Breckenridge ski pass frauds see spring break uptick

#Breckenridge  #Colorado

Summit Daily News

Summit Daily News Link

Ski pass fraud cases in Breckenridge typically spike in the month of March, and this year has been no different: There have been at least 23 court summonses issued to people allegedly using passes not belonging to them so far this month.

That accounts for nearly half of the 50 total ski pass fraud cases reported to the Breckenridge Police Department since the ski season began last November.

Police spokeswoman Colleen Goettelman speculated that the routinely higher March totals might be related to the high number of spring break vacationers in town.

"It could also be because we're toward the end of the season, and people don't care as much if they lose their passes for loaning them out," she said.

On March 9 alone, five ski pass fraud summonses were issued in Breckenridge.

Overall, however, ski pass frauds are down significantly this season. Pass frauds over the same period from November 1, 2015, to March 14, 2016, totaled 135, roughly two-and-a-half times as many violations that have occurred this season, according to police statistics.

That reflects the wide variations in enforcement of a town ordinance that relies on resort pass scanners noticing fraudulent pass users and reporting them.

When they do, resort security contacts the suspected parties and typically calls the police, who go to the mountain and issue a ticket.

Fines for ski pass fraud range broadly, but can be as high as $2,650, according to an official at the Breckenridge Municipal Court. The severity of the fine is up to the discretion of a judge and typically centers on how cooperative — or uncooperative — the suspect was with police.

An average fine, the court official said, is around $400. By comparison, an adult pays $859 for an Epic Pass, which grants full access to mountains owned by Vail Resorts.

Displays on the scanners used by pass-checkers show a host of information for each ticket scanned, including the age of the pass-holder and a large photograph. Employees are also given a cash incentive to report fraudsters, similar to how many bouncers at bars are given bonuses for confiscating fake IDs.

In a February pass fraud incident documented in a police report, a scanner reportedly asked a man for $10 on suspicion that he was using someone else's pass, citing the bonus that pass-checkers receive for reporting fraud suspects to resort security.

Sometimes, reporting pass fraud suspects can be dicey. In what was described as the "most rude pass fraud situation yet this year," a man reportedly shouted repeated obscenities at pass scanners and was very uncooperative with security and police officers.

In another incident in January, a woman who appeared to be in her early 20s allegedly attempted to use a pass that belonged to a woman in her 50s. Security followed the woman and the man she was with to their car, and they proceeded to jump a curb and take out several traffic cones in order to circumvent a parking lot security gate.

While skiers and snowboarders passing off other people's passes as their own is the more common type of fraud, another stems from scammers selling bogus lift tickets on Craigslist to unsuspecting tourists.

Several such cases have occurred in Breckenridge and Vail this season, prompting police to warn visitors to only purchase lift tickets through vetted sources, such as Vail.com.

In one case, Vail police said, an individual sold around $2,000 worth of lift tickets via Craigslist and then reported the credit card used to purchase them as stolen.

The buyers of the tickets were then flagged down for insufficient payment shortly after the resort opened.

"The Vail Police Department and Vail Resorts would like to remind everyone that ski lift tickets and season passes are non-transferable, meaning they cannot be resold, loaned or gifted," police said in a news release.

Breckenridge Music Festival calls on local, regional artists

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Summit Daily News

Summit Daily News Link

The Breckenridge Music Festival is hoping a regional or local artist hears these eight words — music, dance, timeless, imaginative, mountains, adventure, fresh and Breckenridge — and expresses them in a way that breathes new life into the festival's annual poster contest.

Calling it a "Call to Artists," Breckenridge Music Festival officials say that to "reinvigorate" the poster competition rooted in almost 40 years of collaboration with regional visual artists and artworks highlighting Breck's unique environmental and historic aesthetics, they're looking for new ink — or maybe not necessarily ink.

In previous years, the competition has primarily accepted water color and oil painting, but this year they're seeking a broader range of mediums — which could include screen printing, photography, digital printing, lithography, mixed media, pen and ink and painting.

"We hope to receive artworks that can capture the energetic spirit of the festival," said Tamara Nuzzaci Park, executive director, in a news release highlighting the reinvented contest.

"We value the history of the Bach, Beethoven and Breckenridge poster competition and look to that for directional guidance," Park said. "However, this year we seek artwork that reflects the music festival experience and is representative of the BMF brand."

