Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Telluride Ski & Golf CEO, Dave Riley Blog

If you have any interest at all on what is going at Telluride Ski Resort, I highly recommend a quick stop at the Telski CEO Dave Riley's Blog. In my humble opinion he has done a great job communicating with the world on the happenings on the mountain.

http://blog.tellurideskiresort.com/blogs/davesblog/default.aspx

Great Job Dave!

December BIG storm

The storm did not dump quite 3 feet. But it put Telluride in a great spot for the ski season! One thing for certain it was a very WET snow. A lot of the trees broke off.

A few photos around the area. Mary Dawn took most of these.



[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

Friday, November 30, 2007

SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS FROM 1 TO 3

AREAS OF SNOW WILL SPREAD FROM SOUTH TO NORTH TODAY...BECOMING
WIDESPREAD OVER THE COURSE OF THE AFTERNOON AND THEN CONTINUING
THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. SNOW COULD BE HEAVY AT TIMES LATE TONIGHT
AND EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS FROM 1 TO 3
FEET ARE EXPECTED BY LATE SATURDAY NIGHT.


That is what the National Weather Service Watch said. Mary Dawn picked a "great" time to travel to Montrose, this weekend. :) Might be slow going....

But WOW, going to be some great skiing on Sat afternoon, and Sunday. Hopefully, they can open up more than one run. :)

Saturday, November 24, 2007

I am famous!

My parents are part of the Colorado Country Life Coop for their electricity. My mom sent me a clipping back in 2005 asking me if I wanted to submit a photo for the sunset sunrise contest.

Honestly, I forgot about it.

But my photo was selected for the COVER of the 2008 calendar. Yeah! :)



[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

After the storm.... and official opening date.

Telluride Gives Thanks for Holiday Storm. Opening Day set for Friday, November 30.

Telluride’s Thanksgiving was extra special this year as a holiday storm brought 12 inches of new snow and the resort is set to open Friday, November 30th.

quote from Telluride Ski Resort.

Ok, so now the date is set. A few photos I took from this morning... one from this afternoon.



[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

Oh, what a difference a day made!

It was just the day before, not a cloud in the sky. At midnight it started dumping hard. Just what most every telluridian was wishing for thanksgiving.

We took our sleds up to the Beaver Pond with the boys. It was snowing hard!



[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

Thanksgiving and NO SNOW!!!

What a beautiful day it was. However, typically you go skiing on Thanksgiving, NOT hiking. They (Telski) announced a delayed opening. Everybody was crossing there fingers for the storm the next day. Anyway, it was good hike to Mountain Village, to work of some calories for the big turkey day.



[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

Mary Dawn's Mom Visit

Mary Dawn's Mom (Bobbye) came to visit us on Nov 10, 2007. We picked her up at the Montrose airport. Visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Drove over the Million Dollar Highway to Durango. Visited Mesa Verde the next day. Then back to Telluride Ski ranches. Lots and lots of fun. Learned fascinating stuff.





[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Kaizen

Word for the Day: Kaizen

Kaizen (改善, Japanese for "change for the better" or "improvement"; the common English usage is "continuous improvement" or "continual improvement").


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen

So.....
Never stop striving for Kaizen.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Did you exercise today?

We have all seen the articles, but still amazing how "massive" Americans are gettings over the last 20 years.

Colorado (my home state) is the fittest state in the union. How about yours?

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/fit.nation/obesity.map/

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Alta Mine Site Hike FROM Homestead

The boys were really good today, so I thought I would treat them to a good long hike.

We started at the homestead (home) and went up to the beaver pond, and then up to Marmot ski run. We hiked up Marmot (a blue run) to where Galloping Goose Trail splits off. Old Boomerang Road (FS 632) split off to the right, and leaves the ski area. This led us to Alta Mine Site.

I was worried about Schlappi. He was completely tired when we turned around. But in the end he did fine (albeit slow).

Not sure how long it was, but I am guessing 5-6 miles round trip.



[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

Mary Dawn is away and...


Mary Dawn is away on business, and the boys are making themselves right at home. :)

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

MORE new ski terrain : Palmyra Peak Access



OH MY. This should be GREAT. Telski just opened up more crazy steep terrain on the mountain. WOW I cant wait.

