Vail pimps gondola, Snowmass expands
VAIL – In anticipation of its 50th winter of operations, Vail is completing installation of a new gondola, using the same alignment as the original gondola when operations began in 1962.
VAIL – In anticipation of its 50th winter of operations, Vail is completing installation of a new gondola, using the same alignment as the original gondola when operations began in 1962.
The similarities end there, however. Each car on this new gondola will have heated leather seats and Wi-Fi access. It’s also the fastest of its type in the world.
Meanwhile, the Forest Service approval of a major ski area expansion at Breckenridge has been appealed by two groups, reports the Summit Daily News. One of the appeals contends that habitat for lynx will be fragmented by the ski area operations.
The Aspen Skiing Co. will be allowed to go forward with its 230-acre expansion in an area of Snowmass called Burnt Mountain. A U.S. District Court judge ruled that a Wyoming group was out of order in its objection, and should have noted its argument at the proper time. The expansion will make Snowmass the second largest ski area in Colorado, behind only Vail.
Diversionary water tactics dwindle
What a difference half a century can make. Nineteen sixty-two was a big year for water diversion in Colorado. That year, a 23-mile tunnel that took water from Dillon Reservoir to the South Platte River and eventually Denver was completed, and the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, which diverts water from the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork rivers to farms in the Arkansas River Valley, broke ground.
Fifty years later, however, the question is not how to develop water, but how much water is left to develop – if any. The Colorado River Compact of 1922 apportions water among the seven states from Wyoming to California. It also requires Colorado and other upper-basin states to deliver 7.5 million acre feet of water to the lower-basin states on a rolling 10-year average.
During the last 30 years, Colorado and other upper-basin states have delivered an average of 10.8 million acre-feet. But that average has been exceeded only three times out of the last 12, reports John McClow of Gunnison, writing in the Grand Junction Free Press. This year was particularly bad: just a little more than 2 million acre-feet of water flowed into Lake Powell from April - July, the prime runoff months, reports Jim Pokrandt, of the Colorado River Water Conservation District.
Real estate markets gain more stability
PARK CITY, Utah – Real estate sales continue to improve at higher-end resorts. If still far from a boom, the market has improved dramatically in the last three years.
In Park City, property sales were up 4 percent this summer over last, and median property prices rose 11 percent.
“It’s a slow but steady improvement,” said Mark Seltenrich, the statistician from the Park City Board of Realtors. “The biggest trend is that the really cheap properties, the low-priced condos or low-priced lots, are not there anymore.”
Curt Singleton, executive director, told The Park Record that the rebounding market is reflected in the expanding roster of sales agents affiliated with his organization. “More people are getting back into real estate.”
From Vail comes much the same story of steady growth in sales, with bottom-end foreclosures being cleared out in the down-valley markets at Eagle and Gypsum. Several agents told Mountain Town News that they have had multiple offers on properties, the first time in some years for that to happen.
Utah group says go for 2026 Olympics
PARK CITY, Utah – Salt Lake City should bid to host the 2026 Olympics, an advisory group has recommended to Utah Gov. Gary Hebert and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker.
Park City hosted half of the athletic events when Salt Lake City hosted the Olympics in 2002. The report says that Canyons, one of the ski areas at Park City, should host events if Utah gets the Games again. The group estimates cost of bidding for the Olympics at $25 million to $30 million.
Since Park City hosted the Olympics before, the number of rooms has increased 28 percent. Included are three top-tier hotels.
Taos nixes officials’ self promotion
TAOS, N.M. – The rule on naming things seems to be that others can name things after you, but to name things after yourself is self-aggrandizing or worse.
That is the lesson from New Mexico, where the five commissioners for Taos County voted to name three public buildings at the county’s $46 million judicial, administrative and detention complex after themselves.
The Taos News reports that Chairman Joe Mike Duran justified the naming because the commissioners had “gone through a lot.”
But after the plan got broad attention, much of it with sharply unfavorable comments, the commissioners backed off, explains the News. Instead, the buildings will remain unnamed – and the commissioners will get recognized in a bronze.
Towns contemplate happy idea of snow
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. – As the last of aspen leaves flitter to forest floors, the talk in mountain towns across the Rocky Mountains is of snow.
Two winters ago, people in Crested Butte got quite upset because of all the snow mucking up streets. There had to be a better way. And so town officials developed a plan – but no reason to test it last winter. Instead, people were still mountain biking on trails in early January. This year, locals would be just fine with more attention needed to ski wax than tire tread.
In West Yellowstone, town officials had more reason to move around snow last year, and they intend to move even more snow this winter. But some snow will remain. This is a haven for snowmobilers. As such, 3 inches of snow will remain on streets and 6 inches along the edges, reports the West Yellowstone News.
New backcountry hut at 12,000 feet
ASPEN – A new backcountry hut has been built in the Elk Range between Aspen and Crested Butte. Called Opa, the German name for grandpa, it honors Alfred Braun, who emigrated to the United States in 1928 from Germany and arrived in Aspen during the early 1950s. He operated a ski lodge and earned a reputation as a skilled alpinist and promoter of the mountain lifestyle. He was known as Opa to his family and friends.
In 1967, he took over operations of a hut system and added more, building them himself with the help of family and friends.
This newest addition to the system, however, may outdo all others. The Aspen Times describes it as “stunning,” as it’s tucked into a granite-lined niche at 12,000 feet, with jagged peaks riveting one’s gaze from left to right.
“Like all huts in the Braun system, Opa’s won’t be for the casual backcountry traveler,” explains the Times. “Nearly all the routes to Braun huts cross big avalanche paths. The huts also can be difficult to find. There are no trail signs.”
The 10th Mountain Division huts of the Aspen-Vail-Breckenridge area are more forgiving. Routes generally detour well away from avalanche paths and the trails are well marked. That said, even they can be difficult when snow is falling hard, it’s getting dark and temperatures plunge.
Ski country tries to regulate gas drilling
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – Potential for natural gas and some oil drilling continues to be in the news at many ski towns in Colorado. The potential is not in any of the ski towns proper, but rather in outlying areas, including some favorite forested playgrounds.
Such drilling has been happening for decades south of Durango. But the rigs are relatively new near Steamboat. Local officials want to be ready, to ensure impacts are limited.
Some landowners would just as soon government keep its nose out of such affairs. Writing in the Steamboat Today, Vonnie Frentress says some land and mineral owners see the oil and gas industry as business partners. “Diversified revenue sources can increase the financial strength of area agricultural operations.”
– Allen Best