TROUBLE IN GLITTER GULCH
Meltdown Hits Snow Country
The world’s woes can seem far away in the Rockies' playgrounds, but the economic meltdown is having its effects here, too. Foreclosures are rising and the once-meteoric real estate industry is sputtering.
While Wall Street was trying to regain its staggering losses and Congress was reaching for a way to prop up the economy’s tumbling dominoes, it was party time at Vail.
At the foot of Beaver Creek Mountain, 1,000 people came last Friday to nibble caviar and sample from the ice-carved vodka bar at its newest luxury lodge: a half-a-billion-dollar world of ski valets and spa treatments, all in a LEED-certified, eco-friendly setting.
The world’s woes can seem far away in these playgrounds of the Masters of the Universe. But the economic meltdown is having its effects here, too. Foreclosures are rising. The once-meteoric real estate industry is sputtering.
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Featured Photo
This is the winning photo from the Snowblog's Snowtography Contest. We call it "Doggles" but the photographer, Larry Walton, calls it "Cool." Click here to view all the contest entries.
Resort Development
Moonlight Struggles for Cash in Wake of Lehman Bankruptcy
Work has halted at the Moonlight Basin resort near Big Sky, Montana, after its construction funding vanished -- a casualty of the bankruptcy of the Wall Street investment firm Lehman Brothers.
"Lehman Brothers has been Moonlight Basin's banking partner for the last 13 months," wrote Moonlight CEO Lee Poole in an emailed statement in response to questions about the development. "We are… working through the matter and expect to continue normal operations."
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SNOW CAPS
Visa Shortage Sends Resorts Scrambling
Western ski resorts are finding themselves pinched for employees this coming winter, thanks to a cap on visa workers that has all but eliminated their usual stream of foreign workers who fill thousands of jobs.
The shortfall sent Michael Berry, president of the National Ski Areas Association, to Washington last week to lobby legislators for help in what has become an unusual sideline in the national immigration debate.
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Blogvertorial
Designing the New West
NewWest.Net is all about fostering dialogue about the Rocky Mountain West, and especially, conversation about what we think of as "the big story" of the region: Growth and change. One way we do that is through our conferences, which bring together people, from many sides of the issues, for robust discussions about the topics we cover here at NewWest.Net on a daily basis.Above is a highlight reel from Anjin Herndon from our most recent conference, Designing the New West, a sold-out event held in Bozeman this spring. You can buy the full DVD from the conference here and find out more about for our next conference, the 3rd annual Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies here.
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guest commentary
The Case for Protecting Lolo Peak
What is it about Lolo Peak that stirs the emotions of so many people? Maybe it’s the beauty and comfort we find gazing from the vehicle or kitchen window, reminding us why we live and work here. Perhaps it is the memories of family hikes or winter excursions, or the fabulous close-to-home white-tail and elk hunting.
One thing's for sure: thousands of western Montana citizens are concerned that this great place on our public lands might be sliced and diced so that a handful of people can make millions on real estate. Lolo Peak is already serving a useful economic, ecological and social purpose -- in its current condition.
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resort economy
In Montana, Bitterroot Resort Rides Out Volatile Market
While high-end developments around the West collapse under the weight of huge debt loads the slumping housing market can't support, the planned Bitterroot Resort south of Missoula, having yet to tap investors and with little built infrastructure, appears to be in position to ride out the slow down.
As rancher-turned-resort CEO Tom Maclay said Tuesday, "It's very good to be standing outside of that."
The money spent so far on planning, public relations, carving runs on private land, retaining top-flight resort manager Jim Gill has all been "internal," Maclay says, made possible by "a few land sales" and "good bankers."
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Until Next Season
So Long, Snow
It’s only the first week of April in Albuquerque, but the temperature is already in the sixties and seventies. The trees have already budded and blossomed; my street is suddenly green again. Last week I planted an herb garden. The sun is bright, the days are warm.
I already miss skiing.
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A sampling of this weekend's ski activities
Special Events and Spring Snow
The season is winding down. (Or up, depending on how you look at it.)
The way I look at it, there are some wicked cool things happening in the Colorado and New Mexico ski mountains this weekend. Don't pack up your gear quite yet.
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Resort Market not holding
Bridger Bowl Ski Area Developers Withdraw Resort Plans
The application for a large-scale base area development at Bridger Bowl Ski Area, outside of Bozeman, Montana has been withdrawn.
After hundreds of public comments in April and May of 2007, the Bridger Canyon Partners asked the Gallatin County Planning Department to table their Planned Unit Development in order to continue discussion and come to an agreement with the Bridger Canyon Property Owners’ Association (BCPOA).
The Bridger Canyon Neighborhood Zoning, established in the 1970’s by the BCPOA, shaped strict rules and regulations about development in this pristine canyon, particularly when it came to the proposed 452 overnight units, 75 recreational home lots, a commercial village, a recreational lodge and employee housing.
The Bridger Canyon Partners decided the timeline, including reasonable agreement with the BCPOA, water rights and permitting, coupled with housing downturn, makes the project unfeasible at this time and withdrew their application on March 26th.
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winter in the rockies
Snowtography Contest Winners Announced
Paring 235 Snowtography Contest photos down to the top 5 wasn't as difficult as, say, a crazy ski stunt in Glacier, but it wasn't easy either, because "capturing winter in the Rockies" can mean lots of things and all, as the entrants proved, can be captured artfully.
After much rumination we decided on the following five photos. We hope you like them as much as we do.
Many thanks to our contest sponsors, Edge of the Word and The Dark Room, two awesome Missoula businesses that offered up as prizes a snowboard and camera.
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