The following was copied from Telski website at www.tellurideskiresort.com



Palmyra Peak Access

Telluride Ski Resort Opens Access to Palmyra Peak
Resort continues to expand with addition of hike-to terrain

On the heels of Telluride’s opening of Black Iron Bowl to public access, the resort has gained approval for skiing and riding Palmyra Peak this winter. Located east of Black Iron Bowl and Prospect Bowl, this unbelievable hike-to terrain includes well over 200 acres and almost 2,000 vertical feet on the north face of 13,320 foot Palmyra Peak.

What can be considered some of the most spectacular in-bounds terrain in the country, the runs Tram Shot, Sunrise and Electric Shock drain into Upper Moraine, and Lower Palmyra Ridge which lead into Black Iron Bowl.

This opening has been made possible due to the addition of a new avalauncher this fall to the top of Gold Hill #5.

“With the addition of a new avalauncher and ski patrol resources, we are now able to control Palmyra Peak for access to the area,” said Vice President of Mountain Operations Jeff Proteau.

Prospect Bowl first opened in 2002, adding approximately 700 acres and nearly doubling the size of the resort’s terrain with fantastic beginner and intermediate runs. Guide-only access was offered beginning in 2005 to Black Iron Bowl, with open access coming this year. Palmyra Peak’s expert acreage will open this season as conditions allow.

“Palmyra Peak was the natural next step in expanding the area,” said CEO Dave Riley. “Telluride has always been known for its legendary terrain, and opening Palmyra Peak will further demonstrate that Telluride Ski Resort is Unmatched in North America.”


THINK SNOW!!!

Mountain Lion, Owl Creek Pass, Silver Jack Res., Black Canyon

Oct 27
Let first state that on this trip I saw my first MOUNTAIN LION in the wild!!!
Too Cool...

So here what I did on my overnight camping trip with the boys. Mary Dawn is/was still over in Europe, so I thought I would give Smokie and Schalappi a change of pace. I have never been over Owl Creek Pass (East of Ridgeway) and was looking forward to see a part of Colorado, that I have never seen before. Heading up toward the pass, I was just checking out the scenery, when a long and lanky mountain lion crossed the road right in front of me. This was a first for me.

It also put a different spin on camping out in the woods too. :)

A fair bit of snow over the pass, so I cross over and back down toward toward the Cimarron River. Very, very scenic in here. I found a nice spot to set up my tent along the river, and collected wood (wet) for the chilly night ahead of me. Being with out Mary Dawn, my choice of dinner was a lot "simpler".

The next morning, Smokie and I checked out the Silver Jack Reservoir. Schalappi, wanted to sleep in.

We then drove north toward Highway 50, and I decided I would make a short jaunt to look at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Always impressed when I go here. The canyon is so narrow and deep.

I can't wait to come back here in the fall. The colors must be amazing here.



[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

Saturday, October 27, 2007

I love my new Leopard OSX

Oct 26

Ok, so a few post back, I wrote that thank goodness I backed up my harddrive.

Well, I was planning on re-installing all my applications on the new freshly formated drive. Well, I did NOT have to because the Migration Assiasant allowed me to migrate all my files and application from my "old" computer, or in this case it was my Tiger Backup.

Wow, so very cool.

I have been using pre-released Leopard OS for some time now, but getting it on my home computer is so-surreal and wonderful. Sorry Vista, you have a long road a head of you......

Always a bad sign, when....

Oct 26
It is a bad sign when your girl friend gives you the following as a welcome back home "present" after I was in Denver for a couple of weeks.



Click here if YOU (or some one you love) needs some.

So Mary Dawn is off to Europe now, I wonder what I will give her when, she comes back to Telluride. :)

ps. I have been taking them, but I think I got a bad batch, because I am as nerdy as ever.

Note to the World: BACKUP you computer!!!!

Oct 26:
If there is one piece of advise (however, I am not a lone on this), is to make sure you back up you data on your computer.

So, the next question you ask, "Oh no, did you lose anything?!!!"

Nope, it appears that I did NOT, because I DID backup my hard drive.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you SuperDuper

So here is MY story:

I got the new pre-order of Leopard OSX delivered to my doorstep today!!!!