The 2017 festival will feature live music set to film, contemporary dance and theatrical productions with concerts — from jazz and bluegrass to orchestra performances and intimate chamber ensembles playing in private Summit County homes.

"The inspiration behind the season is drawn from the natural relationship between music and dance," Park said. "We not only will have two contemporary dance companies join the chamber orchestra at the Riverwalk Center, but also explore compositions from across cultures and centuries that are inspired by human movement and rhythm."

CDOT exploring project to reduce congestion on westbound I-70 corridor

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily News

Summit Daily News Link

On the road between Idaho Springs and the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnel, Crested Butte has several billboards that take a not-so-subtle jab at Summit County's ski areas.

"A refreshing toll-free drive, take Hwy 285" they read, featuring the Interstate 70 logo with a red slash through it.

That message, designed to lure away skiers stuck in the I-70 gridlock, reflects the tremendous strain placed on the mostly two-lane highway by a booming population in the country's second-fastest growing state.

Last spring, the Colorado Department of Transportation completed work on improvements to the eastbound stretch of I-70 between the tunnel and Front Range. According to a third-party analytics firm, those decreased travel times by as much as 20 to 50 percent during peak hours.

Now, CDOT hopes to replicate that success on the westbound side by adding overflow lanes to loosen the bottlenecks that routinely develop as throngs of skiers and outdoor enthusiasts make their way to the High Country.

According to CDOT estimates, westbound travel from C-470 to Silverthorne during peak hours can take nearly three hours, compared with only 55 minutes under normal conditions. Average speeds on the weekend can be as low as 18 miles per hour.

"You've seen major improvements in Summit County," said Joe Mahoney, who works in the CDOT Office of Major Project Development. "The (eastbound) peak used to be around 2 or 3 o'clock, and now it's 4 or 5. That means people can take more runs or have a bite to eat in town, which is good for sales revenues."

Mahoney noted that just two years ago, peak traffic times saw 3,200 vehicles per hour crawling along at speeds of just 5 to 10 miles per hour.

Since last year's improvements, he said, average speeds are now 35 to 40 miles per hour despite around 1,000 more vehicles passing through each hour.

That improvement was achieved primarily through the construction of express lanes, which remain closed throughout most of the week but open up as a third lane during peak hours.

"Before, if you had a tractor-trailer slowly winding down on a snowy night, that was essentially a one-lane interstate," Mahoney said.

Mahoney was one of nearly a dozen CDOT officials on hand for a Tuesday night public meeting in Idaho Springs to discuss the I-70 Mountain Corridor project.

The gathering was intended as a way for local residents to express their concerns about the project. There were many, and attendees peppered a large map of the corridor with sticky notes denoting areas of concern.

A big-ticket item for many people was an overhaul of the Empire Junction interchange to Highway 40, which features a very sharp curve that many described as a growing safety hazard.

Several people were somewhat leery of the project, which would entail extensive construction work through the communities of Clear Creek primarily for the benefit of Summit and Eagle counties.

"Summit County has a vested interest in this project, and I would like to encourage our neighbors in the next county over to support us on this," one Clear Creek resident said during the public comment period of the meeting.

The benefits of clearing congestion along the corridor are clear, at least as far as Summit's businesses and ski areas are concerned, CDOT officials said.

"The congestion starts every Friday morning, and it's a drag on the local economy, it affects tourism and it affects safety: The number of crashes is higher when there is congestion," said Jonathan Bartsch, CEO of CDR Associates, a consulting firm that ran Tuesday's meeting.

CDOT is still working on a specific plan for the project, although it will be modeled off the eastbound improvements. The cost for those ultimately came in at around $300 million, and the agency expects the cost on this new project to be in that same ballpark.

The agency hopes to begin an environmental impact study this summer, and construction could start in about three years.

For Summit's Front Range visitors, it couldn't come a moment too soon.

"The more congested it becomes, people aren't going to start leaving their houses at 4 a.m.," Mahoney said. "There's a point where enough is enough, and I think we're reaching that point."

Saturday presents Opportunity in Breckenridge

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Courtesy YouTube

Summit Daily News Link

More than 13 years after landing on Mars, Opportunity is still knocking around the Red Planet, relaying images back to Earth that have captured imaginations worldwide.

