Woman zipping her way around country

WHITEFISH, Mont. – Floridian Sue Austin zipped through Whitefish recently, as she has been doing across the United States. The Whitefish Pilot says she has been on 500 zip lines, including one across the Colorado River. She even zipped in a cave in Kentucky.

Her longest zip has been a 2,400-foot span, in Indiana of all places, and her highest was 450 feet above ground. Fastest was the zippety-do-dah at Chelan, Wash., where she went nearly 60 mph.

Austin obviously loves the sport of zipping. She’s 60 but age is no problem. And she likes other zippers, as zipline afficionados surely must be called.

 “You never meet a depressed group on a zipline tour,” she told the Pilot. “People that zipline are fun to be around, and the guides have the best job in the world.”

 

Woman zipping her way around country

WHITEFISH, Mont. – Floridian Sue Austin zipped through Whitefish recently, as she has been doing across the United States. The Whitefish Pilot says she has been on 500 zip lines, including one across the Colorado River. She even zipped in a cave in Kentucky.

Her longest zip has been a 2,400-foot span, in Indiana of all places, and her highest was 450 feet above ground. Fastest was the zippety-do-dah at Chelan, Wash., where she went nearly 60 mph.

Austin obviously loves the sport of zipping. She’s 60 but age is no problem. And she likes other zippers, as zipline afficionados surely must be called.

 “You never meet a depressed group on a zipline tour,” she told the Pilot. “People that zipline are fun to be around, and the guides have the best job in the world.”

 

New hotel gets nod, and old one upgraded

PARK CITY, Utah – Hotel construction is surging. After considering whether to build a complex of offices, retail spaces and restaurants, a development company called PC Venture Partners instead sought – and has now received – permission to build a 120-room hotel.

Local authorities like it because they expect to make more money, reports The Park Record. “Tax revenues for a hotel are much more reliable than the projected values of office, retail or restaurant,” said Alison Weyher, economic development specialist with Summit County. “You get sales tax, transient room tax and property tax from a hotel.”

Meanwhile, in Steamboat Springs, megahotel owner Starwood will invest $16 million in upgrading the Sheraton Steamboat Resort by year’s end. The Steamboat Pilot reports the latest gussie-ups include a snowmelt system for the pool deck and all the hotel’s entryways and two outdoor fireplaces. It’s become quite fashionable in recent years to heat the outdoors.

 

Dogs still running free in Mt. Crested Butte

MT. CRESTED BUTTE – Even in mountain towns little things can get under the skins of neighbors. Take dogs. Mt. Crested Butte’s laws allow dogs to be off-leash as long as the owners have them under voice control.

So what about all that dog poop left in yards? Or the cases of snarling dogs attacking people.

“I shouldn’t have to be afraid to go on walks in my own neighborhood,” said one resident.

The other side of the story is this: “I didn’t move here for more restrictions. I moved here for the view, the open space and the ability to have the freedom to live how we feel, within the law that are currently written,” said another resident, who favors the status quo.

The town council, reports the Crested Butte News, chose to leave well enough alone. Laws currently address aggressive dogs and unwanted poop, but few people will testify in court against their neighbors, officials noted. As such, the grievances might better be addressed within the context of homeowners associations, said elected officials.

 

Obamacare may help just-getting-by people

TELLURIDE – Ski bumming is supposedly a thing of the past, but what do you call the lifestyle of just-barely-getting-by in a mountain town?

In a story about the soon-to-take-effect Obamacare, i.e. the Affordable Care Act, the Telluride Daily Planet uses “ski bums” to describe many people in Telluride. If hotly disputed by Republicans, the law will help those people, says a local official.

“I think it will affect a lot of other people in Telluride in their 20s, 30s, 40s,” said Allan Gerstle, director of social services for San Miguel County. He described them as single people who have enough jobs to pay rent, but not enough money to buy health insurance. Many of them will be eligible for expanded Medicaid.

Beginning Jan. 1, people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level may be eligible for Medicaid. In Colorado, the state’s new health insurance marketplace opens Oct. 1.

Gerstle said one feature of Colorado’s marketplace is that people up to 29 can purchase minimum plans that cover emergency health care but usually come with high deductibles. These plans could be a perfect fit for the young and active Telluride population, he said.

 

Scam artist targets wrong guy this time

ASPEN – A con artist may have had some success as he called people in the Aspen, Vail and Glenwood Springs areas, but he came up short when he called one number in Aspen.

His pitch was to tell people that there were warrants for their arrests, that he was with the local sheriff’s department, and that they needed to provide their debit and credit card numbers to resolve the issue.

The Aspen Daily News reports that one local man, who works with the local sheriff’s department, got the call. He asked his accuser/inquisitor why, if he was with the local sheriff’s department, the caller-ID showed the phone call originated on the Front Range?

That flustered the ID-stealing con artist, who then regained his composure and demanded: “How dare you question my authority!”

