Tesla installs charging stations in I-70 corridor

SILVERHORNE – Driving a Tesla electric car just got much easier in the I-70 corridor of Colorado. Tesla is installing eight fast-charging stations at the Outlets at Silverthorne, located 70 miles from downtown Denver.

From Silverthorne, it’s another 30 miles to Vail, 90 miles to Steamboat Springs, and 100+ miles to Aspen, depending upon the season.

In 30 minutes, the charging stations can deliver electricity sufficient for 200 miles of driving.

“Just like in California, where Tesla began in the major metro areas and then provided charging stations at incremental locations while expanding outwards, a Silverthorne charging station will get Denver metro residents to Steamboat, Vail Valley and the Aspen area and back,” explains Kevin Batchelder, town manager of Silverthorne.

In May, Tesla announced plans for a network of 200 fast-charging stations that will connect most of the major population centers in the United States and Canada, providing free electricity at the dispensers.

“The expansion of the network will mean that Model S drivers can take the ultimate road trip – whether that’s LA to New York, Vancouver to San Diego, or Montreal to Miami – without spending a cent on fuel,” said Tesla in its May announcement.

Only Tesla Model S cars can be charged. They run about $70,000 but have a much bigger battery pack than other electric cars. A Nissan Leaf, for example, has a theoretical battery range of 78 miles. Because of the limited range, the standard advice in mountain towns is that it’s best to buy a hybrid, with an electric component for around-town errands but a gasoline engine for longer trips.

But why should this be good news for other electric car owners? A correspondent in Oregon for KATU asked that question of Phil Barnhart, a state representative from Eugene.

“The first cellphone was a brick,” he answered. “It weighed like a brick. It cost $10,000. If somebody didn’t buy the thing, we wouldn’t have this,” he said, pulling his iPhone out of his pocket. “You’ve got to have early adopters.”

In Silverthorne, the town government lined up Tesla with the Canada-based owners of the factory-outlet complex. Tesla doesn't demand prime real estate, but it does require use of four or five parking spaces plus 200 to 600 square feet for the charging equipment.

 

Dog and bear tangle atop Lion Mountain

WHITEFISH, Mont. – The Whitefish Pilot managed a trifecta in its headline: “Dog survives bear attack on Lion Mountain.” And none of it was a stretch.

A 9-year-old weimaraner named Daisy raced around here house, which is located on Lion Mountain about 2 miles from Whitefish, to confront an invader, a sow bear. Protecting its two cubs that had climbed a tree, the sow swiped at Daisy twice with great success.

Daisy’s human companions rushed the dog to a veterinarian, who managed to save the dog’s life, but just barely. They tell the Pilot that they realize they are in “bear-adise,” what with all the berries and apple trees, but have made a point of picking up fruit to make their home less attractive to bears.

As for Daisy, she’s pushing her luck. She was once shot through the chest with an arrow and another time suffered a broken leg while chasing a ball. Cats may get nine lives, but probably not dogs.
 

Aspen driver says cops target Ferraris

ASPEN – Part-time Aspen resident Marc Ostrofsky says that the local cops picked on him. He drives a red Ferrari, and he was charged with driving 34 mph in a 25 mph zone. He denies that, but tried to round up the six other Ferrari owners in Aspen to make the case before the traffic judge that the local cops target them.

The Aspen Daily News says that the local police chief, Richard Pryor, denies any such profiling.

Pleading no contest, Ostrofsky elected to take an online driving course, which comes with a $100 administrative fee. That shouldn’t be a problem. Time magazine two years ago reported that Ostrofsky had made $50 million in the past two decades as an online entrepreneur.

 

‘Burners’ advised to avoid Mono County

MAMMOTH VILLAGE, Calif. – The Burning Man Festival held in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert over Labor Day weekend this year included a sign warning other “burners,” as festival-goers are nicknamed, against driving through Mammoth Village and Mono County.

Why the steer-clear and don’t-spend-money message? The local sheriff’s department and the state patrol both had patrols or stops during the flux of traffic between Los Angeles and the desert site. The Sheet reports the men and women with badges made several arrests for drug charges.