This Saturday at the Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge, people will have the opportunity to meet one of the NASA engineers responsible for the remarkable longevity of the Mars Exploration Rovers — aka MERs. One two rovers successfully deployed to Mars in 2004, Opportunity along with its twin, Spirit, each far outlived their 90-day planned lifespan.

While Spirit didn't go silent until 2010, Opportunity remains operational to this day. According to NASA's latest update, it last recorded driving 42 feet to the west on March 2 as it exits the Endeavour Crater.

That stands a personal triumph for Kobie Boykins, a mechanical engineer who helped design and build the solar arrays that enabled the rovers to keep going and who will be appearing Saturday in Breckenridge as the second installment of the three-part National Geographic Live series.

First up in the series that seeks to showcase the world through the eyes of great explorers, filmmakers and photographers was Joel Sartore, whose photographic work has contributed to what's likely the most complete collection of animal portraits ever taken.

Now it's Boykins turn, and in addition to the earlier Mars mission, he is also intimately involved with NASA's latest venture to the Red Planet as supervisor of the mobility and remote sensing mast teams for the Mars Science Laboratory, better known as Curiosity.

Landing on Mars in August 2012, Curiosity has already made headlines by finding evidence that conditions existed on Mars — including the presence of water — that once could have supported life. More recently, it proved that dust devils or whirlwinds are not exclusive to the third rock from the Sun.

For his work on this and other projects, Boykins last year received a NASA Exceptional Service Medal, one of the highest honors NASA employees and contractors can earn.

In his presentations, Boykins is enthusiastic and he moves quickly, covering the technical aspects of a space mission as only an engineer could, while adding a personal, infectious love for unraveling the mysteries of the universe. In addition doing lectures nationally and internationally for the National Geographic Live series, Boykins has also served as a featured speaker to students across the U.S. regarding careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Tickets range from $25-$35 for adults while children and students are $10. For more info or to buy tickets, go to BreckCreate.org.

Mountaineer Hilaree O'Neill will be the final featured speaker in the National Geographic Live series. She is scheduled to speak April 15, also at the Riverwalk Center.

Moose runs down Breckenridge ski slope

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Summit Daily News

Summit Daily News Link

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (AP) — A moose on the loose caught several skiers and snowboarders by surprise as it galloped headlong down a run at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado.

Cheri Luther was snowboarding Friday when she saw the moose approaching, and she shot video of the large animal coming within feet of her.

Luther, who kept snowboarding, is heard saying, "Oh, my God, I don't know where to go" before screaming as the moose runs by her.

Resort officials say no one was hurt, and the encounter is a good reminder that skiers and snowboarders share the mountain with wildlife.

In late December, a rare lynx strolled nonchalantly across the Purgatory Mountain Resort in Durango in southwestern Colorado, walking through a crowd of skiers and snowboarders who stopped to take videos.

Summit’s best sledding hills

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily News

Summit Daily News Link

Skiing isn't for everyone, but don't worry, that doesn't mean you are doomed to a life of watching daytime television while everyone else enjoys the powder. No, luckily there is more than one way down a snowy hill and no matter your method — snow bike, snowmobile, snowshoe or saucer — there's a place for you.

If you do decide to venture into the world of sledding, keep in mind you are headed into lawless land. While the hope is that the innocence and laughter of a child on a Radio Flyer would be enough to tame the greatest daredevil, you are still responsible for yourself. This means your sled may never touch groomed powder and there will be no yellow jackets swooping in to pull a sled from a reckless rider; sled at your own risk. Consider a sledding hill the last bastion for common sense, if you will.

I'm happy to provide some tips to up that sense though and make sure you don't ruin a small child's day with your gaper ways. First off, it's never fun to become divorced from your sled mid-run. Hold on to your vehicle at all times in order to keep your union, and to keep from sending a projectile hurling into little Timmy's birthday party. Positioning is also key in the sledding game: The standard sit-and-push is a preferred method for riders everywhere, followed by the back-down-feet-first position and, if you're a real pro, the belly-down-head-first maneuver. Go with whatever method matches your style and keeps you headed in the right direction. Just avoid standing — that never ends well.

