Aspen Colorado Hotels & Lodging Restaurants Telluride The Rockies: Altezza Aspen Aspen/Snowmass Colorado dining Explore Booksellers Home Team BBQ Inn at Aspen Jour de Fête lodging Meat & Cheese Mountain Lodge Telluride Redstone Redstone Inn Snowmass Kitchen Telluride Telluride Ski Resort The Peaks Resort & Spa The View Bar & Grill The Westin Snowmass Tulips Body Waxing Studio
by maribeth
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A Crazy Happy Holiday Season in Aspen, Telluride and Redstone
Hitting the Fresh Pow in Telluride
Fresh Powder Turns Today in Aspen
Yay, I knew that if I were to write this story, the snows would come! Telluride received 9 inches of fresh overnight, 11 inches the past 24 hours and 15 inches the last 48. And boy, was it needed. Aspen is enjoying a good blanketing as well. In addition to the fresh snow, let’s hope this signals a significant breaking down of the high pressure system that has been sitting over Colorado (and Utah, Arizona and New Mexico actually) for the past two months!
Yet despite the paltry snow conditions, the resorts have managed to crank out a good product.
The Top of Buttermilk this Week
Teaching Snowboarding at Buttermilk
I’m back in Aspen dealing with some family matters. I arrived here Thursday night, just a month after I flew in here from a very extended stay on the east coast. Wow, what a month it has been!
Happy Clients in Telluride at Christmas
Perfect Outside Dining Weather in Colorado this Winter
After an initial few days in Aspen in December, I threw myself into the busy-ness of gearing up for ski season; this entailed rounding up my ski clothing and gear, stocking the house with an almost winter’s-worth of provisions and working my ski legs back into shape by doing my Telluride Ski & Snowboard School training.
Ski School Training in Telluride
Piles of Provisions
A nasty cold almost thwarted the start to my ski instructing schedule but thanks to mega doses of Vitamin C, fluids and fresh, chopped garlic (yes, I even had two cloves for breakfast, lunch and dinner a couple of days–followed by a chaser of Listerine of course) I was able to knock it out of my system pretty fast. I pulled it together–training, shopping, cooking and even a little decorating–to embark upon a super busy holiday season that required me to teach skiing ten days in a row.
Winter Light Show in Telluride
Phew! We always go from to zero to 150mph in no time flat. But that’s life in a resort town, especially one that typically has its busiest week of the year between Christmas and New Year’s.
Torchlight Parade: A Telluride Tradition
Happy New Year to All
By now, you must be wondering when I’m going to mention the elephant in the room–the fact that we’ve all been going about business as usual without much help from Mother Nature. Yes, indeed, it has been shocking how little natural snow we’ve had. Up through the end of last week, the snow totals for the season in Aspen and Telluride rang in at barely 20 inches. Yikes!
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by maribeth
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Ski Dreams
Vail After One of Our Big Spring Snowstorms
I dreamed of skiing last night. I felt the joy of doing sweet turns on soft, slushy snow on a bright and sunny spring day. The sky appeared bluer than blue, even bluer than a Colorado sky, making the scene feel surreal. It was, of course, just a dream. But still, when I woke up, I felt the sense of freedom and exhilaration one feels after doing some great turns on the slopes. Those feelings are fleeting now but it was swell while it lasted.
I chatted on the phone with my boyfriend yesterday and he told me the skiing is fabulous in Keystone. “Nice corn snow, Hun. Really great spring skiing,” he emphasized.
I guess those words have stuck with me, particularly since I remember with great fondness a week of skiing we shared at Keystone and Breck, A-Basin and Vail this time of year a couple of years ago.
Actually I’ve been following the Colorado ski season ever since it suddenly ended for me on March 22, the day my father passed away.
Some might think that winter is over and so is the skiing. But those in the know, know that some of the best days may be relished throughout the end of March and all the way into the better part of April in the West. Those can be big snow weeks and with the base that most Colorado ski resorts have benefited from this season, even without fresh pow, the good skiing can go on and on and on.
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by maribeth
Comments Off on Bike Riding In and Around Our Beautiful Mountain Towns
Bike Riding In and Around Our Beautiful Mountain Towns
Biking in Telluride
Family Bike Adventure in Crested Butte
Penelope Gleason from Bootdoctors in Telluride
The hills are alive with the sound of cyclists clicking their way over all kinds of bike trails from single track to old railroad grades to paved bike paths to smooth and bumpy swaths cut through our forests for your recreational pleasure. Our towns and valleys are popping with cyclists clad in brightly-colored garb, too. Whether you’re looking for a scenic ride along one of our rushing rivers or interested in snagging a momentous climb or a descent of World-Cup order, Colorado’s mountain towns offer some of the best bike riding options in the United States. Young or old, skilled or amateur, mountain biker or road rider, there’s something for everyone set within some of the best drop-dead gorgeous scenery in the world.
Below is a rundown of a few of Colorado’s major mountain destinations and some of the cycling options they offer. Read them over, make some enquiries and/or reservations, then enjoy the ride. Most of the mud has dried up and the wildflowers are beginning to bloom, so there’s no better time to freewheel it through and around our mountain towns.
