December 2006

Breckenridge, GENUINE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

Vail Resorts has put a major emphasis on increasing ethnic diversity on the slopes. Through outreach and scholarship programs over 2,500 inner city and minority youth were treated to winter mountain experiences last year. They are hoping to increase the number to 3000 this year. Vail works through local community based organizations to find candidates and programs are held at all their Colorado resorts including Breckenridge. For more information on the scholarship program call 970-476-5601.

With the addition of the new BreckConnect Gondola come some changes to the parking situation. The day the gondola opens will also mark the beginning of paid parking in the Miners and Tailings lots adjacent to the gondola between Park Ave and Main St. The cost will be $10/day. The ski area will add some free parking to the Gold Rush lots to help ease the burden a little. Additionally the resort will offer a variety of discounted multi-day, weekly and season holder punch pass options. Check out www.snow.com for more info.

The Breckenridge Heritage Alliance has been launched to develop and coordinate a heritage tourism program in town. Heritage tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry and Breckenridge is a perfect place to embrace that. The alliance’s first major task is to develop Breckenridge’s upcoming 150-year birthday celebration in 2009. The anniversary is a perfect focal point to launch a long-range heritage tourism program. The group has emphasized that it’s not just about the mining and Victorian architecture but includes the more modern developments such as the ski area and the arts district that will be integrated into the experience.

Great news: The new expansion to Colorado Mountain College is coming to Breckenridge! The town is working with the college to utilize twenty acres on the north side for what could be a destination campus. CMC has been exploring how to move towards a full time oriented curriculum and the facilities issue has been a major block. With the area the town is willing to give them the road will be clear to create a major two year college with dormitories and other support structures to attract full time students to the campus. The CMC board is finalizing a game plan and hopes to break ground this summer. Classes could begin as early as the fall of 2008.

More good info can be found at: http://www.BestoftheRockies.com

ALL THE GOOD NEWS…

Winter is off to a fantastic start with a two-foot storm ending the month of November. Lots of ski terrain is open for this early in the year but it looks like the best is yet to come. A strengthening El Nino normally foretells of lots of snow and mild temperatures. October, usually our driest month here, was one of the wettest in history. This normally precedes an active El Nino winter.

Another 27 year Breckenridge resident, me being the first but I could never ski like this guy, Scott Rawles has been named the new head coach of the US Ski Team’s moguls program. Rawles became famous on the pro mogul tour in the ‘80’s, coached the local club Team Summit for many years and then worked his way up through the ranks. Although the team was disappointed by their performance at this years Olympics the talent on the team is still deep.

For the fourth year in a row a local Summit County family is organizing an operation to send Christmas packages to our troops overseas.  Dropboxes have been located all around for people to donate items. Most popular among the troops are canned American food items, toiletries, gum, candy and duct tape.  The boxes will be sent to the platoons of four local men stationed in Iraq.  In the last three years the group has raised over $8,000 and sent 200 packages. 

In another example of generosity typical of our community a fundraiser was held lat month to help a man who had been struck by a car while riding his bicycle to work.  From young and healthy to severely challenged in the blink of an eye.  He and his family had just moved here from Florida and his wife and daughter have now relocated to Denver to be close to the hospital where he is rehabilitating. The event was sponsored by the employees of the Summit School District and thousands of dollars were raised to help with the astronomical expenses. 

In the election last month local voters approved funding for the Summit Housing Authority to expand affordable housing options for locals.  In a real estate market gone ape, some form of assistance is needed to keep local workers living in the community.  Many resort towns have ceased to be towns and are more like ghost towns, filled with homes empty for much of the year.  Service suffers when people don't live where they work or have to work two jobs and lose their free time.  The ballot measure will raise $32 million which will give the SHA long term security in working towards solutions.  This security also allows SHA to seek other long term funding with the goal of keeping housing for locals around the $267,000 price range.  Construction on affordable units should begin this spring. 

12-5-06. The best things in life are not always easy

A long day of travel, two tight connections, a hot dog wolfed down as I run to catch my plane but finally I arrive. I smell the salt air and take in the soothing tropical sun, a far cry from the blizzard I left at the airport in Denver . Ahh, mai-tai’s on the beach soon. I stand at the carousel hoping to grab my luggage and get through customs quickly. I am still standing and looking at the carousel as I realize that all the luggage has come out and mine isn’t there. I go through customs and approach the clerk at the airline desk. On a third world tropical island though, they look at me as if I just asked them for the bathrooms rather than telling them my entire vacation is in limbo. They casually ask me to check back tomorrow; maybe it will show up, good day. This was my introduction to Central America , go with the flow.

I certainly want to express my gratitude for all the wonderful people who choose to work with me time and again making these trips possible. I hope you all enjoy my sharing them with you, just another small way of saying thank you.

The waves crash on the reef all night long, the ultimate lullaby. I never sleep better than when I have the music of the ocean outside my window.

The beach is beautiful and after we picked up our bags the third day I finally got to explore the reef just a hundred yards off our little hideaway. It is teeming with a wide variety of coral and a multitude of colorful fish. My favorite is the little black one with the florescent purple spots. Perhaps I can show you all a picture soon. We will be getting into deeper water as the week goes along. This area is also home to many wrecks, one thing I have not done underwater yet. Hope to have some great pictures of that soon too.

Think snow, always!

Contact Tom if you need tips on where to stay, eat or play.

The Zen of SCUBA

The only sound is that of your bubbles, you are suspended in space next to a wall that drops off hundreds of feet below you and then disappears into the darkness. You are not afraid of falling, in fact you are very relaxed and stress free. Unlike your "normal" life where your mind is always racing to catch up to what you haven't done yet that should already be done, what still needs to be done, what you have done wrong and need to redo, what everyone else in your life needs to be doing and why can't they move faster... your mind is suspended like your body~completely in the present moment. Time becomes irrelevant, you are completely aware of your surroundings; the water temperature, the current, your tank pressure and air consumption, your depth, your decompression time, all here right now.  You are aware of your body and strangely in tune to what it is doing and feeling. You concentrate on every breath like a Buddhist Monk in meditation.

You watch the life around you going on, it too is oblivious to man's timetable and schedule. The life around you is only in the moment, pure and peaceful. The hermit crab crawls along the ocean floor in search of food, not going anywhere in particular or looking to arrive on time.  No pressure, no worries. The coral sways in the current silently collecting it's food, slowly growing and spreading it's kind along the reef.  The shark sleeps under a rock overhang, somehow watching me with one eye. 

The experience is so peaceful, you are so much aware of things you have no time for in the modern world. Nature's spirit somehow recaptures you and takes you back to your primitive roots.  Parts of you are recognized in a way they can't be seen any other way.