Now that you know how to go, the question becomes where to go. In Summit, there are sledding hills tucked in all around the county that are open to the public, and there are also those hidden gems where you pretty much need to know a neighbor.

For the more popular variety, check out Rainbow Park in Silverthorne. The hill here is good for youngsters and those looking to take it easy. It doesn't offer the longest ride in the county, but it's an easy location to get to and is built like a bowl, so you can get a little variety.

On the other end of the county, Carter Park in Breckenridge offers an equally convenient, yet slightly steeper hill next to the dog park. This means you can wear out the kids and the dogs without ever needing to move your car — a real consideration given the current parking wars.

In case you find yourself somewhere in between, the Frisco Nordic Center sits right next to a fine slope. And when you need to switch things up, the tubing hill and cross-country and snowshoe trails at the Nordic center offer just enough variety — not to mention hot cocoa at the Day Lodge.

Finally, if you find yourself stuck in traffic between Keystone and Dillon there's a quality hill near the parking lot for the Dillon Nature Preserve. This can be a good option if you have a crew of people with different aspirations; ice fishing, skiing, coffee shops and the sledding hill are all within a five-minute drive of one another.

Again, none of these are maintained hills so realize that if you take a bump a little too hard and break your saucer, or worse, there is no one you can sue for replacement parts. 

Summit County towns work with Airbnb to create tax collection agreement

#Summit County #Colorado

Kailyn Lamb / klamb@summitdaily.com

Summit Daily News Link

Near the end of January, Airbnb, the online lodging company, struck a deal with the state of Colorado to begin collecting sales and lodging taxes from people hoping to rent their homes on the site. But the deal did not apply to every municipality, as many, including those in Summit, are "home-ruled," meaning individual town codes require councils to sign a separate agreement with the company.

The statewide agreement is a step forward and the company has been working with towns in Summit to put a similar tax collection structure in place locally. But the process is slow. Leslie Fischer, the county services manager, said that Airbnb does not have a large staff and contact with the company can be difficult. She reached out to them back in September of 2014. Since then she has been heading the effort in Summit in conjunction with 17 other towns to try and build an agreement with the company.

"When the state signed the agreement, that's what really kind of put the wrench in the system of 'Well, wouldn't it just be easier if Airbnb just remitted for everybody,' and sure it would be. We want to get there," Fischer said.

Property owners must have an accommodation unit license through the town, as well as a license through the state to do short-term rentals. Without a local agreement, town staff members have to search through listings to make sure that the host has the appropriate paperwork to list their space and collect taxes.

The town of Breckenridge has a unique method of license enforcement, sending letters to new property owners and immediately informing them of short-term rental policies.

"We have an education effort on the front end and we also have audit compliance efforts on the back end," said Brian Waldes, the director of finance for Breckenridge.

Because of this, Waldes said that the town has a fairly high compliance rate. Of approximately 3,300 short-term properties, only 15 of them did not have the appropriate license. But high compliance can also make it harder for the town to find properties that aren't collecting taxes.

"It becomes harder when you have a high compliance rate because most of your leads don't take you anywhere," Waldes said.

Efforts to find properties can take time without adequate technology. Chad Most, the revenue specialist in Frisco said that he spends an average of two weeks a year looking through listings to find ones without licenses.

"The process should get easier moving forward should we move forward with any of the third party providers," Most said.

The county put together a request for proposals for tech companies to create software that would help towns search through a multitude of online listings. The hired company has since gone out of business, creating another roadblock for towns. Fischer said they are in the process of looking for a new company to take over.

Fischer said that there are other online data collectors that can help towns get an idea of how many possible listings there are. Airdna, a data and analytics company, collects listing information across more than 5,000 cities. According to the site, Breckenridge has more than 2,400 active Airbnb listings, although Fischer said that some of the numbers on the site are cushioned based of where town limits are measured.

The site also tracks the percentage of how long listings are available to renters, and how long renters actually stay at properties. Between Silverthorne, Breckenridge, Dillon and Frisco, the towns average 39.4 percent of properties that are available to rent for 10 to 12 months out of the year. Nearly 84 percent of customers opt to stay between one and three months on average, according to the site.

