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Most splendid time of year in a ski town

CRESTED BUTTE – It’s autumn and the crispness of the air, the brightening of the foliage, and the somewhat more relaxed pace of life provide a quiet smile to life in mountain towns.

“It was a bit of a surprise to see a dusting of snow on the high peaks,” wrote Mark Reaman, editor at the Crested Butte News, last week. “Not sure why that should be a surprise in the middle of September, but every year, it is.”’

Summer has become very busy in Crested Butte, and Reaman acknowledged that busyness has its place. July and August have become “the prime economic bubble that allows us to live here the rest of the year,” he wrote. But now, he added, “it is our time. It is busy enough with tourists that we can still work and make a buck… but without the absolute chaos.”

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Do bears sit in the woods? This year!

ASPEN – Stories about bears pilfering trash cans in Aspen have been conspicuously absent this summer. Wildlife managers say it’s because natural food sources have been abundant, keeping the bruins out of the trash bins.

There’s been some stuff in and around Aspen, but overall it’s been really slow,” said Perry Will, area wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The Aspen Daily News says police had been called 388 times as of mid-September last year. This year, it was 182 calls.

But while bears have been staying away, moose have been spotted more frequently by locals hiking in forested areas close to town. One resident told the newspaper he wonders if people should start carrying mace to keep aggressive bears at bay.

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Taos Ski Valley also raises hourly wage

TAOS, N.M. – Earlier this year, Vail Resorts announced that it would boost its minimum wage to $10 per hour. Now, Taos Ski Valley has done the same.

Gordon Briner, chief executive of the ski area, noted that this is just the entry wage, and most staffers actually earn more.

The people who own or run the ski areas, however, are still pulling down some big bucks. Taos is owned by Louis Bacon, who, according to Forbes, is worth $1.75 billion.

Vail Resorts is publicly owned. Arn Menconi, a former commissioner in Eagle County, combed through SEC filings to learn that Rob Katz, the chief executive of Vail Resorts, made a little over $5 million last year.

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San Miguel River to meander once again

TELLURIDE– Telluride has agreed to create some twists and turns in the San Miguel River. The river emerges from the town in a straight channel, its meandering ways reconfigured during the mining era.

Several years ago, the town acquired the 570-acre Valley Floor through which the river flows. The plan approved by Town Council last week calls for a “re-meandering” of the river, to improve fish habitat and restore the floodplain ecosystem. This first phase will disturb six acres of land at a cost of $1.7 million, the Daily Planet reports.

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Black Canyon joins dark sky designation

MONTROSE – The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is named for its dark walls. But at night, it’s dark enough there to see the Milky Way, a treat many people in the developed world can’t enjoy because of light pollution.

The Telluride Watch reports that the International Dark-Sky Association has selected the park to join the 28 designated national parks. Most are in the United States, but a few are in the European Union.

“The bottom line is that, in many parts of the world, especially in the United States, there are fewer and fewer places like Black Canyon,” John Barentine, the association’s program manager, said.

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Real estate prices near 2007 peaks

JACKSON, Wyo. – The real estate market in Jackson Hole has recovered to nearly pre-recession levels. But even within the valley, not all gains have been equal.

Teton Village, located at the base of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, was the only area with a “widespread increase in value” since 2007, according to David Viehman, a real estate agent. But Jackson, the town, is strong and nearing its highest prices, posted in 2007.

Viehman did not use the usual barometer of total sales volume, explains the Jackson Hole News&Guide. Instead, he pulled up sales of 2006 and ’07 and to see if any of those properties had sold again during 2004-15. He found a little more than 100 for this apples-to-apples comparison.

What he found were some big gains in the last few years, especially in Teton Valley. But 55 percent of the properties are still worth an average 15 percent less. Among them are condos in Jackson, which had lost 70 percent of their value from their all-time highs.

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Park City seen in ‘Blood & Oil’ scenes

PARK CITY, Utah – If you watch the TV show “Blood & Oil,” you may get glimpses of Park City. The series is being filmed at Park City Film Studio, a 374,000-square-foot facility on the outskirts of Park City. But some scenes have been shot on Park City’s Main Street, at the iconic No Name Saloon.

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Man pays $3 million for causing wildfire

JACKSON, Wyo. – The man who allowed fire to escape from a burn barrel in his backyard, creating a wildfire that burned 4,000 acres, has agreed to pay just less than $3 million to the U.S. government.

The Forest Service had sent Jim Anderson a bill for $6.3 million. The fire in September 2012 at one point threatened homes in Jackson and was approaching the Snow King Mountain Resort, the Jackson Hole News&Guide reports.

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2015 almost certain to be the hottest

DENVER – On Monday, the next-to-last-day of summer, it was 89 degrees in Denver, an all-time high after 130 years of record-keeping. But for Denver, sitting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, it wasn’t a hot summer altogether nor, for that matter, anywhere on the Great Plains.

But globally? Another matter. Citing the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the Japan Meteorological Agency, Bloomberg last week reported that August had been the hottest month ever. Both agencies, plus NASA, agree that 2015 is on track to be the hottest year ever – by a long shot.

Chances are growing that above-normal temperatures will persist in Alaska and along the West Coast through February, Bloomberg said. That’s in line with what can happen during a strong El Niño.

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Vail Resorts lived up to Park City pledge

PARK CITY, Utah – The sock-rubbing continues in Park City, a year after Vail Resorts succeeded in its ambitions to purchase the Park City Mountain Resort.

The Park Record points out that in introducing its value-added Epic Pass into the Utah market, Vail Resorts forced Deer Valley, Snowbird, and Brighton to form their own alliance. Vail has also upped the corporate-giving ante with $1.3 million in grants and in-kind services. Plus, the company has begun installing $50 million in improvements at its newly conjoined Park City and Canyons ski areas.

Last year, until the announcement of the sale, Park City was “shrouded in gloom, and doom” because of uncertainty about continued ski area operations. This year, there’s excitement about a banner ski season. “Much of the credit for that goes to Vail Resorts. The company promised, and it delivered.”

– Allen Best

For more, go to www.mountaintownnews.net