AVSC Ski Coach Charged with Child Sexual Assault
One of the alpine ski coaches at the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club has been arrested. Bill Montage is facing multiple counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and aggravated incest. He was arrested yesterday. AVSC says the charges are not related to any minors at the club or in the Aspen area
Aspen City/Pitkin County Buy Smuggler Rights
The opportunity for mining in Aspen’s most popular open space is now smaller. Pitkin County and the City of Aspen announced today they’ve acquired certain mineral rights.
According to the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails office, the two governments made the purchase yesterday for rights underneath Smuggler Mountain Open Space. The area is the most popular for Aspen area users, according to a City of Aspen survey last year. Smuggler is owned by both the city and Pitkin County.
Representatives of the two governments bid $34,000 yesterday at an auction. Mining on Smuggler has taken place before along parts of the open space. Pitkin County says the move will make mining even more unlikely than before. Pitkin County and the City of Aspen have spent a combined $21 million to protect the area.
Pot Shops Ditching Old Edibles Under New Law
Retail marijuana shops in the Valley are working to get rid of edible products that don’t follow new state rules by Sunday.
The State implemented the rules on October 30th and gave manufacturers and retail shops three months to comply. The new rules require marijuana edible products to have standardized serving sizes for THC on their labels. And, there are stricter guidelines for keeping the packaging child resistant.
To get rid of the products that don’t comply, some retail shops have deeply slashed prices. Roots R-X in Basalt needs to clear out several items. Alicia Fetters is the manager.
“We have to get rid of everything that we have. All of our edibles, we have to get rid of by the first. If we don’t sell them, we have to destroy them.”
Fetters says it’s not uncommon to shift how business is done due to new regulations from the State.
Mountain Tourism Officials Talk Business at “The Assembly”
Mountain tourism officials met in Denver on Wednesday to discuss the future of the ski industry. The participants examined how to grow tourism during peak winter seasons as well as shoulder and summer seasons.
The meeting called The Assembly brought together more than 300 industry officials from resorts across the country.
Overall, the industry is doing well, particularly in the Western U.S. where this season is shaping up to be nearly as profitable as pre-recession years. Bill Tomcich of the booking company Stay Aspen Snowmass was at the conference. He says the nation’s positive economy is good for skiing.
“At this point in time we really have a lot of things working in our favor, with one possible exception being climate change and what that means for resorts, in particular, in the far western United States.”
Other challenges facing resorts include appealing to younger generations and women, attracting lower-income families and upgrading outdated infrastructure. This was the third annual conference.