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by maribeth
Comments Off on The Thrill of a Bike Race
The Thrill of a Bike Race
The Start of the USA Pro Challenge in Aspen
Sexy Cyclists
More Good-Looking Guys
I’m here at my desk amid piles and piles of papers, cards, brochures and miscellaneous other remnants from an action-packed trip to the USA Pro Challenge, which took place here in Colorado last week. I also just spent a couple of hours going through a slew of images from time spent at this exciting bike race. I met cyclists and bystanders, travel suppliers and promoters, journalists and commentators, fans of all ages, shapes and sizes, avid cycling enthusiasts, amateur bike riders and tons of folks just out for a good time.
There’s nothing like a big sporting event to bring people together, especially when it’s on wheels and it travels to different locations along the way. Many people followed the seven days of racing–an extraordinary route that began in Aspen and finished in Denver as it traversed some of the world’s highest mountain passes, most scenic valleys and most beloved Colorado destinations. I hit the USA Pro Challenge in Aspen, Crested Butte and Gunnison and boy, did I soak up every minute of fun I could find within that four-day period.
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by maribeth
Comments Off on Steve Gumble Brings Us Telluride Blues & Brews and More
Steve Gumble Brings Us Telluride Blues & Brews and More
Steve Gumble
There was a story in The New York Times a few days ago about the proliferation of music festivals all over the world within this past decade. In North America, you can count almost 850 for this year alone. People are crazy about music festivals and the all-encompassing experiences they offer, and promoters and musicians have found them to be profitable enterprises.
Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
But no one puts on a festival like Telluride, Colorado. Sure, I’m biased because I live here. But ask anyone and they’ll likely tell you the same. Plus, most of our great Telluride festivals—from music to film—have been around for decades. So I was thrilled to do a Travel Fun interview with Steve Gumble, founder of Telluride Blues & Brews, one of our beloved festivals, to hear his story, how he got this now twenty-one-year-old festival going and to listen to him reminisce about some of the most memorable moments from his shows.
Click the play button below to listen to Steve chat about this world-renowned festival as well as the Durango Blues Train and Snowmass Mammoth Fest, two other terrific musical happenings he recently took on.
Podcast (bonjour): Play in new window | Download
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by maribeth
Comments Off on Summer Sipping 2014
Summer Sipping 2014
Chloe Wines
Summer is the season for wine festivals throughout much of the United States, especially in Colorado. June is particularly big in our Rocky Mountain state since the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen is taking place this weekend and the Telluride Wine Festival—under new direction—is happening next weekend. They’re both long-established events, terrific for sampling and savoring food and libations among the pros. Typically one walks away from these festivals with a go-to list of wines, spirits and restaurants to experience in the upcoming months. They also offer wonderful opportunities for socializing among fellow foodies and wine lovers in beautiful mountain settings.
For me, however, summer sipping feels best outdoors while gazing at a gorgeous mountain vista or inside relishing a delicious dinner of grilled meats and vegetables after having done a big hike. I’ve also been known to pack a good bottle and snacks and share a near-sacred moment with someone special out in a remote place. These treasured times create memories that last the longest for me.
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by maribeth
Comments Off on Terrific Spa Experiences in Colorado’s Mountain Towns
Terrific Spa Experiences in Colorado’s Mountain Towns
Spa Anjali at The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa at Beaver Creek Mountain
Mother’s Day makes many of us think of pampering. I read somewhere that a gift certificate to a spa was one of the most popular Mother’s Day gifts offered. So keep that in mind next time you’re traveling with your favorite mom, even if that mom—or nurturing person—is you. Ladies or men—who doesn’t enjoy having their body and soul nourished by a soothing spa experience?
Here in the Rockies, spa going has become a big part of every mountain vacation year round. Whether you’re looking for just one fantastic therapeutic massage after a long day on the slopes or a big hike, or you decide to make a day of it, spa-going should be a necessary part of every mountain resort stay. Some of the spas are so fabulous that you’d be forgiven if you let the rest of your family or friends ski, ride, hike, bike or fish while you logged major relaxation time within such calming enclaves.
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by maribeth
Comments Off on Closing the Ski Season in Aspen
Closing the Ski Season in Aspen
Relaaax…It’s Aspen
Smooth, silky, soothing, sultry, relaxing—that’s Aspen. And that’s how my ski season ended this year, and it was lovely. Just what I needed, too.
All kinds of celebrating from pond skimming in bikinis to dancing in ski boots typically take place on closing day at most ski resorts. Skiers and boarders in fun and crazy outfits cut loose as a way of toasting the end of a long ski season marked by few or many turns and often lots of hard work (in the case of those that work in ski towns). I celebrated Telluride’s closing day a month ago and enjoyed closing week festivities on the Front Range mid-April, so I had my share of end-of-the-season partying.
With the closing of its four mountains (Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk, Highlands and Snowmass), Aspen has certainly seen a lot of colorful merrymaking these past weeks. So it wasn’t surprising that this bonus weekend of skiing on Ajax was marked by a bunch of folks—mostly locals—primarily interested in cruising the slopes of their beloved mountain for the last time. Sure there was a smattering of tutus, tiger costumes and wacky wigs along with a vibrant assortment of flowered shirts and shorts, yet the scene was pretty tame. The emphasis was on the skiing; in this case beneath azure blue skies on what were surely the warmest days of the year thus far. (It hit 70 degrees in the town of Aspen on Sunday.) more »
