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Show A-9 The Park Record Wed/Thurs/Fri, June 18-20, 2008 MOUNTAIN TOWN NEWS Dr. Douglas S. Lister, D.P.M. Podiatrist A ROUNDUP OF NEWS JFROM'QTHER. WESTERN Superlative cable travels round world to Whistler By ALLEN BEST Record contributing writer WHISTLER, B.C. - By December, Whistler-Blackcomb expects to have a $51 million gondola in place. The gondola will be a double superlative: It will have the longest unsupported lift span in the world, and it will also be the highest off-the-ground conveyance. But the transport of the 500 metric tons (551 U.S. short tons) of cable that will hold up these gondola cars is a story itself. Pique explains that the cable was manufactured in a small town in Switzerland, then trucked to the Rhine River, where it was loaded onto a barge. In the Netherlands port of Vlissingen, it was loaded on a boat that floated to the Panama Canal and then up the western coast of North America to the Columbia River. At Vancouver, Wash., the five reels of cable are being put on rail cars for delivery to Whistler. Finally, in Whistler, the cables will be put on trucks for delivery to the mountain. of the Wolf Creek Ski Area and developers of 300 acres of private land at the base has been resolved. The development proposed by Texas-based billionaire BJ. "Red" McCombs would yield more than 2,000 housing units at the base of the ski area. However, the project still has two hurdles: authorization from Mineral County and a road across U.S. Forest Service land. Both agencies had given approval, but approvals were overturned by courts that agreed with Colorado Wild and other environmental groups that procedures specified by law had been violated. A new environmental impact statement reviewing road access across Forest Service property is also expected to take two years. The Durango Herald reported settlement of the lawsuit between the former protagonist, but said spokesman for McCombs and the Pitcher family, which owns the ski area, refused to divulge terms of the settlement. The Pitchers had been partners with McComb in the mid-1980s when McCombs negotiated a land exchange with the Forest Service that delivered the private land at the base. The Pitchers believed their ski areas needed a bed base, something it then lacked and still does. The closest motels and condos are more than 20 miles away in Pagosa Springs. Then, as the real estate market tanked, the projected stalled. McCombs renewed work in the 1990s, but early in this century, after a hard-fought battle against Colorado Wild to get a new quad lift, it took a different tact, opposing the development. The lawsuit was filed in 2004. Wolf Creek remains only one of three ski areas in Colorado that does not have snowmaking. Ski Cooper, near Leadville, and Silverton Mountain are the others. Hole, and other mountain valleys. The Q400 has 33 percent improved fuel efficiency compared to other regional planes. Horizon is getting rid of 37 of its older, gas-guzzling planes, notes the Idaho Mountain Express. Aspen airport like a giant money funnel ASPEN, Colo. - Passengers arriving on commercial aircraft at the Aspen/Pitkin County airport have the deepest pockets in Colorado. ' A new study called the 2008 Colorado Airports Impact Study found that passengers spend an average $2,652, tops in Colorado. Second-highest were passengers into Eagle County Regional Airport, with $2,070 per passenger. The latter airport serves primarily Van1 and Beaver Creek but, to a lesser extent, the Aspen-area resorts. Bill Tomcich, president of Stay Aspen Snowmass, a central reservations group, said 80 percent of winter visitors to Aspen fly. The airport "is so critical to our economy," he said. The study also found that, while Eagle County handles more passengers, Aspen's has more economic clout. It accounts for 11,950 jobs in Colorado, compared to 10,467 jobs initiated by Eagle County Regional. With the economy struggling and oil pricesrising,does the future look equally prosperous? Aviation consultant Mike Boyd told The Aspen Times that there won't be big changes, but discretionary spending will slow. Tomcich noted the airlines are in what he, and most businesses, would call a crisis, since many are on the brink of bankruptcy. Aspenites brave line to get Dalai Lama tickets ASPEN, Colo. - It will be a typical Aspen summer, with many of the world s best-known musicians, politicians and billionaires dropping by. The Dalai Lama doesn't fall under any of those headings, but will be in Aspen as part of a symposium on June 24-26 celebrating Tibetan and Himalayan culture. Some 4,000 tickets were available, half of them free for lawn space outside the tent where the Dalai Lama is to speak. The other half of tickets cost $80 each, and to get them some people waited in line for more than three Jackson Hole awash in affordable hours, reports The Aspen Times. housing talk Denison Levy told the newspaper JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. that $80 was no problem. "I study Housing, housing, housing - that's Buddhism, and he's an amazing perjust about aD that candidates are son." she said. Asked if she might talking about in Jackson Hole this scalp her tickets, Levy frowned: "It's summer. The town council in bad karma to do that." Air carrier buys fleet of fuel-efficient Jackson has two spots up for elecThose waiting in line also includ- Q400s tion, and virtually all 10 candidates ed former mayor Bill Stirling, who in KETCHUM, Idaho - The rising are talking about affordable housing. the 1990s led the fight to outlaw fur oil prices are steadily nudging Ditto the Teton County commissioncoats, and Pitkin County Sheriff Bob changes in how we live. One change er wannabes, where two spots are up Braudis, perhaps more broadly is in the fleet of planes used by for grabs. known as a buddy to the late writer Horizon Air, which offers commerThere don't appear to be clearly Hunter Thompson. cial service to Sun Valley and other defined lines of debate similar to the locations. Horizon is adding 15 U.S. should-we-stay-or-go discussion Wolf Creek protagonists remove Bombardier Q400 turboprops, the regarding Iraq. But it's easy to see their legal guns newer 78-passenger model. Frontier why affordable housing is on the lips PAGOSA SPRINGS, Colo. - is also using the Q400 for its shuttles of candidates, says the Jackson Hole The legal battle between the owners from Denver to Aspen, Jackson News&Guide. "As real estate prices skyrocket in Jackson Hole and commercial development continues, a record number of people are turning to public and private affordable housing programs to find shelter. The odds of getting a house are becoming longer and longer. There are now more than 1,400 families who have signed up for affordable housing, a figure that is growing at a rate of about 200 families per year. The newspaper goes on to explain that the median price of a single-family home reached almost $2 million this year. The mean, or average, home price has almost doubled since 2003. The valley has been full of debate about development proposals, some of it specifically targeted for lower income workers, in pastoral areas near to the town of Jackson but outside of it. As well, Jackson itself in recent years has at times been consumed about proposals to increase density, partly to provide more housing for people near where they work. Most of the candidates seem to be arguing for expanded public efforts to shore up the lower-income housing, to avoid sprawl into exurban outposts in valleys 45 to an hour away. One of the rarities is Rick Roth, a Republican for county commissioner. "People have to dc things on their own," he said. "It's not up to government to try to find you an affordable home." Roth said he. believes the county needs to find homes for only key employees. "Not everybody is going to be able to live in this valley," he said. Foot and Ankle Specialist, Diplomat, American Board of Podialric Surgery Board Certified in Foot and Ankle Surgery Sports Medicine, ^ ' t Fractures of the Foot and Ankle, Reconstructive Surgery, Orthotics, Bunions, , Diabetic Wound Care, Plantar Fasciiris, A* Ingrown Toe Nails and Heel Pain. v !•> • 1441 W.Ute Blvd. Suite 160 Park City, Kimball Junction. (435) 604-0449, . www.drdouglasli5ter.conn Choose from our Aluminum Summer Cottage Collection or Lacrosse our wrought iron offering. We stock several pieces for immediate delivery in time for spring entertaining. 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