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Wednesday, 31 December 2008 14:35 |
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Families used to be able to use a $100 annual pass to make as many trips up the Pikes Peak Highway as they chose. This opened up a large area to hiking, fishing, biking, etc. Starting Thursday, an 'unlimited' pass like this will no longer be available. Instead, for the same price, a 'punch card' pass will be issued, that gets an individual 14 trips (for $75), or a family five trips up the highway (for the same $100). Reason is a decrease in visitation this past year. Anglers can still get a $4 pass, and the normal daily fees ($10 per adult and $5 per child, or $35 per car) are not changing. Groups holding special events on the highway will see an increase in their fee as well (now $2000, was $1500). In spite of the fiscal woes, paving will continue as planned (scheduled 2012 completion) due to a court order mandating this. Read more in the Gazette.
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Comments
But what this will do is alienate locals, and rob the mountain of its most passionate visitors - people who don't view the mountain as an occasional getaway, but as their mountain. Our mountain. Locals who pick up trash in area parking lots. Locals who gladly direct visitors to bathroom, food and ranger facilities. Locals who share their deep knowlege of area trails, wildflowers and ecology with visitor. Locals who capture & post images of the peak & highway year round, generating endless free publicity. Locals that use their passes to give new visitors (who might otherwise never know what their missing) their first taste of the peak. It's usally not their last, which means locals are promoting the peak.
You know several years ago in response to declining in state skier visits, Colorado ski resorts started rolling out their hyper-cheap, multi-resort, unlimited ski passes for state residents. On the surface it looked like a huge giveaway. On the contrary the resorts understood that there are no better ambassadors for Colorado skiing that Colorado residents. I say ditto for the peak.
In 2007 the highway projected toll booth revenues of .9 million. Of that just over ,000 was for unlimited passes purchased by locals. Less that 3%. I have a hard time believing we're their answer to an 8% visitor shortfall. Last year only 540 of us held unlimited passes, mostly because the highway does a piss poor job of promoting it. Truth is they could be making a fortune on this.
True enough for the first 7 years we lived here we spent {comment_text} on the highway and never drove the peak - a head just wasn't worth it especially when we tend to just go up for a few hours at a time. But while we weren't willing to fork over for a day's drive, once we learned of the unlimited pass, we gladly paid 0 each of the last 3 years. Seven years - {comment_text}. Three years - 0. Do the math.
This in fact is a bad move financially and relationally. Its bad for the highway, its bad for visitors, its bad for the community. We should be encouraging our knowledgeable locals to spend more time invested with the peak, not less.
If any of this resonates with you please drop the highway's stated contact an email - Beckie Stevenson, bstevenson@springsgov.com. Or call the highway at 1-800-318-9505 and choose the option for the business office. Jack Glavan is listed as highway manager in the Gazette article. Consider asking for him. Also consider emailing Springs city council and the US Forest Service office (the city leases the land from the USFS which does have some say) in the Springs.
To end I quote Bill Carle who's family ran concessions on the peak for 50 years. In 2007 while responding to concerns that the highway and its associated facilities are in fact suffering and indeed short of needed cash (and decent management) Bill said, "My opinion is that until the facilities on the peak are a source of local pride, that the mountain will suffer." Cutting off the local's unlimited pass is not the way to do it. This is a terrible decision.
But I do believe we can turn this around.
Thanks for the offer, I'll take you up on that!