As any true geek would do, I ripped open the package, and started the install.

After a few moments, I got a Install failure. Hmmm, that is curious. Ok, i will try again. The second time around, my disk was NOT was not recognized.

OH NO!!!!!

So, I "thought" this would be a good time to see if my disaster recovery works.

Yep, I was able to boot into my recovery disk, just like it was my normal disk. WOW. THANK YOU!

So, I then went to repair my disk, NOPE, not repairable. HMMM, .so I guess my only option this is to install my fresh new copy of Leopard on a fresh NEW formated disk. A pain, but at least I am Fresh. :)

So, again, please, please learn from this. Especially now we (the world) have so much personal "digital" data on our machines.

So go out and get software and hardware to do automatic backups, and then test these systems, BEFORE disaster strikes. You will thank me later.

As my good friend would say on http://don-denver.blogspot.com/

Wherever you are today, I hope you are backing up your computer!


ps. at first I blamed Leopard install for my disaster, but I am not so sure now. Anyway, probably I will never know because the crime scene has been erased.

Second big snow

Oct 22
This snow storm dumped 14 inches on the top Telluride ski area.

Too early to think about skiing, but it is hard not too......





[click on the ">" above for the slide show]

Friday, October 26, 2007

Station St. Sophia

Oct 19
Mary Dawn and I on the way into town (Telluride) via the gondola got off at the top to take a few photos.




First big snow of 2007 (winter that is)

Oct 16-18
Mary Dawn took these photos ( I was in Denver) of the first big snow at ski ranches. Some great shots here.



October Drive to Denver

Oct 7
On my drive to Denver I went over Grand Mesa. This my first time doing this but it was quite interesting. I highly recommend it if you have a couple hours to spend.

The first photos were the "typical" Dallas Divide photos.




Mary Dawn's photos of Telluride Beaver Pond

Oct 7
While I was driving to Denver, Mary Dawn took these wonderful photos of the Telluride Beaver Pond.




Octoberfest 2007

Oct 6
Mary Dawn and I had wanted to go to Octoberfest, but it had shutdown by the time we got there. Anyway, we had a good chat with one of the band members at the local Mountain Village Tracks.




Camping in Town Park

Oct 5:
Days before my trip to Denver, Mary Dawn and I wanted to go out on the town. So we camped in Town Park so we did not have to drive.



Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Wilson Mesa, Woods Lake and Alta Lakes

Sept 30:
Mom and Dad came to visit me in Telluride on Sept 30. We took a scenic drive to Wilson Mesa, Woods Lake and Alta Lakes. Several of the photos are from my mom. What a beautiful day!!!!





What a fun drive. Thanks for coming out Mom and Dad!

Chilly September Alta Lakes

Sept 23:
Mary Dawn and the Boys headed up to Alta Lakes in late September. It was a bit chilly, but we had fun.



Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Evening Hike to Beaver Pond

Below is some photos of my hike to the beaver pond with the boys:






Tell me what you think of the new viewer? Do you like?
Enjoy...

Friday, October 05, 2007

Homestead

After the flood at 430 West Dakota we moved up into Ski Ranches into a house that we call "Homestead".

A few photos of the place. Keep in mind we are not totally moved in yet. :)




Alpen Schatz at Denver Gift Mart Show

Aug 25
Alpen Schatz had a booth at the Denver Gift Mart Show. A few photos and descriptions.




Cornet Creek Flood

As many of you know Mary Dawn and I were flooded out of house on July 23, 2007.

Local newspaper coverage can be found here:
http://www.telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/07/24/news/news01.txt
and
http://www.telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/07/25/news/news01.txt

I was sitting in my home-office working, when I went outside to see how big the creek was was going because of all of the rain. I took a few photos and went back inside.

I then decided that it was NOT a good idea to stay here (wise decision). I gathered up the cats, moved the truck and watched the events unfold.

All in all, things got ruined, but everyone is safe, and we adjusted. Thanks to all who helped out!!!!

Here are some photos and descriptions of that day:
Day 1:



Day 2:



Cleanup: The Days After:


Birthday Hike To Silver Lake

Yes, Yes, I know my birthday was in July. But just getting around to actually blogging about this. :)





Telluride is NOT a "Mall with a Mountain" as told by Daryl Hannah

Listen to Daryl Hannah explain why Telluride is NOT a "Mall with a Mountain". It is a little dated. We NOW have the valley floor, but it is interesting none the less.



