Avalanche victim lived life of adventure

CANMORE, Alberta — A 28-year-old woman from Canmore has died in an avalanche that occurred on the border of Banff and Kootenay national parks.

Susanna Lantz had been working as a nursing attendant at Canmore’s hospital, but was a passionate adventurer, competing in grueling bicycle races and was a keen rock climber, says the Rocky Mountain Outlook.

Several years ago, using her savings from a job as a tree-planter, she took a one-year solo adventure, riding her bicycle from Calgary to the southern tip of Argentina. Along the way, she climbed the walls of Yosemite and camped alone in road culverts.

Banff finished with mag chloride?

BANFF, Alberta — Banff town officials are talking about ceasing use of magnesium chloride to melt snow and instead switching to a more environmentally benign but expensive potassium acetate liquid deicer.

The potassium compound costs $3.44 per liter, compared to 29 cents a liter for mag chloride. Mag chloride is highly corrosive to metal and concrete, although not as much as the basic sodium chloride road salt used by most other municipalities.

The cost increase in Banff would be $34,000, reports the Rocky Mountain Outlook.

'Greener' garage opens in Jackson

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The 280-car parking garage, located adjacent to the $35 million Jackson Hole Center for the Arts, has been completed.

An array of lights atop the garage will use light-emitting diode technology, which lasts longer and uses less energy. The cost is higher, but Larry Pardee, the public works director, estimates the payback period of only 2.4 years.

Town officials had originally hoped to put solar collectors atop the parking structure, but discovered that the extra weight would increase cost of steel and concrete by $250,000 in a project already well over budget. Instead, town officials now hope to create a solar-collecting farm near the community sewage treatment plant.

Crested Butte stresses ice efficiency

CRESTED BUTTE, Colorado — Crested Butte is planning an ice rink, but it is being very clear with all involved that it wants energy efficiency to be of the highest priority. The concern is such that hope the architectural firm they hired has a “pro-green” outlook, the Crested Butte News says.

But there is also a hint that the long-term energy efficiency and the up-front costs may be a balancing act. Bob Gillie, the town building and zoning director, said reducing energy use will probably require building a “geoexchange system,” which he believes will be very expensive.

“It’s something we want to investigate, but there’s no doubt it will take more money to do that,” he said.