December 2004
The town of Breckenridge continues with its plan to make downtown even more enjoyable for visitors and locals. The roundabout is under construction that moves highway 9 from Main St. onto Park Ave. Breckenridge now has the freedom to redesign Main Street. Breckenridge town officials recently took a two-day tour of Boulder, Lafayette and Longmont to garner ideas for making Main Street more pedestrian friendly. The group looked at signage and way-finding, pedestrian crossings, street furniture, art and landscaping in the Front Range towns..
Vail Resorts is commitment to keeping Breckenridge ski resort at the forefront of the industry. CEO and board chairman Adam Aron addressed the Breckenridge Town Council recently and said the $4 million Peak 8 Summit lift is a priority. The lift will go from the back bowls to near the summit of Peak 8. At 12,800ft. it will be the highest lift in North America. Mr. Aron says the increase in bowl skiing and expert terrain will greatly enhance the resort’s image. He also mentioned that the resort would search for new “secret” powder stashes for the locals since the bowls of Peaks 7 & 8 will now be more highly traveled. One of these areas may be the opening of terrain on Peak 6. The Forest Service gave its endorsement to the lift last month.
The Breckenridge Planning Commission gave its unanimous approval to design plans for the 41-foot-long Skiway Skyway Bridge over Ski Hill Road that will allow skiers and boarders to access the parking lots on Park Avenue from the ski hill. Citing confidence in the strength of the real estate market in Breckenridge, Vail Resorts has announced it will begin construction of the skiway this summer. It will take two years to complete. This will greatly reduce the wait time for shuttle busses at the end of the day. We all hope that the gondola is not far behind. That will be tied to the base area village development at Peaks 7 & 8 and the construction of the townhome phase of Mountain Thunder Lodge. Call me if you would like to know more. 970-389-6123.
FYI-The new transfer center for all the Breckenridge busses as well as the Summit Stage is now on Watson Street at the free skier parking lots. The new center has restrooms and a heated waiting area. This is also adjacent to where the gondola terminal will be.
More information on everything going on this summer is at: http://thealtitudenews.com/Schedule.html, as well as: http://www.bestoftherockies.com.
The closing for the B & B Mines property, a 1,800-acre open space purchase, is now set for December 7. The $9 million purchase is a partnership between the Town of Breckenridge and Summit County. After the closing there will still be a thirty-day public comment period before the escrow is dispersed and the sale is final. The town and county have been working for some time on a use plan for the area and it will probably take most of a year before anything is set in stone. There are many competing uses for the area including: historical preservation and interpretation, Snowmobiling, ATV’s, X-C skiing, hiking and equestrian usage. While neither side wants to exclude any uses any plan must be comprehensive to prevent conflict with so many incompatible uses.
The Summit Recycling Project received $190,000 in funding from the County Commissioners. This represents about half the total annual operating expenses. The remainder is brought in through town government support and fundraisers. The SRP increased its collections by 59 percent last year. It also held a highly successful household hazardous waste collection day, which will be expanded to three or four half-days this year. The commissioners will be organizing a recovery sorting operation at the county dump. Recyclable materials made up over 10% of the waste deposited at the dump in the last year. .
In what may be a good thing for our cash strapped National Forest Service, Congress recently approved a “Pay to Play” amendment. The NFS can now charge fees for usage in nearly all areas it administers. It remains to be seen where this will actually be implemented but expect to pay now for fishing, hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, etc. in our National Forests.
It is with great sorrow that I report the death of one of our former students, Lance Corporal Justin Ellsworth, taken from us by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Justin was one of my players when I coached football at the high school and it was no surprise when I heard he had enlisted in the Marines. Justin was a rare kid who worked his butt off and gave that little extra that inspired others. He called me “Sir” without my asking and would always step up to help his teammates. He went to Iraq to help the people there. It was not surprising to find out that he was helping the locals by warning of an approaching battle when some coward struck him down. I am proud to have known you Justin, you did good. You’ll not be forgotten.
Looking to the future, the Summit High School ski teams are after their unprecedented 31 st and 32 nd state championships this year. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams won their respective titles last year. Although it looks as if the Nordic team may not be as strong due to graduations, they are hoping to make up for it in depth. Twice as many skiers have signed up to participate than last year. Another boost to the Nordic program came with the formation of the Rocky Mountain Division Nordic Ski Club, headed by local Olympian Matt Dayton. The level of coaching and training should make up for the lack of experience. The downhill team returns four all-state skiers and also has a big turnout of racers. One of the highlights will be the state championships, they are scheduled February 18 & 19 with the Alpine races in Keystone and the Nordic in Breckenridge. The team is looking to capture more state titles on its home turf.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center issued an avalanche warning November 29 for all Colorado Mountains and rated the backcountry avalanche danger as high. The CAIC does not expect the backcountry danger to diminish in the near term. Updated reports are at: http://www.geosurvey.state.co.us/avalanche/ . Snowmobiling is now the No. 1 cause of death among avalanche victims, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Officials with the U.S. Forest Service Avalanche Center attribute the increase in fatalities to the technological advances making snowmobiles lighter and more powerful.
Thanksgiving weekend dumps of snow pushed the statewide average snowpack to 112% of the 30-year average, up from 93% just a week ago. The Colorado River basin was 114% of average while the Grand Mesa had 150% of average. Sunlight Mountain Resort will open Friday, with 50 inches of new snow since Thanksgiving.