For Waldes, the ease of Airbnb and other online rental options poses a concern for the local housing market. Every home available to rent online for months at a time is one less property that could be rented out to a Summit local. Some neighborhood housing authorities have rules for rentals, such as some of the deed-restricted properties, which only allow locals to live there.

"We all really want to understand what impact this online sharing economy is having on long-term housing," Waldes said. "That's part of these compliance efforts is just trying to get our arms around those kinds of statistics. The more we can understand about this the better we can help to answer that question."

Summit County’s live music calendar

#Summit County #Colorado

Summit Daily News Link


Weekend Music Calendar

ALL WEEKEND

THE SWING CREW

3 p.m., The Last Lift Bar, 1195 Keystone Road, Keystone. The Swing Crew has been playing the aprés ski concert for years. No cover.

FRIDAY, MARCH 10

LIVING ROOM CONCERT SERIES

4:30 p.m., Next Page Books and Nosh, 409 Main St., Frisco. Page McClean will be bringing a combination of originals and covers. No cover.

DONOVAN FRANKENREITER

7 p.m., The Riverwalk Center, 150 W. Adams Ave., Breckenridge. Hawaii-based singer-songwriter with a new album titled "The Heart," which marks the start of his second decade as a solo recording artist. $20 in advance, $25 at door.

GF&B

9 p.m., the Barkley Ballroom, 610 Main St., Frisco. Jeremy Garrett and Andy Falco from the Infamous Stringdusters team up with "one of the best banjo players in America" Danny Barnes for an evening of traditional and experimental bluegrass. $10.

HARMONIOUS JUNK

9:30 p.m., The Snake River Saloon, 23074 U.S. Highway 6, Keystone. Three-piece band that blends funk, rock, jazz, blues and reggae. No cover with dinner.

KRIS LAGER BAND

10 p.m., The Goat Tavern, 22954 U.S. Highway 6, Keystone. Over a decade of performances across the country mixing rock, heavy soul and boogie trance music.

SODOWN

10 p.m., The Historic Brown Hotel, 206 N. Ridge St., Breckenridge. Self-described as bass music with soul, SoDown creates a diverse style of bass with a medley of genres. No cover.

SATURDAY, MARCH 11

ZUMA ROAD

9:30 p.m., Snake River Saloon, 23074 U.S. Highway 6, Keystone. The five-piece groove, soul, rock group Zuma Road draws from a wide range of musical influences. No cover with dinner.

FUNK YOU

10 p.m., The Goat Tavern, 22954 U.S. Highway 6, Keystone. Georgia-based funk outfit that projects multiple musical styles focusing mainly on dance-driven grooves with powerful, clean vocals.

GREENER GROUNDS

10 p.m., The Historic Brown Hotel, 206 N. Ridge St., Breckenridge. A four-piece Denver-based jamtronica band that blends psychedelic funk, rock, trance fusion and break beats. No cover.

SUNDAY, MARCH 12

ANDY FRASCO & THE U.N.

10 p.m., The Goat Tavern, 22954 U.S. Highway 6, Keystone. Based in Los Angeles, Andy Frasco & the U.N. is self-described as "party blues with a touch of barefoot boogie."

JOHN TRUSCELLI AND JESS ROSE

3:30 p.m., Sauce on the Blue, 358 Blue River Parkway, building #H, Silverthorne. Local musicians that specialize in Americana and rock and have become known for unique, fun covers. No cover.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15

LIVING ROOM CONCERT SERIES

4:30 p.m., Next Page Books and Nosh, 409 Main St., Frisco. Local musician Randall McKinnon will perform live music.

BLUEGRASS PICKING NIGHT

7:30 p.m., Prosit, 313 Main St., Frisco. Experienced and beginner bluegrass musicians are invited to bring their instruments and play in a group setting.

LIVE BAND KARAOKE

9:30 p.m., The Motherloaded Tavern, 103 S. Main St., Breckenridge. Live Karaoke Kings are your backing band with over 70 songs in their catalog. No cover.

GRATEFUL BLUEGRASS BOYS

9 p.m., Barkley Ballroom, 610 Main St., Frisco. Grateful Dead music and other classic rock through a bluegrass lens, featuring members of Hot Buttered Rum and the David Thom Band. No cover.

