Time Machine: 40 years ago, Ravinos tradition hits a roadblock in Vail
Vail Trail/Vail Daily archive
30 years ago
March 15, 1996
The Eagle Mine was 90% cleaned up, Gene Taylor of the Environmental Protection Agency told the Vail Town Council.
The Eagle Mine was designated a Superfund site in 1988 and was owned by the Viacom corporation. The effort to stop the mine from polluting metals into the nearby Eagle River cost between $50 million and $60 million, the Vail Trail reported.
“Taylor said metal contaminants in the water have decreased drastically over the last five years, allowing for growth in fish numbers,” the Trail reported. “Clean-up efforts have included the development of a water treatment facility, capping the tailings pile next to Minturn Middle School, monitoring the fish and other life that inhabit the Eagle River, and sealing the mine, Taylor said.”
40 years ago
March 14, 1986
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The high-flying Ravinos extreme lifestyle club was forced to cancel its St. Patrick’s Day tradition of performing flips and issuing new patches to members after the U.S. Forest Service denied it a permit to put on an event at Vail Pass.
The group had started on Vail Mountain 13 years earlier, but moved to Vail Pass after inverted aerials were banned at ski resorts.
“Parking, crowd control, sanitation, emergency medical services, and liability insurance have all become problems as the event grew larger each year,” the Vail Trail reported. “The Forest Service wants the Ravinos to increase their liability insurance policy from $300,000 to $1 million. A woman who was injured by a drunk driver at last year’s event is still trying to collect money to pay for hospital bills and lost wages.”
The Ravinos had instead made plans to get together and ski the resort that day, said Bob “Chi Bear” Garcia, one of the group’s organizers.
“We won’t get upside down on Vail Mountain.” Garcia said. “We’ll follow their rules.”
50 years ago
March 19, 1976
The Vail Town Council voted 6-1 favoring a pedestrian overpass connecting Lionshead and Sandstone-Potato Patch, ending months of debate on whether an overpass or an underpass should provide pedestrian access across I-70.
The Vail Trail reported, wryly, that the “controversy is ‘over'” following the decision.
“An impressive assortment of experts and technicians were on hand at Tuesday’s council meeting to present the pros and cons of bridges vs. tunnels,” the Trail reported. “Essentially, the arguments came down to the importance of the user vs. the viewer. In the opinions of most of the experts and the ‘Citizens committee formed to study the two alternatives, the user should be the priority with all efforts taken to make an overpass palatable to the viewer as well.”
60 years ago
March 18, 1966
Vail Ski Patrolman Jack Carnie received the official designation of Avalanche Specialist from the U.S. Forest service after attending a ten-day avalanche school, the Vail Trail reported.
“Most training sessions were conducted at the U.S.F.S. Avalanche Research Station at Berthoud Pass, Colorado,” the Trail reporeted. “Other field sessions were held at local avalanche sites; such as—the Urad Mine, Arapahoe Basin and Geneva Basin, for example.”
Students studied weather forecasting, snow physics, avalanche hazard forecasting, avalanche control techniques and avalanche rescue work.
“The U.S.F.S. Avalanche School is held once a year either at Berthoud Pass or Alta, Utah,” the Trail reported. “The students include Forest Service personnel, ski area operators, Ski Patrolmen, and Highway Maintenance Supervisors.”
70 years ago
March 15, 1956
Former Eagle resident Bob Yates was charged with murder in Alaska in the death of George W. Purdy, whose body was found in February near Anchorage.
Yates was known here by the alias of Jim Miller when he lived in Eagle several years earlier, the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.
The Alaskan police sent a letter to Eagle County authorities saying that Yates was reported to have had a .45 revolver in his possession when he arrived in Alaska. Colorado prison records showed the gun was purchased in Eagle, but the whereabouts of the gun were unknown, and Alaskan authorities were attempting to secure a description of the gun, the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.
“(Yates) was held by Eagle County authorities three years ago for Rio Blanco authorities, where he was wanted on a forgery charge,” the Enterprise reported. “He was sentenced in Meeker, then, to a term in Colorado’s penitentiary. Following his release from the pen, he returned to Eagle, where he was employed in a service station. He left there in a pickup purchased from his employer.”
Yates then went to Florida, where he was arrested for trying to sell a mortgaged property, and from there he went to Challis, Idaho, where he was accused of stealing five rifles.
“According to the territorial police, Yates left Macky, Idaho, Jan. 31 and arrived in Anchorage, Alaska Feb. 6, where he found work as a woodchopper, in the nearby woods,” the Enterprise reported. “On Feb. 27 he went into the city of Anchorage to take Purdy, who was to board a plane for the states. Purdy’s body was found along the road with two bullet holes in it. Yates was picked up several hours later when he declared he knew nothing of Purdy’s death.”
