Quick, what bills are these?

In 2002, the American Council of the Blind began a lawsuit against the U.S. Government claiming that our existing currency discriminates against the Blind or the visually impaired.

In 2006 the decision came in in favor of the American Council of the Blind. The Treasury Department Appealed.

This month in 2008, the Appelate ruling is in and the decision stands! The American Council of the Blind wins for now.

I applaud them, but it’s not over yet. The Treasury has 90 days to appeal or as for Supreme Court review.

Before I go into this topic let me discuss my bias and existing point of view. [Read more →]

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A couple folks have asked about a Cruiser Bike ride tonight and about getting a Riverfront Park crew to meet together at one of our local establishments, possibly McLoughlins (last week was Zengo). Others are asking about groups to do road bike rides.

I figured the easiest way to get folks talking was to connect them. So check out this link here, register once and you can post or subscribe to the topic.

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Don’t answer too fast… and read the links below.

It isn’t often that I get behind the wheel to drive on the roads, but every time I do I ask myself the same question…. “is it time for a new car”.

I don’t really have much in the way of driving. I cruise around Denver by foot, cruiser bike, by my ages old mountain bike, by bus, by light rail, by cab, and by scooter. I rarely drive my automobile (make that, my giant SUV). What drives me to get behind the wheel (get it) is usually a trip to the mountains which may or not have some bad snow conditions or carrying alot of stuff. [Read more →]

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Vail Resorts has decided to do a special gift for skiers this coming year with the rollout of a new Epic Pass. For $579. The new Epic pass offers unlimited skiing at all the Vail Resorts including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin. There are no Blackout dates, period. This is an amazing promotion considering that it undercuts even the merchant passes available for employees working in these resort towns.

Compare this to the current year pricing…

This year, the same unrestricted pass would have cost $1,849
For employees in the Vail Valley, who have always gotten the best deal, an unlimited pass WITH RESTRICTIONS would have cost $869

Why the sudden change of strategy in pricing? Who knows, maybe all the real estate development needs a boost, maybe skier numbers need a boost, maybe they are hedging the threat of decreasing skier numbers due the the big R forecasts. Is a Recession on the way, are we already in one, are we on our way out of one, or is it all a big scare? Let the economists wrangle with that one, I’m just happy to have a great deal thrown my way.

Of course not everyone is happy about this. The Vail Valley in particular is wrestling with some predictions on what the increased traffic will do the the roads throughout the valley. Citing “Epic Problems” on the way many worry this will be a disaster for travelers and those working in the Valley.

Guess that’s why you are supposed to buy some real estate and head up there on Friday night to stay under your own roof.

What do you think? What ski pass, if any, will you buy next year?

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So I finally got a chance to do the famous Winter Park Ski Train. With my ties to Vail it took me a little longer to give this a shot, but I am glad I did.

I’ll do a quick summary for those of you who are thinking about it. First of all, groups are the best. We had a group of 107 folks so we pretty much ruled a car and a half. At first I think everyone worried about seats and being right next to each other but the reality is that with train travel everyone is walking, talking, leaning, moving pretty much all the time. It’s a social scene on wheels.

The views are amazing, although again this became second place quickly to everyone being social. Yet far more scenic than a flood of taillights on I-70.

If you live downtown the Ski Train has a special appeal. We walked over the bridge in Riverfront Park right at 7:00 for our 7:15 departure. I personally set my alarm for 5:30 to take the pup for a long walk and to give me quite a bit of time cushion just in case, so it is not a good night to plan a big Friday out on the town.

Then on the train everyone greets each other, has fun, and kicks back and RELAXES all the way up. No white knuckle driving, no fighting traffic, and there is always a place to buy coffee or breakfast only a short walk away. Some slept, some read the paper, most chatted. Nice.

On the way back this gets magnified into a huge social gathering. Beverages flow throughout the car, there is laughter everywhere and no one is driving. What a great solution for downtown residents… instead of trying to balance doing apres with the drive home and fighting crowds on that sometimes painful return the ski train becomes the apres location. No risk, no worries. One person said it was just like staying in the mountains with no worries about the commute. Considering I carried my skis there and back in less than ten minutes I’d have to agree.

Some bits of advice for you…

Avoid car 2. It’s behind the engine so the front is sealed. Don’t worry, you don’t get any fumes but the lack of ventilation gets TOASTY. We had folks stripping down to the minimum so maybe chair two will be the naked car. Your choice.

