OCR Text |
Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, September 24-26, 2008 The Park Record MOUNTAIN TOWN NEWS A ROUNDUP OF NEWS Windswept Farm - Park City, UT C.G. ' O T H E R WESTERN F U R N I T U R E Aspen considers taking up the 2030 Challenge hold 28 people. Two of the cabins will have glass-bottomed areas, for those who want to stare into ASPEN, Colo. - City officials the abyss below. At its highest in Aspen are being urged to point, the gondola will be 436 adopt building regulations that meters above the ground, or square up with the 2030 1,400 feet. Challenge of making new buildAs well, the gondola cars will ings carbon neutral. move at a fast clip, 7.5 meters (24 If embraced, the challenge feet) per second. Intrawest, the ski area operawill require that buildings constructed next year become 50 tor, hopes that the gondola will percent more energy-efficient separate Whistler from other than the average existing house mountain resorts, reports Pique in Aspen, with the goal that Newsmagazine. houses will become increasingly "I think what we have created efficient in future years, so that here is a tourism icon for both houses built in 2030 are carbon Canada and British Columbia neutral. and something that will differenSuch buildings must be super- tiate Whistler from our competiinsulated, to prevent energy loss, tion around the world," Dave but with some means of generat- Brownlie, the chief operating ing or retaining energy. Passive office at Whistler-Blackcomb solar is perhaps the easiest way The gondola, Brownlie added, for a building to generate its own will be a "must-do, must-see energy, but photo-voltaic collec- experience." tors, geoexchange loop systems, City officials hope that the and even microhydro systems gondola will help fill beds. can also generate heat, electrici- Currently, the year-round occuty, or both. pancy average at Whistler is 55 The challenge was posted in percent. Bob Lorriman, a munic2006 by Santa Fe-based architect ipal councilor, said that the hope Edward Mazria. Mazria argues is that the gondola will get signifthat buildings consume 50 per- icant television exposure during cent of all energy used in the the 2010 Winter Olympics. That, Uniled States. As such, if the he said, should allow Whistler to nation hopes to dampen its "leverage that experience for the greenhouse gas emissions, it next many years." must start constructing buildings with more intelligence. Ketchum hotel OKed, but now it In Aspen, according to the must get financing Aspen Times, city officials say KETCHUM, Idaho - After that building codes already talking about getting a new highrequire commercial buildings be end hotel for most of this centu30 percent more efficient than ry, Ketchum has finally authorthe average homes. If adopted, ized one. The 73-room. four-star the 2030 Challenge will require hotel is the sort of thing that anaefficiency of 50 percent more. lysts have said that Ketchum, The 2030 Challenge program North America's first destination suggests that commercial build- ski resort, needs to put some zip ings and large residential com- back into its tourism economy. plexes hand over utility bills each The question now is whether month for five years to prove the nation's financial turmoil will they are as efficient as promised. derail this plan. Hotel developer Jack Bariteau told city officials Whistler-Blackcomb to be pow- that financing will be difficult in ered by hydro the wake of the meltdown of WHISTLER, B.C. - A hydro- Wall Street investment banks. electric project big enough to The conventional debt mardeliver the electricity used annu- kets for this type of project don't ally at the Whistler and exist anymore," Bariteau said. Blackcomb ski areas, will be built "The doors are closed. We'll in time to show off at the 2010 have to go to the private equity Winter Olympics. route, which will likely take more The turbine will be installed in than a year." Fitzsimmons Creek, which is The Idaho Mountain Express located between the two ski explains that the hotel, called areas. It will be capable of gener- Ketchum Hotel, will be located ating 7.5 megawatts of electricity, in downtown Ketchum, a few or 33.5 gigawatt hours of electric- hundred yards from the base of ity per year. Bald Mountain, the key venue of Intrawest, the owner of the ski the Sun Valley ski area. areas, is not the developer, For several years various proalthough it was integral in plan- posals have foundered on the