Mountain Town News
A one gas station town
ASPEN, Colo. – Aspen is soon to become a one-gas station town. The Conoco station on Main Street last month sold for $6 million. The next life of the prime real estate will not be to sell gas for $4 or $5 per gallon but more likely lodging at $400 or $500 a night, at least during Christmas.
Aspen Mayor Steve Skadron sees this as not at all inimical to Aspen’s interests. “We live in a town whose priority is to de-emphasize the automobile,” he said. “The fact hat we may be losing a gas station that serves automobiles … that’s not a big concern of mine.”
Bear attacks the law
ASPEN, Colo. – No wonder dark alleys have a bad reputation. An off-duty Pitkin County sheriff’s deputy was walking in an alley in downtown Aspen just about closing time for the bars when she was assaulted.
The 400-pound bear raked her stomach and upper thigh sufficient to require stiches. “This could have been much worse, but fortunately this deputy was able to fight the bear off,” said Mike Porras, a spokesman for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “Fortunately, she knew what to do and she didn’t run.”
Jackson on the ropes
JACKSON, Wyo. – Snow King, the in-town ski area located in Jackson, in the heart of Jackson Hole, has been hurting for a number of years, life ticket revenues failing to match up to expenses.
Better use of the hill during summer has been hailed as one solution. But is it?
A ropes course is the immediate proposal before the Jackson Town Council. The News&Guide observes that the review distills the larger debate about the future of Snow King to its essence.
“Either you’re going to make Snow King pay for itself, or it’s going to go away, or else you’re going to pay for it out of your tax dollars,” Councilor Bob Lenz said.
But others are skeptical. “As much as we’d like to see Snow King generate revenue to support winter operations, I’m not seeing anything that shows this generates significant income,” said a nearby homeowner, Nancy Hughes.
Jim Stanford, a council member, described the Snow King proposals as “gimmicks.”
“I ask what’s wrong with experiencing nature on nature’s terms. The answer is you can’t make a buck,” he said.
That drew a sharp response from Mayor Mark Barron. “What might be a gimmick for somebody like my associate here might be a first-in-a-lifetime adventure,” he said.
Banff in lather over parking
BANFF, Alberta – Of all the rights of humankind, is none more cherished than the right to park our cars without plugging coins into meters?
That would seem to be the take-away message in a story out of Banff. There, elected officials decided to test the idea this summer of paid parking. The Rocky Mountain Outlook reports a vociferous meeting.
Alanna Pettigrew, representing an anti-pay parking group, reported that she had collected 1,370 names on a petition against paid parking. She tartly noted that this was more than the votes cast for any one candidate on the council.
One interior issue is whether the town should have long ago built what in Canada is called a parkade. In the states, it’s more commonly described as a parking garage or, in more refined settings, parking structure.
The other interior dispute is about special events designed to attract athletes. Banff seems to hold a number of them, drawing some of the cars. “Why allow more events to take up parking? The events cause mayhem with parking and noise,” said Cynthia Anderson.
Aspen seeks mountaineering firms
ASPEN, Colo. – Aspen Mayor Steve Skadron continues to chase his dream of drawing businesses in the ski mountaineering world.
For Skadron, it’s partly personal. He’s an avid backcountry enthusiast. But he also sees it as part of the DNA of Aspen. “I wanted to capture a direction that speaks to the core roots of the community,” he told the Aspen Daily News.
Skadron has conferred with owners of an Italian manufacturer, Ski Trab, and has traveled to Boulder, to meet with executives of the ski boot company Scarpa.
He ultimately hopes these ski-equipment manufacturers will open design shops in downtown Aspen.
