VAIL — Det. Greg Schwartz spies a couple in need and skis up to them in front of the bright yellow “Slow Skiing” sign on Vail’s Northwoods run. “Can I take it for you?” he asks, reaching for the phone balancing in Lowell Zarzuela’s hand as he snaps selfies of himself and his wife, Angie. […]
Vail Resort
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Vail chairlift attendant wasn’t paying attention during skier’s suffocation, report says
VAIL — A Colorado ski lift operator was not paying attention when a New Jersey man suffocated after his coat got caught on the lift and kept him from breathing, authorities said in a report. Jason Varnish, 46, died of positional asphyxia at Vail Mountain’s Blue Sky Basin area Feb. 13, the Eagle County coroner […]
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Vail Resorts, Aspen, Steamboat, Winter Park and others shut down their ski areas in response to coronavirus
VAIL — Vail Resorts chief Rob Katz on Saturday made the unprecedented decision to close all of the company’s North American ski resorts and stores, effective immediately, in response to the new coronavirus. Within an hour of Katz’s announcement, Steamboat and Winter Park resorts followed suit as Alterra Mountain Company announced the shuttering its 15 […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, News, Outdoors
Colorado ski resorts remain open, but change chairlift rules and dining options to avoid coronavirus spread
UPDATE AT 8:42 P.M. ON SATURDAY MARCH 14, 2020: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis orders all ski resorts to close in extraordinary move Increasing numbers of cases of the new coronavirus in the high country prodded health officials in Summit, Eagle and Pitkin counties to ban gatherings of more than 50 people. But the health orders in […]
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Affordable housing crisis threatens vitality of Colorado’s high-country economies
VAIL — Willa Williford, an affordable housing consultant who has worked across Colorado’s high country, this week tallied some classified ads in the Crested Butte News. In Wednesday’s edition of her hometown paper there were 85 listings for jobs, from entry-level gigs to high-paying executive jobs. There were 11 listings for rental properties, most of […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Slower growth in Epic Pass revenue, wider than expected first-quarter losses trigger steep drop in Vail Resorts stock
The rise of a competitor to Vail Resorts’ industry-transforming Epic Pass this year has slowed the growth in season-pass revenue for the continent’s largest resort operator, which on Friday announced a big boost in capital spending as yet another volley of a blossoming pass war. The market apparently did not like the decline in pass […]
Posted inBusiness, Growth, News, Outdoors
A roadside hotel in Eagle is being transformed into affordable homes — and other housing-strapped resort communities are watching
EAGLE — Hammocks stretch over the former poolroom turned yoga studio. A dog and bike wash station fills what was once a sauna. An amply couched nook, lined with old skis, has replaced the check-in desk. “A lot of what we are selling is the experience of living here,” says Kelly Herzog, the Eagle Valley […]
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More Colorado ski areas — including Vail, Beaver Creek and Aspen — to open early for 2018-19 season
Vail and Beaver Creek mountains will join other Colorado resorts in opening early for the 2018-19 season. The Vail Daily reports Vail, originally slated to open Friday, will open for the season at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Beaver Creek will open Saturday, four days ahead of its scheduled Nov. 21 opening date. The early openings come as […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Crime and Courts, News, Outdoors
Colorado Ski Safety Act tested in two trials involving in-bounds avalanches
EAGLE — Every skier in central Colorado was fired up when the snow finally arrived that fourth Sunday in January six years ago. It had been a cold, dry season with too few powder days. By the end of the day, inbounds avalanches had killed two skiers, marking one of the darkest days in Colorado […]
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At the height of the ski pass war, Wolf Creek — with its $70 lift ticket — remains defiantly independent
WOLF CREEK — As the first flakes frost the highest peaks, the Colorado-sparked season pass war is ablaze. It’s a new world for skiers, with resorts across the U.S. aligning into two distinct camps. In one corner, the nascent Alterra Mountain Company this week fired off a list of new partners for the Ikon Pass, which offers unlimited […]