ning. Arthur DeJong, who is the issue of size and economics. environmental planner at Developers said they needed Whistler-Blackcomb, tells Pique larger and taller buildings than Newsmagazine that this is the were previously allowed, and most significant step the resort they also needed the ability to has made in terms of reducing sell units within the structures. climate-changing greenhouse gas At length, the community relentemissions. ed. The turbine will be installed BariteaiTs partner is Paolo above the pond used for snow- Patrone, owner of Piazza Hotels, making at the two ski areas. which runs the Hotel Healdsburg There are some impacts, but they in California's Sonoma'Valley. are relatively minor compared to other projects. The real estate boom over in DeJong said Whistler- Jackson Hole Blackcomb is also looking into JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. using existing snowmaking sys- The state of the real estate martems to produce electricity, such ket in Jackson Hole has been in as is done at Snowmass. It is also dispute in recent weeks. A study looking into whether it can tap by a California-based firm found wind power. that the median home price in Teton County had dropped 9 perCabins now hung on new cent in the last year. But David Whistler gondola Viehman, a local appraiser and WHISTLER, B.C. real estate agent who has studied Whistler's new peak-to-peak the market for number of years, gondola now has the first 12 cab- says the Californians crunched ins hanging into thin air. The the numbers in ways that don't gondola will offer the world's necessarily make sense. greatest length of free-span As Viehman crunches the cable, 3.02 kilometers, or slightly numbers, prices for single-family less than 2.5 miles. homes have actually increased in Eventually the gondola will the last year by 2 percent. have 28 cabins, and each will However, he discounts condos. By ALLEN BEST Record contributing writer SPARKS townhouses and fractional ownerships - which may have been included in the tabulation of a 9 percent decline. What clearly is happening, he says, is that locals continue to escalate their prices as if a boom were still occurring. As a consequence, lots of properties are on the market. "Locals can't get over the fact that their property is not worth more than it was last year," Viehman told the Jackson Hole News&Guide. "They won't come off their price." What has happened, several sources tell the newspaper, is that the real estate market is correcting itself after several years of extreme heating. As well, while there are still mortgages available for "strong" borrowers, no national companies are loaning for more than $700,000. Also, while vacationers to Jackson Hole might have been inclined to buy vacation real estate at other times, the national economic uncertainty at this time is keeping them in a less committed state. average age of skiers had crept up, and that's good and well in very many ways. But at Ketchum and Sun Valley, there's a sense that the demographics have veered too much to those of a retirement community. Dick Dorworth, a well-known ski journalist, tells the Idaho Mountain Express that when he goes into a Sun Valley base lodge in the morning that often he's the youngest person there, "and I'm almost 70." Dorworth claims that the skiing on BalcJ Mountain is the best - and he should know. He's taught skiing at many places, and skied most of the others, and in his younger years won a lot of ski races. But the culture at Sun Valley, he says, is not the best, although he did not explain why. The Express suggests that the cost of skiing discourages younger people. A season pass this year is going for more than $2,000. A stripped-down 20-day pass costs $800. Even Aspen is less expensive, with a $1,300 pass available to members of the local chamber of commerce. Far cheaper yet is the Boring continuing into old mines Epic Pass being offered by Vail at Silverton Resorts, which costs $579 and SILVERTON, Colo. - Drills offers unlimited access to Vail, are bore into an old mine at Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Silverton as a company called Keystone and Arapahoe Basin, Colorado Goldfields continues it plus California's Heavenly Pass. examination of what minerals Bair Gourlay, a ski shop may still be available for extrac- owner in Ketchum, said the high tion. cost of skiing at Sun Valley disThe company this summer courages young people from drilled two holes in the Gold spending a winter ski-bumming King, a mine active from 1895 to there - and makes it harder for 1920. The mine produced about local shops to find employees. 