Pickets, protests and people who wore black
PARK CITY, Utah -- When you hear about Robert Redford, you're inclined to think of him in one of his starring roles, maybe the mountain man Jeremiah Johnson or the cowboy outlaw Sundance Kid.
Ironically, the Sundance Film Festival, which he launched at Park City 30 years ago, has traditionally drawn urban sophisticates from Los Angeles and New York.
Nan Chalat-Noaker, editor of The Park Record, says it's about three times busier during the festival than during Christmas week, the traditional peak for ski towns.
Often, Sundance turns into a theater of protest. Representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were there, as usual. But the most public theater this year has involved the movie called "Red State," which satirizes Christian fundamentalists and radical conservatives.
Showing up to picket the showing were members of the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kan., who say God doesn't love many people and hates homosexuals. They've even picketed funerals of soldiers slain in Iraq.
Chalat-Noaker says that in a way, the movie's director, Kevin Smith, and the church members have a symbiotic relationship, each needing the other to gain broader attention.
But students from Park City High School stole the show, she reports. They picketed, too, but their signs were of absolute nonsense.
"They were able—in a sweet, nonsensical way—to steal the show of the protestors," she says.
Banff ski patrollers call in sick as a protest
BANFF, Alberta -- Some 25 ski patrol and snow-safety staffers at Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort called in sick on a recent Wednesday.
The Rocky Mountain Outlook explains that the mass illness was a protest of working conditions after four senior staff members were dismissed in December. An unidentified group spokesman said the ski patrollers were upset that their friends and bosses were fired—and upset with the lack of a backup plan.
"People have been working when they're sick, when they have frostbitten toes and they are working in the infirmary when they should be at home in bed."
The ski area kept a gondola and several lifts running during the day of protest, but offered discounted lift tickets for the day.
Whistler Blackcomb delivers nice dividend
WHISTLER, B.C. -- Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, the new public entity that owns the ski area, has paid an 8 percent dividend. In reporting the dividend, prorated for the time since the IPO went through in November, Pique Newsmagazine consulted a business professor at the University of British Columbia.
"Just on the surface it would seem like they're trying to give a positive signal," said James Brander. "Presumably it's based on some positive underlying fundamentals."
Pitkin County board adopts land swap policy
ASPEN, Colo. -- A policy governing how to evaluate proposed land exchanges involving federal lands has won support from directors of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails.
"We've set a very high bar," said Tim McFlynn, chair of the board.
Among other provision, the policy says land trades should result in no net loss of publicly owned land in Pitkin County or, somewhat more broadly, the Roaring Fork River watershed. Also, no net loss in public access to local public lands.
Pitkin County during the last year went through a long discussion about a land exchange proposed to Congress by the billionaire owners of a ranch at the foot of Mt. Sopris, a majestic mountain located about 30 miles west of Aspen near the town of Carbondale.
The ranch owners, Leslie and Abigail Wexner, who own Victoria's Secret and other businesses, wanted to get a BLM parcel that is an island within their ranch. To accomplish that, they offered to give the federal government another ranch of comparable size near Carbondale.
The conservation community in the Roaring Fork Valley was split by the proposal. But in a valley where open space is next to godliness, the County Commissioners were unwilling to lend support. As such, no member of Congress was willing to carry the proposal.
Avalanche signs being posted near Revelstoke
REVELSTOKE, B.C. -- New avalanche-awareness signs posted around Revelstoke and other locations in British Columbia should give snowmobilers and other backcountry users better information about risks.
The signs have been posted at 223 highway locations and 85 snowmobile trailheads. The signs warn of avalanche terrain and provide a telephone number and address to call for up-to-date avalanche conditions.
