Mountain Living Telluride: Mountain Living Telluride
by maribeth
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Spring in Telluride: Mud and So Much More
I like showing a different view of Telluride each season by changing out my Bonjour Telluride banner. But I’m sorry I won’t be presenting you with any spring shots this year. The weather has been particularly gloomy and the reprieves have been as unpredictable and infrequent as wet days in the dessert (which is by the way only 2 1/2 hours away in Moab, Utah). We’ve had periods of rain, hail and even snow, magnificent displays of weather that have sometimes been thankfully interspersed with radiant rays of sunshine and the occasional rainbow. I haven’t been fast enough with the camera though to capture all this—or more precisely me in this environment—for the periods of luminosity have been quickly trailed by more inclement weather, steely grey skies and great gusts of wind.
Today has so far started out brilliantly sunny yet who knows how long that will last. The peaks have been dusted with freshly fallen snow the past few days, a coating of confectioner’s sugar on our monolithic mountains. All is green and lush and the mountain streams and rivers are running hard and fast. There’s no talk of drought or fires this year. These spring soakings have preceded our usual monsoons of July and August which many of us hope means an especially warm and sunny summer. I’m sure the wildflowers will be good this year, too.
I’m grateful I’ve adapted so well to this mountain climate. My closet is full year-round with a supply of fleeces, base layers, wool socks, hats, scarves and gloves. My winter ski jackets are easily donned in the summer, especially at night after a blazing hot day when temperatures typically plunge in our super dry climate. My bathing suit has so far only been pulled out for use in the neighboring hot springs. This being the mountains, I know, however, how quickly all that can change. We’re sure to have some blistering days yet.
Our seasons are marked by seemingly endless variations of weather created by our high elevation (8,500 to 9,500 feet for the most part) and strong southerly location (at least in comparison to my native New York). The lilacs and tulips are just blooming here now, most irises and roses won’t come out until July and many people haven’t dared to plant their summer flowers yet out of fear they’ll be nipped by a lingering frost.
Some say winter is long and summer is short in the Rockies. The brightness of our winters, however, easily carries me through our long snowy season that is perhaps more short-lived elsewhere. In truth, I get excited when I see the peaks emerge from the clouds, snow-capped in clean whiteness, even if it’s mid June. Telluride is among the finest of mountain towns in the world and here you have to marvel at the magic of the weather, even if it means not being always able to capture them in a Kodak moment or two.
To find out all that’s happening right now in Telluride and in the upcoming months, check out the Telluride Tourism Board. You may even see some nice images of our ever-changing sky.
Art & Culture Telluride Travel: Art & Culture Ken Burns Nature Telluride Telluride Festivals Travel
by maribeth
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America the Beautiful
Upper Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, California
I had been in Aspen most of off-season and didn’t return to Telluride until the tail end of Memorial Day Weekend which also marked the closing of Mountain Film. Fortunately I arrived in time to catch the last film in the six-part series of “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” by renowned documentarian Ken Burns. I was truly captivated.
I knew I’d see magnificent landscapes (which was part of the reason I wanted to see at least one segment on the big screen even though all will be aired on PBS this fall). I didn’t imagine, however, that I’d feel so emotionally connected to this work. Sure spectacular scenery and great vistas can be stirring, but it is largely the people that recount the many stories behind our national parks that moved me to tears. Most of our more than fifty national parks were born out of the efforts of extremely perseverant individuals and small groups of people, hearty, committed souls determined to preserve some of the most extraordinary corners of our country. Few of the parcels came easily and opposition arose from many factions including big business and government.
But as Ken Burns illustrates, our national parks (and national monuments and national forests) embody the spirit of our country. These sites are also where some of our most significant family memories have been forged. There’s a sense of nostalgia and familiarity evoked in both the old and new footage that makes up “The National Parks” and one can’t help considering many of the places featured like old friends even without having actually visited the location.
National parks are an American invention—it’s no wonder this concept of preserving a place has been exported to almost every country on earth. After eight years of considerable neglect and with interest that will surely be spurred by this fascinating documentary, we can only hope that our national parks will experience a surge of renewed interest. “We’re fast approaching the centennial in 2016, “ Ken Burns said at the Tellluride premiere of this great work. “This is a grand opportunity to reach people that haven’t been reached before.”
Biscayne National Park, Florida
The above photos were taken by Quang-Tuan Luong, a passionate photographer that has photographed all fifty-eight of America’s national parks. Quang was also present at Mountain Film with Ken. Be sure to visit his site to appreciate the full breadth of his work—it’s like taking a quick tour through our national parks! You can also purchase his prints online. And guess what? Quang grew up in France. I’ve found that it sometimes takes foreigners—often the French, in fact—to fully appreciate what we have in our own backyard.