If you’ve never followed World Cup ski racing before, now might be a good time to start. Both the US men’s and women’s teams are poised to compete with the best in the world. This season and early next, leading up to the Olympics in Italy, will be fun to watch. The men’s team has two superstars, Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves. Rahlves, the winningest speed event skier in US history, is now going for the overall title. Phil Mahre, who did it three times, is the only American male to win the overall title. Daron finished fifth in the Super-G and the Downhill over Thanksgiving and is in fifth place in the overall going into the races at Beaver Creek. Teammate Miller though is off to a torrid start. Bode became the first man ever to win the first three events in three different disciplines. He captured the Downhill and Super-G, both career firsts, over Thanksgiving after winning the opening Giant Slalom the week before. Miller now stands in first place in the overall. The women don’t have individual racers of the caliber of the men but they are a strong group. Thanksgiving in Aspen saw them finish with four top 20 finishes Saturday and three top 25 in the Slalom.
If you are a snowboarder think of Breckenridge first. Breckenridge was probably the first major resort to embrace snowboarding and this year is celebrating its twentieth anniversary of snowboarding. Breckenridge held the sport’s first world championships in 1986 and was the first North American resort to own a half-pipe groomer. They now have six. The latest promotion is 4 parks, 4 pipes, 4 peaks, something no other resort can boast. Consistently rated as having the best terrain parks and half pipes by those in the sport, Breckenridge has taken it to another level by supporting different areas for every ability level. This month Breckenridge will host the Chevy Trucks US Grand Prix December 18-20 at the big park on Peak 8. Other competitions will be held throughout the season.
Happy trails.
Contact me if you need further tips on where to stay, eat or play.
Recently announced; Colorado companies and researchers were awarded $130 million in NASA projects to send astronauts back to the moon and, eventually, Mars. A snowy Broncos game on Sunday night television, international broadcasts of World Cup races in the snow, and the Weather Channel’s coverage of Colorado’s Thanksgiving snowstorm contributed to record reservations on the Monday following. Aspen’s central reservations agency, Stay Aspen Snowmass Inc. reported a one-day record of $185,000 in gross new bookings November 29.
The Pacific Research Institute U.S. Economic Freedom Index ranks states in categories of fiscal, regulatory, judicial, government size and welfare. Top ranked:
1. Kansas
2. Colorado
3. Virginia
4. Idaho
5. Utah
States with the most business-friendly tax climates, according to the Tax Foundation:
1. Wyoming
2. New Hampshire
3. Nevada
4. Colorado
5. Alaska
See you on the slopes . Contact me and we can discuss things.
MARKET
CONDITIONS REPORT
Real estate sales in eight mountain counties: Eagle, Pitkin, Summit, Garfield, Grand, Routt, Gunnison and San Miguel, for the first nine months of the year totaled $4.74 billion, more than the $4.62 billion recorded in sales for all of 2003, and on target to top the all-time high of $5.1 billion in 2000. Denver-area buyers have already purchased $13.1 billion in homes so far this year, more than $1 billion more than they did all last year. In November, there were 2,786 homes placed under contract, 34.3% more than sold in November 2003.
Colorado resorts recorded nearly 955,000 international skier visits in the 1996-97 season, and resorts are looking for the upcoming season to lure international visitors back due to the strength of the euro, the British pound and other foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar, making skiing in the U.S. a good value. Last year, Breckenridge and Vail both had record numbers of international skiers
Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, in Vail last month, said there is resurgence in skier-visitor numbers, due to the ski industry’s growth in snowboarding. Snowboarding now accounts for 31% of the lift tickets sold in the U.S. and 60% of the people under age 20 entering winter sports are snowboarders. Nearly all of the 500 ski resorts in the US have terrain parks and half pipes now. Berry also made the point that the last three seasons were the busiest with ever with over 57 million visitors and $12 billion in revenues. The ‘90’s saw little growth with levels around 52 million. He says these are the best days in history and skiing will continue to be popular for at least a generation to come.
Don’t wait ‘till prices start going up again, Contact Me Today!
Real estate sales in eight mountain counties: Eagle, Pitkin, Summit, Garfield, Grand, Routt, Gunnison and San Miguel, for the first nine months of the year totaled $4.74 billion, more than the $4.62 billion recorded in sales for all of 2003, and on target to top the all-time high of $5.1 billion in 2000. Denver-area buyers have already purchased $13.1 billion in homes so far this year, more than $1 billion more than they did all last year. In November, there were 2,786 homes placed under contract, 34.3% more than sold in November 2003.
Colorado resorts recorded nearly 955,000 international skier visits in the 1996-97 season, and resorts are looking for the upcoming season to lure international visitors back due to the strength of the euro, the British pound and other foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar, making skiing in the U.S. a good value. Last year, Breckenridge and Vail both had record numbers of international skiers
Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, in Vail last month, said there is resurgence in skier-visitor numbers, due to the ski industry’s growth in snowboarding. Snowboarding now accounts for 31% of the lift tickets sold in the U.S. and 60% of the people under age 20 entering winter sports are snowboarders. Nearly all of the 500 ski resorts in the US have terrain parks and half pipes now. Berry also made the point that the last three seasons were the busiest with ever with over 57 million visitors and $12 billion in revenues. The ‘90’s saw little growth with levels around 52 million. He says these are the best days in history and skiing will continue to be popular for at least a generation to come.
Don’t wait ‘till prices start going up again, Contact Me Today!