October 2005 |
| Breckenridge,
GENUINE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS Local snowboarder Chad Otterstrom was picked as TransWorld Snowboarding magazine’s male rider of the year. Chad won the Gravity Games slopeside competition at Copper Mountain, the Rail Jam in Frisco and led his team, Academy Snowboards, to the team championships at the TransWorld Challenge. Chad also won best trick and highest air at the Abominable Snowjam at Mt. Hood in June. At 29 he is already a senior citizen in the sport but he says his goal is to stay injury free, he already achieved everything else last year. Breckenridge resident Jill Walker will be competing this month in the Hawaii Ironman competition. She missed last year’s competition by one spot. That made her more motivated and she shaved 45 minutes off her time in the qualifier. The Kailua-Kona is the pinnacle of the sport and involves a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run. Breckenridge takes things seriously, so be forewarned. A couple from
the Front Range bought an affordable housing unit last year which requires
the signing of an affidavit stating that you work thirty hours a week
in the county. Investigation indicates they neither live in the home nor
hold a job in the area. Civil and criminal charges are possible. Also,
a local contractor was fined $1000 and given a deferred jail sentence
for removing and disposing of historic material while remodeling a Victorian
home in town. This was a violation of the town’s building guidelines.
Breckenridge is considering special licensing for contracting work on
an historic structure. |
| WHY I LIVE
HERE… A biennial report from the Potential Gas Committee showed the gas potential in the Rocky Mountain region increased 9.3% over the past two years while other regions in the U.S. were flat or recorded decline. The report shows that proven reserves of natural gas and estimated long-term resources totaled 1,308 trillion cubic feet, enough, if all could be recovered, to supply the U.S. for about 60 years. Ten applications from eight companies have been received by the Colorado office of the Bureau of Land Management for leases on 160-acre tracts of land in Rio Blanco County to test oil-shale extraction technology, The massive energy boom in The Rockies is creating some new alliances. Environmentalists, hunters, anglers and ranchers are coming together in an attempt to bring smart growth to the west. Hunting and fishing bring in over $4 billion annually and could do so indefinitely, unlike a decade or two of gas and oil production. Wildlife watching brings in billions of dollars more. Everyone recognizes the importance of energy production but these groups are united when it comes to preserving the traditions of the west. The current energy push will change the face of The Rocky Mountains more so than any other event in our history and once it’s gone it’s gone forever.
The Colorado Conservation Trust announced Monday that the combination of cities, counties, government agencies and nonprofit groups preserved 1.6 million acres of Colorado in the past 25 years, about 2.4% of the state’s 66 million acres. Stored water supplies across Colorado continue to rise, thanks to conservation efforts and near-average precipitation this year, with reservoir capacity statewide at 94% of average. The Vail Valley Foundation gave Bruce Eaton a $12 million check Tuesday to buy 72 acres in Edwards, which will now be known as the Eagle River Preserve. |
| SCHOOL NEWS…
The recently launched “Safe Home” parent pledge program has brought an overwhelming response in the county. Over 250 people have signed up for the pledge, which states “I will not serve nor allow youth to consume alcohol or use illegal drugs in my home or on our property.” Principle Jim Hesse of Summit High and the Summit Prevention Alliance sent out a call and the parents answered. The idea is that parents will have a list of safe homes where their kids can party sober. Everyone hopes that this will launch a sustained substance abuse prevention alliance. Summit High Athletics are off to a great start this season. The football team started 3-1 with a huge come from behind victory over Battle Mountain 21-14. After losing their starting quarterback the first week of the season, Freshman Talon Roggasch has really stepped up to help his team. The boys’ soccer team had an exciting win against league rival Englewood 3-0 to boost their confidence. While the girls’ volleyball team beat Alameda 3-0 and is now 7-4 and 1-1 in league. They are hoping for a favorable seed in this year’s playoffs. One of Summit’s soccer players, Jake Black, is also a professional snowboarder. He has several lucrative sponsorships including Rossignol and through them got a spot in this year’s Warren Miller film, “Higher Ground”. He says soccer is great conditioning for snowboarding. |
| SNOW NEWS
AND MORE SNOW NEWS… The freestyle contingent of Team Summit is sending eight skiers and four coaches to Zermatt, Switzerland for training on the glacial snow. The advantage, besides the jump on the season, is the hard snow is very similar to the runs they will be competing on. Additionally, there will be Olympic teams from around the world training there and much can be learned while watching the best. Former Team Breckenridge member Luke Westerman and former Team Summiter Toby Dawson will be train with the US Ski Team in Zermatt. The 2006 Olympics have put a spotlight on everyone as they gear up for the season. Team Summit is also adding a Telemark program to its repertoire this season. Tory Hauser, the head alpine ski team coach at the high school and long time participant in Telemark national championships, will head the program. His son Drew Hauser was just named to the National Telemark “B” team. Loveland ski area began its snowmaking on September 23 rd A-Basin began blowing snow on September 26 th . Who will be the first to open? Loveland has been the winner the last five years. This is the fourth season for snow making at The Basin and they think they have got it down pat now. They are shooting for an October 21 st opening, Loveland hasn’t set a date yet. A-Basin’s snowmaking system has