The summary is:
1) Lodging numbers in Telluride were down 8% in December 2009 compared to December 2008, though bookings indicate higher occupancy in January-March 2010 compared to the previous winter.
2) Telluride Ski Resort CEO Dave Riley met with the Telluride Retail Association to discuss creating a year-round economy, including attracting more visitors and conferences in the shoulder seasons.
3) Riley said that while Telluride benefits from its small town charm, it risks "hollowing out" its lodging stock if more units convert to private homes occupied only part-time.
1. The View, p3; News, p4; Voices, p12; Orbit, the back page
TELLURIDE DAILYPLANETSINCE 1898, INCORPORATING THE TELLURIDE TIMES AND TELLURIDE JOURNAL
By KATIE KLINGSPORN
Associate Editor
D
espite the crowds that
packed restaurants and ski
slopes in the month of
December, lodging numbers in
the Telluride region were down
slightly — 8 percent — from the
same month in 2008.
The rest of the winter,
though, is projecting positive
news, as bookings show more
visitors coming in January,
February and March than last
winter.
“All in all, there’s some opti-
mism in the season,” said Scott
McQuade, CEO of the Telluride
Tourism Board.
McQuade dispatched a quick
update of lodging numbers to
the Telluride Retail Association
on Tuesday morning during its
meeting.
Though the holiday crowds
may have indicated that every
room available in the region was
booked, McQuade noted that
many holiday visitors stayed in
second homes.
He also pointed out that that
although lodging numbers were
down by 8 percent this
December, last December saw
record snowfall, which helped
attract extra skiers to town.
But following last year’s
booming December, lodging
numbers fell.
This year, things are looking
better for occupancy in the
region.
McQuade noted that January
is tracking 2 percent ahead of
the same month last year,
February is tracking 11 percent
ahead and March is tracking 17
percent ahead.
All in all, he said, this winter
TOURISM
THESEASON,
ACCORDING
TODAVE
RILEY
Telski CEO has
conversation with
merchant group
By BRITTANNY HAVARD
and KATIE KLINGSPORN
Daily Planet writers
T
elluride Ski and Golf
Company may not be a main
street shop, but its CEO,
Dave Riley, made an appearance
at the Telluride Retail
Association meeting Tuesday to
discuss the economy and share
how his own business is faring.
While Telksi operates on a
much larger scale than the
small business owners who
belong to the Retail Association,
Riley said there are things
everyone can do to help make
Telluride’s a true year-round
economy.
Riley said he would like to
see the peaks and valleys in the
local economy smoothed out.
“We don’t have a functional
economy with year-round jobs,”
he said. “I’ve got 800 people on
the payroll right now. Come
April fourth, that number is
going to go down to about 200
people, and that really bothers
me. We need to become a year
round community.”
Creating a four-season
tourist destination is no easy
feat, and Riley stressed the
WEDNESDAYJANUARY 13, 2010
VOLUME 17, NUMBER 198
www.telluridedailyplanet.com
Don’t quote me but...
“Enjoy the new superpipe under the
lights opening tomorrow”
— Telluride Ski and Golf
Company
Calendar
WWEEDDNNEESSDDAAYY
• Public Skate: 10 a.m.-noon, Hanley Rink
• TIPS Class: noon-5:30 p.m., Community
Room, 728-8449
• Mike Pale: 3:30-8:30 p.m., Suede Bar
• Choral Society rehearsals: 3:30-4:30
p.m. for grades 3-5, 4:45-5:45 p.m. for
grades 6-12, and 6:30-8 p.m. for
adults: Middle high school band room
• Hats in the Round Workshop: 3-5 p.m.,
Needle Rock, $20
• 2010 TAB Auditions: 6-10 p.m., call
708-0277 to set up a time
TTHHUURRSSDDAAYY
• Sixth Annual CoolSculpt: starts today at
the Mountain Village beach
• Beyond Scarves Workshop: 4-6 p.m.,
Needle Rock, $20
• SMEF: 5:30 p.m., library
• 2010 TAB Auditions: 6-10 p.m., call
708-0277 to set up a time
• Know Your Value: The Basics of Jewelry
Buying: 6 p.m., library
• Greensky Bluegrass: 8 p.m., Opera
House, $20
Weather
MMuussee::
“Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips
and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass
come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and
weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of
doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.”
—W.S.
FFoorreeccaasstt:: A high of 40, a low of 15.A
chance of snow, it seems.
The center lane is for loading and unloading only.
An exasperated Telluride resident returns to his car parked in the center lane of Colorado Avenue on Tuesday to find that it has been
ticketed. Special permits are required to park in this lane at all times — even if for just a moment. [Photo by Merrick Chase]
See LLOODDGGIINNGG,, Page 5
By BEN FORNELL
Staff Writer
T
he state legislature begins a
new session today, during
which it will tackle a more
than $1 billion budget shortfall,
try and wrangle the booming but
little-regulated medical marijua-
na industry and bolster renew-
able energy production.
But what might the upcoming
session hold for San Miguel
County and Telluride? The
Planet spoke with State District
6 Sen. Bruce Whitehead to find
out what’s on his agenda.
As a man whose resume over
the past 25 years is almost exclu-
sively focused on water issues,
the state senator from
Southwest Colorado has several
conservation measures on his
mind. One bill he has agreed to
sponsor will increase reporting
requirements for water conser-
vation measures, creating a sys-
tem that will make the data
more accessible to the public.
“Conservation is important to
Colorado and the use of its
water,” Whitehead said.
Also, Whitehead will co-spon-
sor an increase to the Colorado
Renewable Energy Standard,
which currently mandates that
all energy producers in the state
must create 20 percent of their
energy through renewable tech-
nologies by the year 2020.
Whitehead will help to lead a
charge to get that standard to 30
percent.
