In Brief: Skier dies at Snowmass; sunset skiing at Buttermilk; school district gets two electric buses
Courtesy Aspen School District
Skier dies Thursday afternoon at Snowmass
A 72-year-old male skier died on Thursday after striking a tree on the Lower Green Cabin run at Snowmass, Aspen Skiing Co. reported. He was not identified.
According to Jeff Hanle, vice president of communications for Aspen Snowmass:
Snowmass ski patrol received a call at 1:21 p.m. and were on scene at 1:25 p.m., where they found the skier unresponsive. CPR was in progress, and ski patrol took over treatment and began advanced lifesaving procedures.
After consulting with doctors at Aspen Valley Hospital, lifesaving efforts were stopped, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene. He was transported to the clinic, awaiting arrival of the coroner.
He was apparently skiing alone and was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
“This is a sad and tragic accident, and our hearts go out to his family and friends,” Hanle said.
Buttermilk to host sunset skiing March 13
Spring skiing means prime après season and longer days, giving skiers more time to bask in the sun on our four mountains.
To celebrate, Buttermilk is hosting sunset skiing on March 13, keeping the lifts running until 6 p.m.
Cliffhouse and Buttermilk Mountain Lodge will host après gatherings with food and drink specials for those who want to lap runs until the sun drops below the horizon.
School district gets two electric buses
Aspen School District has received two electric school buses as part of an emissions environmental mitigation program.
The district sent two of its diesel buses to the scrapyard this month when it received two new Blue Bird electric buses as part of the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Environmental Mitigation Trust. ASD won a $1.36 million grant for the buses. Transportation Director Reghan Mahaffey said two additional electric buses are expected to arrive by the end of summer.
“We are excited to be recipients of this important emissions mitigation program,” Mahaffey said. “Aspen School District’s move to electric buses supports our strategic plan and mission of being responsible stewards of district resources and our goal of being environmentally-friendly by reducing air pollutants.”
The new electric buses are part of the 2016 U.S. federal court settlement with German automaker Volkswagen AG. The company agreed to pay $14.7 billion after allegations from the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of California that the company violated the Clean Air Act and California Health and Safety code, among other violations, by using “defeat devices” to cheat emissions tests. Settlement money was distributed through trusts to states and programs aimed at funding mitigation actions that replace diesel emission sources with cleaner technology.
The mitigation trust will pay for 26 electric school buses in 11 Colorado school districts. These new electric school buses will help reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions and greenhouse gasses associated with the pre-2009 diesel buses that will be scrapped.
The school district’s transportation department will also receive two charging stations through the mitigation program, Mahaffey said.
“Per the grant requirements, we need to scrap the old diesels as the intention of the grant is that we remove older diesels operating on the road and replace them with cleaner alternatives,” she said. “We took two of the diesels down to a scrapyard last week to be crushed and will do that with the remaining two once we have the two new electrics in operation.”
In total, the district owns 21 full-sized school buses and is replacing four diesels with four electric buses.
Presentation on genetic testing
On Wednesday, March 15, Kim Burns, nurse practitioner and genetic counselor at Valley View’s Calaway-Young Cancer Center and Breast Center, will present “What is Genetic Testing?” during a virtual discussion via Zoom. The presentation is part of Valley View University, a series of free educational webinars hosted by Valley View.
In this 20-minute webinar, followed by an open Q&A, Burns will discuss who qualifies for genetic testing for breast cancer, what it involves, and how results are used to help manage health risks.
