Whistler’s waste strategy promising
WHISTLER, B.C. – Whistler Blackcomb reports that it now diverts about 70 percent of what otherwise would go to a landfill by recycling, composting and other diversion tactics.
Mountain planner Arthur DeJong says he hopes to push the diversion rate to 90 percent. The company recently hired an individual, identified by DeJong as a “smart, inspiring young lady,” whose work is solely devoted to making that happen.
Other major ski companies have also set their sights on trash diversion. “We have a pretty robust program across our entire company,” Kelly Ladyga, vice president of corporate communications for Vail Resorts, said. “All of our resorts and hospitality … divert 46 percent of waste from the landfill.”
The Aspen Skiing Co. used to calculate its diversion rate, coming up with 20 to 30 percent. “But I never trusted it; found the calculation to be a total shell game,” says Auden Schendler, the company’s vice president for sustainability.
Does that make Whistler’s number suspect? “I find it almost implausible,” says Schendler, but adds this: DeJong is a square shooter.
What can be said is that Europeans recycle at a much higher rate than Canadians, and Canadians more than Americans.
But Whistler has a further story. Fifteen to 20 years ago, “it was almost shocking how much food there was in the waste,” says DeJong, talking about the on-mountain and other eateries managed by the ski company.
Whistler Blackcomb set about to divert the food, hiring people at its cafeterias to take trays from patrons, offering to help them figure out what can be recycled, what can be composted, and what little remaining must go to the landfill.
But the ski company is, as DeJong puts it, “only as good as the conveyor belt downstream. It’s not like we’re great because we compost. We compost because we can, because our local government has committed to compost facilities.”
Whistler’s resort municipality has a composting facility, and it’s part of the town’s sustainability initiative. But there’s also a strong financial motive. Because Whistler closed its landfill in 2006, waste must be hauled more than 450 miles to Washington State.
Tomatoes sprout in parking garage
JACKSON, Wyo. – Tomatoes began sprouting in Jackson Hole in February, and it’s likely more veggies will be coming soon from the same source, a greenhouse constructed on the south-facing side of the three-story municipal parking garage.
The project, called Vertical Harvest, is sponsored by a nonprofit that aims to employ locals with moderate disabilities. The News&Guide reports that a full opening is expected in May, in time to deliver produce to local restaurants by early summer.
Total cost was $3.67 million, but a state grant covered $1.5 million.
Executive mum about missing money
BIG SKY, Mont. – Remember that bright opening of the Yellowstone Club in the 1990s. The private ski area drew all sorts of big names, and Tim Blixseth and his wife were riding high.
But Blixseth went bankrupt in 2008 and his ex-wife got the resort. Creditors are still trying to get $250 million they say that Blixseth owes them. The Associated Press reports that the latest saga involves Blixseth’s sale of a resort in the Mexican state of Jalisco for $13.8 million in 2011. This was in violation of the bankruptcy judge’s order.
More important, perhaps, the money vanished. Blixseth has been in jail since last April after being found in contempt of court, because he won’t reveal what happened to the money. The judge in this case says more than $2.6 million remains unaccounted for.
Snowpack lagging in areas of West
LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – So what’s up with this El Niño?
In Idaho’s Big Wood Valley, home to Ketchum and Sun Valley, the snowpack was limping toward average as February waned and temperatures rose.
On the California-Nevada border, Lake Tahoe has been rising this winter, but not enough to compensate for the drought. The California Department of Water Resources on Feb. 1 predicted an 87 percent of average spring runoff. This compares to last year’s 5 percent of average.
“The dry February is a big concern. In all likelihood, it takes away the chance of an above average snowpack,” David Rizzardo, the agency’s water supply forecasting chief, told the Sierra Sun. But OpenSnow.com forecaster Bryan Allegretto told the newspaper that one big March storm could allow the snowpack to catch up.
Of concern is that temperatures have been hovering 5 to 14 degrees above normal for the Sierra Nevada.
How to keep a ski area from slumping
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – Howelsen Hill, the first ski area in Steamboat Springs, continues to go downhill – literally. Some landslides on the in-town ski area, first opened in the 1930s, have caused minor damage in recent decades to infrastructure, but the costs are starting to mount.
What can be done to prevent this? Steamboat Today reports that one consultant tells the town, which owns the ski area, that planting grasses and bushes with deeper roots would better anchor the slope. Another consultant advises the city to figure out how to divert water – more easily said than done.
