April 2007

Breckenridge,

GENUINE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

The plan for the Golden Horseshoe property, a joint open space project with the county, now has a user plan on its way to the Forest Service for approval. The area is located between French Creek and the Swan River and covers over a thousand acres of forest. Areas have been set aside for motorized and non-motorized use so snowmobilers and XC skiers can enjoy their own spaces. There is also room in the plan to expand the Nordic ski area around the golf course. Forest Service crews and volunteers will begin educating the public through signage and closing of routes that aren’t designated for use this summer.

Preliminary plans have been released for the new Colorado Mountain College to be constructed north of town. The Block 11 property sits between Hwy 9 and Airport Rd just south of CR 3. The projection is for the area to hold the new CMC campus along with 400 parking spaces, 500 skier parking spaces and about 200 units of affordable housing. The Blue River will be rerouted and restored to create a new landscaped entry statement for the town. A possible reservoir could be created on the north side of CR 3 for further aesthetic, recreational and water storage opportunities. See the picture above for more information. Plans will be advanced at the April town meeting.

On the skiing front two good items to tell you. The Snow White terrain, 150 south of the Lake Chutes, off the summit of Peak 8, opened up in time for folks to enjoy before the end of this year. These are a series of double diamond chutes that are really changing the reputation of Breckenridge as an intermediates’ mountain. The other piece of big news is the Peak 6 expansion has been approved. No word yet on whether it will be lift served or just hiking access next season but that could be out soon. I am betting lifts will be in by 2008.

The Summit School Board and the Breckenridge Town Council are working on a proposal to provide affordable housing for our local teachers. Many teachers come and live the ski bum lifestyle for a few years and then when it comes time to settle down move to more affordable communities. Everyone would like to see experienced teachers stay. The parties are considering a land swap where the school will give up some of its property in exchange for suitable land to build deed restricted housing on. Details on the particular parcels are forthcoming, however the town is looking at the area adjacent to the Upper Blue Elementary.

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

ALL THE GOOD NEWS…

The Friends of the Eagles Nest Wilderness and the Friends of the Dillon Ranger District are partnering to recruit volunteers to assist with some major projects in case you want to spend your summer family vacation giving back to the land. The program volunteers patrol trails, provide education to users, coordinate the Adopt a Trail program and inventory noxious weeds and campsite usage. Crew Leaders will supervise trail maintenance and rehabilitate campsites. Applications are due by April 23 so hurry. Contact Nancy Koop at 970-468-6699 or go to www.FENW.org .

A local woman was so touched by her mission to Kenya that she has begun to build orphanages. There are over a million kids who have lost their parents to AIDS in Kenya. Deanna Bjork has formed a non-profit organization, Miracle House and hopes to buy land this year a build her first orphanage. She is currently renting space and feeding and housing about 22 kids right now and feeding that many again before and after school. Summit County, from her church to the local Boy Scouts, has responded with donations and fundraisers. To help out go to; www.Miracle-House.org .

The new hospital in Frisco has been a big hit. So big in fact they are already looking at expansion. The improvement to the cardio care was announced last month, now the hospital has hired an architect to design an addition of ten inpatient/surgical beds and three more birthing rooms. Other upgrades have made the new beds necessary, including the addition of more specialists, and upgrading the trauma care to Level III.

The Flight for Life program recently opened a three thousand square foot hanger facility for their helicopter. The hanger and heated heliport sit next to the new hospital. The $1.1 million facility was completely donor funded in only eighteen months. The new facility will increase response and recovery time.

The 2007 version of Ride the Rockies will begin and end in Frisco just down the street from our new Keller Williams office. The ride starts on June 16 with a celebration coinciding with the BBQ challenge on Main St. Frisco. The ride will proceed to Steamboat, Glenwood, over Independence Pass to Twin Lakes and Leadville. Now in its 22nd year the ride is capped at 2000 participants. The $315 entry includes camping, showers and a host of support systems. Sorry, registration is closed for this year but if you want to participate in the future go to www.RideTheRockies.com.

