Destination resorts mark anniversaries

KETCHUM, Idaho – It’s a time for milestones. Deer Valley, the resort in Park City, turns 30. So does Beaver Creek, the sibling to Vail. And off in a remote, forgotten valley of Idaho, the first deliberately created destination mountain resort in North America opened for business 75 years ago this winter.

Beaver Creek had a rocky beginning – literally. It was a severe drought winter. The ski area was opened – and then closed for at least several weeks.

The economy wasn’t so hot, either. An oil embargo caused skyrocketing oil prices that staggered the national economy. Then, oil prices cascaded, causing Denver’s oil-based economy to stagger. To the west of Vail, Exxon pulled the plug on its oil shale project near Rifle, immediately throwing 2,000 people out of work. The reverberations lasted many years.

Real estate sales at Beaver Creek stalled until 1987-88, when the new tax laws ushered in by the Reagan administration favored investment in second homes. Then, Beaver Creek took off – and it hasn’t stopped since.

Beaver Creek has been arguably the most robust resort in the West in the last 20 years as measured by growth in skier days, increase in terrain, and addition of bed base.

Many of the same things can be said about Deer Valley. And it continues to expand, with first the St. Regis hotel last winter and now the Montage, both of them glittering with stars.

When you look around, many of the new hotels at other resorts are a reaction to the coming-of-age of Beaver Creek and Deer Valley.

As for Ketchum, the story of Sun Valley sure is well known. Averill Harriman, chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad, wanted to develop business on the passenger trains and sent out a scout to survey the West. Bald Mountain was usefully devoid of many trees, and at its base was an old mining camp that had become headquarters for sheep grazing: Ketchum. And, most of all, it had a railroad.

Almost immediately, Ketchum and Sun Valley became Aspen, Park City and Whistler all rolled into one. Gary Cooper, Ernest Hemingway and ice skater Sonja Henie became regulars.

Many films were made there. Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall filmed “How to Marry a Millionaire” at Sun Valley; James Stewart was there for “The Mortal Storm.”

But the trains that made such filming possible were overtaken by planes and other equally scenic but more accessible locations. After World War II, Aspen became the middle of North America’s ski resort pond. Arguably, it still is.

Eventually, the trains that were the original catalyst for creation of Sun Valley stopped running to Ketchum. Now, Ketchum is trying to get a decent airport and some new hotels.

Rescued angler offers up his thanks

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – A harrowing story of near-death was played out on a recent evening in Steamboat Springs. In early August, a geologist from Denver had gone fishing on the Snake River, located about an hour north of Steamboat. While walking through the river, he broke his tibia, or shin bone.

At a recent reunion and thank-you dinner, Craig Horlacher recounted how he chose to remain on rocks in the middle of the river so he could better be seen. In trying to use the leg, he ran the risk of further injury.

So he settled into his surroundings, soothed by the sound of the running water. “My rational mind told me this is the best hand I can play,” Horlacher said. “And it was a beautiful place.” The rocks, he said, were pre-Cambrian.

Although he was able to capture two rainbow trout, he started becoming hypothermic by the second day after slipping into the water. Even though it was high summer, he started shivering that night

Just hours away from death, searchers found him after his fifth night out. Horlacher recovered after 33 days of hospitalization and further treatment. His tibia has now been fused with nine screws and a metal rod.

Told that he was a hero, Horlacher deferred any praise. “I’m not the hero here,” he told his rescuers.

Judge to determine Tamarack’s fate

DONNELEY, Idaho – Tamarack, the beleaguered resort 90 miles north of Boise, may reopen for limited skiing this winter, but the status of its bankruptcy remains in doubt.

The Idaho Statesman reports that lawyers representing Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank that is the primary creditor for the $300 million loaned to the resort, argued for moving Tamarack from Chapter 11 reorganization into Chapter 7 liquidation. That way assets within the resort could be broken up and sold, ensuring the bank gets at least some money back.

The bank wants developer Jean-Pierre Boespflug and his partner, Alfredo Miguel Afif, removed from the resort management.

Boespflug, in court filings, responded that liquidation would be “counterintuitive and perhaps senseless.” He argues that the resort has greater value as a whole.

After several abortive efforts over two decades, Tamarack was opened in 2004 and the next year hosted President George W. Bush on a mountain-biking trip. Tennis stars Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi announced plans to develop a luxury property and later cancelled. The resort sold 531 properties for $359 million after its opening.

Majority owners of the resort filed for bankruptcy in February 2008.

Restaurateur takes down charging bear

TAHOE CITY, Calif. –The Sierra Sun tells of a restaurateur on the shores of Lake Tahoe killing a 500-pound bear that charged him. The bear had broken into the restaurant repeatedly during the previous week, and the proprietors had sought help. One idea was to install electric bear wires around the windows and doors.

But one morning just before Thanksgiving, the restaurant co-owner encountered the bear sleeping on the floor of the dining room. When he tried to warn the bear off, the bear charged him. Because of the break-ins, he had a loaded shotgun, which he used to kill the bear.

“The business owner was defending himself,” said Jason Holley, wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game. “I’m sure seeing an angry 500-pound wild animal was an intimidating sight.”

He told theSierra Sun that no evidence was found that the restaurant had stored trash improperly.

Snowstorms pound Steamboat, Jackson

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – How quickly driest autumn can turn into deepest winter. Still, this year seems to be exceptional.

Steamboat ski officials reported that it was the snowiest November since records began in 1979. Some 90 inches fell, besting the previous record for 83 inches, officials told theSteamboat Pilot. This is a La Niña winter, and the last time was 2007-08 – when the resort ended up with nearly 500 inches of snow.

In Wyoming, operators of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort opened all of Rendezvous Peak to skiing after getting 113 inches of snow, a record for the date, Nov. 23. Never in the history of the resort – which is now nearly 50 years old – has so much terrain been opened so soon. “We’ve never had a complete opening before,” said Zahan Billimoria, a resort spokesman.

Ironically, the resort spent $1 million last summer to expand its snowmaking capabilities, to ensure more than one run on opening day.

Apple advertises Sun Valley backdrop

KETCHUM, Idaho – Are you a Macintosh person? Then you may be getting an advertisement from Apple that shows Ketchum’s Roadhouse Inn and several shots with the Sun Valley ski area in the background.The Idaho Mountain Express explains that the filming took place last April, when the snow was fast disappearing. Luckily, a wintry spell for several days made a Christmas setting plausible.

Revelstoke projects population growth

REVELSTOKE, B.C. – How much will Revelstoke grow in coming years? For transportation and other infrastructure needs, it matters a lot. But projections vary.

BC Stats, the provincial agency that conducts analysis, says to expect an almost imperceptible increase of 118 people during the next 16 years. Current population is just below 8,000. How about 11,000, wonders a local planning agency.

George Penfold, from Selkirk College, says it all depends upon the success of Revelstoke Mountain Resort. “Without the resort, the answer is no – that’s not going to happen,” he tells theRevelstoke Times Review.

– Allen Best