Dave's Blog

Skiing today was unbelievable, milk run in the morning groomed, dynamo at lunch as well as couple of time La rosa, ending day by millions under lift 14. I was skiing in Val Thorans, Sela ronda, tons of places, but Telluride is in top for steep runs expert terrain is just awesome. Come try, live Telluride.

Dave's reply: I think I must have been following you today ;-)

I agree with tree pixie in the last blog, I would definitely swap some work glading for an 08/09 pass, that would be awesome!!!!!

Dave's reply: thanks for the input Snowball.

Hi Dave,

First things first.... All credit to you for the passion you display in your work. I know it is not easy to please a diverse group of people with differing opinions especially when you are the new kid on the block! I am not a blogger in general but even so, think that this one is a great idea. It allows me (an outsider) to understand a lot of behind the scenes stuff but even more than that allows me to feel a little bit of Telluride when I am back home in NY. As long as you keep sharing the info and keep the decision making process transparent, people will respect your choices even if they don't necessarily agree with them.

This is our sixth consecutive season in Telluride and we're (me, wife & 4 kids) coming back on Thursday for the second time this year. I actually also managed to sneak in solo for a long weekend two weeks ago entertaining a customer so I should hit 20 days this season. Not bad from NY, huh!

My requests/suggestions are as follows:

1)Please consider increasing the number of vegetarian options at Gorrono's in particular. Giuseppe's is somewhat better with its famous Black Bean Saute and veggie chili but Gorrono's is very limited in comparison. Some of the soups could easily be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of a meat based one with little or no discernible difference in taste. On more than one occasion I have asked the server about veggie options and was told good- naturedly "oh man, you're the hundredth person to ask today"!

2) Is there any way you would consider giving a price break on kids' ski school to kids who are season ticket holders? The package includes lift tickets and I feel like I am paying for it twice.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Can't wait to be back later this week.

Dave's reply: Hi Jeremy, thank you for your kind remarks. I'll look into your requests - they both seem reasonable and appropriate. Thank you for your loyalty to Telluride!

I was talking with my father about this blog and he thinks it is so fabulous that anyone from any part of the country and literally the world has direct communication with the CEO of Telluride. He knows the obvious love I have for Telluride because it was me who convinced the two of us to come to Telluride 3 years ago when I was 15. Every year has been phenomenal. It is not the obvious external beauty of Telluride. It is not the fact that Telluride is necessarily better than any other ski resorts. It is the memories and the simple fact that although some years the snow will be better than other years and although changes may occur climatologically, those memories will remain eternal. They will be related to my children and my grandchildren. Those are the times and facets of life that must be cherished and kept close to our hearts. Telluride does that for people. Again, Telluride is a synergy, a physical, tangible, location in the San Juans of southwestern Colorado that proves the metaphysical real. I cannot perfectly describe why I feel this way nor can I deny that it is there. This identification is contagious to nearly everyone who visits Telluride. This is why so many who hear notions of change fear this identification to be lost in the future because of competition locally and abroad whether that be foregoing or instilling new lifts or managing snow packs, or deciding when or when not to open an area of the ski area or to install a new lift. I guess what all this is to say is that marketing and managing are about risks and rewards. Moreover, they are about qualified, calculated risk taking. But how to calculate the intangibilities of the Telluride philosophy? This is the sole reason I praise this blog so much. It allows for that undefined, immensely important element that manifests itself so close to the hearts of the people who identify with the Telluride philosophy. It is your job and hopefully my own in the future to vicariously reveal this philosophy, the Telluride philosophy, to the minds of others who want to care. Once anyone comes to Telluride, I think it is fair to say that the product sells itself. I love this product of Telluride, and while I am only 17 years old, I want to ensure that this love remains constant just as the memories I have with my father both from the past and in the future. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or openings for a summer job/ internship I would be more than interested. There is obviously prospective risk in a 17 year old but I am not asking for answers now. I am just asking for mutual communication, which I am confident you give, and will continue to give. Here is my email address- sampanning@yahoo.com

Dave's reply: Hi Sam, You'll have to introduce yourself to our Human Resources Manager, Janice Todd. Her email is jtodd@tellurideskiresort.com That's always a good place to start. She knows all the opportunities. Thank you for your interest! I'd like to meet you someday. Drop by the office at Mountain Village sometime. My assistant is Elaine and she can set up a time for us to spend a few minutes together.