Art & Culture Being Green Food & Wine Mountain Living Telluride: Art & Culture Being Green Food & Wine Ken Burns Mountain Living Nature Telluride Telluride Festivals
by maribeth
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Mountainfilm Mania
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Banner Over T-ride
Festival season has arrived here in Telluride and it kicks off today with Mountainfilm. “It’s a weird mix of film fest, think tank and jamboree,” says Mountainfilm Director, David Holbrooke. “It’s both low key and intense, loose, yet focused,” he continues. Indeed Mountainfilm is where some of the best minds in the country come to share their ideas through art, film, presentations and books. David discussed the essence of this Memorial Day weekend tradition in Telluride and its 2009 lineup during a recent Travel Fun interview. This year’s theme is food, so, of course, there will be a lot to whet your appetite—for your body, mind and soul.
For me, one of the main attractions this year includes the premiere of “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” by master documentarian Ken Burns. “I think he’s taught more people about the history of America than anyone else,” David says about Ken Burns referring to his documentaries on the Civil War, World War II, jazz, baseball and more. You can tune in to PBS this fall to view this six-part series about the history of our national parks.
“The people that come to Mountainfilm are leaders of a paradigm we need to head to whether culturally or environmentally,” David emphasizes. Such people include renowned chef Ming Tsai, mountain adventurer Conrad Anker, animal activist Paul Watson and reporter Nicholas Kristof, to name a few. David’s dad, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, will participate via a tele conference since world affairs prevent him from being at the festival in person.
Be sure to visit the MF Store to purchase DVDs highlights from the festival and definitely take in some of the events if you’re in Telluride this weekend.
Book Picks
“Deep Economy,” by Bill McKibben
“Edge of Never,” by Bill Kerig
Both authors and many others will be present at this year’s Mountainfilm.
Restaurants Romance & Relationships Telluride: Music & Dance Restaurants Telluride
by maribeth
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Night Out in Telluride
I moved to Telluride almost six years ago largely for its scenery, sunshine and sophistication. I often say that the world comes to Telluride and am amazed by the number of renowned musicians, authors and movers and shakers from the film industry and other creative and scientific domains that consistently descend upon our little mountain town, often to perform or share their work in a small venue. These people are drawn to the beauty and mystique of Telluride as much as the average ski bum is in awe over our plunging slopes and lively bars.
Our world-class festivals bring in much of this talent, extraordinary happenings that take place for the most part from Memorial Day to Labor Day, attracting devotees and casual observers from near and far. Thankfully Telluride’s special attractions are not just reserved for the summer months. There’s plenty to take in here year-round, making it exceedingly difficult to remain idle in this remote mountain town, even in the dead of winter or the thick of off-season.
Grooving to Grupo Fantasma at the Sheridan Opera House
Many of the events are, in fact, hosted by the big festivals. Such was the case recently at the Sheridan Opera House, where the Telluride Jazz Festival put on their winter concert to a sell out crowd. Anything the Telluride Jazz Festival does is of the highest quality, so my interest was naturally piqued when I learned that Grupo Fantasma, a ten-piece latin band, would be showcased this year. Seeing such a sizzling ensemble of musicians jamming on the tiny stage of our historic opera house could not be missed. (As one of Telluride’s landmark sites, this jewel box of a theater has featured illustrious performers such as Lillian Gish, Sarah Bernhardt and Jackson Browne in its more than one-hundred-year-old existence.)
Sheridan Opera House: A Telluride Treasure
Plus the stakes were raised for this evening out. The truth is I had heard about this show from the folks at my salsa class. Salsa as in dancing, not sauce making. I hadn’t taken a dance class since I was seven years old but in recent years I became increasingly consumed with the idea of signing up for lessons with a most willing partner. (My days of dancing the alley cat in a fouffy party dress at the Country Club must have indeed marked me. Or was it the yummy ice cream sundae that followed each session that had me hooked?)
The Ah-haa School, one of Telluride’s fine assets, is a stronghold of learning and fun that offers a great variety of courses from silkscreening to yes, salsa dancing. Why I started out with one of the most challenging dances known to man I do not know. I had found my perfect partner in Steve (see Night Out in Telluride Mountain Village posting), so of course I thought if there’s a will there’s a way and surely we’d be dancing like two passionate latin lovers in no time. Come again? We moved clumsily through our various moves with about as much heat as two gringos doing the macarena at an Italian wedding reception. But still we persevered. This must be some kind of a test of our relationship, I thought to myself numerous times. Up until then we enjoyed an amazingly harmonious existence (excepting the times he’d blow me off on powder days). Now it seemed ridiculous to subject ourselves to consternation such as what step to take when.
Attending Grupo Fantasma was to be a coming out party of sorts for our salsa class. Sure our teacher, the lovely Debbie Reynolds (most aptly named!), was to be there but she would not be calling out quick, quick, slow, quick, quick, slow to us the way she lead us through each move in class.
