Breckenridge Colorado Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies: Breckenridge Colorado Front Range Keystone Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies
by maribeth
Comments Off on Front Range Fun: Mountain Travel Symposium, Breckenridge and Keystone
Front Range Fun: Mountain Travel Symposium, Breckenridge and Keystone
Mountain Travel Movers and Shakers AKA T-ride’s Top GMs in the Powder Line at Breck
I’m back home after a terrific week on the Front Range of Colorado where I experienced three different ski resorts, a few nice restaurants and some fun hobnobbing with the folks attending Mountain Travel Symposium (MTS), the largest and longest-running annual gathering of travel professionals in the world. The conference took place in Breckenridge, which served as an excellent base for discovering one of the biggest ski resorts of the country, neighboring ski resorts and the surrounding area. (The drive over Hoosier Pass, just outside of Breck, upon arrival and departure was especially beautiful and one that I definitely recommend.)
Now I feel like I have more of a sense of this part of our Rocky Mountain state—less than a two-hour drive from Denver. The majestic scenery and near limitless options for fun and adventure in these mountains help me to understand why so many people plan their travels around Front Range destinations. Crowds can be a big drawback, however if you go in April, you can enjoy primo spring skiing on half-empty mountains where lift lines only occur on powder days.
Breckenridge Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding Vail: Arapahoe Basin Breckenridge Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding Vail
by maribeth
Comments Off on Arapahoe Basin and Vail: Where Spring Skiing is King in Colorado
Arapahoe Basin and Vail: Where Spring Skiing is King in Colorado
Spring Fun After a Spring Storm in Vail
Spring Skiers and Riders
Now that the Telluride Ski Resort has closed, I’m on the Front Range reveling in the great skiing of this part of Colorado. And boy, there are so many resorts from which to choose, including Keystone, Copper, Loveland, Breckenridge, Arapahoe Basin and Vail. You can make a town such as Breckenridge—where I am currently for the Mountain Travel Symposium (MTS)—your base and ski or ride at a half dozen resorts during your stay.
After this season’s historic snowfalls in this part of the Rocky Mountain state, many of Colorado’s top ski resorts including Aspen have extended their closing dates through early May. A-Basin, the highest ski resort in Colorado, typically closes toward the end of May/early June, so who knows what this season will bring? (They don’t announce their closing date in advance. It’s contingent upon the spring storms and crowds, both of which swell in this part of the Rockies.)
Colorado Podcasts Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Colorado Podcasts Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
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The Joy of Nordic Skiing
Steve Hindman on His Skinny Skis
I sat down with DeAnne Gabriel and Steve Hindman, two professional nordic ski instructors, back in February to do a Travel Fun interview. They shared a wagonload of tips about cross country skiing from how and where to do it in and around Telluride, Colorado to recommendations for first timers.
As we approach the end of the alpine ski season here in Telluride, I thought I’d post the interview below as a podcast since April and May provide many great opportunities for heading out to embrace the glide.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Aspen Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Aspen Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
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Skiing with Rock Stars: Schussing with Telluride’s Synchronized Ski Teams
Southern Synchro Skiers Practicing in Telluride, Colorado
My View of the Ghostriders’s Last Run Just as the Sun Was Peeking Over the Mountain
OK, well I wasn’t exactly skiing with these elite snowsports professionals. I was actually tagging along to watch them perform. I’ve been telling many of my fellow Telluride Ski and Snowboard School friends these past couple of months that I’d come out and watch them do their stuff. But I admit that the idea of getting on the slopes before the sun rises over the mountain hasn’t thrilled me, especially since I’ve been working as a ski instructor myself almost nonstop since mid-February. But I set my alarm earlier yesterday and greeted members from theses two teams—Telluride Ghostriders and Southern Synchro Skiers—in the locker room and at the top of the gondola before I had time to have my second cup of coffee. A few warm exchanges were shared but from the get-go, I could tell they were all business. The task at hand was to charge down the mountain three times, accomplishing a total of six expertly coordinated formations, within a half hour before Telluride Ski Resort officially opened for the day and before they had to go to work as ski instructors potentially teaching every level of student from first-time beginners to level eight all-mountain skiers. Wow, what a way to kickstart your morning.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Restaurants Shopping Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride Trip Planning Writing & Books: Colorado Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Restaurants Shopping Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride Trip Planning Writing & Books
by maribeth
Comments Off on KOTO Fundraising: Fun and Great Giveaways
KOTO Fundraising: Fun and Great Giveaways
KOTO Radio: The Soul of Telluride, Colorado
Join me today, Thursday, March 20, A LITTLE EARLIER at about 6:20 pm (through 7pm) in Telluride, Colorado and within the outlying area and on the internet for my Travel Fun talk radio show. This will be a special live show for KOTO fundraising featuring a variety of movers and shakers from Telluride’s hospitality/tourism world. I will be giving away lots of great premiums including lodging stays, restaurant and retail gift certificates, books and even ski lift tickets in exchange for a donation to KOTO.