School News

The new career and technology wing at Summit High opened in January, three months ahead of schedule. Moving from grossly overcrowded facilities to the new state of the art facilities is a blessing but it should also eliminate the waiting list to get into classes and give every kid a chance to pursue their dreams. The new facility is named after former Summit High teacher, Helen Foote who began the home economics department in 1958. The new tech wing has a restaurant quality kitchen, a medical training facility that looks like a hospital emergency room and a video production facility with the most advanced editing equipment. The space that housed these programs will be remodeled to take over the construction, computer and business technologies departments.

Colorado Mountain College in Leadville is again offering the First Ascent Youth Leadership program to motivated teenagers. In its thirteenth year the program teaches leadership skills like problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution, communication and team building to eighth and ninth graders. The program is available at no cost and includes a variety of indoor and outdoor activities including a trip up Mt. Elbert, Colorado’s highest peak. Call program director Mariana at 970-947-8357 or go to; http://www.coloradomtn.edu/programs/firstascent/ get you application in by April 20.

Check out our schools at: http://summit.k12.co.us/

A-Basin will be growing by leaps and bounds this off season. Construction is set to begin soon on opening the Montezuma Bowl for next fall’s opening. Located on the backside of the mountain, the new area covers about 400 acres which nearly doubles the size of the resort. The terrain will be accessed off the top of the Lenawee lift and will have a fixed grip quad chair to bring you back. The terrain will cover the gamut from blue to double diamond with some groomers, bumps and powder stashes. The south facing bowl should have a great angle at capturing the brunt of the storms and allow huge amounts of powder to pile in behind the ridge.

Good news for you Copper Mountain fans. If you haven’t heard Copper owner Intrawest recently purchased the incredible ski mountain of Steamboat Springs. The area was floundering under its previous owners and now has new direction and vitality. One of the direct benefits to you all will be that you can now purchase a variety of passes that will be good at Copper, Winter Park and Steamboat. That is one of the best collections of skiing in the world. Go to www.PassWagon.com to purchase your next ski season in Heaven.

Think snow, always!

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

This April 21 the tiny village of Twin Lakes will ring in the spring with a celebration of the region’s culinary talent; the First Annual Twin Lakes Culinary Weekend. Our 2007 theme is “Bounty of the Sea” with a fantastic selection of seafood. We will be offering two sessions of cooking demonstrations with a collection of chefs from up and down the Arkansas River valley. Our chefs will be showcasing their favorite seafood recipes. We will also have wine and coffee sessions with industry experts.

Saturday night, the highlight of the event will be a wine-maker’s dinner where each chef will create one course, i.e. six chefs doing six courses. The courses will have wines paired and presented by Woody Creek Winery’s award winning winemaker Kevin Doyle. The venue will be the historic Twin Lakes Nordic Lodge, an 1880’s stage stop located on Highway 82. Twin Lakes is known as a rest stop on the way to Aspen in the summer but this time of year it is a serene getaway at the end of the road.

Our All-Star lineup includes the following Culinary Wizards:

Jacob our host from the Nordic Lodge in Twin Lakes

Vic, Pastry Chef from Leadville

Dakota, Chef/Owner of Dakota's Bistro in Salida

Rachel, Chef from the Twisted Cork Restaurant in Salida

and Tom, formally of the Ski Tip Ranch in Keystone coming out of a 15 year retirement just for this event.

Cost is $135 for the entire package including wine, $115 without wine. Area lodges and B and B’s will be offering package deals or you can just purchase a Saturday ticket. Call the Nordic Lodge for tickets to the event 719-486-1830 soon as seats are limited and this event will sell out quickly. Lodging options may be found at our website www.VisitTwinLakesColorado.com . This event is a non-profit fundraiser for the Twin Lakes Community Project.

The Twin Lakes Nordic Lodge is sponsoring the first annual Independence Film Fest, September 6-9. Organized by long time Hollywoodites Lawrence David Foldes and Victoria Page Myerink, the films will actually be shown in Leadville and Buena Vista. The Lake County Commissioners recently pledged long-term support to bring the fest to reality. The Lodge hosted an Oscars party complete with live feed to Twin Lakes that included greetings from Ben Affleck and insults from Jack Nicholson.