Ski Train headed for duty – in Iowa
All aboard! The Ski Train is heading to Iowa City, Iowa, for the fall, where it will spend Saturdays ferrying devout Hawkeyes fans to and from Kinnick Stadium for home football games.
“There happens to be a railroad track about 200 yards from the entrance to the stadium, and there is a mall about 4 miles down the road where there is plenty of free parking,” said Jim Bain, president of the Ski Train. “It’s almost like the DIA shuttle.”
But skiers and snowboarders need not worry – the Ski Train will be back in Colorado by late November to prepare for its winter runs from Union Station to Winter Park.
“It works out great for both of us,” Bain said. “Otherwise, we just park it and wait for the ski season to start.”
Credit-card carrot: Air time in private jet
Who says private jets are only for the rich? P’shaw. If you can earn 195,000 points on an American Express card, you can get a $5,000 credit toward a private jet flight. One problem for the average wage-earner: Earning each point generally requires spending $1.
But the exclusivity may be the biggest attraction of this new option called Private Jet Rewards in the American Express Membership Rewards program. Cardholders can choose either charter service Bombardier Skyjet or fractional-ownership program Bombardier Flexjet. The average hourly rate for a Skyjet on-demand charter light jet is $1,800 to $2,000 an hour.
Golf tournament aids cancer patients
Tee off for a good cause.
Metro Denver golfers will take out their drivers next week to help those affected by cancer at the sixth annual Golfing for Gilda’s Club fundraiser. The Heritage Eagle Bend Golf and Country Club will host the event Sept. 12.
Registration costs $130. All proceeds go to Gilda’s Club, which helps people with cancer and their families learn how to live life more fully. Named for comedian Gilda Radner, who died in 1989 after a battle with ovarian cancer, Gilda’s Club offers its services for free.
For more information, contact Carol Thurber at 1-800-316- 4660.
Steamboat billboard touts grounded set
Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. takes a jab at the competition (hmmm, maybe Vail?) in a new billboard going up this week on westbound Interstate 70 near Golden.
“100% Pure Champagne Powder,” the sign says as a skier bounds through the white stuff. “No Artificial Ingredients (Or People).”
Andy Wirth, Steamboat vice president of sales and marketing, said the billboard isn’t aimed at a particular competitor but is part of the company’s campaign to draw Front Range skiers from the “crowded I-70 corridor” resorts. It also targets destination skiers traveling west from the airport, he said.
The billboard touts “the quality and volume of Steamboat snow and the quality of the mountain town,” Wirth said. “Those are the key points of differentiation for Steamboat.”
But there’s some history that points Steamboat’s barb to Vail. The new sign replaces one that for two seasons touted Steamboat’s “Snow that’s 70% drier” and “A town that’s 100% friendlier.”
That sign went up about the time Vail businesses got themselves into trouble with some Front Range customers by complaining about day skiers and parking problems on the weekends.
Vail Resorts spokeswoman Kelly Ladyga said, “We don’t perceive there to be any inference about our resorts” in the billboard.
Wirth said he’s not worried about other ski towns taking offense.
“The people of the community of Steamboat Springs are very secure in who we are,” he said. “How other communities see this is a function of their potential weaknesses as it relates to the type of experience they provide.”
Pumps near stations restrict TV coverage
Apparently, not all publicity is good publicity – at least to the folks at Diamond Shamrock.
The Diamond Shamrock at Sixth Avenue and Speer Boulevard has the distinction of being surrounded on three sides by television news outlets – Fox, Channel 7 and Channel 9 – that regularly rely on the location when they’re shooting stories on gas prices or lottery tickets.
The convenient jaunt to the station down the street is no longer an option, now that Diamond Shamrock officials have clamped down on the store’s open-access policy. Reporters must now get prior clearance from corporate officials before filming at the station. Additionally, they’re not allowed to shoot any of the store’s logos, according to an advisory sent out by a 9News staffer.
A store manager referred questions about the new policy to a corporate official who declined to comment.
Wives, friends desired companions in jams
Perhaps it’s a daily ritual: You’re sitting on the freeway, stuck in traffic, trying to reach work on time. Who would make a good car companion? An insurance company posed this question, and more than 1,100 people answered it. Surprisingly, celebrities on the order of Paris Hilton and George Clooney weren’t very appealing for a majority.
Instead, men chose their wives or significant others, while women said they would prefer to ride with a best friend.
Nearly half (44 percent) said their favorite music would be good while sitting in traffic, while phone gabbing came in No. 2 with 29 percent. About a fifth of women said they would prefer to read (presumably while riding as the passenger). The survey was conducted the first week of August for AIG Auto Insurance, a unit of New York-based insurer AIG International Inc.