In short, Steamboat doesn’t yet know how to slow or stop the slumping.
Wolf pack at the doors in Banff
BANFF, Alberta – A new wolf pack has put down roots on the outskirts of Banff, the townsite within the national park of the same name. The Rocky Mountain Outlook reports that the packs chased and killed a cow elk on the train overpass at the east entrance to the town, hunted in a residential neighborhood and forced closures when it killed close to town.
Meanwhile, also in Banff National Park, officials continue to move forward with re-establishing bison herds by mid-winter 2017.
Bison roamed what is now Banff National Park for thousands of years, but were extirpated – meaning extinct locally — in the 1840s. Wildlife biologists are working to understand how bison can be managed on the landscape. Fencing might be used to keep the bison separate from other ungulates, including bighorn sheep, elk and deer. Also of concern is how to keep the bison in the park. To achieve this, fires will likely be used more frequently, to ensure there is forage for the beasts to graze on.
Why Telluride groceries cost so much
TELLURIDE – In Telluride, it costs a lot to bring home the bacon – or the tofu, as the case may be.
While the cost differential isn’t exactly clear, local shoppers tell the Telluride Daily Planet that it’s worth the 90-minute drive to the large grocery stores in Montrose.
Managers of the two small grocery stores in Telluride chalk up their relatively high prices to high rents, the types of products their clientele expect, and the cost of having the goods shipped to Telluride.
Too, there’s the seasonality of Telluride’s economy. Summer has become busier than ski season, but shoulder seasons falter. David Schillaci, of The Village Market, said the store is profitable about six to eight months of the year.
More study of pot use and visits to hospitals
DENVER – Visitors to Colorado are turning up at the emergency room with marijuana-related issues in higher rates than people who live in Colorado, according to a new study. The study by the University of Colorado School of Medicine found that the number of marijuana-related emergency room visits to the University of Colorado Hospital doubled among those from out-of-state from 2013-14, while remaining steady for residents.
More broadly across Colorado, the Colorado Hospital Association reported a larger growth in marijuana-related complaints for residents, but an even larger increase for visitors.
But the link to marijuana is tenuous. “Realistically, these visits could have marijuana mentioned at one point if they came and had a heart attack and said they did smoke a week ago, that would be reflected,” Andrew Monte, assistant professor of emergency medicine and toxicology at the CU School of Medicine, told The Denver Post.
The hospital association said the data show the need for further education about the effects of marijuana use.
Real estate market roars in Aspen/Pitkin County
ASPEN – The real estate market has been nearing its rock ‘n’ roll dynamics of a decade ago. A recent report by Land Title Guarantee about real estate sales in seven mountain counties of Colorado finds the largest sales volume since 2007, just before the Great Recession turned the mood of real estate sales dark.
In Aspen and Pitkin County, total sales volume last year topped $2 billion. Vail and Eagle County were a nose behind at $1.99 billion, and Breckenridge and Summit County were a few paces behind at $1.37 billion. Farther back in the pack were Steamboat and Routt County, Telluride and San Miguel County, and Winter Park and Grand County.
The Aspen Times, after talking with a local agent, finds that the Aspen market was boosted by its “ultra-luxury” sales, defined as homes of $10 million or more. There were approximately 60 in Aspen and Pitkin County last year. This compares with just nine in the Vail/Eagle County market.
The average single-family home price in Pitkin County was nearly $5 million, compared with $1.2 million in Eagle County and $856,000 in Summit, according to Land Title’s research.
Wildlife “occurrences” on upswing in Banff
BANFF, Alberta – What wildlife officials call “occurrences” have been on the upswing in Banff National Park. Last year there were 1,659 occurrences, which can range from having to pull an elk carcass off train racks to having a bear attack somebody.
Nearly 22 percent of the occurrences involved black bears, while almost 14 percent involved grizzly bears. Notably, those interactions occurred in just half the year. The Rocky Mountain Outlook explains that occurrences include everything from feasting on fruit trees in yards of homes in Banff to using campgrounds created for humans.
But with Banff National Park directed to grow its visitor numbers, will there be more “occurrences,” particularly those that do not end well for either humans or bears? That’s the fear of Mike Gibeau, a grizzly bear specialist who worked for 30 years for Parks Canada. He said there have been serious bear attacks in the past, and Banff is just buying time.
A recent study published in Nature.com found an increase in attacks by carnivores on humans throughout North America and Europe, and this upswing was, in turn, correlated with increased visitor numbers.
– Allen Best
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