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
Comments Off on The Joy of Nordic Skiing
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.
Art & Culture Hotels & Lodging Telluride Festivals The Southwest Utah: Art & Culture Hotels & Lodging Telluride Festivals The Southwest Utah
by maribeth
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Telluride, Monument Valley and the Oscars
In Living Color: Monument Valley
How about those Oscars? Wasn’t it a great show? I was thrilled that I had seen most of the films nominated for an award here in our little mountain town of Telluride, Colorado way back in September. Yes, just as in recent years, many of the movies that gained high acclaim from the Academy of Motion Pictures were shown here in T-ride—either as premiers or sneak peeks—during the Telluride Film Festival (TFF) long before they were officially released. Telluride’s selection of films seems to be filled with Oscar contenders more so than the lineups presented at other renowned film festivals in New York, Venice and Toronto.
Much of the Oscar buzz takes place before and after this annual awards show. I was thrilled to tune into CBS Sunday Morning, one of my all-time favorite TV shows, to see Monument Valley: Mother Nature’s scene stealing movie star, last Sunday. It was a wonderful segment that featured the extraordinary sense of place of this iconic site and the many Oscar-worthy movies filmed there including “The Searchers,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” “Back to the Future,” “Forrest Gump” and many more. This majestic landscape has appeared in dozens of films as well as countless commercials. Almost a half a million visitors go to Monument Valley every year, largely because of the prominence it has enjoyed in the movies. Thanks to Harry Gouding and his wife, Leone (known as Mike), film director John Ford discovered Monument Valley and its perfect setting for great western movies and feature films. This was highlighted in the CBS piece although Goulding’s Lodge and its terrific Trading Post Museum, which also showcases the history of movie-making in the area, were scarcely mentioned.
Colorado Shopping Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Colorado Shopping Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride
by maribeth
Comments Off on Finding Happy Feet at Bootdoctors
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.
Romance & Relationships Writing & Books: Romance & Relationships Writing & Books
by maribeth
Comments Off on Grant Me a Higher Love this Valentine’s Day and Forever
Grant Me a Higher Love this Valentine’s Day and Forever
Cindi Sansone-Braff: The Romance Whisperer
Ugh, love relationships. It’s crazy how they can be so off-the-charts wonderful and at other times so down-in-the-dumps horrible. Who among us has not ridden this roller coaster of love at least once in his or her life? Whether you’re looking for your perfect soulmate or trying to elevate the divine love you’ve already found, help is on the way.
I chatted with Cindi Sansone-Braff, author of Grant Me a Higher Love: How to Go from Relationship from Hell to One that’s Heaven Sent in a recent Travel Fun interview. Cindi started out by talking about the importance of travel and getaways with people in love and how travel can be a test of compatibility. She quickly segued into more meatier stuff and emphasized the importance of people having either “two feet in or two feet out of a relationship.” It seems as though many people in today’s society only approach relationships halfway.
“Being granted a higher love is not so difficult,” Cindi explains, something that most of us can likely attest to if we’ve been fortunate enough to be hit with the thunderbolt of love a few months into a relationship. “Maintaining love is the hard part,” Cindi continues. “It does demand work or it’s going to go bad.” It seems as though many people are on cruise mode and allow dysfunction to destroy the love they’ve been granted.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
