Friday, October 7, 2011

Mountain Town News

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By ALLEN BEST - MTN TOWN NEWS SERVICE

Snowmass finally gets Westin brand

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo. -- At last, Snowmass has a hotel brand with broad name recognition. The former Silvertree Hotel will be renamed the Westin Snowmass Resort.

David Wasserman told The Aspen Times he expects the new brand to drive improved convention business at Snowmass Village and draw more tourists. He is principal of the ownership group that bought the Silvertree, the Wildwood Lodge and the Snowmass Conference Center for $42 million.

Under the Westin flag, the hotel is expected to have a ranking of 3.5 stars.

Ski company speaks out for tax increases

ASPEN, Colo.—The Aspen Skiing Co. continues to become more engaged in community issues. The company, which operates four ski areas in the Aspen area, has now gone on record endorsing two tax increases, one for schools and the second for health and social services.

"From a company standpoint, it's about helping create a healthy community for our employees and our guests and everyone else in this valley," Chief Executive Mike Kaplan told the Aspen Daily News.

Other community leaders are also standing up for the two tax increases, including hotelier Warren Klug, chair of the Aspen Chamber Resort Association, County Commissioner Rachael Richards and Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland.

"We are one of the wealthiest communities in the world, and I think we have a responsibility to help our neighbors," Ireland said.

The social services initiative seeks to boost funding for senior and youth programs, support for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, care for the terminally ill and their families, and drug- and alcohol-abuse prevention and treatment.

Stories of changing climates in Jackson

JACKSON, Wyo.—Radiocarbon testing of charcoal at an archaeological site near Jackson has provided new understanding of human habitation since the glaciers retreated about 12,000 years ago.

The dating shows human habitation 10,100 years ago, roughly the same as that found in mountain valleys of Colorado. Scientists have been able to confirm human presence in the Americas only at about 14,000 years ago, though some think people had arrived thousands of years earlier, even before the last ice age.

The archaeological site also yielded evidence of year-round habitation 5,000 to 7,000 years ago. Summers were warmer and wetter then, producing more forage for wild animals. Winters were colder, but less snowy. That meant the animals could browse more easily. The result, a highway archaeologist told the Jackson Hole News, was more food sources for people—and probably more people.

Economic choppiness doesn't slow high end

BROOMFIELD, Colo.—Vail Resorts ended its fiscal year in relatively good shape. Chief Executive Rob Katz told analysts that despite a "choppy economic environment," the upper part of the market continues to have "more confidence."

International business has been strong, and there are "good trends" in international bookings already for next winter, said Katz, according to a Vail Daily report.

Business from the United Kingdom has declined dramatically, he said, but has been more than offset by growth from Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Vail Resorts operates four major ski areas in Colorado and two in California.

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