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Show A-18 The Park Record Continued from A-17 Want the results of a recent competition or updated standings? Don't worry, The Park Record always keeps score. See our Scoreboard on page B-5. NOW SELLING From the low $1,000,000’s! Mountain Town such fatalities at the ski area, there were questions about whether avalanche beacons might be in order when venturing into particularly dangerous terrain. The avalanche occurred on one of the steep chutes on the north face of Kachina Peak. Ski patrollers had been in the couloir earlier and had used explosives in an effort to provoke unstable snow. In 2015, a lift was installed to the peak, but not quite to the top. Skiers must still climb a rise and then traverse several switchbacks. This design as well as signs are intended to give people time to consider whether they are skilled enough to navigate the expert terrain, explained David Norden, the chief executive at Taos Ski Valley. The Taos News reports that by one estimate it took rescuers 25 minutes to find the body of the first individual, and then another 25 minutes to find the second victim. Resuscitation of one victim with a defibrillator restored a pulse, but he later died at a hospital in Albuquerque. The first victim was declared dead the day of the avalanche. Neither man was carrying a beacon, which might have allowed rescuers to more rapidly detect their whereabouts. At Colorado’s ultra-steep Silverton Mountain, all skiers are given beacons. Avalanches can kill you in multiple ways, though. If thrown over a cliff or slammed into a tree, the trauma can kill. But even if merely covered by snow, suffocation can kill. There is no magic time for survivability. In Idaho, in the sidecountry near Sun Valley, two men – one on skis, the other on a snowboard – got lucky. They were carried about the length of a football field down the mountain. One was fully buried but able to dig himself out in about 25 minutes. The other was also able to extricate himself. “These individuals are fortunate that they were not seriously injured or killed,” said Scott Savage of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center. “The terrain in this area Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, February 2-5, 2019 is heavily treed, so most people caught in avalanches here sustain significant trauma. Picture riding a bike downhill at 30 mph and jumping off into a forest,” he said. “It usually doesn’t end very well.” In Colorado, ski patrollers at the Steamboat ski area have upgraded their avalanche beacon training station in an effort to encourage public use. In Beacon Basin, located next to the ski patrol headquarters, the public can test their own avalanche beacons and make a practice rescue. “We always want the public to have more avalanche training,” Dave Thomas, a long-time ski patroller told the Steamboat Today. “With this system, we are able to train people throughout the day and throughout the year.” Newspaper in ski town struggles to stay afloat BEND, Ore. – The bottom line for ski town newspapers continues to deteriorate. The latest sign of anguish comes from Bend, Ore. where owners of the Bend Bulletin have filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the federal code. The editor, Erik Lukens, tells readers to expect changes in coming months designed to create an economically sustainable product. All newspapers everywhere have been struggling. The Bulletin, like most papers, makes its money primarily on advertising revenues. In many cases, subscriptions pay only for the cost of paper and maybe the delivery. But Facebook, Google, and others have disrupted that model. One clear example is the New York Times. There, according to The Atlantic, advertising formerly accounted for 60 percent of revenue. Now, it’s just 40 percent. And that is a national paper. Regional papers like the Denver Post have struggled even more. And, of course, bunches of papers have gone bye-bye. Whistler steps up message about plastic water bottles WHISTLER, B.C. – Visitors to Whistler often check into their hotel rooms and then, after getting settled in, head to the grocery store. There, they will load up a case of plastic water bottles. Save your money, is the message in a new campaign orchestrated by the municipality in cooperation with the Hotel Association of Whistler. Each hotel will decide how to communicate this message. “We have some of the best-tasting tap water in the world. British Columbia is water-rich, so why drink water from a bottle when you can drink wonderful glacier water right out of the tap,” said Jack Crompton, the mayor. Some hotel guests have been getting this same message subtly for years. At the Four Seasons Resort, for example, staff members place carafes with tap water on each nightstand, alongside a glass. The municipality ended sale of plastic bottled water in its own operations in 2010. Shedding light on the dark side of hospitality sector CANMORE, Alberta. – A workshop was planned this week in Canmore about the dark side of the hospitality industry. Local restaurateur Todd Kunst and the Community Helpers program wanted to expand the conversation about drug and alcohol abuse. Goal of the one-day session was to teach employees how to help each other and connect them with community resources. “It’s always been an issue, but people are starting to talk about it more. Anything that brings more awareness to it, I think, is beneficial to the community and the industry as well,” Kunst told the Rocky Mountain Outlook. “Lots of people, especially in the Bow Valley, are away from home for the first time and experimenting with different things, and over time that can lead to addictions and mental health issues,” said Kunst. Aspen Skiing Co. forms a hospitality division ASPEN, Colo. – The Aspen Skiing Co. has formally created a new hospitality division, called the Little Nell Hotel Group. Aspen has been in the business of building hotels for several years, first buying a hotel in Aspen called the Limelight and then going on to build two more elsewhere. The company has looked at other possible locations, including Boulder, Colo. “We are focused on expanding to leisure destinations that are of unique character and that attract the adventurous, nature-oriented and socially active clientele that come to our properties,” said Alinio Azevedo, the managing director of the new division. A master-planned community from Ivory Homes, this new neighborhood is located on the rail trail and features beautiful homes, a clubhouse, pool, parks, open space, and more! (Artist Parkk City (Art A stt rendering reender g off the thhee Pa Cit C ty Heights H ighh Clubhouse. Actual clubhouse may vary as built.) Dan Fielding 801-503-7302 danf@ivoryhomes.com |