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Show B-8 Sat/Sun/MonTTues, January 23-26, 2010 The Park Record OUNTAIN TOWN NEWS SHOULD I A Roundup of News from Other Western Ski Resort Communities • By ALLEN BEST '•• Record contributing writer Lobos trail skier in Banff National Park BANFF, Alberta - What would you do if you were by yourself, skiing at dusk in the backcountry, and a trio of wolves stepped onto the same trail? In a case in Banff National Park, the lone skier turned around, the wolves a respectful 100 feet (30 meters) behind her, and made her way back to the trailhead. stopping after 20 minutes to wave her poles and yell. That did the trick, reports the Rocky Mountain Outlook. The wolves themselves headed . off trail, and that's the last she saw of them. . Officials in Banff National Park say they doni believe the wolves meant the woman harm. They were just going in the same direction and, since it was cold, they got on the packed trail because it took less energy. "In the winter, every calorie counts for wolves," said Melanie Percy, senior park ecologist. Steve • Michel, humanwildlife conflict specialist for Banff National Park, said wolf attacks are extremely rare. That said, he advised anybody seeing wolves to keep their distance - and not to get excited and start running. As in dogs, he said, that could trigger a predatory response by the wolves. In Utah, however, a very different view was being expressed. "Wolves are ruthless," said Sen. Allen Christensen, a state legislator who is sponsoring legislation that, if approved, would declare that all wolves in Utah be destroyed or removed. Christensen, who represents a portion of the Park City area, told the Park Record that he expected litigation between Utah and the federal government over his proposal if it gets approved. Plenty of beds and seats in ski towns CRESTED BUTTE, Colo. - Nobody expected a gangbuster Christmas week this year in ski towns, And, from all available evidence, that's just the way it turned out. Here and there have been crowds, but people continue to count nickels, unlike the days of old. Consider Crested Butte, where skier days, spending, and occupancy were somewhat on par with the previous year when the dimensions of the Great Recession were being understood. Still, the Crested Butte News ominously tells about one shuttle plane to Denver that had only four passengers. The passengers had to sit in the back rows of the plane, to balance the crew in the front. Meanwhile, room rates continue to slide. One hotelier at Snowmass Village reports that even after discounts, tour operators now return wanting further discounts. The new normal is still in flux. Telluride mayor makes case for hikers in Iran TELLURIDE, Colo. Telluride this winter has already hosted its first-ever World Cup competition, for snowboarders, but before that happened the mayor of Telluride was contacted by an emissary representing two snowboarders from Iran. The Iranians hoped to compete in the World Cup event, and they were trying to secure visas for themselves, their coach and their manager. The snowboarders, Mayor Stu Fraser was told, needed a letter of invitation from a local official sent to the U.S. Consulate in Dubai. Fraser, reports the Telluride Watch, agreed to write the letter. "Why couldn't I make the effort to be a friend," he said. "Politics shouldn't have anything to with this. Athletes should be able to do what it is that they do and what they're all about." At length, the request was noted by the U.S. Consulate, although nothing ever seemed to come of Fraser's good gesture. But the case got him to thinking. He wrote a letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asking for the release of the four American hikers seized after they crossed into Iran while trekking in the northern reaches of Iraq. "Please set aside with me, for a short while, the tensions between our.two countries and consider this humanitarian request," Fraser wrote. So far, nothing has come of that, either. Snowpacks notoriously unstable this winter KETCHUM. Idaho - As had been predicted, the La Nina ocean currents in the Pacific Ocean have not blessed many ski areas in the West with snow this year. The sporadic snowstorms, combined with the cold, have resulted in the layers of snow found in many locations being very weak and more- susceptible to avalanches. At Sun Valley's marquee Bald Mountain, that has resulted in the bowls not being opened as of mid-January. "Right now, the natural snowpack in the bowls is as weak as I've ever seen it in all the years I've been here." said Rich Bingham, the snow safety director of Sun Valley Ski Patrol and a veteran of 43 years at the resort. At Vail, a snowboarder left the ski area and ventured into backcountry area called Miller Cliffs. The Vail Daily reports that authorities found the man in an avalanche area, with no reason to suspect foul play. Those out skiing in the backcountry have been advised to hew to moderate slope angles. Snowpacks in the Rocky Mountains are notoriously fickle. Heat from the earth works through the snow to the cold atmosphere, in the process recreating the snowflakes into a sugary substance that in phases might resemble marbles. Avalanche victim had been ski bum archetype JACKSON, Wyo.-When Outside magazine hired a photographer to shoot an essay on the homes of ski bums in Jackson Hole, the home of Mark a Big Wally" Wolling became an archetype. There was a kayak hanging from the ceiling, skis in the corner, a dirt bike propped up next to the bed. That photograph was recalled by the Jackson Hole News&Guide last week after the death of Wolling in an avalanche. A ski patrolman at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, WoLling was on the lip of Cheyenne Bowl on the morning of Jan. 6 when two explosive hand charges he deployed below him triggered the slide. The slide carried Wolling over a 35-foot cliff and well down the 800-foot-long avalanche slope. To find Woliing, his partner used a radio transceiver beacon. He was not wearing a helmet and did not have a balloon pack or an Avalung. An Availing is a device designed to allow a buried skier to breathe. It took other patrollers 22 minutes from the time of the avalanche to the time they located and uncovered him from under 5 1/2 feet of debris. It took 32 minutes altogether between the time the avalanche occurred and when he arrived at a medical clinic at the base of the mountain. There, after eight minutes, a pulse was detected. He was in a coma, but on life support before dying at a hospital in Idaho. Wolling, according to the newspaper, started working at the ski area on trail crew in 1978, and had been a ski patrol member since 1989. REFINANCE? Can I qualify? Will my property qualify? You have questions, we have answers Call us at 435.649.3497 Dean Berrett 31 years experience Berrett Mortgage Services PARK RECORD BUILDING 1670 BONANZA DR. «205 • PARK CITY 435.649.3497 • www.berretlmortgage.com PARK CITY REAL ESTATE AND YOU Craig Reece, CRS NEW! LOWER DOWN PAYMENTS REQUIRED Good news for homcbuyers! As of June 1st this year, Fannie Mae, the nation's largest government-sponsored buyer of existing home mortgages is lowering their down payments requirements for home purchasing loans. The new minimum down payment requirements now range between 3 and 5 percent for loans on singlefamUy, primary homes. 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