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Show SatSunMonTues, October 12-15, 2002 The Park Record B-11 MOUNTAIN TOWN NEWS Hunter is saved by snow, not wits By ALLEN BEST Record guest writer Aspen pulls editors' legs with cast of phony aliases Aspen, Colo. Aspen has two daily newspapers, and both arc thick with letters that argue the issues of the day. Aspen has a lot of issues, and it has a lot of arguments. But it doesn't have as many letter-writers letter-writers as was previously thought. A well-known local, Roger Marolt, has confessed that he wrote letters under 14 different aliases. His admission left editors at the two newspapers both embarrassed and cranky. They $aid they check to ensure the identity identi-ty of letter writers, but obviously they don't always check quite diligently dili-gently enough. "I think we got used. I think both papers got used pretty gcxnl and this guy got a laugh out of it," said Rick Carroll, editor of the Aspen Daily TScws. ' "At this point, I don't know what the answer is. short of having people hand-deliver letters with a government-issued photo ID." said Mike I lagan, editor of The Aspen Times. For Marolt, it was an elaborate practical joke and a way to raise issues without his name attached. "Sometimes you can't express what you really feel," Marolt told The Times (Sept. 26). "In a small town, you've got your job and your family and your livelihood to protect." , In his various disguises, Marolt seems to have been both serious and g(xxl-humored. In his letters he complained com-plained about bicycle riders on the bike path making too much noise. Sometimes he signed his real first name as well as his real phone number, num-ber, and when an editor called to verify ver-ify "If this is Roger?" then Marolt was able to truthfully say he was. But. at length, Marolt seemed to tire of the game and began giving out clues. He took the name Roger Kannard a canard being a false or unfounded story. Then, more obviously, obvi-ously, he used the name Roger Canard. I le also assigned the phone number on his letter-headed registered regis-tered to a company with the same address as his accounting office in downtown Aspen. The Canard Caper has had, naturally natu-rally for Aspen, spun off a dozen or two additional letters. Many authors seethed at what they described as self-righteous and hypocritical newspaper news-paper policies. Editorials and such arc anonymously written, so why can't letters be anonymously. They asked. ? , '. One letter-writer, Tony I lershey, cited the nation's founders as justification justifi-cation for Marolt's actions. "The Federalists used pseudonyms to protect pro-tect the authors from harm, encourage encour-age readers to focus on the issues and arguments ad not the authors' personalities, per-sonalities, and to distance oneself from one's own interests," 1 lershey wrote. I le said James Madison, who later became the fifth U.S. president, used a pseudonym in his articles written for New Yorkers because, as a Virginia, he was Considered a foreigner. for-eigner. Others who disguised their true identities in the debate about the Constitution were Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. By the way. the Aspen editors were not the first and probably not the last - ski town editors to be duped by community members who didn't want their opinions attached to their names. Doctors, lawyers, and even a town councilman have done the same thing in the Vail area, if the truth must be known. Goat hunter lives to relate tale about night on Buffalo ' Summit County, Colo. A 35-year-old goat hunter from Michigan . spent a frigid night high up on Buffalo Mountain and lived to tell about it because he was high on the mountain, in snow. I lad he been a hundred feet lower, where it was raining, the hunter could have died of hypothermia. The greater morale of the story is about wearing proper clothes for wet weather. "Since he was only wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, he certainly would have died of hypothermia," local search and rescue coordinator Dan Burnett told the Summit Daily News (Oct. 3). As it was. he kept brushing the snow off and didnt get soaking wet. I le was only super-miserable." The hunter had shot a goat 'in early afternix)n, then followed the goat high above timberline. He then got caught in a storm high up on the 12,777-foot peak. After that, he called a friend with a cell phone, and then through the night talked with rescue workers hourly, only sleeping for five minutes at a time. He was rescued by a helicopter first thing the next morning. Rash of vandalism to upscale cars may be political gesture Telluride. Colo. At least 15 upscale vehicles have been scratched with keys or other sharp objections since mid-summer, causing authorities authori-ties to wonder if somebody is trying to make a political statement. First targeted were sports-utility vehicles like Expeditions and Tahoes. More recently, Mercedes and Volvos have been defiled. In the case of a Toyota Sequoia, the word "rat" was carved deep into the hood. The Telluride Watch (Sept. 24) jeportssuch vandalism occurs rarely, iind"only 'then'4n such cases as dis-. gruntled employees. Because of history, his-tory, Telluride Deputy Marshall John Wontrobski speculates that the current cur-rent vandalism is a form of political statement, either a protest of the environmental costs of such cars or a resentment of the wealth that such vehicles represent. Joan May, of the Sheep Mountain Alliance, the region's most prominent promi-nent environmental group, said if the vandalism was motivated by envi ronmental goals, it fails. "It makes people go the other way, instead of bringing us together," she said. Groups want FAA to disclose impacts of airport expansion Mammoth Lakes, Calif. - A coalition coali-tion of environmental groups has returned to federal district court in San Francisco in an attempt to force the Federal Aviation Administration to consider the environmental impacts that would be caused by expansion of the Mammoth-Yosemite Mammoth-Yosemite Airport. After doing an environmental assessment, the less-involved study required when federal money is involved, the FAA had concluded there were no significant impacts. Environmental groups, reports the Mammoth Times (Oct. 3), believe growth inducted by airport expansion expan-sion cold also adversely affect the environment. The airport now accommodates small planes. If the expansion occurs, the airport will be able to accommodate accommo-date Boeing 737s and 757s. such as now occurs at several mountain airports air-ports near the larger ski areas in Colorado as well as Jackson Hole in Wyoming. "The community Is simply asking for a full EIS that would make explicit the potential costs in terms of additional sprawl, reduced air quality, quali-ty, traffic, noise and negative impacts to the aesthetic quality of the area, so-people so-people can make informed choices," said Susan Britton, an attorney for Earthjustice, the legal organization that commonly represents the Sierra Club' and other environmental groups. Bern drops bid to host 2010 Winter Olympics Whistler, B.C. The competition competi-tion to host the 2010 Winter Olympics has been reduced to three cities after organizers from Bern, Switzerland, withdrew their bid. Nearly SO percent of Bern-iirea voters rejected referenda regarding the Olympics. The resistance to funding the games was attributed to cost overruns at Expo 2X)2 in Switzerland. The Whistler Question (Oct. 3-9) reports that an on-line ranking service serv-ice gives Salzburg, Austria, a slight edge over Vancouver-Whistler, while Pyeongchang. South Korea, remains a distant third. John Furlong, president presi-dent of the Vancouver 2010, said he believes Berps withdrawal from the Olympic race will neither help nor hurt Vancouver's chances. Meanwhile, there still seems to be some talk of a referendum in Vancouver. Denver council OKs Winter Park deal even as Vail sues Denver, Colo. - Porter Wharton III, when he worked as a lobbyist inl998 for Pat Bowlen, owner of Denver's beloved Broncos, was able m inte r; tew mm EJFjt 1.fJ I W g f JT W I N T E R Program Presented by the National Sports Foundation at the Utah Olympic Park Ages:. 5-12 Cost: $105 :. S ; includes: program fees, park fees and USSA registration Time: 1:30-4:00 p.m. f Ages: 5-12 - Cost: $350 , includes: program fees, park fees and USSA registration Time: 5:00-7:00 p.m. SIGN-UP NiGHTTuesday, November 5, 6:00 p.m. at the Utah Olympic Park, Day lodge For additional Information, please contact Patricia Wood at 435-645-7660. AROwtiup olnm . from iiber Western ski W: i&tiirt rnmmtinitipc Nil to turn the levers that got metropolitan metropoli-tan Denver voters to build a tax-subsidized stadium for the Denver Broncos. Now working full time for Vail Resorts Inc., Wharton was back in the Denver City- and County Building recently to try to stop Denver's city council from consummating consum-mating a deal with Intrawest. This time he failed. The Denver City Council has approved the agreement with Intrawest that transfers management of the Denver-owned ski resort. Winter Park, to Intrawest. Intrawest is to pay Denver $3 million upfront, then $2 million a year. In addition, the agreement specifies that Intrawest' will send at least $50 million mil-lion during the coming decade to modernize the resort. However, Intrawest has said it will spend $W million. While Intrawest also gets development devel-opment rights to 140 city-owned acres at Winter Park's base, Denver retains ownership of the resort. As these details were being worked out. Vail Resorts rushed in. claiming violation of a previous deal between Intrawest and Vail Resorts, who have been jointly developing the River Run base area village at Keystone. That contract bars either Vail or Intrawest from doing a similar simi-lar real-estate project near another ski area in Colorado's four top counties, coun-ties, if the company also is managing the ski area. Vail has sued Intrawest, but Intrawest says it did not violate the contract, because it will not own Winter Park it will only manage it. 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