Aspen Skiing explores wind power

ASPEN – Several years ago the Aspen Skiing Co. examined its four ski mountains and concluded that winds on top are just too gusty for wind turbines. Wind is best for producing electricity when it’s strong but steady.

But turbines are now strong enough to withstand blasts of 120 mph. If gusts that are even stronger arrive, new designs allow blades to fold.

And so a 165-foot tower with a propeller is soon to be erected atop Snowmass, to better measure the wind potential there. Preliminary computer runs suggest a pot of gold, enough wind to sufficiently meet two-thirds of electrical demand at Aspen’s four ski areas, plus miscellaneous lodging and other properties.

If the tests prove positive, Aspen Skiing will install three 1.7-megawatt turbines. That’s 5.1 megawatts altogether.

Estimated return on investment is 7.5 to 8 years – after which it’s mostly free energy, with a potential savings to Aspen of $26 million over the next 20 years.

The idea for the wind turbines came partly from the U.S. Forest Service, which is now trying to find places suitable for renewable energy. At first, the thinking was of small turbines.

But an engineer from the National Renewable Energy Lab got the team thinking bigger and taller. “If there’s no reason not to go big, then go big,” said Otto Von Geet.

Aside from the technical feasibility, the major issue is public acceptance. Jim Stark, A U.S. Forest Service snow ranger who proposed the wind turbines in Aspen, predicts broad acceptance. “It’s here and it’s now. It’s the right time and the right place,” says Stark.

Even in 2002, people weren’t ready for wind turbines at ski areas. But because of climate change and our dependence on foreign oil, the idea of 300-foot-tall towers and blades on the edge of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness is being quietly accepted, he reports.

Auden Schendler, the Aspen Skiing Co.’s director of community and environmental responsibility, said his company is interested. “We’re always interested in what’s real, instead of offsets and credits.”

Stark believes ski areas are ideal places for wind turbines. Good roads are needed to high locations, and ski areas have them. Power lines are also needed, and once again, ski areas have them.

One other U.S. ski area, Massachusetts’ Jiminy Peak, began operation of a $3.9 million wind turbine last fall. The turbine, with its blade, reaches a height of 386 feet. During its first winter of operations, it generated 33 percent of the electricity needed at Jiminy


Colorado real estate feels pinch

ASPEN – The real estate market this year in some ski towns is such that Realtors are picking up second jobs.

The story isn’t universal. Summit County, for example, continues to perk along, with dollar volume not drastically different from last year. But in markets that sizzled most in recent years, the “quiet” of today is heard most loudly.

Aspen has had among the most severe drop-offs compared to its halcyon years, 2005, 2006 and early 2007. Through May, real estate transfer taxes collected by the city had declined 38 percent compared to the same period in 2007. The decline elsewhere in Pitkin County was more severe yet.

“It’s the first time in 10 years I’ve seen a number of people in the business really looking elsewhere to supplement their income,” Craig Morris, a partner in a realty firm called Morris & Frywald, toldThe Aspen Times.

Another major firm went out of business – although it should be noted that the owner was nearing retirement anyway.

A measured view of the times comes from Don Taylor, Aspen’s city finance director. He notes that this year’s real estate sales are still greater than those of 2004 and before, when the record-smashing business began.

Elsewhere in northwest Colorado, the story is mixed. Eagle County, which includes the Vail and Beaver Creek resorts, had a drop of 25 percent in volume through May, as compared to the same months last year.

Steamboat Springs and Routt County encountered an even sharper cliff, 62 percent, according to figures collected by the Land Title Guarantee Co.

Summit County has had a much smaller dollar volume in past years as compared with Aspen and Vail. But that gap has diminished, as Summit County’s market has declined not quite

15 percent.

Garfield County, located west of Aspen and Vail, fell about 10 percent. This is an area that is part of the resort economy, but also for the booming gas and oil fields and preliminary oil-shale work.


Congressmen want review of claims

CRESTED BUTTE – Two members of Colorado’s congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall, have asked the Bureau of Land Management to check its facts regarding claimed mining properties near Crested Butte.

U.S. Energy, a company from Riverton, Wyo., has 300 patented claims, meaning that it now owns the property, but also more than 5,000 acres of unpatented claims.

Perry Anderson, who represents the company, told theCrested Butte News that the request is not an unreasonable one, “It’s like building a house: you want to make sure you have the land.”

Dan Morse, public lands director for the High Country Citizens’ Alliance, said his group believes many of the claimed lands have no molybdenum underneath, which would make them invalid. He added that large mining companies often claim more land than is justified by the mineral deposits to keep competitors away from the site.



Steamboat gets housing advice

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – Although the real estate market in Steamboat has slowed like a car downshifting to second, the broader guess is that the boom will continue. One manifestation of that boom has been rapidly escalating housing prices, creating a familiar problem: lack of affordable housing.

Don’t wait, act now, was the message from Tom McCabe, executive director of the Aspen/Pitkin County Housing authority. “If the community believes you have a need for affordable housing, get started now,” he told a recent gathering in Steamboat attended by theSteamboat Pilot & Today. “It’s only going to get more expensive.”

Steamboat, unlike Aspen, has available land for affordable housing. Get it, and then worry about the money to build, he said.

Aspen has 2,800 deed-restricted units, but that’s still not enough to meet the needs.

Similar advice was issued by Annie Hayden, who leads the Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust. “Things in Jackson have reached a tipping point,” she said. “Don’t get there. That would be my advice.”



The Canyons ski area changes hands

PARK CITY, Utah – Sale of The Canyons, a ski resort at Park City, has been completed. The new owner is Talisker Corp., a Toronto-based developer that has been active in Park City real estate since 2000, notesThe Park Record.

Vail also wanted to gets its hands on the ski area, and last year filed a lawsuit claiming Talisker interfered with its efforts to buy the resort. The sale price was reported to be $123 million. With this sale, the American Skiing Co. has now disposed of all its assets. At one point in the mid-1990s, the company was on a buying binge, and sitting at the same table as Intrawest, Vail Resorts and Booth Creek Ski Holdings.



Telluride works to grow its own

TELLURIDE – Eating local has become one of the latest trends. But how do you eat local when you live at 8,750 feet, the elevation of Telluride, where the frost-free season – at least until the climate began changing – is measured in weeks, not months?

Still, says Amy Levek, writing inThe Telluride Watch, there’s no reason some of your food can’t be produced locally if you have a little forethought, determination and awareness. In Telluride, that probably means lots of spinach and peas.



Crested Butte adopts new ad tagline

CRESTED BUTTE – “Inspire Your Passion” is the new tagline for advertising by Crested Butte Mountain Resort. The phrase will be seen in everything from signs to uniforms worn by employees, and even in the architectural design of real estate, says the resort in a press release. The message defines what makes Crested Butte different from other mountain destinations, said Ethan Mueller, director of operations.

– Allen Best

 

In this week's issue...

January 25, 2024
Bagging it

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January 26, 2024
Paper chase

The Sneer is back – and no we’re not talking about Billy Idol’s comeback tour.

January 11, 2024
High and dry

New state climate report projects continued warming, declining streamflows