Aspen New Year's Day - Business as Usual

One day after yesterday's dicey New Year's Eve in Aspen, it was business as usual. The fireworks went off at 8:30 last night and the restaurants were bouncing back to make up for the lost night. We ate at current hotspot Lulu Wilson, where the helium-balloon decorations were still up from the night before and many diners ate in their paper New Year's hates and 2009 glasses.

Survived: Aspen New Year's Eve Bomb Threat

What a weird way to ring in the New Year. 16 blocks of downtown Aspen closed after James Blanning dragged a few Christmas-present-wrapped bombs into the Wells Fargo and Vectra banks downtown. So we tabled our plans for a night on the town and took some lobsters to-go from Butch's back up to Snowmass and had a night-in.

Meanwhile in Aspen, dozens of bars, restaurants and hotels geared up for their biggest night of the year were forced to close and residents and visitors to Aspen were evacuated while the bomb squad from Grand Junction disarmed the devices. Much of the planned celebration was canceled and though I've yet to see an official toll, you've got to think the economic impact of this was in the millions of dollars. New Year's Eve is a crucial night for hospitality businesses and particularly so in seasonal resort towns like Aspen. One restaurateur estimates that New Year's Eve is his biggest night by 3x and represents 15% of his total December sales.

This morning Blanning was found dead near Independence Pass after shooting himself in the head. His bombs in Aspen his final parting gift to the world.

It turns out the fireworks are back on tonight, a delayed celebration but perhaps one more poignant in the wake of a near miss and with the extra thanks that no one was hurt.

Out West, No Snow

I spent Thanksgiving near South Lake Tahoe and in the distant dreamy parts of my brain, when I booked the trip back in October I envisioned myself ripping a few early-season turns at Kirkwood or Heavenly. Much to my dismay, the scene (though never reliable in the Sierras this time of year) was grim indeed.

The weather was cold and clear, with just a dusting of natural snow at the highest peaks rimming the Tahoe basin. The screenshot above, from one of Heavenly's Webcams today, tells you everything you need to know. The skiing's no good, so we went for a hike.

The fickleness of the early season is nothing new in Tahoe, where in recent years the skiing hasn't picked up until January. But this year, the lack of snow is affecting more reliable areas like Utah and Colorado.

Aspen, Snowmass and Vail all had to push back their openings after a promising October gave way to a warm, sunny November which didn't deliver snowstorms, nor evening lows that would permit adequate snow-making.

In Utah, the mixed news from Alta.com isn't much better:

"Alta opens Friday, November 30, at 9:15 am! Traditionally Alta opens with more snow than we have today. Mother Nature hasn't given us much snow lately, but the tireless efforts of our snowmaking, grooming and mountain crews have us ready to open this Friday...."

Tahoe I'd expect, Colorado I can forgive, but Alta, which may have America's most reliable natural snowfall, is just plain freaking me out.

I think I was in Vermont, a few years back, when I hear some greybeard wistfully state that he'd be sad if he lived to see the day when you couldn't ski in the New England winter. His was a haunting and early cry of fear for the American ski industry in the face of global warming.

Now here we are watching another wobbly ski-season struggling to take off...