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Vail Gondola One (Photo credit: proforged)

Related articles

• Vail Mountain Summer 2013 Operation Dates.
• Mountaintop Express Lift Replacement

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North side of Vail Mountain, and Vail Valley. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vail Valley Partnership (VVP) is pleased to announce that Mark Herron, General Manager of Four Seasons Resort Vail and Gary Woodworth, CEO of Gallegos Corporation have joined the Partnership’s 12-person Board of Governors. Vail Valley Partnership’s Board of Governors is the principal governing and policymaking body of the organization. The Board’s membership is as diverse as the Vail Valley business community, with business leaders serving from a variety of business sectors and with representation throughout Eagle County.

The Board of Governors provides strategic guidance in the fulfillment of Vail Valley Partnership’s mission to take the leadership role to create and manage collaborative programs that encourage economic development and result in increased destination tourism in Eagle County. The addition of both Herron and Woodworth help to further diversify the group and provide perspective from two significant Vail Valley professional industries.

“Mark and Gary represent two important business sectors to the Partnership board: hospitality and construction. Both bring a variety of community involvement to the Partnership and we look forward to their involvement and strategic engagement in the organization to help us continue to achieve our mission,” said Chris Romer, president & CEO of Vail Valley Partnership.

The other 10 individuals who serve on the Board of Governors include: Glenn Davis – Regional President of Alpine Bank, Tim Baker – Executive Director of Beaver Creek Resort Company,
Doug Lovell – Chief Operating Officer of Vail Resorts, Inc., James Wear – President of Sherman & Howard, Johannes Faessler – General Manager / Owner of Sonnenalp Resort of Vail, Mike Brumbaugh – Owner of Venture Sports, Doris Kirchner – President & CEO of Vail Valley Medical Center, Laurie Mullen – Owner of West Vail Liquor Mart, John Shipp – Owner of Dusty Boot Saloon & Luigi’s Pastahouse and Beth Slifer – Owner of Slifer Designs.

To learn more about Vail Valley Partnership and its Board of Governors, please visit http://www.vailvalleypartnership.com/index.asp.

About Vail Valley Partnership:

Vail Valley Partnership is a 501(c) (6) non-profit organization that serves as the chamber and destination marketing organization for Eagle County, Colorado and the Vail Valley. Vail Valley Partnership (VVP) is a regional leader in sustaining and enhancing the Vail Valley as a tourism destination. Through group and leisure sales efforts, the VVP takes on a leadership role to bring groups, meetings, events and visitors to the Vail Valley for both the economic benefit of the member businesses we serve and the overall economic vitality of the community. In 2012, the Partnership’s destination sales and marketing efforts resulted in $69,000,000 of direct spending in the Eagle River Valley. For more information on the Vail Valley Partnership, please visit http://www.vailvalleypartnership.com/.

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Obama Lies.  I know that many of you have seen and heard this all before. And yet the content and subject hasn’t sunk in far enough for you to get mad as hell.

What’s interesting is to listen to the very beginning of President Obama speaking. The phrase, “if you don’t have insurance, you’ll finally be able to afford insurance.”

Just how is something like that possible if I’m unemployed? No unemployment benefits, so just how am I suppose to afford and pay for said insurance? Does the president still believe the drivel he was spewing back in 2009 when he made those statements? If so, can he or someone else explain how this insurance scam or opportunity is possible?

The video is full of complete contradictions to the failed utopian statist vision of Obama and his minions. Its time American’s woke up to take back our country.

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Mountaintop Express (Photo credit: sevenblock)

New Mountaintop Express Lift (#4) will feature first loading conveyor system for a high-speed, six-passenger lift of its kind in North America

Vail Mountain, the largest ski resort in the United States, announced that it has received approval to construct a new high-speed, six-passenger Doppelmayr chairlift, replacing the four-passenger Mountaintop Express Lift (#4) from Mid-Vail to Patrol Headquarters. Construction will begin immediately and the lift will be operational for the 2013-2014 ski and snowboard season.

The Mountaintop Express Lift (#4) will feature loading gates with a right angle load and a loading conveyor system, which has been shown to reduce the number of lift stops and slows, thereby increasing the efficiency of the lift. The systems have been widely used throughout European resorts for years and this will mark the first loading conveyor on a high-speed, six-passenger lift of its kind in North America. The new lift will result in a 33 percent increase in capacity, or 3,600 people per hour, which is the same capacity as Vail’s new Gondola One. The old Mountaintop Express Lift (#4) was installed in 1985 and provides access to Patrol Headquarters and a number of surrounding areas including the legendary Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin.

