Mountain Town News
By Allen Best
Recession taking toll on resorts
TELLURIDE, Colo. – The amount of the Great Recession’s devastation continues to grow as restaurants close and buses shrink schedules in mountain valleys of the West.
At Minturn, located just around the corner from Vail, a restaurant called Chili Willy’s has closed after 27 years of operation. Owner Al Brown said had had been making a little money, but at the expense of too many 16-hour days during the last two years.
“If I thought (the economy) was going to turn around quickly, I might have kept it going,” Brown told the Vail Daily.
At Snowmass Village, a similar story was told. “I ran out of money,” explained Butch Darden, proprietor of Butch’s Lobster Bar for the last 18 years. He estimated that business was “probably 60 percent of what it once was.”
In the Vail area, the Economic Council of Eagle County found that about a third of local businesses had job openings last winter, down from about two thirds two winters before. Most local businesses also slashed benefits and hours, said Tsu Wolin-Brown, executive director of the Vail Valley Salvation Army.
With construction of two major resort complexes in Vail now ended, 200 retail-sector jobs will be added. But the jobs are apples to oranges, notes Jim Lamont, executive director of the Vail Homeowners’ Association. “A construction worker could get $50 an hour whereas a service worker is lucky to get $15 an hour,” he said.
Bus service operators have also been hammered. Most depend upon sales tax collections by local governments. With their decline, the bus agencies have jacked up fares and cut back service.
“Having been through this before, I don’t think people should be holding out false hopes that things are going to turn around anytime soon,” said Lamont, who has been in Vail for about 40 years.
Jackson talks lodging tax
JACKSON, Wyo. – Town and county leaders in Jackson Hole have been moving toward asking local voters in November to approve a sales tax on lodging. Both hotel rooms and shorter-term housing—defined as 30 days or less –would be taxed.
Part of the incentive for elected officials to seek this property tax is to make up for declining sales and property taxes and funding from the state government. Although only 10 percent of the tax would directly go to local governments, at least one Teton County commissioner envisions withholding money now devoted to tourism promotion if the new tax does get enacted.
The Jackson Hole News & Guide explains that voters three times in the 1990s rejected a lodging tax, and elected officials withdrew the idea on their own in 2006.
Whether the tax flies with hoteliers and others directly engaged in tourism within Jackson Hole seems to depend upon how decisions will be made for spending the money. Some 60 percent of revenues would be directly earmarked for marketing. This time, innkeepers want agreements clarified before the vote, so they can see how money could and could not be spent.
A 1 percent lodging tax would generate $1.4 million annually, according to a 2008 estimate. Locals pay about 60 percent of the general sales tax in Jackson Hole, but it was assumed that visitors would pay almost all of a lodging tax.
Helmets required
ASPEN, Colo. – Come next winter, ski instructors at the four ski areas operated by the Aspen Skiing Co. will have to wear helmets if their students have to wear helmets.
Customers 17 years of age and younger must wear helmets, as do skiers of any age in terrain parks.
The Aspen Times reports that ski company officials heard from parents who said it was difficult to get their kids to wear helmets when the ski instructors were not. “We adopted more of a role-modeling policy,” said Mike Kaplan, chief executive of Aspen Skiing.
The 500 salaried employees will also be required to wear helmets next winter, but not seasonal employees.
Avon moves to ban pot
AVON, Colo. – Add Avon to the list of ski towns looking to ban marijuana dispensaries. Vail recently did so, arguing that medical marijuana could be something that people could drive to other towns to purchase. Avon lawmakers don’t want marijuana either sold or grown within their town. Those with certificates of medical need would still be allowed to have it, notes the Vail Daily.
Self-policing proves difficult
DURANGO, Colo. – Oh, those rogue riders. While most motorized users have been circumspect about following rules, some of them insist on going where none have gone before, at least with internal-combustion engines.
The Durango Telegraph reports that two years ago the U.S. Forest Service opened 52 miles of roads and trails to motorized travel north of Durango. The idea was that by providing access to dedicated trails, motorized users wouldn’t go where they weren’t wanted.
It hasn’t happened. There have been repeated incursions into the Weminuche Wilderness Area.
The San Juan Trail Riders, an advocacy group for motorized users, urges patience. Changes come slowly, explains Gary Wilkinson, president of the group.
Retired wildlife biologist Bill Heicher sees some evidence of ATV users hewing to trails. This comes after years of complaints and advisories.
Motorcycle riders are another matter. “One dirt bike can do the damage of 100 mountain bikers,” says Heicher. “All you have to do is gun that back tire a little bit in sensitive soils, and you’ve done damage for 50 years.”
Perlman takes reins at Steamboat
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – More churn among the ranks of ski executives has occurred. Andy Wirth has left his long-standing position as head marketer for the Steamboat Ski and Resort Co. to become chief executive of Squaw Valley. He is being replaced by former Mammoth Mountain Marketing Director Rob Perlman.
Wirth began working at Steamboat in 1986 and almost immediately was involved in high-level work, helping shape the resort’s direct flight program. At one point in his career, he looked after all of the marketing of ski resorts owned by Intrawest, which owns Steamboat and Winter Park in Colorado.
Wirth told the Steamboat Pilot that his move is not at all related to the financial struggles of Intrawest and its parent company, Fortress Investment Group, during the past two years.
His replacement, Perlman, has held a variety of jobs at resorts: Winter Park, Vail and Mammoth, before returning to Colorado as head of the trade organization Colorado Ski Country USA. He then joined Intrawest, working as Wirth’s assistant at Steamboat before shifting to Winter Park. He’ll oversee marketing of both Intrawest properties from a base in Steamboat.