That, too, was a giveaway. The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department, notes the Daily News, is known for its relaxed demeanor.

 

Whistler wipes out old summer records

WHISTLER, B.C. – By the simple measure of how much toilet paper a local store sells, Pique Newsmagazine finds Whistler has become busier in summer than in winter.

“Whistler is no longer ‘just a ski town,’ but a viable year-round resort,” proclaims the newspaper.
In addition to this cheeky way of measuring how many people were in Whistler, Pique also points to room-night occupancy, which was up 3 percent during August, when overall occupancy was 73 percent. Several weekends were at between 95 and 98 percent.

For some individual businesses, summer has become busier than winter. One owner of various food-and-beverage businesses in the town’s core commercial area said that summer has become busier, because people tend to spend their days there, instead of up on the ski mountain.

At Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa, the room rates have increased as well as the average length of stay during summer months.

But by the simple metric of who spends money, Whistler remains very much a ski town. Research shows winter guests spend an average $350 per day, compared to $160 during summer.

 

Aspen Skiing Co. sees money in foreigners

ASPEN – International guests already comprise 20 to 25 percent of business for the Aspen Skiing Co., but chief executive Mike Kaplan sees “huge opportunity” for growth.

To that end, he suggested that the people with the ability to speak foreign languages – Portuguese for Brazilians, Spanish for Mexicans, and perhaps even Mandarin – be stationed in the receiving line of the local airport as those guests arrive.

The Aspen Times explains that the resort company meets annually with the Aspen City Council to lay out the company’s goals.

Another top goal is to make more hay while the sun shines. The company has already invested $30 million in improving summer activities at Snowmass, but Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk lag behind. David Corbin, vice president of planning and development, asked that the city and Pitkin County help improve the valley as a summer destination.

Lodging is also on the local honey-do list. Rooms available for rent have decreased substantially since the 1990s, and the company would like to see more rooms get built. Several years ago it purchased a post-World War II property called the Limelight Lodge and upgraded it. It also supports new hotel rooms at the base of the ski area, but developers and the city council have never been able to agree on how high is too high and how big is too big.

The company operates the four local ski areas plus 13 restaurants and three hotels.

 

A few barrels of cash for this property sale

SNOWMASS VILLAGE – Maybe you wonder, too: If sale of the prime Wildcat Ranch was consummated in cash, how many barrels of C-notes did it take?

The Aspen Times reports that the property, first owned by actor Michael Douglas, has been sold for $44 million. That includes a 2,400-square-foot house, a two-bedroom guest house, a barn and views, views, views!

It was the biggest real estate sale in the Aspen area since a $46 million ranch sold in 2004, although Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan sold his Aspen-area castle for $43 million in 2012 and also, in a related but separate transaction, another property for $8 million.

 

Solar gardens start operating in Breck

BRECKENRIDGE – Two community solar gardens have been completed in Breckenridge and are converting sunshine into electricity.

Assuming increasing prices for electricity from fossil fuels, the town of Breckenridge estimates it can save $6.6 million over the net 20 years with its solar investment. A local company, Breckenridge Grand Vacations, invested nearly $1 million, giving it a potential 240 kilowatts at a time, or nearly half of one of the two solar gardens.

– Allen Best

For more, go to mountaintownnews.net

PARK CITY, Utah – Hotel construction is surging. After considering whether to build a complex of offices, retail spaces and restaurants, a development company called PC Venture Partners instead sought – and has now received – permission to build a 120-room hotel.

Local authorities like it because they expect to make more money, reports The Park Record. “Tax revenues for a hotel are much more reliable than the projected values of office, retail or restaurant,” said Alison Weyher, economic development specialist with Summit County. “You get sales tax, transient room tax and property tax from a hotel.”

Meanwhile, in Steamboat Springs, megahotel owner Starwood will invest $16 million in upgrading the Sheraton Steamboat Resort by year’s end. The Steamboat Pilot reports the latest gussie-ups include a snowmelt system for the pool deck and all the hotel’s entryways and two outdoor fireplaces. It’s become quite fashionable in recent years to heat the outdoors.

 

Dogs still running free in Mt. Crested Butte

MT. CRESTED BUTTE – Even in mountain towns little things can get under the skins of neighbors. Take dogs. Mt. Crested Butte’s laws allow dogs to be off-leash as long as the owners have them under voice control.

So what about all that dog poop left in yards? Or the cases of snarling dogs attacking people.

“I shouldn’t have to be afraid to go on walks in my own neighborhood,” said one resident.

The other side of the story is this: “I didn’t move here for more restrictions. I moved here for the view, the open space and the ability to have the freedom to live how we feel, within the law that are currently written,” said another resident, who favors the status quo.

The town council, reports the Crested Butte News, chose to leave well enough alone. Laws currently address aggressive dogs and unwanted poop, but few people will testify in court against their neighbors, officials noted. As such, the grievances might better be addressed within the context of homeowners associations, said elected officials.