THURSDAY, MARCH 16

THE WERKS

9 p.m., the Barkley Ballroom, 610 Main St., Frisco. Ohio-based jam band with a sensational blend of rock and deep electronic funk. Tickets are $12-15.

OAK, STEEL AND LIGHTNING

10 p.m., The Historic Brown Hotel, 206 N. Ridge St., Breckenridge. Self-described as outlaw cosmic country, Oak, Steel and Lightning delivers a new spin on rock with exploratory jams. No cover.

Summit Sky Ranch housing development in Silverthorne unveils plans for 20-acre public park

#Silverthorne #Colorado

Summit Daily News

Summit Daily News Link

Spread across the mountainside near the Blue River Valley, Summit Sky Ranch aims to be a cluster of environmentally friendly homes within a span of open space. The development could also be a new hotspot for community gatherings for residents in the town of Silverthorne.

The Silverthorne Town Council voted to approve three resolutions for final plats for various phases of South Maryland Creek Ranch, now known as the Summit Sky Ranch development, which has been under construction since 2015. The plats are one of the final steps for the development to begin selling lots within those phases.

The development has already sold 82 of the planned 240 single-family homes, with a sales volume of $67 million. Tricia McCaffrey Hyon, the director of sales for the development, said that a third of the buyers have been Summit County locals. She added that buyers will be able to move into completed homes this coming spring.

"Despite coming out of a time of year that is typically slow for mountain real estate, coupled with heavy snowfall that makes property tours a challenge, Summit Sky Ranch has experienced steady and increasing sales for the development, with stronger than predicted sales volume to date," said Matt Mueller, the director of development at Summit Sky Ranch.

The Summit Sky Ranch property spans 416 acres, which are owned by the family of the project's developer, Tom Everist. The family first came to Summit County in 1965, and has owned the property for more than 20 years.

The development has been working hand in hand with the town, planning for community areas and expanding on trailheads connecting to the Gore Range. The council approved the three resolutions on the provision that trail connections were made, something that staff at Summit Sky Ranch have been working with the U.S. Forest Service to accomplish.

"Everybody's working from the same sheet of music to get those connected," said Ryan Hyland, the town manager of Silverthorne. "We're a growing community and we're excited to see new residents in Silverthorne."

Hyland mentioned that the development created a business plan to specifically attract permanent residents to the area over second-home owners.

The neighborhood was built with environmental homeowners in mind. It is the first known dark sky development in Central Colorado. Dark Sky neighborhoods use minimal, shielded lighting to preserve views of the stars. The community will also have a telescope used by professional and student astronomers. A live stream from the telescope will be sent to the Aspen House, the neighborhood's community center. Everist has also been working to restore lakes in the area from gravel quarries.

"Environmental stewardship isn't new for Everist," Mueller said. "The six-generation family business has been recognized for its environmental stewardship in mine reclamation."

At the entrance of Summit Sky Ranch will be a 20-acre park. Hyland said that the area is four times the size of Rainbow Park in Silverthorne. The development brought in the local branch of Norris Designs to help create a concept. The Silverthorne Parks, Recreation, Open Space and Trails committee created a subcommittee to help get town perspective. Susan Lee, the park planner for the town, was also involved in helping to build a concept for the park.

The town created a survey hoping to find what people were looking for in a new park. The town held an open house at the recreation center last Thursday to present Norris Designs' mark up, as well as the results from the survey. The town received 400 responses.

The park is set to have two areas of open space, one large enough for a high school soccer field and the other for Little League Baseball. There will also be a dog park, nine holes of disc golf as well as a sledding hill. Lee said that the park will also act as a new trailhead for the routes leading up to the Gore Range.

"This park is going to be the jewel of Silverthorne," Hyland said.

Copper Mountain Resort gets final go-ahead on alpine coaster, bike trail

#Copper Mountain #Colorado

Copper Mt. Resort

Summit Daily News Link

North America's longest alpine mountain coaster has the go-ahead for launch.

In addition to a few other enhancement projects at Copper Mountain Resort, the new amenity was approved in a final decision document released by the White River National Forest Wednesday morning. Copper pitched the handful of year-round recreation upgrades, which include associated snowmaking and drainage system improvements, as well as a 1-mile mountain bike trail, last January, and got word of formal endorsement about 14 months later.

