Diane Aronovic

Living in bear country makes for interesting times. Although I live in Crested Butte town proper, I get lots of not always welcome wildlife visitors. In the past week alone, my backyard has been host to a fox, a coyote that had just caught another creature and a bear. And those are just the ones I happened to personally see in the daylight. Having close encounters with large, potentially dangerous creatures is both thrilling and frightening, usually simultaneously. If you have children it opens your eyes to dangers beyond those you might be prepared for, and you are always resigned to the fact that your dog or cat's temporary disappearance may actually be a permanent one.

But the upside to living amongst wildlife is the great experiences you have that city dwellers miss out on. Watching a coyote catch and eat his lunch, while not for the squeamish, is a great insight into how these critters live. Yesterday a bear came into my fenced yard. I watched him wander about, check everything out, and climb a tree before making a graceful escape into my neighbor's yard. I can't even see that at the zoo.

So although there are hidden dangers (mostly to housepets pulling an all-nighter) for the most part living amongst wildlife is a potentially exciting and interesting experience. And as a former city dweller, I get a kick out of the different kinds of danger we face in a mountain town. I also like that there is no need to lock your door here to keep out people danger, but in lieu of having nocturnal, hungry wildlife raiding your fridge, a handy lock goes a long way.

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Mountain pine beetles: small but oh so expensive.

The bark beetle currently infesting parts of Colorado has a hard black shell and measures about 5 millimeters, about the size of a grain of rice. Areas of Colorado have been tragically affected by the voracious appetite and deadly lifecycle of the bark beetle. If you drive west on I-70 you see the rust colored pine trees overtaking the forests. Unfortunately, these swaths of forest will all come down in time, either by the dead trees falling, wildfires or intentional removal to combat the first two options. At Vail Resorts the situation is especially dire. The New York Times, on Nov 18, 2008 said: At Vail Ski Resort, for example, which has been particularly hard hit, workers have removed thousands of dead trees and planted new ones.

Let’s look at this situation from a liability viewpoint. If the local ski resort is so worried about dead trees that they are eradicating them from forests and replacing them with new ones, without solving the situation that caused the devastation, they are just buying time. There is little hope that these new trees will avoid becoming victims of the bark beetle in time. The resort also has a lot potentially at stake in terms of liability.

Fortunately, in Crested Butte, we have so far been spared the bark beetle devastation. There is a theory that the beetles die if the temperatures are too low (which would surely work in Crested Butte’s favor) but I have also heard reports that when imbedded in the pine bark, external temperatures have less effect from the insular qualities of the bark. Theories aside, I am constantly struck by the number of trees affected north of our valley. To see miles of dead pines landscaping what was recently a living, beautiful forest is strikingly shocking. Once you factor in fire danger, loss of natural resources and beauty, and the potential of getting clocked by a falling dead tree, you must ask, is it worth it?

Wouldn’t it make so much more sense to have a home in Crested Butte where the beetles don’t live? We aren’t constantly looking over our shoulders in dread of danger from above. I don’t want to be the one to find out if falling trees make a noise when they strike your home. I just want to know if insurance will cover it. But anyway, I’d rather live in Crested Butte, where so far, we are safe from the bark beetle threat and the pine trees are still green, as they should be.

When I read this dire news, I was hardly surprised. After all, skiing is an entertainment for most people, and certainly more expensive than a movie ticket. If you read the following article, there is some good news. Of all the ski resorts to visit, Crested Butte is still one of the best. Why? As the article notes, no lift lines! If I didn't live here, but were spending discretionary income skiing, I would want to make sure I got my money's worth. Skiing endless laps until your quads ache is what I mean. Why waste precious minutes/hours in lift lines not skiing, when you can come to Crested Butte and actually ski a full day. No traffic in and out of town either.

I've heard that the former 2 hour drive from Denver to Vail takes more like 4-5 hours now during the weekend rush hour. All that to stand in lift lines? Are you kidding? In the same amount of car time, Denver residents can be in Crested Butte where the scenery is beautiful, the lift lines non-existant and the people friendly.

So read the following article, not with pessimism for our economy, but with a renewed sense of what a ski vacation could be: one where you actually ski.

-Diane

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/03/crested_butte_slump.html

Crested Butte has a new featured article in Ski Magazine. It discusses the great restaurants and skiing we are fortunate to have here, as well as the new shops and enhanced experiences for visitors. The mountain is skiing very well, the sun is shining and house prices are down a bit, if you buy well. Now is a great time to visit Crested Butte, CO, whether it's your first visit or you've been here before.

http://www.mylasso.com/FileWarehouse/Users/User_3427/Documents/Crested_Butte_Ski_Mag_Mar_09.pdf

Yesterday's NY Times had an article (link below) about a few Crested Butte locals who live here and work "real" white collar jobs elsewhere. They frequently travel for business but are able to live in this magnificent place and enjoy all of the perks of a local's existence. Could anything be better? I know a few others, not mentioned in the article, who do the same thing. They have high paying, sometimes high powered jobs, but are able to balance out the associated stresses by living here a great deal of the time. I worked the same balance when my house here was my second home, and I came here mostly on the weekends from California. Unfortunately, my job wasn't flexible as to my physical presence, so I couldn't spend much time here during the week. How I envy those people who can telecommute. Hopefully this segment of Crested Butte's population will only grow in the future. -Diane

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/greathomesanddestinations/06crested.html?ref=escapes