & Today reports that dozens of farm and ranch owners gathered recently to hear about how travel and agriculture could be intertwined. From elsewhere in Colorado, Duke Phillips explained why he chose to take on visitors. The cattle on his ranch in the San Luis Valley could not alone pay his $100,000-plus lease, he said.

– Allen Best