"It's definitely good news for the team here at Copper and the Copper community," said Gary Rodgers, the resort's president and COO. "Obviously the biggest of the three, the mountain coaster, we think that is going to add another element to summer and winter programming, and help round out our offering of summer activities and just the draw for the community to Copper."

With the announcement, the Powdr Corporation-owned resort expects construction to begin on the coaster once enough snow melts off following winter closure, with completion anticipated for late summer or early fall. At this point, the new mountain bike trail is also expected to be included in summer development, with decisions on a timeline for the latest snowmaking and drainage below the Super Bee lift on Upper Collage and West Encore trails still to come based on available funds.

“We’re really catering to families and intermediate riders, and not the downhill community, to ensure that we have a great, fun mountain bike experience on the hill.”Gary RodgersCopper Mountain Resort president and COO

The multi-million-dollar coaster, located on the west side of the American Flyer lift, will have a track of 5,800 feet, a total descent of almost 4,000 feet and a vertical drop of 430 feet. Copper plans to run the ride during both the summer and winter, and will partner on it with the same builder of a 4,800-foot-long coaster at Killington Ski Resort in Vermont, which is another of Powdr Corp.'s properties.

The projects generally follow a trend of area resort renovations that so far comprise those receiving support at Breckenridge Ski Resort through Vail Resorts' Epic Discovery program in November 2015, and expansions at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area approved this past November. Breck will begin offering a canopy tour, rock-climbing wall and zip-line course starting this summer, while construction on improvements like 330 acres of additional skiable terrain will take place in the upcoming offseasons.

The enhancements are part of the Ski Area Recreational Opportunities Enhancement Act, sponsored by then-U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and signed by President Obama in 2011. The law updated the prior National Forest Ski Permit Act of 1986, which limited mountain recreation to just alpine and Nordic skiing, and provided existing ski resorts the chance to pursue summer activities on federal lands in which they already operated.

"It may appear like we're approving a lot, but those zones on the forest are created for those opportunities and are set up to capture a lot of people who desire infrastructure like restaurants, parking lots, bathrooms and hotels," said Bill Jackson, Dillon District ranger. "We have that spectrum for management on the landscape, and from a broader perspective we want to offer those backcountry wilderness opportunities to people in select management areas, too."

Based on a master development plan — essentially a five-to-10-year ski area management document — that Copper submitted to the Forest Service in 2011, the local branch of the federal agency determined these improvements fit within that vision. Following the environmental assessment process, scoping period and public comment period, the White River issued its consent on the projects.

Rodgers said once the new snowmaking is online, it will offer a key trail connection on the east side of the mountain, and earlier access in the winter for those ski teams and clubs that frequent Copper for pre-opening-day training. In the meantime, the additional biking trail is just one of several planned improvements for that system down the road.

"The idea is to have a more comprehensive plan for future expansion to the mountain bike trails," he said. "We're really catering to families and intermediate riders, and not the downhill community, to ensure that we have a great, fun mountain bike experience on the hill."

Rodgers added that, after completing a final budgeting process in the coming weeks, more will be announced shortly thereafter, as well as additional proposals. But the Forest Service's green light on this first set of projects is a step toward initial upgrades at Copper.

"The projects at Copper provide us with a unique opportunity to connect people to the national forests in a confined, developed area," White River National Forest supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams said in a statement about the approval. "The result of this decision is providing world-class recreational access while improving resources like stream health from current conditions."

Colorado Classic to be broadcast on NBCSN

#Breckenridge #Colorado

Summit Daily News Link

Cycling fans: You won't miss a minute of Colorado's newest professional cycling race this summer.

In early March, event promoter RPM Events Group and NBC Sports Group announced a partnership for the inaugural Colorado Classic bike race. The four-day race (Aug. 10-13) will be televised on NBCSN and live streamed on NBC Sports Gold, the broadcast company's live streaming direct-to-consumer product.

"NBC Sports is an international leader in coverage of cycling, and this partnership allows us to significantly expand our audience and share the excitement of the inaugural Colorado Classic with cycling fans throughout the state and across the globe," RPM Events Group CEO David Koff said. "This partnership also allows us to showcase Colorado, our host cities and the Colorado Classic in ways that will help propel us toward our goal of producing sustainable, entertaining cycling events on an annual basis."