The Vault Room at La Coçina de Luz
Many of us gathered at La Cocina de Luz, a favorite locals’ restaurant, for dinner before the show. We enjoyed our own special enclave within the Vault Room where we ate chips and salsa, sipped margaritas, savored mexican food lovingly prepared from the finest ingredients and swapped stories about who we really were beneath our dancing personas and where we hoped to go with our newly acquired hobby. (I liked the idea of some of us going on a latin dance cruise the best!)
We pulled ourselves away from this colorful and lively establishment and braved the short, brisk walk down the street to the Opera House. Grupo Fantasma did indeed turn the chilly night into a hot, sweaty happening fueled by a couple more drinks but most of all our earnest desire to dance the night away with real passion and minimal stepping on each other’s feet. Steve almost gave up on us, lamenting that we couldn’t follow the beat and that I kept attempting to lead.
Then suddenly we clicked. We were dancing the salsa. I looked around and realized that the only people that did anything other than hippie dancing were those from our little salsa class. We felt truly initiated into the exciting world of latin dancing (even though I’m sure we looked like total white folk). We signed up for another series of classes. We talked about taking a trip to Vegas where there’s no shortage of salsa. We dreamed about breaking out into a sensuous salsa some day in South America like two dark haired latin lovers on a spotlighted stage. I started tuning in to “Dancing with the Stars” to check out the moves on the salsa dances. We started to feel more and more latino with every class.
“Jazz Festival will be here soon enough,” I mentioned to Steve. “Maybe there will even be a latin act on the town park stage or at the opera house,” I added, hinting at the opportunity to dance more to some great live music.
“We better get practicing then,” he replied with a hint of a smile on his curled up mouth.
“I’ll check the salsa CDs out of the library. You’d better start polishing your shoes.”
Soup, Salad and Lots of Salsa in T-ride
Sheridan Opera House, 970-728-6363, www.sheridanoperahouse.com
Telluride Jazz Festival, 970-728-7009, www.telluridejazz.org
Ah-Haa School, 970-728-3886, www.ahhaa.org
La Coçina de Luz, 970-728-9355, www.lacocinatelluride.com
More Favorite Telluride Restaurants
New Sheridan Chop House, 800-200-1891 and 970-728-4351, www.newsheridan.com
Cosmo, 970-728-1292, www.cosmotelluride.com
Rustico, 970-728-4026, www.rusticoristorante.com
La Marmotte, 970-728-6263, www.lamarmotte.com
Thank you to Ron Semrod for the interior photo of the Sheridan Opera House.
Food & Wine Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Romance & Relationships Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Restaurants Romance & Relationships Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
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Night Out in Telluride Mountain Villlage
Great Room with a View on a Busier Night
I almost can’t wait for the ski season to end. The key word there is almost. I’d love for the skiing to go on and on but I’m also yearning to spend more time at my desk, something that is indeed a big challenge when the slopes lie right outside your door and you’re caught up in the ski fever that grips every mountain town from late November through a good part of April. Plus I’ve been working a lot on the hill teaching skiing, a very rewarding job that not surprisingly leaves little energy for writing at the end of the day.
Then there’s the near grueling pace of the social life that one must endure in such a happening mountain resort. No matter how much you try to stay in, there’s always a concert (often free!), a dinner, a party or an impromptu gathering to take in. Telluride is a culturally rich, increasingly sophisticated town, which consistently goes off at the close of the lifts. more »
Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Colorado Ski School Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
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Family Fun Facilitators
Breaking for a Photo with Lisa, Noah and Sage in Front of a Mountain Lodge Cabin
“So what do you like best about skiing?” I asked eight-year old Patrick on one of our many chairlift rides together. There was a long pause during which time I anticipated the usual response, the one I receive most from kids—something along the line of loving to zip down the slopes really fast. Patrick gazed out at the snow covered panorama that glittered with white diamonds before us on that chilly, yet sunny, morning.
“I like the views of the mountains,” he finally replied. “It’s so beautiful,” he added with all the wonder of having just opened a prettily wrapped Christmas present and finding a treasure inside. “Back in D.C. where we live there are cars all over the place,” he added. “It’s so busy. Here it’s beautiful and quiet.”
I pondered his answer as we sailed over the slopes dotted with skiers of varying ability levels, largely vacationers that all totaled resulted in record-breaking numbers for the mountain this past holiday season. “It is lovely here, isn’t it?” I replied, thinking about how the awe-inspiring grandeur of our jagged peaks escapes no one, not even children that are typically focused on the thrill of bombing down the hill more than absorbing the beauty of the surrounding area.