“The Mountaintop Express Lift is one of the busiest lifts on Vail Mountain,” said Chris Jarnot, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain. “Upgrading it to a six-passenger lift and adding capacity will make a noticeable improvement in wait times and skier/snowboarder circulation. The use of the loading conveyor, which is a common feature at top European resorts, is an added luxury and reduces the frequency of misloads as well.”

The new lower lift terminal of the Mountaintop Express Lift (#4) will be located approximately 90 feet to the east of the previous terminal, resulting in a lift maze configuration that will decrease cross-traffic of skiers and snowboarders in the surrounding area. The upper terminal location will undergo minor adjustments to accommodate a more efficient circulation of skiers and snowboarders.

The resort has also received final approval to replace the Gopher Hill Lift (#12), a fixed-grip double chairlift, with a fixed-grip triple chairlift. The Gopher Hill Lift (#12) in Golden Peak – a fixed-grip double Riblet chairlift installed in 1974 – will be replaced by the old Rose Bowl lift (#4) from Beaver Creek, which was removed in the spring of 2011. The fixed-grip triple Doppelmayr lift will increase capacity by 50 percent over the existing lift, which predominantly provides access to the Golden Peak area for beginners as well as access to Vail Village. The lower terminal will be adjusted slightly in both location and elevation to allow beginner guests easier access to the lift and to facilitate better use of both the west and east lift mazes.

“The new triple lift in Golden Peak will allow for twice the capacity of our three to six year olds enrolled in lessons, as they are required to ride the lift with an adult,” said Chris Jarnot, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Vail Mountain. “While this upgrade may seem small to our more experienced guests, it’s a critical improvement for our newest and youngest visitors to get them on the hill and learning faster.”

The majority of the both old lifts will be recycled and some components will be kept as spare inventory for Vail or other Vail Resorts mountains.

For more information about Vail Mountain, visit Vail.comor contact the Mountain Information Center at (970) SKI-VAIL (754-8245).

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Flips Audio Headphones.

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(Via Vail Daily.)

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Innovations in education have always been a little stagnant, ans while we see new inventions and developments in all other fields, educational innovations are very less. People have always stuck with the known, tried, tested and traditional methods in case of education. Recently, we’ve seen a boom in this field too. More and more people are now paying attention to the almost obsolete methods of teaching and striving to make some development in the educational system.

Google is known for innovations in almost every area they could get their hands onto, and it is soon to launch its flagship product ‘Google Glass’. And the tech-savvies say, it’s going to revolutionize the current educational trends. How? Let’s read.

Google Glass is touted as the next big thing in portable technology. Poised as an eyewear and doing a plethora of things which don’t require any taps or navigation, it responds instead to voice commands, taking pictures with a wink, taking commands for search, share content, video recording, detect objects in front of you and look up related information like directions or maps. Etc. The possibilities are endless though among all the possible consumers of Google Glass, the device has the potential to bring exciting new possibilities to teachers and students alike.

Admit it, Google’s Search is phenomenal. And the Glass will allow the student/teacher to stay connected to an interactive environment featuring online tools all the time. This could pave way to a leap into the future of educational system. Teachers as well as students can refer to topics related to their studies on the go. No fiddling through phones in the middle of the lecture; all you have to do is speak and voila…your search is done!

Students can record their lectures in real-time for future reference. The time saved on scribbling notes could be remarkable.

Google Glass could help students to create visually-rich projects and presentations. Students can shoot relevant videos and images with a wink. The same can be integrated onto their presentations via Google docs.

Learning new languages and speaking them could be done on the go with Glass coupled with Google’s own Google Translator. Google Glass would be able to present text based translations in real-time.

Teachers could use Google glass coupled with facial recognition to take attendance and could be used to generate Student Information System. Just by looking at the student you will get access to his/her student records with details of academic and non-academic performance, attendance etc… Creating students reports, schedules and class timings for students is only the tip of the iceberg.

Distance learning could be made a lot easier than before with Google Glass. Webinars and such can be streamed directly onto your Glass than your Smartphone or laptop so that its easy to be accessed anywhere, anytime.