KOTO is a local NPR station and one of the few entirely community supported radio stations in the country. Please consider making a contribution to KOTO, so that we can keep community radio alive and well in America. That’s also a way of showing your support for Travel Fun! Please email me from my Contacts Page with your pledge or donation. Many of my Travel Fun interviews are posted on this blog as podcasts here.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies: Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding The Rockies
by maribeth
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Powderhorn: For Family Fun and Great Skiing at Half the Price
Major Pow Wow in Powderhorn
We’re in the throes of spring break madness here at most Colorado ski resorts and frankly I’m left wondering how a family of four does it these days. Between the price of lift tickets, lunches, instruction and overall travel expenses, a family ski vacation in Colorado can represent as much as a down payment on a house. I’m fully appreciative of the ski getaways I did with my family when I was a kid but still we went mostly to down-home ski areas in western Massachusetts and upstate New York, all a far cry from the destination resorts of the West. Mom and Dad would pack my bunch of brothers and me into the station wagon along with a picnic basket loaded with Mom’s homemade submarine sandwiches and peanut butter cookies and off we’d go for a fun day on the slopes.
Not a ski day goes by that I don’t feel a pinch of nostalgia for those simpler times, so I was especially thrilled to discover Powderhorn Mountain Resort, a terrific little ski area on the western slope of Colorado just a short drive from Grand Junction. I skied there recently with my dear friend Paula, another northeastern gal who shares the same fond memories as I about family ski trips of a more modest scale, and was delighted to discover the many charms of this little-known resort. From the parkas and pants for rent at the ski shop, to the cubbies and lockers for boots and other belongings to the sack lunch room to the enormous deck at the Sunset Grille to the lift tickets at half the price of major resorts, I loved the vibe of this place from the get-go.
Colorado Shopping Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Colorado Shopping Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
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Finding Happy Feet at Bootdoctors
Standing Comfortably in My Cozy Boots Awaiting My Clients at Telluride Ski Resort
Ouch, with almost a hundred days a year in my ski boots, I often feel the need for a foot massage. Sadly that’s not part of my regular routine and I’ve yet to hear my boyfriend volunteer for that job. I am, however, careful to have a proper fit with my ski boots in order to assure the best performance on the slopes and to stop any potential irritation at the source.
It’s been a busy winter and I’ve been in my ski boots most days since mid December instructing with the Telluride Ski & Snowboard School. A podiatrist once told me that stilettos spurred the invention of podiatry. I’d guess that ski boots have also played a part in the need for treatment of disorders of the foot and ankle although fortunately most ski boot issues can be remedied with the right help before real problems begin.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding Steamboat Springs Telluride The Rockies: Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding Steamboat Springs Telluride The Rockies
by maribeth
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Skiing Steamboat Powder
Skiing Fresh Pow in Steamboat
My Powder Hound
Woo-hoo! There’s nothing like skiing fresh powder, especially when it’s the nice champagne powder we have here in Colorado, the dry, glittering fluff you float through like a glider rollicking on air drafts above a mountain peak. We’ve been having wonderful winter snowstorms here in our Rocky Mountain state with snow totals reaching over two feet at most resorts within a twenty-four hour period at the end of last week and then another biggie that hit just yesterday. I was teaching skiing here in Telluride throughout the biggest pow period and although I wasn’t able to have the fun I’d have on my own, I did enjoy introducing some intermediate skiers to their first powder day—a whole different experience from skiing groomers.
I had the biggest powder day of my life almost a month ago in Steamboat Springs, a resort that’s been particularly well served in the fluffy white stuff this year. My boyfriend, Steve, and I hit it right and managed to arrive just ahead of road closures and other inconveniences caused by a very big dump. They had such a snow event in the area that people had a hard time finding their way to the slopes (especially if they had to cross Rabbit Ears Pass). Fortunately we were staying slopeside in the newly renovated Sheraton Steamboat Resort, the best property of its kind at this popular mountain destination both due to its superb location and the quality of the establishment and services provided. We were thrilled to find ourselves in a contemporary-styled, one-bedroom condo hotel unit where we were able to sprawl out for three days. (A ski trip always involves a lot of clothing and gear even if you’re a seasoned traveler staying for a short while.)
