One score and seven days ago our leaders brought forth on this club a new destination, conceived in committees and dedicated to the proposition that all skiing venues are NOT created equal. With apologies to Lincoln during his 200th birthday anniversary, this is The Telluride Address. What I’m saying is, I’ll tell u what, Tell u ride was an exceptional ski area. Your club, with 26 attending, was there from March 7th-14th.
I’d never been there before, so I was looking forward to a place I’d heard a lot about but had never been to.
One weakness of Telluride is also a strength. It’s out of the way, not as easy to get to as resorts near Denver, Salt Lake or Reno. This was to our advantage, as it keeps the crowds down and the lift lines short. And since most of us flew from Bloomington via Atlanta to Montrose, it worked great for us. (Ken Etcheson & Wanda Carmack drove out there, while Jason Meisner & Elizabeth Johnson, being Chicagoans, flew out of O’Hare.). In fact, the 67 mile bus ride was enjoyable. We had great scenery & our drivers had lots of info on the area (movies filmed nearby (e.g. True Grit); the story of Ralph Lauren acquiring his 29,000 acre ranch; wildlife.)
The only difficulty was finding our rooms on arrival at the quirky, spread-out Telluride Lodge on a dark and snowy night since the manager left 10 minutes before our arrival (“I’m hungry”). We eventually found all of our rooms.
So what did we do all week? Most of us skied, but three didn’t. Marilyn Johnson recently broke her wrist, so she joined up with Jo Knable & Wanda and explored the town while their significant others (Gary J, Rick K. and Ken E.) skied part of most days. Also, the free Gondola (10AM-midnight) allowed everyone to go up the mountain and to the newer Mountain Village. Some of us had some drinks at Allred’s at the top of the mountain, and Eric and Amy had a great dinner there later in the week.
Our first day of skiing was typical of the week, except one day. The day dawned with a beautiful blue sky. Due to the Daylight Savings Time change, the lifts opened at 10, which enabled everyone to get some good sleep. Lift #7 was less than 100 yards from our Lodge. It was very convenient. So most of our club was raring to go, and were at the lift before it opened.
I skied most of the day with Dawn Dieckgrafe, Steve Parke, & John Wegman. Steve & John were conspicuous by their colorful “blowfish” helmet covers, made famous by Lee Templeton. (Where are you Lee?) We met up with Ken E. & Rich for lunch. Rumor has is that Elizabeth and Jason were there too, but we didn’t recognize each other, due to not having met before this trip. Next time we’ll know.
Eric & Amy Legner never met up with others. I think their map was in Chinese, as they had some trouble navigating the new mountain, but eventually they did find their way. Monday was more of the same great skiing. For a while, 12 of us skied together – me, Steve, John, Dawn, Eric & Amy, Ken & Sandy Baurer, Ed Eickenberg, Cynthia Kukla, Bill Vahary and Bill Harris. I later saw Jean Swee, Linda Cooper, Diane Handley and Pam & Garry Good. They had enjoyed themselves. Also on this day, Bill H. fell for the first time in maybe 30 years! That’s a long time – but if it was the first fall of the day, that’s a round of drinks to the group Bill!
Tuesday
four of us planned to go to Arches National Park. We left in the dark and heavy
snow. Discretion being the better part of valor, we turned around and decided
to enjoy a powder day. Powder is a different experience. I fell on the first
run after 50 yards. (Oops - a round of drinks for my group – of one.). I did
much better after that, as did the others I was with later on. It’s a nice
change, but I prefer groomed most of the time.
On Wednesday John, Steve & I tried again and headed to Arches. It was a
perfect day for a drive. Arches was magnificent, with very unique scenery.
Delicate Arch was particularly impressive. I’d been there before, but in August
with 110 degree temps. This was much better.
We had a group dinner that evening and almost everyone attended. It was a little noisy and cramped, but the food was excellent. Some discovered wine was more expensive than they expected. That’s a lesson learned for me – maybe next time consider Chateau Margaux or ask the price.
Subsequent ski days were similar. Many went to the Mtn Village area to ski & see over & around the beautiful ski homes. Many on Friday eventually tried the brand-new lift-served Revelation Bowl. It was short & sweet & steep. Many also enjoyed the black & blue runs off of Lift 9. Paul Bailey was apparently a novice, but was skiing these by the end of the week. This may be attributed to his athletic skill, Jean Swee’s instruction, a week’s worth of skiing, or a combination of all three.
I think most of us were really
impressed by the views & took lots of photos, especially from the See
Forever run. In my opinion, it had the best scenery on any U.S. resort I’ve
been to. Views of nearby fourteener’s Wilson Peak, Mt. Wilson, Uncompaghre Peak,
and the La Sal mountains 100 miles away in Utah were hard to beat. It’s almost
as good as Zermatt and the Bernese Alps near Grindewald in Switzerland.
The only skiing disappointments were the poor chili and burgers on the
mountain. And that we still have some work to do on our three-man-weave skiing.
Maybe next year to echo the lament of Cubs fans.
The town itself is unique. It’s stayed true to its Western roots, as a National Historic District with Victorian architecture. It’s easily walkable, but shuttles are available too. Every meal I had in town was above average. The Happy Hours and Apres Ski at the bars were popular too. Friday saw a few of us at a local bar, including Eric, me, Steve, John, Ken, Jean & Paul, Rich & Jo. Diane, Linda, Cynthia, Bill V., Bill H., and others enjoyed margarita’s and/or beer at least one other night.
We can’t forget a couple nights in the “party condo” where some of us played Catch Phrase, which is always good for some laughs. Somehow, the “boys” upset the “girls” a few times. I also enjoyed re-learning Euchre with fellow re-learner Linda with help of experts Rich & Diane.
As Steve said about one of our meals – “not bad”. I’d one-up that about the experience for the week – it was excellent. Please see the Club’s web site for lots of photos from the trip. They don’t do it justice; you really had to be there.
See More Telluride Pictures from Curt Johnson