Hiker fined for not carrying bear spray
BANFF, Alberta – A person caught hiking without bear spray on a trail around Lake Minnewanka, located in Banff National Park, has been fined $400.
The hiker, a student from Korea, was also found guilty of hiking without being in the company of at least three other hikers. That requirement has existed previously, but the mandate to have bear spray is new this year.

The requirements were instituted because of a history of encounters with grizzly bears. Mountain bikers have been banned entirely from the trail during summer, because they can more easily surprise grizzlies than hikers. Parks Canada officials explain that bears are drawn to the berry patches, and while eating berries, are distracted. That results is an increased likelihood of a bear being surprised by humans – and charging.

Lowe’s latest big box for Silverthorne
SILVERTHORNE – Another big-box store, the hardware and lumber merchandiser Lowe’s, is set to open a 94,000-square-foot store next year in Silverthorne.

Summit County already has a big Wal-Mart plus a Target, and a study predicts this new big box franchise will impact 100 businesses directly or indirectly, with losses of up to 12 percent, reports the Summit Daily News.

The newspaper quoted Stacy Mitchell, author of Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses. She said there’s no tried-and-true approach for a small business trying to compete with the franchise giants.

Customer service helps, but businesses should also emphasize to customers the effect of where they spend their dollars, said Mitchell. Money spent at big stores, she says, leaves the community.

Armstrong survives grilling in Aspen
ASPEN – Bicycling legend Lance Armstrong got a standing ovation after being grilled at a session in Aspen last week. Some of the questions were marshmallows, such as how long it took him to hike a local trail. He responded that he had climbed Aspen Mountain in 43 minutes, 40 seconds – provoking applause.

But there were more probing questions, too, according to accounts in the local newspapers. His principal griller was Walter Isaacson, former chief executive of CNN and managing editor of Time.

Now director of the Aspen Institute, the sponsor of the session, Isaacson asked Armstrong the status of the federal grand jury investigation into allegations that he used drugs while competing in the Tour de France. “I don’t know exactly,” said Armstrong. “I only know what I read in the paper.”

When Isaacson asked Armstrong if he had received a letter from the federal government saying he is the target of an investigation, Armstrong said “no,” quipping, “The New York Times lands on my doorstep every morning. So if that counts as a letter, then yes.”

According to an account in the Aspen Daily News, Armstrong pointed out that the alleged doping with which the U.S. government takes issue was based on cycling practices nine to 12 years ago in France. “What’s next? Are we going to start policing cricket,” he asked.

Armstrong also talked about cancer, which he suffered when he was 26, and his efforts to help raise $400 million for cancer research. And he applauded Aspenites for mostly leaving him alone when he’s there as a second-home owner.

Few places in the world can ever be re-created, he said, and Aspen is one of them. “I wasn’t born here. I wasn’t raised here, but I got here as soon as I could,” he added.

Ski towns gear up for big bicycle race
MT. CRESTED BUTTE – It’s anybody’s guess just how many people the USA Pro Cycling Challenge will draw to ski towns of Colorado. The itinerary starts in Colorado Springs, ends in Denver, but will tag Salida, Crested Butte, Aspen, Vail, Avon and Steamboat Springs along the way while passing through a passel of others.

Staging this tour is quite expensive for ski towns. Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte together pitched in $40,000 plus staffing time, while the ski area operator, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, put up hotel rooms and food.

In Aspen, as of mid-July, bookings for rooms during for the two days most directly impacted by the event stood at about 42 percent. That’s up considerably from last year. However, a “very significant chunk” of the increase is due to the free and reduced-price rooms hoteliers are giving race personnel, said Bill Tomcich, who directs Stay Aspen Snowmass, the central reservations agency.

No doubt, bookings will pick up as the race week approaches. Also helping will be confirmation that the top Tour de France finishers will race in Colorado. The Denver Post reports that Cadel Evans of Australia, the winner in France, has now confirmed.

It’s hard to tell whether it will prove to be as challenging as the Tour de France. The Alps are steeper but at lower elevation.

Spec mansions still being constructed
VAIL – If times are hard for builders, that’s doubly the case for builders of spec homes. But a few companies continue to build, despite the uncertainty of buyers. One such company is Triumph Development, which has nearly finished two homes in Vail. The homes are priced at $10 million and $15 million.

Financing such castles is difficult, of course, and James Fangmeyer, the co-founder of Triumph, says many lenders recoil when they hear “spec” in a proposal. “But we made a calculated decision to proceed,” he told the Vail Daily.

Michelle Obama kicks off her shoes
ASPEN – Michelle Obama kicked off her shoes to hobnob with well-heeled supporters in Aspen.

The 150 people who attended her luncheon event ponied up anywhere from $1,000 to merely eat and listen to her 28-minute speech, to $10,000 for those with greater privileges, such as getting their photographs taken together.

Audience members, who were mostly female, were “captivated” by Obama’s speech, The Aspen Times reported, although at least some couldn’t help but note she didn’t say anything about the debt crisis. Afterward, she kicked off her shoes and walked in the grass while mingling with supporters.

Earlier in the day, she raised $420,000 for her husband’s re-election effort during a stop near Park City. The fund-raiser was held at the home of an investor with Barclays Wealth. Donors delivered up to $35,800 each, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The Aspen event was sponsored by Jim Crown, the managing partner of the Aspen Skiing Co. on behalf of the Lester Crown family. The Crowns, like the Obamas, hail from Chicago.

A naked young man on ice in Sun Valley
SUN VALLEY, Idaho – Remember that quaint practice of darting through a crowd, bereft of all clothing save for shoes? Popular in the 1970s, it still happens from time to time – including at the grand finale of an ice show featuring several Olympic medalists at Sun Valley. The Sun Valley Co. harrumphed with appropriate displeasure, but the skaters themselves, without missing a beat, laughed. Nobody called the cops, says the Idaho Mountain Express.

Bankrupt resort owners blame Swiss bank
BOISE, Idaho – The finger is now being pointed at financier Credit Suisse in the case of two new and floundering ski resorts of the West.
The Associated Press says that Alfredo Miguel, a partner in Idaho’s Tamarack Resort, and Tim Blixseth, of Montana’s Yellowstone Club, want to join a lawsuit filed last year against the Zurich-based bank. The suit accuses Credit Suisse of using a predatory lending scheme to defraud them.
The original lawsuit claims Credit Suisse set up an offshore branch to skirt U.S. rules, appraise resorts at inflated prices, provide loans the properties could not repay, and ultimately take control of the resorts through foreclosure.

“Poppycock,” responds Credit Suisse. “For Mr. Blixseth, in particular, this is simply the latest attempt to shift blame to others and away from his own conduct,” said a spokesman.

Both resorts went bankrupt. In the Yellowstone case, Blixseth has been ordered to pay $40 million to creditors. The AP says his fortune has collapsed from $1.3 billion to $200 million.

The Tamarack case is muddled. Jean-Pierre Boespflug, the majority partner, has failed to show at court-ordered hearings, racking up fines of $5,000 a day since June.

Meanwhile, talks have broken off with an investment group from the Boise area that had wanted to pick up the bankrupt resort. The investor group led by Matthew Hutcheson had originally offered $40 million for the $250 million construction loan from Credit Suisse.

The Bank of America wants to remove and sell the ski lifts at Tamarack but homeowners are trying to block it. After the bankruptcy filing, ski area operations were suspended, but limited operations resumed last winter.

– Allen Best


 

 

In this week's issue...

January 25, 2024
Bagging it

State plastic bag ban is in full effect, but enforcement varies

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