been upgraded this year and now will cover eleven runs served by 5 chairlifts. Big news all around The Summit this autumn as a list of improvements are slated. Breckenridge is on schedule to open the new Imperial Express lift this season. It will be the highest lift on the continent serving some of the most radical bowls in the state. The US Snowboard Grand Prix will return to kick off the season December 13-17. The contest is a qualifier for the Olympics. Breckenridge opens November 11 th . Keystone will open with its second annual 36 hours of Keystone. On November 18 th Keystone will open for 36 hours straight with the help of its lights. Last year was a huge surprise as 15,000 people showed up at various times for the event. Also back for an encore performance is the Sports Illustrated for Kids Next Snow Search. Kids 9-13 will audition for a spot on the show, which will be aired during NBC’s Olympic coverage. The Basin will be opening its new base area rental/repair shop in January. They are also adding the High Divide beginner terrain park. Copper Mountain will be adding a new superpipe at the base area between the Eagle and the Flyer lifts. They are expanding the snowcat services on Tucker Mountain to cut down on the hike time to the amazing expert terrain. And in a long overdue move the resort is adding a retail center to the gas station at I-70 and Hwy 91 featuring a Quizno’s and a Starbucks. Think snow! |
| TRAVEL TIPS…
COLORS COME AND COLORS GO… The newest approach to attracting tourists that came out of the Governor’s Tourism Conference this year was to target multiple special interests. Rather than the old way of letting our natural beauty bring the visitors the state we will now diversify our marketing. Travelers will be given options such as history, culture and cuisine as a focus for their visits. -For instance if culture is your thing Colorado already has a variety of festivals including art, music, dance and performing arts. In the summer Breckenridge has two symphonies and three art fairs, Vail has its classical music and ballet festivals, Keystone has a variety of cultural weekends, Beaver Creek and Steamboat have rodeos. -History buffs will find plenty to do in Colorado. Mesa Verde have some of the oldest standing man made structures in the country, Leadville and Durango have their narrow gauge trains, Breckenridge and most other mining towns have history museums and tours. In March Denver hosts a large Pow Wow for the Rocky Mountain region Native American tribes. All over the area are ghost towns and historic forts. -With the increasing popularity of bird watching the Division of Wildlife is building a birding trail from Lamar that will follow the Arkansas River all the way to Leadville. -Agritourism has traditionally been focused around the dude ranch and cattle drive theme. Growing in popularity now are vacations actually doing everyday ranch chores, harvesting crops or picking and crushing wine grapes. -Culinary tourism includes visits to Colorado wineries for local cuisine or food festivals that feature the local products. Grand River Vineyards in Palisade has a concert series and wine classes. http://www.grandriverwines.com/grvabout.htm . Also of note is the variety of hot springs found throughout the Rocky Mountains. Tell the kids there are lots of things to do in Colorado besides look at the mountains. Contact Me if you need further tips on where to stay, eat or play. |
| INVESTMENT
OPPORTUNITIES… Intrawest Corp., the Canadian-based owner of Copper Mountain Resort and operator of Winter Park, reported record total revenues for the 2005 fiscal year ended June 30, with $1.68 billion in revenues, up from $1.55 a year earlier. Intrawest reported an 11% increase in revenues from its western U.S. resorts, which include Copper, Winter Park and Mammoth in California. Statewide, unemployment fell to 4.8% in August, down from 5.2% in July. The unemployment rate for August in Summit County was 3.7%. A Kiplinger.com report names Denver as one of the seven best locations for young professionals seeking a great job, cheap apartment and hip lifestyle. Crude oil fell to a two-week low as refiners resumed fuel output after plants around the Houston hub escaped damage from Hurricane Rita. Gasoline plunged as much as 7%. Gas prices vary by state because of differing tax and emissions rule.
Here is a representative gallon, Sept. 7: Percentage of public K-12 schools in the U.S. with Internet access: Marriott Vacation Club International has applied for approval for a new
lodge near the Keystone gondola. The preliminary plans call for 149 residential
units, 1500sf of commercial space and 9000sf for skier services. |
| MARKET CONDITIONS
& OTHER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS Things continue to heat up in the mountains as winter approaches. Figures released by the Land Title Guarantee Company showed that August was the busiest ever recorded for real estate transactions in Summit County, with 400 closings for the month. The sales transactions were up 37% from August 2004 and sales transactions totaled $148 million. So far this year, total sales volume for the county was up 33%, on track to surpass last year’s total of $1.13 billion. Primary residences, as opposed to second homes, grew from 53% of the market in Colorado’s resort communities to 62% in 2000. Those figures cover the state’s 8 mountain resort counties: Eagle, Grand, Gunnison, La Plata, Pitkin, Routt, San Miguel and Summit. The full-time combined population of Eagle, Grand, Garfield, Summit, Pitkin and Routt Counties is expected to more than double from 192,000 to 389,000 by 2030. Last year, Breckenridge and Vail both had record numbers of international skiers. Vail Resorts ’04-05 skier visits in millions and percent increase over previous season: Breckenridge 1.47 4.9% Keystone 1.02 8.0% Vail 1.57 0.8% Beaver Creek 0.82 6.0 Heavenly 1.04 9.6% SKI magazine’s top 10 ski resorts 2005: What’s all this got to do with Summit County real estate? Contact me soon to find out. PS: A 6-week time-share, a four-bedroom Residences at Little Nell in Aspen, recently sold for $1.75 million. You should see what $1.75 million buys in Breckenridge |