345,000 ounces of gold and 4 mil"The retail is a real struggle, lion ounces of silver. especially for small, mom-andSteve Guyer, the chief finan- pop stores," Gourlay said. "We cial officer, told the Durango have to look at who it's competHerald in August that produc- ing with - at some point we can't tion costs are well below gold just keep catering to the retired prices. Still, Goldfields has not community." yet announced begun mining, Of course, Vail's ski areas all although it does proclaim that have relatively close proximity to profitability on its operations will major metro areas, which means arrive within 18 months. that while they offer low prices The company also continues for ski passes, volume is high. to drill into the Mogul Mine, in The closest city to Sun Valley is the hope of intersecting the his- Boise - fast growing, but small torical vein that had been mined. compared to Denver and to the Historical data indicated a good Bay area. grade of silver, lead, copper and zinc. Allen Best has edited mountain town newspapers for 20 years. He has served as managing editor at No country for young men and four different mountain town women skiers newspapers and is now living in KETCHUM, Idaho - The metropolitan Denver. CAST VOTE in the new Park Record online poll at parkrecord.com Do Not Miss These Fantastic Ski-In, Ski-Out Condominiums Located In the Heart of Park City Mountain Resort®. 1 Cozy, Remodeled Studio - Rock fireplace, flat screen TV, new furniture - Offered at the amazing price of $229,000 2 Wonderful 1 Bedroom with Views Across the Ice Rink - Air conditioning and new windows. Incredible rental returns. - Priced to sell at $469,000 454 4. 500 w. salt lake city 801-519-6900 cg»park».com BUY/TRADE • APPRAISALS • CONSULTATIONS 3092 SOUTH HIGHLAND DR. SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84106 MON-SAT 10 AM T O 6 PM (801) 484-63b4 L O C A T E D A T T H E HISTORIC VILLA THCATRI WWW.ADins.COM (888) 445- KUGS HOUSE & BAR TRENTDAVIS Specializing in a Higher Standard of Real Estate Service S O U L Gentleman's Ranch and a Mountain Retreat near World Class resorts. 55 Acres of sweeping Ski Area Views, luxury Equestrian Facilities, backs onto National Forest with cndlefes Recreatlop Trails. Available for purchase at S3,5O0,OOO 310.2660291 - rlde@parkcity5tablM.com REALTOR* PARK CITY RESORT SPECIALIST W I T H introducing our new - - Prix Fixe Menu - 3-5 COURSES, DESSERT & ADULT BEVERAGE $19.95-$39.95 ^ t Regular Menu 5> Children's Menu ; 1* f• Late Night Menu - cigars available - at the base of the town lift 435-647-0040 • 751 Main Street, Park City July 2008 - * I wanted to write to you before too much time passed to express my gratitude for the diligent and professional manner in which you handled the recent sale of my condo. 1 believe that as a result of your strong effort and excellent advice you offered me along the way, I was able to ~get a very fair price for my property in a very difficult Real Estate Market.'- Mr, B Thompson. VISAS -- -HO 1 TRENTDAVIS 435.731 0115 Trent@ParkCityResortSpecialist.com (»> Prudential | Utah Real Estate SR T J -•*.- ••Vy^ Starting @ $45/sf installed (3 cm Material) ,J._:.^f XJ Passport Yep. It's Moab-but VISIT OUR SHOWROOM AT 3267 SOUTH 3 0 0 WEST (1-15 FXIT 303) | 6 Months. No Payment. No Interest, i • Call now 6c receive a FREE 18 gauge stainless i steel undermount kitchen sink w/ purchase.* * ff Good thru end of Month. 'Offer j not like you remember! This is Moab Springs Ranch - Moab's first ranch reborn as the coolest resort in the Colorado Plateau. We have a flowing natural waterscape and huge trees. The Slickrock Trail is out the back door. Moab's * N & finest restaurant, Desert Moab Springs is perfectly Bistro, is on-site. Early located at the North entrance Phases are sold out. to Moab, near Arches Na- Stone Unlimited, Inc. mnuiainii 8OIH 87-8663 Nightly Rentals Available tional Park and the River. Call Laura @ 886-259-5759 Or McKay @877-252-3179 www.moabsprlngsranch.coni ?«- Available now: 2 Arrowhead Lane Townhouses: Smart, energy efficient, stylish, solidly built and centrally Located. Killer Views. iv.vto^ SAEEJ,T VACCINATj feMltA^j!!!^, From $348K Travel Health Vaccines™ "Immunizations for Travel and Wellness" 1441W. Ute Blvd. Ste 220, Park City, Ut 84098 Protect yourself call: 435.513.0054 |