Jobless workers flee from ski towns

WHISTLER, B.C. - Seasonal workers are now fleeing ski towns, the jobs they expected unavailable and their savings rapidly being depleted. There are fresh reports from both Whistler and Breckenridge.

Whistler'sPique newsmagazine had only 26 job listings in late January, compared to 140 for the same week a year ago.

Until November, jobs were easy to find, especially in the tourism sector. Chefs and retail workers had been lured away by high-paying construction jobs as the community prepared for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The floundering U.S. economy has spread to Canada, and in Whistler's case a sub-par winter for snow hasn't helped. A decline of 15 to 20 percent in visitors was forecast this winter for Whistler. The upshot is solemn faces on newly arrived twentysomethings, as they learn that there are no good jobs, and not many jobs at all.

One 23-year-old woman confided toPique that she worked for an architectural firm last year, and hoped for something similar this year. Now, she's beginning to think she'll take just whatever she can get. "I am 23, and I have a degree, and I've never had to do that kind of a job. I've never had to work at a fast-food restaurant. But now, I'm starting to think that housekeeping would be really sweet," she said.

In Colorado, theSummit Daily News tells of scores of Brazilians decamping after a month of little or no work. The newspaper says hundreds of Brazilian students were enticed to pay sponsoring agencies as much as $2,000 plus travel expenses to acquire visas and get work at the resort, only to find upon arrival that the slumping U.S. economy had dried up virtually every job opportunity.

One Brazilian said that only two of the 12 people he originally came with remain. "Lots of them decided to leave to Brazil or to another place," he said.

The newspaper also interviewed somebody in Park City, Utah, "Here in Park City, things are very complicated," said the Brazilian, Mathesus Fierro. "I live with 10 Brazilians, and three of them still don't have a job. Most people that actually have a job offer are working as temporary."

He confided that he did have a good job - but he had lost hope many times along the way.

Backcountry trio lucks out near Vail

VAIL -The Denver Post's Scott Willoughby reports a fascinating tale of both arrogance and luck from the backcountry of the Gore Range north of Vail.

Three skiers exploring near the Eiseman Hut were caught in an avalanche that buried them under as much as 7 feet of snow for more than two hours. That they got caught in the avalanche suggests that they chose to ignore everything they had learned about safety in steep-snow country. That they survived can be traced directly to the fact that they had AvaLungs - that and also a great deal of luck.

Penn Newhard, a spokesman for Black Diamond, the manufacturer of AvaLung, said there have been 12 or 13 documented cases of people surviving avalanche burials because of the AvaLung.

"But I'm always hesitant to push them too hard," he told The Post. "Even beacons have just under a 50 percent survivor recovery rate. This isn't like Superman's cape. Sooner or later, someone is going to get dug up with a 'Lung in their mouth, having not survived."

In fact, luck may have been as much or even more important than the device. The snow from the slide was unusually loose. The looseness allowed the men to clear an air passage.

A report by the Colorado Avalanche Information Center says two of the men had passed avalanche courses and were familiar with the area. Even as they ascended a ridge, they saw evidence of naturally triggered avalanches.

Following a "whumph" of collapsing snow, the snow began moving, and the men were carried a mere 20 feet down the slope. Still, it was enough to bury them beneath as much as seven feet of snow.

All three men were buried for at least an hour before one managed to dig out. The longest and deepest burial lasted two hours and 14 minutes under 7 feet of snow.

Brad Sawtell, a forecaster for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, credits the men for being well equipped. All had not only avalanche transceivers, but also shovels and probe poles.

Ninety-two percent of avalanche victims not otherwise killed

survive if they are dug out within the first 15 minutes. After that, the odds go down rapidly. Only 25 percent remain after an hour. After two hours, almost no one survives. Roughly 2 percent of avalanche victims survive a burial of 7 feet.

Ouray enacts mining moratorium

OURAY - Very little mining remains in nearby Ouray County. But scattered about in the high country, amid the public lands, are 1,292 parcels of private land patented originally as mining claims.

That these parcels could eventually become homesites is something that county commissioners were aware of. Across Colorado, such remote locations have become home for many cabins, but with occasional repercussions, such as the need for extension of fire-protection services. Eagle County (Vail), Pitkin County (Aspen) and Summit County (Breckenridge) have all adopted regulations during the last 20 years that sharply limit what can be done on such parcels.

Wanting to similarly curtail repercussions, the Ouray County commissioners have adopted a moratorium on such land parcels while they draw up regulations governing such development.The Telluride Watch, which is based in adjacent San Miguel County, reports that stabilization work in that county will be allowed to continue on the historical structures that already exist.

Breck accused of green-washing

BRECKENRIDGE - Ohio resident Dan Willer said he was "disgusted" by what he saw in Breckenridge during his traditional January visit this year.

On the town's main street, he found door after door left wide open on a night when the temperature was only 18 degrees. Inside, the heat was blasting. There were six such open-door-policy businesses in one block alone, he recounted in a letter published in theSummit Daily News.

"Why?" he wanted to know. Because people would think they were closed if the doors were shut, shop owners responded.

"To add insult to injury, throughout our visit to Breckenridge, we were constantly accosted with what I now consider 'propaganda' that emphasized how 'green' it is," he said.

Those Breckenridge shops, he advised, won't see his shadow darken their doorways ever again. He and his companions are taking their business elsewhere.

No ski town need feel too smug about such things. This correspondent has noticed that a good many ski town retailers seem to think their well-heeled customers are too dense to read signs with such taxing words as "shut" and "open."

Zambonis turn to solar thermal panels

CANMORE, Alberta - It's counterintuitive, Zambonis use extremely hot water of between 160 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit in order to create and smooth ice on skating rinks. Because it has less oxygen, hot water bonds to the surface better, smoothes uneven surfaces, and makes "harder" ice.

And at a heavily used ice arena, such as the one at the Rec Centre in Canmore, Zambonis can flood the two ice surfaces up to 32 times a day, in the process using up to 11,840 litres (3,127 gallons) of hot water.

Because of that high consumption, solar thermal collecting panels were mounted on the building. The collectors are expected to supply one-fifth of the hot water needed. Although in this case the collectors were paid for by provincial grants, normally the saved energy would pay for the project in 13 years, officials tell theRocky Mountain Outlook.

Solar thermal in most cases achieves a greater bang for the buck than photovoltaic solar collectors, which produce electricity.

Snowmobilers fined for wilderness ride

ASPEN - Four snowmobilers have been fined $500 each by the U.S. Forest Service for snowmobiling in designated wilderness areas.

Such unlawful incursions into designated wilderness areas are common in the Roaring Fork Valley, says The Aspen Times. Some of the "poaching" is a result of ignorance, and in other cases it is intentional.

Either way, riders have the responsibility of knowing where the wilderness boundaries are located. Through the fines, the agency wanted to get the word out that there could be repercussions from violations.

– Allen Best