The Glass could be used to set timetables for students along with information regarding the halls where classes will be held with details on professors to take the classes.

Google Glass in Education: The other side

While all this could be a boon in the education system, there are some cons of having Google Glasses at Schools/Colleges.

You must keep in mind that electronic devices are still prohibited for students in most schools; though, this is changing very fast. Students could misuse the Glass in a lecture in ways unimaginable. The distractions a Smartphone causes in a classroom are well known, students wearing Google Glass will bring about a whole new level of the same.

There are many restaurants and business concerns already banning the use of Google Glasses as well as apps like Instagram. This could also happen to Google Glass, being banned at all major concerns/colleges/universities.

Not to mention a certain invasion of privacy.

Like with any electronic device, prolonged usage of Google Glass can cause health issues mainly damaging eyesight.

Lastly, too much use of social media and on the go availability may harm your personal life.

Cheating in exams using Google Glass! Only time will tell how Google Glass will stand out from the tech-crowd. As previously mentioned, the possibilities are endless given the increasing number of third party developers working on Google Glass SDK, to make it a lot more than what it seems to be. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and just wait and see what marvels Google Glass holds for the future of education.

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If you spent any amount of time in the service or on active duty, the phrase, Attention to Detail, was on that was drilled into you on an hourly basis. The concept is also something that is lacking in general in today’s society. A case in point. I recently have written about and done a video, regarding my experience with a local food bank.

As I’ve said previously, while I’m appreciative of their assistance and the point of this writing is a lack of “Attention to Detail,” by the local food bank. There are two examples which follow.

In both cases, the boxes of crackers are eight months out of date. Out of date and yet given out to those in need by the local food bank. While I’m not sure of just what the food bank guidelines and training for their locations are, it would appear that common sense has not prevailed in this instance.

The Crackers are good for possibly adding to soup or maybe giving to the the squirrels or the birds outside our building. Hopefully the local food bank will have some additional training for their volunteers.

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Jeff Foxworthy, comedian (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jeff Foxworthy pokes fun at Colorado…..

1. You switch from ‘Heat’ to ‘A/C’ in one day.

2. You know what the ‘Peoples Republic of Boulder’ means.

3. Your sense of direction is: towards the mountains and away from the mountains.

4. You’re a meat-eating vegetarian.

5. The bike on your car is worth more than your car and you have your own special bike lane.

6. You’re able to drive 65 miles per hour through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without even flinching.

7. You take your out-of-town guests to Casa Bonita even though you would never go there otherwise.

8. You think your major food groups are granola bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.

9. You design your kid’s Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.

10. You think that sexy lingerie is wool socks and flannel PJs.

11. You know all 4 seasons ‘almost winter, winter, still winter and spring blizzards

12. You’ve been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate a CU/CSU victory.

13. You can never figure out why your out-of-town guests faint from altitude sickness on a picnic to the mountains.

14 You can drive over a 12,000-foot pass in 4 feet of snow, but can’t get to work if there are 4 inches of snow.

15. You know the ‘correct’ pronunciation of Buena Vista.

16. When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.

17. Your car insurance costs more than your car.

18 You have surge protectors on every outlet.

19. April showers bring May blizzards.

20. ‘Timberline’ is someplace you have actually been.

21. You know what a ‘Chinook’ is

22. You know what a ‘Rocky Mountain Oyster’ is.

23 You know what a ‘fourteener’ is.

24. But you don’t know what a ‘turn signal’ is.

25. A bear on your front porch doesn’t bother you nearly as much as a Democrat in Congress does.

26. Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning rod.

27. People from out of state breathe 5 times as often as you do.

28. Having a Senator named Nighthorse doesn’t seem strange.

29. Thunder has set off your car alarm.

30. You have an $800 stereo in your $300 truck.

31. You think a red light means 3 more cars can go.

32. Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!!
33. You know where the real ‘South Park’ is.

34. You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.

35. Driving directions usually include ‘Go over_________ Pass.’

36. You’ve ‘checked for ticks.

37. You’ve dressed in shorts, sandals, and a parka with a hood.

38. You’ve gone snow skiing in July and………

39. You’ve played golf in January and…….

40. They were in the same year!

41. You’ve urinated on the Continental Divide just so it could run into both oceans.

42. You know what a down slope and an up slope weather pattern is.

43. And the most important: You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both down stream.

44. You actually understand these jokes and send them to your Colorado friends.

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