There isn’t much you can do about this worry, but if you get behind a slower train your trip could take a bit longer. This happened on our way up but not on our way back. Not too bad, some folks slept longer and the train is comfy. But keep this in mind if you are making strict plans involving timing and make sure you have a puppy sitter on reserve in case your return is late.

Get your food or drink quick if you want it. They sold out of burritos pretty fast on the way up and while they had beer all the way through the trip back, the Stella was the first to go. Don’t forget they close the catering car when they think they are 30 minutes away from the station. This might be longer so if you want stock up before they close.

There is a great lounge car with scrabble and other games. Consider grabbing a spot there for awhile if you have a small group but be quick if you want a seat.

We will be doing the Ski Train again. Give it a shot for yourself. I forgot to mention that the train stopped on a cross track exactly where another train was heading at us. The folks in our car started getting a little bit nervous as it got closer.. and closer… and closer. Then we quickly moved, picture is one of others below.

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In support of the new Riverfront Park Ski Club Winter Park is coming down to 1610 Little Raven #115 to sell discounted tickets from 4 to 7 pm on January 15th. This one time date will offer

Adult tickets will be $48, children’s tickets will be $25. Stop by and pick up some promo tickets. It is a perk for Riverfront Park residents but anyone can stop in.

Happy Skiing!!

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Something interesting is happening this holiday season in the world of Real Estate. As reported by the New York Times today, a huge number of Europeans and tourists from other countries are taking advantage of the weak dollar to purchase their U.S. second home.

While the article’s focus is the sale of real estate in Manhattan I would think that our wonderful ski resorts would be a great target as well. So as our dollar continues to plummet the rest of the world looks at our prime spots as one big investment opportunity. Too bad it’s not the other way around, I’d love to pick up a nice Italian villa on the ocean or a crash pad in Paris.

But this isn’t about what I want.

It’s about the holiday season and to a certain extent a move towards world peace. As the world becomes more global and we criss cross our homes, vacations, friends and experiences from one continent to another we also build understanding, relationships, and a foundation for communication. Maybe someone from Europe loans their Manhattan condo to some friends who have never been to the U.S. They have a great time, tell great stories, and the flow of people back and forth increases. It’s alot harder to be grumpy towards a country you have visited and one in which you have made friends.

Let’s continue the global spread of travel and second homes (note the term home, that certainly implies a stronger relationship). If we can get this flow of travel and experience going back and forth between the most strained of relationships who knows what we could to to build friendship.

Now just make sure you greet the next international neighbor you meet with kindness.

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Ski Trip
Winter Park
Ski Train (no driving)
Apres Party

Do I really need to say any more… (well maybe)

I was at a little Holiday Party last night chatting about an upcoming Riverfront Park Ski Trip on January 26th. The bullet points are that a car has been rented with only 62 seats available, several sponsors have signed up to give some perks to this first time trip crew that will be taking the Ski Train up and back followed by an Apres Party and a very close and cool spot downtown (Another wonderful sponsor).

No fighting traffic and it will be fun and social!! Siri at East West Urban Management is managing the rapidly growing list of folks who are snagging the seats for this inaugural event. You can email her if you are interested in learning more or if you are a homeowner in Riverfront you can
sign right up.

Think snow!!!

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I love snow.

The past two days have been spent skiing the fresh powder of Vail and I can tell you that it is wonderful. Sunday I was doing some training for some volunteer work I signed on for. I’ll fill everyone in on this in a later post but in the meantime check out these pics. All of Monday was spent in Blue Sky Basin and the back bowls and it was NICE!!

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Yep, the mountains are getting the big dump we have all been waiting for.

Okay, I just skied Vail for two days and here are the runs that rock right now.

Dealers Choice
Northwoods
NorthStar
Lodgepole

And the rest of Game Creek Bowl was filling up with snow when I left. Sorry these are mostly cruisers but they are well covered and as soon as this storm is done I am sure there will be a ton more.

And after chatting with some of the locals working in the restaurants in the Village I also learned some additional scoop. First, many many tourists canceled their plans to hit Vail due to the terrible snow reports. Hotels have space and those same folks can’t react quick enough to fill up those rooms with bodies. So that means so much more room for skiing with less people.

Not bad.

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