Hi Dave,

     Just had to comment on the complaints over the base totals again.  Anyone who has lived in Colorado or the San Juans should know that base totals always shrink over time no matter how much snow we get.  Steamboat has gotten over 363" this year (100" more than us) and reports the same base.  Not only does the snowpack settle and squish the air out, but snow crystals near the ground turn to "sugar snow".  Put new snow load on top of that "sugar" and the snowpack can really settle out.

    I hope people can understand thats just the way it is.  The base totals are correct. Deal with it.  Thanks again for the forum, Transom.

Dave's reply: Snow settles.. it's a fact of life.

PICS OF THE PARKS PLEASE POST PICS OF THE TERRAIN PARKS

Dave's reply: someday :)

What happened to the live music events that were on the calender for Thursdays in March?  Why did all the live FREE music events dissapear?

Dave's reply: Hi Joe. I asked our F&B Director to reply to your question which is below:

To Transom

Shut up, whatever he already answered my question so chill. No one cares anymore and gosh if any one could be more rude than you it would be HILLARY CLINTON!!!!! Just asking a simple question "Mr. Snowfall I know everything". Sounds like a kid to me.

Dave's reply: Hi Michael. No worries - you raised a reasonable question. It's amazing how little moisture is in our snowpack compared to other parts of the country. That's why we like it so much! Thanks for posting.

WHAT KIND OF AWNSER IS SOMEDAY SOMEDAY COULD BE NEXT YEAR OR A COUPLE OF WEEKS HOW ABOUT LIKE A DAY OR TWO

Dave's reply: there's no need to shout :) I'll talk with the marketing guys this morning about it.

any idea on when palmyra peak may open.  hoping soon with all the recent sunshine

Dave's reply: Looks like a decent storm coming in Wednesday night. We'll have to wait again. I'd like to get up there soon too.

Dave

Been off to Canada for a week or so--Kicking Horse, Panarama, Kimberly, then Schwitzer and Silver Mt..

Now Kicking Horse is a kick butt mt.--70 named double X shutes within the controlled ski area and 4133' of vert. with a 10 min. tram ride--a lot of extreme terrain and Scott Schmidt wanna-bees--he did a video there last year.

I'm not an extreme shute skiier so your new area looks very nice--what pics--are you taking all of those?

For your info--ODOT says there's 305" setting by the road at Bennet Pass on 35!

Dave's reply: Hi sds - always great to hear from you. Next year you'll have take a trip over here, you'll love it. We've got all types of terrain.

Yes, I take all the pictures myself - with my little Sony digital camera. Then I go back to the office, upload them, and compose a blog. It's pretty easy.

The snow everywhere this year is amazing!

Hi Dave

I just wanted to let you know there is a little glitch in the graphic version of the daily grooming report.  The list of run names below the trail map only shows names to about 40, while the map itself shows groomed runs numbered over 40.  

Big fan of your blog.

thanks

M

Dave's reply: Thanks for the heads up. We'll get it fixed!

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!  History in the making, Palmyra Peak is really amazing.  Great job to everyone involed in making it a reality. It is really cool looking down on everthing. Revelation see you soon.  

PB

Dave's reply: Yes, a big THANK YOU goes out to the women and men who have worked hard to make this happen. It's a great day at Telluride Ski Resort to see Palymra Peak open for skiing  - and we have a bright future!

I know that 5 year old from San Diego!  She is Helaina, and one of my daughter's friends from ski school.  I've got some funny movies of them racing on Nastar up on YouTube.

Dave's reply: I really enjoyed meeting Helaina. She's a very bright girl who loves skiing. Thanks for posting Jacqueline.

Dave,

Any chance the ski company is going to put the "beacon basin" in this winter? Its a great backcountry tool that  allows us to practice and hone our rescue skills.

Thanks.

-Tom

Dave's reply: I asked Pat to reply to your question. See below. If you want to contact him directly his email address is pahern@tellurideskiresort.com

To Michael N,

    Yes I guess I was a bit rude in my post.  It was not my intention to insult your intelligence or lack of.  Just trying to explain Colorado snow pack in terms a child could understand.  Judging by the response of your remedial insults, I failed.  Have a nice day if you can.  Shutting up, T.

Dave's reply: Okay, you two guys need to relax now ;p

Hi Dave,

Thanks for getting Palmyra Peak open, it's just awesome up there.