The bill comes on the heels of
news that major energy compa-
nies in Colorado — such as Xcel
Energy — are on pace to hit the
20 percent mark more than 5
STATE LEGISLATURE
Local state senator says
water, budget his top issues
TOURISM
December shows slight dip in lodging
Inside Today:
Whitehead:
‘Conservation is
important to Colorado’
See LLEEGGIISSLLAATTUURREE,, Page 2 See RRIILLEEYY,, Page 2
INORBIT:INORBIT:
Wednesday focus:
Lifestyle, home
and food
The Llama expands
its food horizons
Coming Thursday:
Art, books and
non-profits
Rest of winter looks good, though
2. 22 JANUARY 13, 2010 TELLURIDE DAILY PLANET NEWS
Shopping for the New Year
years ahead of schedule.
If passed, the new energy
standard would make Colorado
the second most ambitious state
in the nation for renewable
energy, behind California.
Whitehead said much of the
session will be overshadowed by
the state’s looming $1 billion
shortfall. Unlike the federal gov-
ernment, Colorado is constitu-
tionally mandated to keep a bal-
anced budget, and so the miss-
ing dollars must be cut.
On the chopping block are
programs normally considered
sacred. Kindergarten through
12th grade education, as well as
higher education subsidies, are
going to see dramatic cuts.
In the governor’s proposed
budget is about $260 million less
for primary and secondary edu-
cation, and about $56 million
from higher education.
Most colleges are seeing
about a 21 percent decrease in
their state subsidies, but Fort
Lewis College in Durango is slat-
ed for more like a 31 percent
decrease in its funding stream.
While most of those dollars
will be backfilled with federal
economic recovery funds,
Whitehead said he will fight to
see Fort Lewis is not reduced at
a greater rate than other state
colleges. In fact, he said, the
cuts there will be more detri-
mental there than in other insti-
tutions that may get more in
grants than a small college like
the one in Durango.
“I continue to work on that
problem up here,” Whitehead
said. “It’ll be harder for smaller
institutions to recover.”
One of Whitehead’s other pet
measures he says will help south-
west Colorado is a job retraining
program that would create indi-
vidual accounts for workers that
would allow them to choose
which training will most benefit
them in their careers.
“If something does happen to
them, at least they’ll have the
training to find work else-
where,” Whitehead said.
But in such an austere budg-
et cycle, any measure with a “fis-
cal note” indicating that it will
increase the deficit is likely to
fall flat on its face.
LLEEGGIISSLLAATTUURREE, from page 1
importance of burgeoning the
shoulder seasons by continuing
to bring in large groups and con-
ferences to the area.
Telluride doesn’t have large-
scale hotel brands such as the
Hilton Hotels or Marriotts that
other destinations have, Riley
said, and those hotels attract big
groups.
On one hand, he noted,
Telluride maintains the quintes-
sential ski town charm by not
having these corporate giants.
On the other, large corporate
groups and conventions don’t
choose to come to Telluride for
the risk factor — should they
have their conference in remote
Telluride, or have it at the
Marriott, where it’s been suc-
cessful in the past?
“The existing hotels in
Telluride are running on a 38
percent occupancy basis year
round. If we want to improve
sales in relation to square feet
we must understand the econo-
my and work with other govern-
ments,” Riley said. If not, “We
are going to continue to struggle
unless we start attracting people
during the shoulder season.”
Erik Dalton, owner of Jagged
Edge, asked Riley if he sees any
downside in attracting a big
hotel here, such opening the
door for big-box stores and
chains in Telluride.
Riley said that Telluride’s
footprint is a natural constraint
against these types of large
stores, and that he thinks a big
hotel like a Marriott would “lift
everybody.”
Riley fears the bed base in
Telluride is diminishing, and
warned against a continuing
trend of accommodations here
being “hollowed out.” This term
refers to what happens when a
rental is converted into a pri-
vately owned unit, which effec-
tively takes it off the market.
What it creates, he said, are
dark swaths of town, as people
buy second homes and then only
occupy them for four weeks a
year.
He brought up the example of
Verbier, a Swiss ski town where
old hotels were turned into pri-
vate holiday houses.
“It’s cold and dark, except for
the holidays,” Riley said.
One valley over in Zermatt,
Riley said, it’s a different story.
There, the community held on to
its rental units, and it’s “a great
year round destination” that
attracts international visitors.
He also noted that Zermatt’s
culture is shaped around
tourism. Kids who grow up there
go away to tourism school and
come back to run their parents’
lodge, he said. Being a liftie is
considered a career, he said.
Numbers show the Telluride
economy is holding on. Telski is
2 percent ahead of last year’s ski
season, Riley said, with a several
large groups slated to come to
town in January.
“As far as restaurants, they
are doing pretty good. Allred’s is
off a little bit, because people
aren’t going out buying $300 bot-
tles of wine,” said Riley. “On the
other hand, ski school is way up
from last year, where last year
they really suffered from the
economic downturn.”
When asked about lowering
Telski’s ticket prices (a single-
day adult ticket is $92), Riley
said that lowering the price is
not a panacea.
“We don’t have the ability or
desire to go to that model,” he
said. “If we lowered the price to
$50 … it wouldn’t fix things.”
He noted that with package
and group deals, tickets often
figure out to be a lot less than
$92.
Most all merchants at
Tuesday’s meeting are in retail,
and Riley had comments about
Telski’s own experience opening
a spate of retail operations in
Mountain Village: The Resort
Store, which sells logo items,
Telluride Naturals, a boutique
health food store and Eco
Adventures, an activity center,
located in the Franz Klammer
Lodge breezeway.
Riley said the main push in
opening these stores was
attracting foot traffic and filling
empty storefronts.
RRIILLEEYY, from page 1
Riley
Senator