Job market decimated, wages drop
ASPEN, Colo.—Statistics have now begun to define the recession in Aspen and Pitkin County, where roughly one in 10 jobs was lost between 2008 and 2009.
Citing Colorado Department of Labor and Employment figures, The Aspen Times reports that the number of jobs fell to 14,670 during the second quarter of last year, down 1,804 from the same period a year prior. Jobs were shed somewhat equally in the construction, retail and restaurant/bar categories. Tourist accommodations, however, stayed about the same.
Wages also fell, reports the newspaper. Retail sector workers lost $60 per week on average. Real-estate support staff lost more, $174 per week, but still earned more than retail workers. Construction workers, those who still had work, were earning the most to begin with and lost the least, just $16 per week.
Vail ski run renamed to honor Vonn
VAIL, Colo.—A prominent run on the face of Vail Mountain that was long called International now has a new name: Lindsey's, after Olympic gold-medal downhiller Lindsey Vonn. Vail Resorts, the ski area operator at Vail, announced the name change at a reception in Whistler, B.C. Though born in Burnsville, Minn., Vonn began trekking to Vail with her family after showing early signs of promise. She moved to Vail in the late 1990s to better be able to train. Obviously, it paid off.
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Hotel bookings down in Aspen
ASPEN, Colo.—Average occupancy at hotels, lodges and condos in Aspen last month was about 68 percent—just 1.6 percent less than the same month in 2009. But the average daily rate was down 6.4 percent, reports Bill Tomcich, president of a local reservations agency called Stay Aspen Snowmass. Visitors are also presumably leaving fewer tips with bellhops and front-desk clerks.
Bolts banned in ice-climbing areas
ASPEN, Colo.—Pitkin County officials have declared a moratorium on putting bolts into rock faces in two open-space areas owned by the county.
"Bolting may or may not be appropriate, but we need time to study it," said John Armstrong, open space and trails ranger.
The Aspen Times reports that climbers have installed bolts into the sandstone to aid them on a popular ice-climbing formation called The Drool, near the town of Redstone.