 

Obamacare may help just-getting-by people

TELLURIDE – Ski bumming is supposedly a thing of the past, but what do you call the lifestyle of just-barely-getting-by in a mountain town?

In a story about the soon-to-take-effect Obamacare, i.e. the Affordable Care Act, the Telluride Daily Planet uses “ski bums” to describe many people in Telluride. If hotly disputed by Republicans, the law will help those people, says a local official.

“I think it will affect a lot of other people in Telluride in their 20s, 30s, 40s,” said Allan Gerstle, director of social services for San Miguel County. He described them as single people who have enough jobs to pay rent, but not enough money to buy health insurance. Many of them will be eligible for expanded Medicaid.

Beginning Jan. 1, people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level may be eligible for Medicaid. In Colorado, the state’s new health insurance marketplace opens Oct. 1.

Gerstle said one feature of Colorado’s marketplace is that people up to 29 can purchase minimum plans that cover emergency health care but usually come with high deductibles. These plans could be a perfect fit for the young and active Telluride population, he said.

 

Scam artist targets wrong guy this time

ASPEN – A con artist may have had some success as he called people in the Aspen, Vail and Glenwood Springs areas, but he came up short when he called one number in Aspen.

His pitch was to tell people that there were warrants for their arrests, that he was with the local sheriff’s department, and that they needed to provide their debit and credit card numbers to resolve the issue.

The Aspen Daily News reports that one local man, who works with the local sheriff’s department, got the call. He asked his accuser/inquisitor why, if he was with the local sheriff’s department, the caller-ID showed the phone call originated on the Front Range?

That flustered the ID-stealing con artist, who then regained his composure and demanded: “How dare you question my authority!”

That, too, was a giveaway. The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department, notes the Daily News, is known for its relaxed demeanor.

 

Whistler wipes out old summer records

WHISTLER, B.C. – By the simple measure of how much toilet paper a local store sells, Pique Newsmagazine finds Whistler has become busier in summer than in winter.

“Whistler is no longer ‘just a ski town,’ but a viable year-round resort,” proclaims the newspaper.
In addition to this cheeky way of measuring how many people were in Whistler, Pique also points to room-night occupancy, which was up 3 percent during August, when overall occupancy was 73 percent. Several weekends were at between 95 and 98 percent.

For some individual businesses, summer has become busier than winter. One owner of various food-and-beverage businesses in the town’s core commercial area said that summer has become busier, because people tend to spend their days there, instead of up on the ski mountain.

At Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa, the room rates have increased as well as the average length of stay during summer months.

But by the simple metric of who spends money, Whistler remains very much a ski town. Research shows winter guests spend an average $350 per day, compared to $160 during summer.

 

Aspen Skiing Co. sees money in foreigners

ASPEN – International guests already comprise 20 to 25 percent of business for the Aspen Skiing Co., but chief executive Mike Kaplan sees “huge opportunity” for growth.

To that end, he suggested that the people with the ability to speak foreign languages – Portuguese for Brazilians, Spanish for Mexicans, and perhaps even Mandarin – be stationed in the receiving line of the local airport as those guests arrive.

The Aspen Times explains that the resort company meets annually with the Aspen City Council to lay out the company’s goals.

Another top goal is to make more hay while the sun shines. The company has already invested $30 million in improving summer activities at Snowmass, but Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk lag behind. David Corbin, vice president of planning and development, asked that the city and Pitkin County help improve the valley as a summer destination.

Lodging is also on the local honey-do list. Rooms available for rent have decreased substantially since the 1990s, and the company would like to see more rooms get built. Several years ago it purchased a post-World War II property called the Limelight Lodge and upgraded it. It also supports new hotel rooms at the base of the ski area, but developers and the city council have never been able to agree on how high is too high and how big is too big.

The company operates the four local ski areas plus 13 restaurants and three hotels.

 

A few barrels of cash for this property sale

SNOWMASS VILLAGE – Maybe you wonder, too: If sale of the prime Wildcat Ranch was consummated in cash, how many barrels of C-notes did it take?

The Aspen Times reports that the property, first owned by actor Michael Douglas, has been sold for $44 million. That includes a 2,400-square-foot house, a two-bedroom guest house, a barn and views, views, views!

It was the biggest real estate sale in the Aspen area since a $46 million ranch sold in 2004, although Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan sold his Aspen-area castle for $43 million in 2012 and also, in a related but separate transaction, another property for $8 million.

 

Solar gardens start operating in Breck

BRECKENRIDGE – Two community solar gardens have been completed in Breckenridge and are converting sunshine into electricity.

Assuming increasing prices for electricity from fossil fuels, the town of Breckenridge estimates it can save $6.6 million over the net 20 years with its solar investment. A local company, Breckenridge Grand Vacations, invested nearly $1 million, giving it a potential 240 kilowatts at a time, or nearly half of one of the two solar gardens.

– Allen Best

For more, go to mountaintownnews.net