Colorado Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: 2018 season Colorado dining lodging Mountain Lodge Telluride New Sheridan spring breaks spring skiing Telluride
by maribeth
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It’s Time for Spring Skiing in Telluride
OK, in truth we already had a ton of spring-like skiing in Telluride throughout the holidays and into the new year. (Read A Crazy Happy Holiday Season in Aspen, Telluride and Redstone.) What we lacked in snow, we more than made up for in sunshine and warm weather. (And boy does that make most of the visitors happy.)
And then came winter! The storms rolled in with the consistency of a heartsick lover pining over his one true love in February until all became dreamy and white. And then suddenly all was well with the world and the mountain. By mid-February, Telluride Ski Resort snowmaking finally put away their equipment and let Mother Nature take over full-time. They did a stupendous job this year, something that became even more apparent to me when I skied some scratchy and sketchy trails at other resorts. “We wouldn’t open a run until it was really good,” says Brandon Green, head of snowmaking in Telluride. And indeed, the skiing and riding on the manmade and the natural snow have been very good. Yes, despite many people’s fears, the season shaped up nicely.
And now the great spring break week is upon us. Known as “the Texas week,” it’s one of the busiest weeks on the mountain. (But don’t worry, Telluride never becomes that busy.) Then we have three weeks after that until closing on Sunday, April 8th, three weeks that are among the most fun on the mountain due to all the end-of-season partying.
Colorado Health & Fitness Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Telluride The Rockies: altitude sickness Colorado Diamox Don Bowie Dr. Peter Hackett Institute for Altitude Medicine lodging Telluride Mountain Lodge New Sheridan oxygen therapy traveling to elevation
by maribeth
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Dealing with Altitude Issues at Our High Mountain Destinations
I’m long overdue in talking about how to combat the effects of high elevation with you. I apologize. Please forgive me.
In some ways, I’m new to the game myself. Although I’ve lived at heights as great as almost 10,000 feet for fifteen and a half years, I’m somewhat new to a magical little pill that has made a world of difference for me: It’s a diuretic called Diamox.
It was just a year ago that I began taking Diamox, a prescription medicine long touted to me by my ski clients but somehow I was lax in asking my doctor for a script. I finally did last spring and have used it many times this past year as I’ve traveled in and out of Telluride many times. At the risk of sounding like a drug pusher, ask your doctor about it and see if it’s good for you.
In other ways, I’m not at all new to the effects of elevation on my body. I think I first felt them when I went to the Alps during the time I was living in France. I was slammed with a headache that carried all the force of an avalanche down Mont Blanc. Ever since then, I take precautionary aspirins when I first arrive at elevation, even before the head pounding sets in.
But the Alps are nothing–at least in terms of height–to the Rockies. And I found that out when I moved here. Sure, after a few days I adjust to our thin air (about 30% less oxygen when you’re at over 9,000 feet), but if I leave a high destination for over a week, I have to reacclimatize each time, sometimes with effects worse than other times.
It’s no wonder I was fascinated with a Travel Fun interview I did many years ago with Dr. Peter Hackett, a world renowned high altitude expert and director of the Institute for High Altitude Medicine here in Telluride. I am rebroadcasting that interview on KOTO at 6:30pm MST today. Dr. Hackett, a leading authority on altitude illness with years of experience on big expeditions in Colorado, the Himalayas, Denali and South America, talks about his experiences along with, Don Bowie, one of the world’s top climbers. Don also shares sketchy elevation issues he has succumbed to during some of his adventures. It’s important to note that elevation sickness is genetic; it has nothing to do with what kind of shape you’re in.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Restaurants Telluride The Rockies: Chop House Restaurant destination hotel Colorado fine dining Telluride New Sheridan night life Telluride spring in Telluride
by maribeth
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June in the Rockies: A Gorgeous Time of Year
I’m on Lake George in the Adirondacks now where I’ve been plunged into the luscious heat and humidity of an upstate New York summer. It feels glorious, especially as I sit here on the porch in a bathing suit and sarong typing away on my laptop. It has been quite the spring in Telluride, chilly and snowy all the way up through last Thursday. Of course you can never entirely put winter clothes away in the Rockies, but this year I needed good, sturdy boots right up to Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer.
As much as I’m happy to be sitting here in bare feet wiggling my toes, I was thrilled to experience that extraordinary time of the year when the mountains emerge from their deep winter slumber before I left. I witnessed the fuzzy buds of the aspens pop into bright leaves as the crystalline snows melted on their branches. The play of spring light against the fresh yellow-green of the season and the pure white snow made for a dazzling display of nature. I was happy this all happened during a time when I was busy running about to do errands because the panoramic views on my drives were beyond breathtaking. Changes in the leaves occurred seemingly by the minute. Indeed, it’s a wonderful time of the year for the earth to reawaken, especially in the mountains of Colorado.
I thought I’d share with you here some images from this time of year taken this year and last. I also wanted to tell you about a little-known secret: June is one of the best times of the year in the Rockies. In Telluride, it’s when Bluegrass happens (the third week in June), but first and foremost, it’s the month of some of the best weather of the year. The hills are truly coming alive during this time and although it might rain some in June, we’re not yet soaked with the monsoonal flows that hit the mountains in July and August. Yes, it’s a splendiferous time of the year. And the summer crowds have not yet arrived. (Not that it ever becomes very crowded in Telluride.)
My Hotel and Dining Recommendation
Truly a destination hotel, the historic New Sheridan has long served as the hub of Telluride. And as much as I don’t like to play favorites, I would go so far as to say that this glittering establishment stands out as my all-time favorite place to be in Telluride. It’s the place to go to dine, drink, savor an elegant hotel stay and just while away some time as you watch the fun and playful doings of our beautiful mountain town unfold before you. I stayed here for a night almost year ago with my boyfriend, Steve, and it was one of the best staycations you could imagine. Highlights included late-night drinks at the bar, luxurious accommodations and a superb brunch in the Chop House Restaurant. So many of the sights, sounds and smells from that stay still tingle my senses; the pop, pop, pop of the opening of bubbly for the Sunday brunch still echo in my mind along with the stillness of the night as seen, heard and experienced from our beautiful room. A true bastion of tradition and refinement, the New Sheridan perfectly embodies the spirit of Old World grandeur and old mining town charm.
When in Telluride, be sure to make your way to the recently opened New Sheridan rooftop bar, last summer’s talk of the town. Here are a couple of photos from a fun time I shared there last September with a good friend.
For more on the New Sheridan, read New Sheridan Hotel: Telluride’s Historic Gem.
Colorado Hotels & Lodging Mountain Living Restaurants Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride: Bootdoctors early season skiing holiday festivities Mountain Lodge New Sheridan opening day Telluride Telluride Ski & Snowboard School Telluride Ski Resort
by maribeth
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Grateful for Telluride and the Telluride Ski Resort
With all that’s happening in the world, most of us are feeling extra stressed these days. This is true even in Telluride, Colorado, one of the safest and most beautiful places on earth. No one is immune to feeling reverberations from all these horrific terrorist acts. As I wrote in my story, Paris Attacks Hit Home, we are one.
Still though, we are so privileged in this sweet little ski town. Few people lock the doors to their cars and houses except during bear season, since our local bruin population has become pretty savvy about entering spaces redolent with lingering pizza, berry and pie smells. We live in a bubble of sorts where our biggest threats come from pushing it too hard on the slopes or getting caught in an avalanche during a backcountry ski.