It was day eleven of my fifteen-day stint of ski instructing and with each client, big and small, I always found new inspiration, a fresh take on how to help everyone maximize their mountain experience. I was on private lessons throughout this period, assignments that allowed me to more fully connect with my students which in turn created bonds that brought us all closer together, parents included.
Sure skiing improved and we even broke through barriers such as being able to carefully work our way down steeper terrain without succumbing to a total meltdown. (Cheering about those achievements together afterward was always the best!) But more importantly, relationships were forged; everyone had more fun, a not-so negligent happening that produced a more positive time on the slopes and memories that would surely last a lifetime.
Some of my most vivid memories involve family ski vacations and I know that that’s the case for most of the people that chose to brave the cold and snow, the often tedious adjustments of clothing and gear and challenges such as trying to get your skis into a perfect parallel on a blue run when it feels safer to revert back to a power wedge. Running about on a sandy beach—clad in nothing but a bathing suit—is far less daunting, yet certainly less rewarding.
I like doing what most ski instructors do best here in Telluride: working with adults and children as a sort of family fun facilitator. And in doing this, we take on a variety of roles at different times including coach, mountain adventure leader, big buddy and even surrogate mom, to name a few. As an enthusiastic instructor, I introduce silly chairlift games, orchestrate drills such as skiing on one ski (to better feel the weight on the outside ski) or just simply cruise down the trail, setting the pace with a variety of turn shapes for all to follow.
Colorado Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Colorado Ski School Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
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Training and Turns
Telluride Ski and Snowboard Instructors at Morning Lineup Before the Sun Even Hits "The Beach"
It’s almost midnight and I’m trying to wrap up a few loose ends in my writer’s world so that I can devote the majority of my energy to my ski instructor life—at least for the next two weeks. As of tomorrow, I’ll be on the mountain some fifteen days in a row. Typical ski instructor schedule around the holidays as a great influx of visitors and second-home owners are debarking this weekend and next. Those that are super organized have already done all of their Christmas preparations and such; others, like myself, rely primarily on the mountain for invoking great festive spirit.
Charting the Course for Future Mountain Adventures with Clients
We’ve all been working hard these past few weeks to improve our turns and also to perfect our teaching and communication skills. This has been achieved throughout a variety of workshops, orientations and training sessions both on snow and off; all has been carried out in an effort to ready ourselves for our clients and guests, young and old, first timers as well as well versed ski and snowboard enthusiasts. Probably what resonated the most for me was the importance of the emotional connection we create with our clients or students. (That comes more naturally to me than skiing the steeps!)
And the mountain has cooperated heartily. Snow fell twenty inches within twenty-four hours this past week, bringing snow totals for the month of December up to 69 inches. All lifts are open and the trails are cushioned with downy packed powder throughout.
My laundry is done, my little apartment is super clean and tidy and there’s a stock of EmergenC in the cupboard, chicken soup in the freezer and a huge bag of crunchies for my kitties in the closet. There’s not much more I can do to be entirely ready to spend a string of long, cold days on the mountain. And I can’t wait. I often say that becoming a ski instructor is the best thing I ever did for my writing career. It gets me out of my own often squirrel-ly way and allows me to interact with all kinds of people in a place I love dearly doing something that is incredibly fun. Telluride Ski and Snowboard School is one big family. The mountain, in fact, is one huge tribe. I look forward to providing updates about our gang throughout the season.
Spreading Rainbows and Sunshine: The Most Important Part of Our Job
Thank you to Deb Willits for the photos. She is most certainly one of the best Professional Ski Instructor of America (PSIA) trainers in the country and Telluride is lucky to have her.
The Mountain Awaits You
Colorado Mountain Living Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Colorado Mountain Living Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
Comments Off on Winter in Telluride: Loving the Snow
Winter in Telluride: Loving the Snow
San Sophia Ridge
O.K., the calendar might not say that it’s officially winter, but it has been feeling pretty wintery here since the big storm blew in on Thanksgiving. It’s lovely to see Telluride blanketed in white, and there’s no doubt now that the mountain and the town will be wearing its snowy mantle all the way through spring. The ski area opened on Thursday and I finally pulled myself away from my desk yesterday to do my first turns of the season. Oh, what joy! I feel so fortunate to live here and to be able to tap into the mountain’s restorative powers on a whim.
For me, poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, a local, has beautifully captured the spirit of winter in Telluride in the below poem.
if you listen
the snow falls with
no sound
standing outside
in its silence
you find yourself
listening
to listening
but oh,
this snow knows symphony
its score is written on
every mountain, every tree
each rooftop, each street
as each snowflake falls
a silent beat
a voiceless song
composed by sky
performed by icicle,
avalanche,
slush and ski
if you listen
you’ll hear it echoing
the snow is silent
and still
it sings
Thank you to Rosemerry for such inspirational words and vivid imagery. I encourage you to learn more about her work at www.wordwoman.com.