From Aug. 10-13, the Colorado Classic — the state's latest big-time race after the USA Pro Challenge folded in 2016 — brings hundreds of elite male and female cyclists to Colorado. The men's race covers more than 300 miles in fan-friendly circuits in Colorado Springs, Breckenridge and Denver. The event will also feature women's circuit racing in Colorado Springs on Aug. 10, and again in Breckenridge and Denver on Aug. 11.

"As the home of many prestigious cycling races, we're excited to partner with the Colorado Classic and continue our commitment to cycling fans," said Jeff Macaluso, the senior director of programming for NBCSports Group. The 2017 Colorado Classic will be held for four days this summer with starts and finishes in Colorado Springs, Breckenridge, and Denver. As a Union Cycliste Internationale-sanctioned 2.HC stage race, the Colorado Classic will feature WorldTour teams, the sport's top squads. Team announcements will be made in early summer.

Solution to $9 billion budget gap should include alternative transportation, local officials say

#Colorado

Summit Daily News

Summit Daily News Link

Colorado is now the second-fastest growing state in the country, and snarls of traffic along the Front Range and up into the mountains certainly attest to that.

The Colorado Department of Transportation currently has around $9 billion in unfunded priorities. While lawmakers wrangle over a funding package to be presented on ballots in November, government officials across the state are urging them to also consider diversifying how the money could be spent.

On Wednesday, 64 of them signed a letter to the leadership of both parties requesting that funding for multimodal transportation — public transit, bike paths, walkways and the like — be a significant part of whatever emerges from the negotiations.

Summit County Commissioners Dan Gibbs, Thomas Davidson and Karn Stiegelmeier were among the undersigned who argued that simply pouring more asphalt isn't the only solution to alleviating the state's mobility woes.

"We feel like you can't just pave your way out of this," said Gibbs. "We need a plan for multimodal transportation: trains, buses, bike paths. Let's not just put all of our eggs in the concrete-for-highways basket."

For years, Colorado has focused most of its transportation funding on roads at the expense of alternative transportation infrastructure; the state ranks 29th in the nation for per capita transit funding at about $2.61 per person per year, according to the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project.

"Until fairly recently, CDOT viewed its mission and lawmakers viewed their mission as paving roads and building highways," said SWEEP transportation program director Will Toor. "There's been a recent realization that our transportation needs are more diverse than that."

Transportation money currently flows through the Highway Use Trust Fund, which allocates 65 percent of revenues to CDOT, 22 percent to counties and 18 percent to municipalities.

Gibbs said he and other elected officials would like to see a new transportation plan set aside money for a broad class of multimodal transportation projects and give local officials discretion in how to use them.

"Summit County has a great transit system, but there are a lot of needs: replacing buses, improvements to stops, improvements for bike paths, improvements for senior van shuttle services," he explained.

The tricky part, of course, is finding the money. The trust fund's primary source of revenue is the state's gas tax of 25 cents per gallon, but that has remained flat since the 1992 passage of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which requires voter approval for any tax increase. (Since the gas tax is pegged to gallons, not dollars, it doesn't rise along with prices.)

The combination of inflation and increased fuel economy over the past two-and-a-half decades has narrowed that revenue stream, contributing to the current funding gap.

"You have 25 years during which the cost of everything has increased but the gas tax has been flat," Toor said. "The buying power is essentially half of what it was, which is the fundamental issue with transportation here."

To close the gap, lawmakers will need to craft a proposal forward attractive enough to voters.

Whatever funding scheme is ultimately presented, Toor said, will likely need to include a strong multimodal transportation component, a boon to Gibbs and the other signatories of Wednesday's letter.

According to a January poll conducted by the Colorado Contractors Association, more than 70 percent of voters are more likely to support a funding measure if it includes bicycle, pedestrian and public transit components.

There's a host of possible funding mechanisms for such a measure. Dan Gibbs, a Democrat, said some are floating a 0.6 percent sales tax increase, projected to raise around $700 million a year.

Republican lawmakers have said they favor a revenue-neutral approach. That could mean drawing from the state's general fund, which bankrolls things like schools, public safety and health care.

"We all recognize that we need to do something about transportation, which is a positive," Gibbs said. "The negative is that no one really knows exactly what to do."