Its a Wrap of Telluride Ski Season 2009 in Bubble Wrap

About a month ago, I had this idea for an end of season costume. I told it to my friend Daryl and he liked it. So with the help of Mary Dawn, we pulled it off.

Last Sunday was the main closing of the ski mountain and it is tradition to dress up in costume. Mary Dawn and I wanted to hike up from the Homestead to the ski run. The first pictures are of skiing the driveway and then hiking up to Marmot Ski Run across the Beaver Pond.

The following photos are of Daryl and I wrapped up by Mary Dawn and the ski pictures that followed. Yes, we stopped by several watering holes a long the way.


Mary Dawn did take a video of me "telemarking" in my wrap.


Overall it was a great time, only had a few bumps and bruises from the day. Thanks goes to Mary Dawn for all the hard work and Ande for driving us home that night!

Alpino Vino (a review) of Telluride Ski Resort's New European Hütte

Earlier this month Mary Dawn and I thought we would treat ourselves to the new Alpino Vino restaurant, close to the top of Telluride Ski Resort.

Telluride Ski Resort says the following:

NEW! Alpino Vino (12,000 feet)
High upon the mountain, Vino Alpino, a European style hütte near the top of Gold Hill, offers renowned wines, fine cheeses, soups, sandwiches and appetizer plates. Opening its doors for the first time this winter, Vino Alpino's spectacular views coupled with comfortable cozy ambience provides a perfect retreat from the slopes.

It is very easy to break the "il salvadanaio" here, so expect to spend some $$$.

Overall, I thought the food was good, but I will leave the official review to Mary Dawn:

We had a most delightful luncheon in the cozy hütte, Alpino Vino, at the top of Gold Hill.

We just had to try it, being European food and wine junkies, and to our delight, found that they offer a creative array of light luncheon fare, from a rich Gorgonzola soup, to toasted Italian sandwhiches to beautiful cheeses to pair with one's wine.

For wine lovers, they specialize in an enchanting selection of "flights" of red and white wine to choose from (a "flight" is typically three types of wines to taste - usually 1/3 a glass each), and when one finds the one that he/she is partial to, one may also purchase them by the glass or the bottle. Although many of their wines are from Italy, they also offer wines from "Down Under" and the States.

Even though this was a "wine" bar, Michael decided to sample their 2-Below from New Belgium micro-Brewery, while I was left to sample the wine. I chose a red flight from Italy, which, to say the least, was quite interesting.

As we were not that hungry, however anxious to sample their menue, we asked if we could split a vegetarian toasted Panini style sandwich called a Panzanella. They were happy to serve us on two plates, which was a nice touch and the sandwich, oozed with roasted vegetables, pesto, and flavour and satisfied our palate to the "T". Indeed I, who would "NEVER" touch an olive, ate my whole half undisturbed, noting that the flavour of the sandwhich as a whole, overcame the single flavour of the Olives that were rightfully embedded within the creation, enhancing the overall experience of the senses.

The wait staff was quite accommodating and friendly, and we were impressed by their quite appropriate boiled wool vests that they were wearing, supplied by no other than, "you-know-who" Alpen Schatz! We were, I gotta say, quite proud!

On the whole, the ambiance, service, menue and beverage selectiono make Alpino Vino the most classy and of course traditionally European place to stop for a rest on a good ski day whilst on the Mountain.

Click below for photos of Alpino Vino posted on my flickr account. (http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Alpino+Vino&w=61434819%40N00)



If you go, please leave a comment, on what your thoughts were.

Buon appetito <- click for audio.


.

One of my Goals for 2009: Ski all the Blacks, Double Blacks, Expert Runs at Telluride

One of my goals for 2009 is to ski all the great expert terrain at Telluride.

Over the last couple of seasons Telluride has open a LOT of new expert hike tos. The most spectacular is Palmyra Peak (check out TelSki CEO Blog post on it here).

If I don't kill myself on these runs, at least I am going to get in shape just doing all the hike tos. Also, none of these hike tos are open quite yet, snow pack as been very dangerous this year, and TelSki is having a hard time opening even the non-hike to terrain.

So as the geek I am, I have a online checklist using Evernote. I love Evernote (see my post and review here), however, Evernote on the Mac is doing some funky things with the formating, so I am still tweaking it so it looks good. So if things are funny colors or the words are different sizes, it is in progress. :)

Click below



For those that are curious and want to check back on my status, I added this widget to my sidebar on the right.


Ok, hopefully, I can check one of these off today. Looks like a blue-bird day!

Cold and Powder Skiing and Snow Work

After a little snow work at the homestead I went out and got fresh lines on Chair 9. Did three laps on 9, but with this many people waiting at the bottom, it got track out fairly quickly.



However, my run down the Plunge was GREAT! (smiling now as I write this), but it was a bit COLD. Anyone that as rode Chair 9, knows it is a long and cold lift.

So after 3 laps on 9, I went over to Chair 6 and did a few runs over there. The fog was damp and cold, but provided some funky lighting on Zulu Queen.


I got home, took a nap and finished off my snow work. More snow is coming, so I wanted to get a good start on it. Below is our driveway down to the road.

Revelation Bowl

[updated: Photos at bottom of post]
So I (and a hundred of my close friends) where waiting at the top of Gold Hill lift for the Security to drop the rope so we can ski down into the brand new terrain at Telluride Ski Resort called Revelation Bowl.

Skiers and Riders love powder (and today there was lots of un-tracked). They let some of the Very Important People go first. The snow was deep, and was easy to trip you up. A couple of these VIPs (in front of a jealous crowd) took some good tumbles, which made the wait a little easier at the top watching.

So when they dropped the rope, it was NUTS! This huge crowd of good skiers "Whooping it up". I have never been part of a Chinese Downhill (note it was not as bad as the definition on Urban Dictionary:Chinese Downhill) but the quicker you got down, the better in line you to get to more "good stuff". I was fortunate to dodge the fallen unfortunate and stay on my feet to the bottom. It was a BLAST!

At the bottom Dave gave a short thanks to all that made it happen. This process took 20-30 minutes before they loaded the lift.

Now, here is something TelSki HAS to work out the kinks. When getting off the lift, they did not design the exit ramp. You had to push HARD off the chair so it would not hit you in the butt. They had a guy at the top, coaching people to get off the lift. You have to remember, the people who rode the down to the bottom know how to ski and are NOT beginners. The lift guy would count down 3,2,1, go,go,go.... :)

[update: I asked Dave about the above on his blog and here is his reply

Dave's reply: Hi Michael, Thanks for being a part of the day.

Yes, we will fix it tonight by snowcat. The runout area below the unload ramp at the top needs to be cut down a few feet.

Have a great ski season.

ok, good....

]

My second run down, I found some un-tracked snow up above my knees. Any one that skis powder knows you have to go fast to float to the top of the snow. Well, I was going a good clip, when I lean to far forward and I went "over the handle-bars". Except for a face full of fluff, it was all good. :)

Did break threw to the rocks a couple of times where they over blasted, or wind blown, but this is very early in the season. Look forward to the next big powder day.

Anyway, long post for those who don't ski, but it was a GREAT day. They opened up lifts 5,6, and 15 today. Got fresh tracks on most of my runs. My early season legs are spent. I will sleep well tonight.




Map from Telski:

"Think Snow"