Also here is her blog: http://dhlovelife.com

Way to go Daryl!!!!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Summer Picts

Yep, still no summer photos yet. They will be hopefully come in batch soon.

Monday, September 24, 2007

New Profile Picture


Yes, I finally got around and updating my profile picture in the About Me Section on the right. Mary Dawn took this of me while on top of Mauna Kea on July 14, 2006.

A very good "photo" of a photographer it is.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Black Iron Bowl: New ski runs opening up at Telluride!!!!

I have skied several of these new runs when they opened it up at the end of the season, and they were awesome! It is a bit of a hike to get to them, but I am very excited about this. Let it snow!!!!! :)

The following photo was taken several years ago when I skied Westlake. I blogged about it here



The following was taken from
http://tellurideskiresort.com/TellSki/index.winter.aspx

Telluride Ski Resort Proudly Announces the Opening of Black Iron Bowl

Telluride Ski Resort is thrilled to announce the opening of Black Iron Bowl, adding eight runs of backcountry-style terrain adjacent to the breathtaking Prospect Bowl. The area sits against the dramatic backdrop of Palmyra Peak on the western end of the resort.

“Black Iron Bowl is both challenging and exceptionally beautiful,” said Jeff Proteau, vice president of operations for the ski resort. “We are excited to offer our guests an unforgettable backcountry experience within the ski area boundary.”

Black Iron Bowl is accessible via Lift 12 (Prospect Lift) and a short hike out Prospect Ridge. Skiers and riders will be able to drop in anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes hiking time along the ridge. Dropping 1000 vertical feet on the primary pitches, terrain includes the expansive Mountain Quail couloir, European-style faces, open glades and steep chutes. The Mountain Quail couloir had previously been accessible as guide-only, but now the full expanse of Black Iron will be open for public access as conditions allow.

Other new runs include Westlake, Lakeview, Review, Dihedral Chute, Dihedral Face, Jello’s Bowl and Nice Chute.

“This exceptional terrain hosted some of the most talented professional skiers on the planet with the Subaru Freeskiing Open,” said Proteau, “and now both our locals and our guests have the opportunity to experience Black Iron Bowl for themselves.”

Black Iron Bowl, named for an old mining claim, is an excellent addition to the existing inbounds hike-to areas of Bald Mountain and Prospect Ridge, where advanced skiers and boarders enjoy fresh tracks virtually all season.

Conditions permitting, Black Iron Bowl will open as early as January.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Do you have an interest to going to Europe?...

Yes, I know it has been a while since I posted. As most of you know, it has been a bit crazy August, with floods, and moving and all.

But in the mean time, check out what Mary Dawn is planning.

It is a guided tour of Germany and France.
www.alpen-tours.com



Very cool....

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Telluride Bluegrass 2007





After WWDC (Descriptions will come later)














Ocean Park Motel (Descriptions will come later)




WWDC (Descriptions will come later)











San Francisco Before WWDC (Descriptions will come later)






June has been a VERY busy month

Just a quick post in case I don't get photos posted.
JUNE HAS BEEN A VERY BUSY MONTH!

WWDC at San Francisco
Bluegrass festival in Telluride
20th Year High School Reunion in Fort Collins (coming up)

hopefully, I can get a few photos up here soon.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Salsa "The Boxer"

The other day, I was doing research on Final Cut Pro, when I thought I would look back at what I had done on iMovie and iDVD.

I fixed the rotation problem with the original Salsa "The Boxer" movie.
Enjoy....

Street View in Google Maps

Street View in Google Maps is WOW. Check out this "How To" video below.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Evening hike up to Station St. Sophia (aka top of the gondola)


Looking up to our destination. Doesn't look "that" far, but it 1780 feet up.


The San Miguel is a little full from all the warm weather.


Seasonal creak at the bottom of Telluride Trail. Mary Dawn is telling the dogs to get some water for the big hike up the hill.

Hiking straight up the Coonskin "Black" Run


Looking down on the town of Telluride from the top of the Milk Run


Dallas Peak as seen from the top of the Milk Run