Ski towns weighing biomass options

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Just what role will biomass boilers play in dealing with the many tons of dead trees piling up across the West? There have been proposals in Colorado, Idaho and California.

And in Revelstoke, B.C., city officials want to expand a district heating system that uses heat generated by a sawmill to warm 10 buildings. Now, as Revelstoke looks at how it can reduce its role in the planetary emissions of greenhouse gases, officials believe an expanded district heating system could displace burning of fossil fuels.

“Revelstoke is a leader in North America in using biomass as a source of district energy, and it has been for the last five years,” insists David Johnson, chairman of the Revelstoke Community Energy Corporation.

Various Colorado towns have also talked about such an idea. Most prominent has been Vail, where a developer proposed to build a $50 million biomass plant. The plant he envisions would burn logs to produce steam, generating 6.2 megawatts of electricity. Then, the still extremely hot water would be shipped into Vail Village, at the base of the ski mountain, to provide hot water for showers, and then melt snow off streets.

But does the project in Vail have legs? It’s hard to tell. While the federal government has been doling out billions of dollars for all manner of energy projects, it did not award any to biomass.

Also uncertain is whether there would be enough wood for the next 20 years to supply the plant. The plant would need to draw from within 50 to 75 miles of Vail to keep costs down.

In Colorado, officials in Summit County for several years toyed with the idea of a biomass plant in Frisco, just off I-70, before putting the kibosh on it. But in Aspen, there is new talk of using a process called biochar, perhaps using the dead trees, to assist in reclamation of old hard-rock mines.

In California, there is talk about a biomass burner near Lake Tahoe. But theSierra Sun reports considerable debate about whether that is an appropriate location. There is, however, plenty of wood thereabouts – as was evident in a major forest fire near Lake Tahoe three years ago.

Wildfire puts scare in Winter Park

FRASER – Wildfire destroyed several hundred homes west of Boulder in September. In early October, similar visions of destruction flashed in the minds of Winter Park-Fraser exurbanites, living about 30 miles west of Boulder but across the Continental Divide.

The fire crackled and roared across 500 acres, throwing a good scare into residents of the large lots near Sheep Mountain. The flames underscored the need for preparation.

One couple with a home 2 miles from the fire had compiled an evacuation plan even while trying to create what foresters call “defensible space” around the house by removing trees. Still, they had vacillated about whether to remove the last few trees near the house. With smoke in the air, they hesitated no more. In a blink, the trees were gone and the wood dragged to a distant location.

Another couple was less prepared, but told theSky-Hi News of new motivation to create a list of must-take items, a map of where they are, and a list documenting the house’s contents that could be used to file an insurance claim.

In Winter Park, several miles away, the fire renewed angst about slow efforts to thin trees on national forests adjacent to the town. Funding was announced last spring, but no cutting occurred during the summer – much to the dismay of town officials in Winter Park. The acting regional forester, Tony Dixon, told the Forest Service that the wood removal efforts were delayed by the need for environmental review and bidding procedures.

For residents of Winter Park and other mountain towns, the fires this fall pose troubling questions about what it means to live in a disturbance-prone ecosystem. In Winter Park and Summit County, residents proudly pointed out how much better they cloaked their housing amid the trees than did places like Vail, where most housing can be seen from the interstate.

Then came the warmer winters, the tree-weakening drought, and an epidemic of bark beetles well on its way to killing 90 percent of lodgepole pine in Colorado. A major conflagration is broadly feared. The Fraser and Winter Park area had just such a stand-replacing fire in the 1600s.

At least some residents know it’s just a matter of time. “It’s scary to see the smoke, but you know it’s eventually coming,” one resident told theSky-Hi News. “Nature needs this fire.”

Whistler at center of numerous rumors

WHISTLER, B.C. – Widespread but unconfirmed reports have Fortress Investment Group planning an initial public stock offering for its Whistler-Blackcomb ski operation.

Fortress took on massive debt to buy Intrawest, the parent company of Whistler-Blackcomb, in a $2.8 billion leveraged buyout near the height of the real estate bubble in 2006. Since then, Intrawest has been pedaling hard to make debt payment, selling several ski areas in Colorado, California and British Columbia, as well as a resort in Florida. It has also refinanced the debt twice, most recently last spring.

But the refinancing only buys time. The fundamental problem, explains Bob Barnett, publisher of Whistler’sPique Newsmagazine, is that Fortress and Intrawest are in the same situation as many American homeowners: with a mortgage worth far more than the house.

Not surprisingly, there has been frequent speculation about potential buyers. Last summer it was supposed to be “the Russians.” Then, it was a Canadian pension fund. And all along there has been talk of the local community purchasing the ski area with Nippon Cable, which owns 23 percent of the resort.

With plenty of cash and an admitted wandering eye, Vail Resorts also remains a potential buyer. Last year it was kicking the tires of Whistler-Blackcomb – although not other Intrawest resorts.

Residents fear urbanization of Vail

VAIL – No, it’s not a Denver, a Vancouver or even a Salt Lake City. But for a ski town, Vail became much taller and bulkier in the last few years.

Several new buildings – the Solaris, the Ritz-Carlton, and the Four Seasons – are all coming on line this year. Lodges that just a few years ago looked big in Vail now are dwarfed. But is it good?

TheVail Daily asked that question of various citizens. One of the developers, Peter Nobel, insists that big isn’t bad if the architecture has integrity. In his case, he believes it does.

Sheika Gramshammer, one of the town’s original residents and hoteliers, sees the changes as too drastic. “We’re bringing the city into the mountains,” she said.

Kerry Donovan, the daughter of original residents, concedes that she doesn’t like what she sees. “But once they’re up, they’re up and you can only learn from them and move on from there.”

The task now, says Jim Lamont, executive director of the Vail Homeowners Association, is to figure out how to develop an international clientele to take advantage of this new and much bigger infrastructure. “To sit back and think we can relax and all we have to do is throw open the doors and wait for people to come again – think again,” he said.

Whistler debates merits of tourism

WHISTLER, B.C. – Ski towns have for decades been re-evaluating what business they’re in. Is it tourism, and if so, what kind? Is it real estate? Or should they diversify, to become more resilient when one sector or another sours?

That same conversation has been continuing in Whistler, where there has been talk from time to time of a college or perhaps a film industry. But a recent convening of the town’s most substantial business groups suggests agreement that tourism is the engine. The only question seems to be fuel.

Chris Quinlan, a municipal councilor, made this key point in a meeting covered byPique Newsmagazine. The success of any ancillary sectors depends upon how complimentary they are to Whistler’s core business as a resort, he said.

“We need to find more reasons to make people actually come to Whistler beyond just weather and how the snow is,” he said.

– Allen Best