The View, p3; News, p4; Voices, p12; Orbit, the back page

TELLURIDE DAILY PLANETSINCE 1898, INCORPORATING THE TELLURIDE TIMES AND TELLURIDE JOURNAL

By KATIE KLINGSPORN Associate Editor

Despite the crowds thatpacked restaurants and skislopes in the month of

December, lodging numbers inthe Telluride region were downslightly — 8 percent — from thesame month in 2008.

The rest of the winter,though, is projecting positivenews, as bookings show morevisitors coming in January,February and March than last

winter. “All in all, there’s some opti-

mism in the season,” said ScottMcQuade, CEO of the TellurideTourism Board.

McQuade dispatched a quickupdate of lodging numbers tothe Telluride Retail Associationon Tuesday morning during itsmeeting.

Though the holiday crowds

may have indicated that everyroom available in the region wasbooked, McQuade noted thatmany holiday visitors stayed insecond homes.

He also pointed out that thatalthough lodging numbers weredown by 8 percent thisDecember, last December sawrecord snowfall, which helpedattract extra skiers to town.

But following last year’sbooming December, lodgingnumbers fell.

This year, things are lookingbetter for occupancy in theregion.

McQuade noted that Januaryis tracking 2 percent ahead ofthe same month last year,February is tracking 11 percentahead and March is tracking 17percent ahead.

All in all, he said, this winter

TOURISM

THE SEASON,ACCORDING

TO DAVERILEY

Telski CEO has conversation withmerchant group By BRITTANNY HAVARD and KATIE KLINGSPORN

Daily Planet writers

Telluride Ski and GolfCompany may not be a mainstreet shop, but its CEO,

Dave Riley, made an appearanceat the Telluride RetailAssociation meeting Tuesday todiscuss the economy and sharehow his own business is faring.

While Telksi operates on amuch larger scale than thesmall business owners whobelong to the Retail Association,Riley said there are thingseveryone can do to help makeTelluride’s a true year-roundeconomy.

Riley said he would like tosee the peaks and valleys in thelocal economy smoothed out.

“We don’t have a functionaleconomy with year-round jobs,”he said. “I’ve got 800 people onthe payroll right now. ComeApril fourth, that number isgoing to go down to about 200people, and that really bothersme. We need to become a yearround community.”

Creating a four-seasontourist destination is no easyfeat, and Riley stressed the

WEDNESDAYJANUARY 13, 2010VOLUME 17, NUMBER 198www.telluridedailyplanet.com

Don’t quote me but...“Enjoy the new superpipe under thelights opening tomorrow”

— Telluride Ski and GolfCompany

CalendarWWEEDDNNEESSDDAAYY• Public Skate: 10 a.m.-noon, Hanley Rink • TIPS Class: noon-5:30 p.m., CommunityRoom, 728-8449

• Mike Pale: 3:30-8:30 p.m., Suede Bar• Choral Society rehearsals: 3:30-4:30p.m. for grades 3-5, 4:45-5:45 p.m. forgrades 6-12, and 6:30-8 p.m. foradults: Middle high school band room

• Hats in the Round Workshop: 3-5 p.m.,Needle Rock, $20

• 2010 TAB Auditions: 6-10 p.m., call708-0277 to set up a time

TTHHUURRSSDDAAYY• Sixth Annual CoolSculpt: starts today atthe 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., call708-0277 to set up a time

• Know Your Value: The Basics of JewelryBuying: 6 p.m., library

• Greensky Bluegrass: 8 p.m., OperaHouse, $20

WeatherMMuussee:: “Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lipsand cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compasscome;Love alters not with his brief hours andweeks,But bears it out even to the edge ofdoom.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. Achance 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 beenticketed. 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 FORNELLStaff Writer

The state legislature begins anew session today, duringwhich it will tackle a more

than $1 billion budget shortfall,try and wrangle the booming butlittle-regulated medical marijua-na industry and bolster renew-able energy production.

But what might the upcomingsession hold for San MiguelCounty and Telluride? ThePlanet spoke with State District6 Sen. Bruce Whitehead to findout what’s on his agenda.

As a man whose resume overthe past 25 years is almost exclu-

sively focused on water issues,the state senator fromSouthwest Colorado has severalconservation measures on hismind. One bill he has agreed tosponsor will increase reportingrequirements for water conser-vation measures, creating a sys-tem that will make the datamore accessible to the public.

“Conservation is important toColorado and the use of its

water,” Whitehead said. Also, Whitehead will co-spon-

sor an increase to the ColoradoRenewable Energy Standard,which currently mandates thatall energy producers in the statemust create 20 percent of theirenergy through renewable tech-nologies by the year 2020.

Whitehead will help to lead acharge to get that standard to 30percent.

