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March 2007

Speak Out :: March 2007

Tom Winter talks about The Death of the Locals' Bar. We say Hats Off to the USST. And Rick Kahl calls for a Convergence by Conservation.

Written by Tom Winter and Rick Kahl | 0 comment

The Death of the Locals’ Bar
By Tom Winter

The bar smelled of smoke. In fact, it was often full of smoke, so much so that your eyes would sting. The bar also smelled of beer, and the floor was often slick with Budweiser. There was a leak that spit snowmelt onto the tiny dance floor every spring, trickling down through the three levels of employee housing that rose above the dilapidated bar.

The employee housing provided a constant stream of customers. Many brought their dogs. In the spring, they’d lounge on the deck, falling asleep in the late afternoon sun as their owners soaked up pitchers and shared stories about the season just ending. On Thursday nights, there was always a free keg.

The bar was Vail’s Sundance Saloon. In pole position, at the base of the western side of the mountain, it was, arguably, Vail’s last “local’s bar.” A place where $4 would get you a shot of schnapps and a bottle of beer. The favorite haunt of ski techs, instructors, snowmakers and cat operators, the Sundance’s walls were bedecked with years of ski memorabilia and the bar had been polished by countless elbows.

With an expansive window facing the mountain, large deck and rock-bottom prices (not to mention the proximity of employee housing), it isn’t surprising that the bar was busy almost every single night of the ski season.

But slopeside real estate is much bigger business. You’ve got to sell a lot of $4 shots to make a million bucks, but knock down some ratty employee housing and a local’s bar and put up a couple of multi-million dollar condos, and you’re done.

The demise of the Sundance isn’t a unique phenomenon. Across the west, as resorts cash in on ski in-ski out real estate and made-to-order resort villages, those bastions of core ski culture—the local pub—are vanishing faster than dinosaurs after a meteor strike.

Does it matter? Perhaps. When you have big real estate companies developing ski resort projects across North America, these projects tend to all start to feel the same. They lack the funkiness that makes a place unique and memorable. And more and more people who come to ski and ride are running away from predictable. They’re sick of it.

Predictable, however, seems just fine with many resort visitors. And for the bean counters. The cash flow generated from base village projects is nothing if not predictable. Take Vail’s Lionshead makeover, for example. The project includes a RockResorts luxury hotel with 38 hotel rooms, 67 privately owned condominium units ranging in size from 1,600 to 8,200 square feet, a European-inspired plaza, approximately 32,000 square feet of dining and shopping facilities, meeting spaces, spa amenities, restaurants, and underground parking.

Or consider the Snowmass Village makeover. It, too, will have plenty of multi-million dollar condos and two Westin Hotels. In addition to the requisite stone and log “mountain” architecture, the hotels will control their interior environment down to the very scent you’ll smell upon entering (it’s called “White Tea,” which, like many perfumes, is trademarked). It’s a far cry from the stale beer ambiance of the Sundance.

There’s no doubt that resorts have to revamp buildings and other facilities, and it’s true that the profits generated from real estate development projects can be plowed back into the mountain for new lifts, expanded terrain, terrain parks and grooming, amenities which benefit locals and visitors alike. And, given the prices that such development commands, it’s impossible to fault resorts for going after the big bucks.

But isn’t there some way to allow for new development and at the same time preserve and enhance the things that make an individual resort unique?

There are a few successful examples. Ultimately, resorts like Telluride and Crested Butte are successful because when you walk down their main streets, there’s absolutely no way you could be any other place in the world. Silverton’s success is based upon the same premise: the mountain is unique, authentic and has a vibe all its own. These and other areas (with their accompanying locals’ bars) will continue to tap into a client base which appreciates the unique vibe of mountains which have yet to succumb to cookie-cutter development.

I will admit that locals’ pubs aren’t essential to the individuality of a ski resort, but they are a barometer of the individuality of each mountain, places where the soul of the sport thrives and where the stoke of the sport is fed. As community centers like the Sundance disappear, a part of their resorts’ unique character and charm disappear with them.


Hats Off to the USST
You have to admire the tremendous success of the U.S. ski teams this year. The athletes are building on the successes of the past few seasons and more than living up to the team’s “Best in the World” slogan.

Start with the unprecedented string of nine World Cup Alpine podiums by five U.S. skiers in six days in January, including the first World Cup victories of their careers for Olympic champion Julia Mancuso and Steven Nyman. The results came in all four events—slalom, GS, super G and downhill. Never before has the U.S. team shown such depth. The best previous streak had been four straight podium finishes in 1983.

How good is this team?

During the streak, Lindsey Kildow earned her fourth and fifth podiums of the season, moving past her childhood idol, Picabo Street, with 18 World Cup podiums. She went on to capture two silvers at the World Championships in Are, Sweden.

Julia Mancuso achieved an historic five consecutive World Cup podiums all by herself—including three in one 50-hour stretch. In one race, Mancuso, Kildow and Resi Stiegler finished 1-2-4, the best-ever World Cup finish by U.S. women. At the World Championships, Mancuso continued to ski well, finishing second in the first-ever super combined event.

Although he has not dominated the tour as he did two years ago, Bode Miller took the Lauberhorn downhill, his 25th World Cup win, placing him second only to Phil Mahre’s 27 victories among U.S. men.

Aerials star Jeret “Speedy” Peterson flew to a couple of wins in January, establishing a new record score with his five-twist, three-flip “Hurricane.” The day he set the record, Americans swept the moguls events as well.

Even the X-C team has gotten into the act. Two-time Olympian Kikkan Randall earned the first World Cup cross country podium by a U.S. woman in January, finishing third in in a 1.2K freestyle sprint. Both Andy Newell and Torin Koos also made the podium in sprint events. These were the first podium finishes by U.S. cross country skiers since 1983.

Nor should we overlook the U.S. disabled competitors. Sit-skiers Laurie Stephens and Stephani Victor continue to dominate the Disables Alpine World Cup, while Steve Cook earned three consecutive podiums in the Disabled Cross Country World Cup.

The U.S. ski and snowboard teams have often seemed to do well in the past due to a few standout leaders. But this is not one of those times. Congratulations to all the athletes for their hard-earned success.


Convergence on Conservation
By Rick Kahl

Recent reports on global warming (see “The Next Steps,” page 42) provide an urgent call for ramping up efforts to conserve energy. It’s becoming more and more difficult to argue that the science is not complete, and that predictions of future warming are just theoretical. We know that the global temperature has increased one degree in the past century, and that the past few decades have been the warmest. Even if future warming won’t reach the 15-degree rise the most dire reports predict, the increase in global temperature argues for curbing use of the fossil fuels that many scientists believe contribute most to warming and shifting to cleaner, renewable sources.

But even if you’re skeptical about the link between fossil fuels and global warming, there’s a second reason for conservation: energy costs. The price of traditional fuel and energy is likely to continue rising, spurred by world demand. Those costs mean that the expense of curbing usage pays for itself more quickly. But why choose renewable sources for the energy you must use? First, because renewables like wind power won’t become scarce and suffer the same sort of price increases our finite resources have seen, and will continue to see. It won’t be long before biodiesel is cheaper than diesel. And second, it just so happens that renewable sources are cleaner, with reduced impacts on health and the environment. They thus provide a dual benefit. That provides a strong incentive to adopt them, even without the specter of global warming.