Village At Wolf Creek Back On Track
Hooray! I know some people won’t be as happy about it as I am, but I’m sure they’ll get over it. I’ve found a couple of stories saying The Village at Wolf Creek is back on track. It’s only taken 20 years! There’s an article in Biz Journals and and article in the Denver Post.
The Denver Post takes a very negative slant, “It is clear that the development of Wolf Creek Pass isn’t in the public interest.” I’ve been following this topic for a while now and, frankly, not everyone is all upset about it. There are large groups who are making a lot of noise about potential environmental impact and economic impacts. I’d even say there is a fair amount of validity in this. However, at town meetings that Red and the gang have held in the past, a large number of people have supported his project and the economic gain it could bring to the area.
Honestly, I don’t know the specifics of the project. I would hope that it is fairly eco friendly and uses as much green technology as possible. If it is, indeed, a threat to the local ecosystem - then I don’t want it to happen. However, it’s my belief that the area will some day be developed. It’s an amazing place to ski/board. That said, I think groups should focus on guiding the project down the best path instead of trying to block it altogether. Just my $0.02.
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October 16th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
“…it’s my belief that the area will some day be developed. It’s an amazing place to ski/board. That said, I think groups should focus on guiding the project down the best path instead of trying to block it altogether.”
Sigh. I can’t stand the it’s-inevitable-roll-over-and-make-the-best-of-it attitude that comes so often when money is steam-rolling development. I love skiing at Wolf Creek BECAUSE there isn’t a condo in sight. I know I can go into the backcountry for that experience as well, but it would be nice to know some areas will survive to provide large quantities of non-yuppified turns.
October 24th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Diane: They’ve been trying to build this village since the 80’s… I’d hardly call that steamrolling. If it were truly a case where all of the locals were against the development I would feel entirely different. However, a large swath of area locals welcome the development. The “us” vrs “them” attitude wears thin when “us” isn’t all inclusive.
Wolf Creek is an amazing natural resource and I strongly agree that it should be protected and preserved. I also strongly suspect that Red is going to be sloppy. He’s a Texan and Texans tend to be sloppy. That much scares me.
Wolf Creek is a treasure and I’m sure all of the locals would like to keep it a private treasure. When exploited, treasures can easily be ruined. I would cry if the Wolf Creek area became another Vail.
But as amazing as Wolf Creek IS, I just simply can not accept that it won’t some day be developed… I know all the locals that have been spoiled by the best snow in Colorado for years will be losing something very special. I’m sorry for that…
But if it’s going to happen, why not invest that energy into making it into something remarkable and eco friendly instead of spending the energy futilely bashing the project as a whole?
It’s just my $0.02… as some random blogger who loves snowboarding.
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
He doesn’t have to make it eco-friendly, but rather just environmentally unobjectionable enough to pass muster. Which is usually the case; please tell me different.
Here’s the thing- what ski areas in Colorado (besides A-Basin) are not resorts or primed to become resorts? Colorado has the highest resort density in the States and while building another might bring some short-term flow of cash to that area, it will be offset by the realization that not a lot of people will go to yet another samey resort experience that can be had elsewhere. there’s no apres-ski hardly, and the mountain’s claim to fame is its snow. This place, like it or not, is never going to be a big draw resort simply because it’s main attraction- snow quantity- is not the main reason upscale customers look for in a resort. I don’t live in Colorado but I work for an agency that reviews Environmental Impact Statements and they are not as stringent as you would like to think. They often have design measures and standards put in that sound good and may be followed for a time but eventually the resort or its owners will try to shortcut something and of course, the inevitable expansion will take place several years down the line. Not to mention, who needs another 90$ a day place in this economy (or any)?
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Funny you should say that as - currently - the local resorts are reporting around 30% less bookings this year than the same time last year. The economy is definitely going to hurt the Colorado resort scene.
I don’t think Wolf Creek can really support a huge glump of people, even if the ski area is expanded. It just doesn’t seem like that kind of mountain - I could be wrong. That said, I wouldn’t expect that the Village at Wolf Creek *could* get significantly big… unless it was largely vacant.
From what you posted - and this stuff I did not know - it sounds like Colorado could benefit from passing a few stricter laws on how these resorts operate. I love to snowboard, but I don’t want my favorite pass time to damage our environment.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
“I also strongly suspect that Red is going to be sloppy. He’s a Texan and Texans tend to be sloppy. That much scares me.”
Yep, I agree with that sentiment. If the locals were the ones that were actually behind the development (and I suspect if they were, the proposed facilities would be more in accordance with a “ski area” instead of a “resort”), then I’d be all for it. But it’s only people with huge capital that propose projects like these, and they do it to maximize their profits. Understandable. Just scary.
This is an old, but interesting article from 1982 you might be interested in:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.htmlres=9506E4D8123BF934A25751C0A964948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
Basically, it says that ski areas are turning to real estate development to make profits. And it was prophetic. Intrawest, a canadian company that runs many of the CO resorts, reported in 2002 that their profits from real estate ($487.7 million) exceeded their profits from resort operations ($485.1 million). What’s more pertinent about those numbers is that the revenue from real estate was increasing while revenue from operations was decreasing from the prior year.
So, when I said “steam-rolling,” I was referring not to the speed of the project, but the sheer weight of money behind it looking to make more money on real estate. I would love for Wolf Creek to stay a place to ski and board, instead of a place to pay a lot of money for a hamburger in a ritzy bar in the “Village.” I’m pretty sure these guys are only going to worry about the environment as much as they have to.