The bill comes on the heels ofnews that major energy compa-nies in Colorado — such as XcelEnergy — are on pace to hit the20 percent mark more than 5

STATE LEGISLATURE

Local state senator sayswater, 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

IN ORBIT:IN ORBIT:Wednesday focus:Lifestyle, home and food

The Llama expandsits food horizons

Coming Thursday:Art, books and non-profits

Rest of winter looks good, though

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 Coloradothe second most ambitious statein the nation for renewableenergy, behind California.

Whitehead said much of thesession will be overshadowed bythe state’s looming $1 billionshortfall. 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 areprograms normally consideredsacred. Kindergarten through12th grade education, as well as

higher education subsidies, aregoing to see dramatic cuts.

In the governor’s proposedbudget is about $260 million lessfor primary and secondary edu-cation, and about $56 millionfrom higher education.

Most colleges are seeingabout a 21 percent decrease intheir state subsidies, but FortLewis College in Durango is slat-ed for more like a 31 percentdecrease in its funding stream.

While most of those dollarswill be backfilled with federaleconomic recovery funds,Whitehead said he will fight tosee Fort Lewis is not reduced ata greater rate than other statecolleges. In fact, he said, thecuts there will be more detri-mental there than in other insti-tutions that may get more in

grants than a small college likethe one in Durango.

“I continue to work on thatproblem up here,” Whiteheadsaid. “It’ll be harder for smallerinstitutions to recover.”

One of Whitehead’s other petmeasures he says will help south-west Colorado is a job retrainingprogram that would create indi-vidual accounts for workers thatwould allow them to choosewhich training will most benefitthem in their careers.

“If something does happen tothem, at least they’ll have thetraining 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 willincrease the deficit is likely tofall flat on its face.

LLEEGGIISSLLAATTUURREE, from page 1

importance of burgeoning theshoulder seasons by continuingto bring in large groups and con-ferences to the area.

Telluride doesn’t have large-scale hotel brands such as theHilton Hotels or Marriotts thatother destinations have, Rileysaid, and those hotels attract biggroups.

On one hand, he noted,Telluride maintains the quintes-sential ski town charm by nothaving these corporate giants.On the other, large corporategroups and conventions don’tchoose to come to Telluride forthe risk factor — should theyhave their conference in remoteTelluride, or have it at theMarriott, where it’s been suc-cessful in the past?

“The existing hotels inTelluride are running on a 38percent occupancy basis yearround. If we want to improvesales in relation to square feetwe must understand the econo-my and work with other govern-ments,” Riley said. If not, “Weare going to continue to struggleunless we start attracting peopleduring the shoulder season.”

Erik Dalton, owner of JaggedEdge, asked Riley if he sees anydownside in attracting a bighotel here, such opening thedoor for big-box stores and

chains in Telluride. Riley said that Telluride’s

footprint is a natural constraintagainst these types of largestores, and that he thinks a bighotel like a Marriott would “lifteverybody.”

Riley fears the bed base inTelluride is diminishing, andwarned against a continuingtrend of accommodations herebeing “hollowed out.” This termrefers to what happens when arental is converted into a pri-vately owned unit, which effec-tively takes it off the market.What it creates, he said, aredark swaths of town, as peoplebuy second homes and then onlyoccupy them for four weeks ayear.

He brought up the example ofVerbier, a Swiss ski town whereold hotels were turned into pri-vate holiday houses.

“It’s cold and dark, except forthe holidays,” Riley said.

One valley over in Zermatt,Riley said, it’s a different story.There, the community held on toits rental units, and it’s “a greatyear round destination” thatattracts international visitors.

He also noted that Zermatt’sculture is shaped aroundtourism. Kids who grow up therego away to tourism school andcome back to run their parents’lodge, he said. Being a liftie isconsidered a career, he said.

Numbers show the Tellurideeconomy is holding on. Telski is2 percent ahead of last year’s ski

season, Riley said, with a severallarge groups slated to come totown in January.

“As far as restaurants, theyare doing pretty good. Allred’s isoff a little bit, because peoplearen’t going out buying $300 bot-tles of wine,” said Riley. “On theother hand, ski school is way upfrom last year, where last yearthey really suffered from theeconomic downturn.”

When asked about loweringTelski’s ticket prices (a single-day adult ticket is $92), Rileysaid that lowering the price isnot a panacea.

“We don’t have the ability ordesire to go to that model,” hesaid. “If we lowered the price to$50 … it wouldn’t fix things.”

He noted that with packageand group deals, tickets oftenfigure out to be a lot less than$92.

Most all merchants atTuesday’s meeting are in retail,and Riley had comments aboutTelski’s own experience openinga spate of retail operations inMountain Village: The ResortStore, which sells logo items,Telluride Naturals, a boutiquehealth food store and EcoAdventures, an activity center,located in the Franz KlammerLodge breezeway.

Riley said the main push inopening these stores wasattracting foot traffic and fillingempty storefronts.

RRIILLEEYY, from page 1

Riley

Senator