 

Ski towns wondering about flood potential

VAIL – After storms dumping prodigious amounts of rain on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, local governments in ski towns and other mountain valleys were dispatching people, equipment and money to flood-stricken communities.

For example, about 65 employees from Aspen, Snowmass Village and Pitkin County were placed on call to help. “I’m pretty impressed that we were able to put 65 people on the table and still cover each other’s backs,” said John Peacock, Pitkin County manager. He told the Aspen Daily News that 25 pieces of heavy equipment, from backhoes to dump trucks, would also be available.

The Vail area also dispatched aid, and the question logically arose: Could it happen here? Mark Miller, the local police chief, told the Vail Daily that 18 inches of rain over a short period would devastate Vail.

 

Crested Butte reaches compromise on pot

CRESTED BUTTE – A compromise has been struck. The Crested Butte Town Council was set to allow sales of recreational marijuana in all commercial zones. But parents and others turned out in force, demanding restrictions that sales be quarantined to only limited business districts – and especially not on Elk Avenue, the prime hang-out area for both teenagers and tourists.

The Crested Butte News reports great anxieties expressed at a local meeting. One parent wondered what happens if a marijuana-infused lollipop gets thrown away and a kid or a dog gets it. “The stakes are high in Crested Butte and the penalties should be harsh,” she said.

Another speaker, identified as a second-home owner, admitted that he has many friends who use marijuana and said he wasn’t the least bit afraid for his grandchildren. Just the same, he urged moderation.

And that’s what Crested Butte did. No sales outlets on the tourist strip and with the “shut” sign going up at 8 p.m. and a maximum of five outlets. This compares with liquor sales until midnight at stores and until 2 a.m. in bars, plus 32 places for purchase of alcohol on just one street, Elk Avenue.

This compares with neighboring Mt. Crested Butte, the municipality at the base of the ski area. There, the view is: no time and nowhere.

Taking the long view was Jim Schmidt, a town resident since the 1970s and a fixture on the Crested Butte Town Council. He said fear being expressed about recreational marijuana is similar to that expressed when medical marijuana rules were being drawn up. It was similar to what the council heard in 1992 when it passed an anti-discrimination ordinance on sexual preference.

“People always say the tourists from Texas and Oklahoma will stop coming here. Well, they keep coming. For me, I would prefer to not have any limit on the permits. I’d prefer the free market to deal with it,” he said, but ended up recommending a compromise.

Meanwhile, in Steamboat, city officials also have drawn up rules for sales of recreational marijuana, banning outlets from the base of the ski area and the old downtown district.

The Steamboat Pilot & Today notes that it opposed the amendment to Colorado’s constitution that legalized marijuana – but now that this cow is out of the barn, it should be regulated parallel to sales of liquor.

 

Former Banff boss decries commercial development

BANFF, Alberta – A former superintendent of Banff National Park is accusing the Canadian government of selling out the public interest in favor of commercialization of the parks.

The issue is a proposed 66-room hotel and 15-tent cabins on the shores of Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park. Canadians had delivered a clear message that they don’t want more “development and diversions in their treasured national parks,” said the former superintendent, Kevin Van Tighem, in a posting on Facebook.

The developments now being considered “serve only the commercial interests of private companies,” he said.

The Rocky Mountain Outlook reports that Pat Crowley, general manager of Maligne Tours, describes his company’s proposal as being in line with an effort to enhance “experiential tourism” at a site where early pioneers such as Fred Brewster first offered overnight accommodations. “We fully recognize the sensitivity of this type of proposal,” he said in a news release.

Conservationists have argued that the development would increase traffic and threaten grizzly bear and caribou.

The project has not even been formally proposed, yet alone approved. But in his online comments, Van Tighem seemed to think the proposal shouldn’t even be entertained by Parks Canada. “Not one Canadian asked for, or supported, zip lines or more hotel rooms – at least in Banff’s case,” he wrote. “I know. I read them all.”

– Allen Best. For more, go to mountaintownnews.net