That being said, I'd like to kindly ask the public to understand just how exposed to the elements they are when going to the top. I was heading up there with some friends with all our gear and beacons "just in case" and ended up going down mountain quail due to extremely gusty winds. What wigged me out was the amount of people by themselves without any safety gear that still headed up in gale force winds. Some of these people had lift tickets, some had season passes but I'd like to ask WTF are you all thinking??? Just because the sign says open doesn't mean you should assume nothing bad could happen to you and it's safe to go on. Some people were pinned for long amounts of time in some pretty exposed places due to the winds. You're putting yourselves as well as possibly ski patrol in danger when making unsafe decisions in the backcountry. Even though the peak area is controlled, that doesn't mean you can't get blown off the ridge on the approach, and it can be quite technical and should never be taken lightly, in my opinion.

Dave, please don't let the actions of some of these gapers mess things up for the responsible people who go when conditions are safer. I'd push an educational campaign that would warn people who shouldn't be going up there and make others think more about what they are doing.

thanks again for letting us ski PP from the top!

Dave's reply: Hi Stan. Excellent points. Thanks for posting.

Wow, Palmyra seems amazing. I'd love to see some pics from up there. Also, what would the total vertical rise be if you measured from the highest point of Palmyra you can ski to the base area?

Dave's reply: The top of Palmyra Peak is 13,320 feet. The bottom of Chair 7 is 8,725 feet. So the difference is 4,595 feet. I'll try and get some pictures soon for a new blog. Thanks Joe.

In light of the recent death on the ski hill, let me ask the following question.  Why do not ALL tel-ski employees (Ski Patrol, instructors, and lift ops) wear helmets while on the job?  I think that it should be required and would set a positive safety example for the visitors of Telluride.  

Dave's reply: Hi Joe, The National Ski Areas Association which includes most ski areas in the country has taken the position that helmet use should remain a personal choice. You can learn more by clicking on: http://www.lidsonkids.org/faq.asp?ques=13

Joe,

The shot on the front the of the telski website is from Palmyra just a few days ago, also in the multimedia gallery there are a number of shots I made on that same day. Thats Ryan Deppen and Herb Manning skiing couple of rippers!

I hope to get back up there when it opens again, I saw some great lines to ski and shoot!

Dave's reply: Thanks for all your help Doug. Nice pictures!

Dave

Nice to see you post on your old blog--if you've been keeping up, you're aware that a number of 4x4 and season pass holder [at Mt. Hood Meadows] are doing week days where they can because of crowding--is it that crowded at Telluride?

Dave's reply: Hi sds - it's always nice to hear from you. Hope your season is going well!

Lift lines at Telluride are much shorter and many times don't exist. It's one of the benefits of being a destination resort. We don't get the "crush" from the drive market on the weekends. Plus, with 7 high speed quads and the gondola the uphill transportation is very efficient. Since people generally come to Telluride for a week or more, our visits are spread out so we don't have the big peaks and valleys between mid-week and weekends like resorts that are near a big city.

The park has made vast improvements since the beginning of the season, and right now it is looking great. The large features are very pleasing for many of the local riders and other advanced visitors. Unfortunately, today while riding, there were loads of people with little or no ability using the big features improperly, resulting in many issues  between proper park riders, and the improper skiers and snowboarders. On one occasion, a skier in jeans, an 80's jacket, and fanny pack(someone who obviously doesn't belong in the park)decided to ski underneath a talented skier while in the process of hitting a jump. The rider who had nearly landed on the skier beneath him began to yell at the man, due to his bonehead move. The tourist who had just almost been crushed argued back, not realizing what he had just done was completely ridiculous, and basically stupid.  

(I hope you are following along) Basically, the point I am getting to, is that there needs to be some way to make sure that people who have no park experience, don't end up going into the big park and using the features in a way other than the way they were designed to be used.

Dave's reply: Everyone in the park, from beginners to experts, need to follow the Smart Style rules. See http://www.terrainparksafety.org/get-smart.asp Instead of yelling at someone - a diplomatic approach with an educational message could be used :) We all need to work together on this important issue. Thank you.

Props to "somebody" and his comments! Our terrain park has come a long way since the beginning of the season!  The hip is especially fun and we're able to launch huge!  I hope that the new, larger features don't get taken away, due to accidents caused by people that definately shoudn't be in the park.  But, it's not just the folks hitting the jumps that are the problem. I was sessioning on Mon. with my  buddies, and here comes this really little shredder kid, being chased by his mom, through the park.  The kid was pretty much out of control anyway, but the lady was really the problem.  She cut across the bottom of one of the jumps and I came extremely close to landing on top of her.  I called out to her, but she was oblivious and continued to chase the kid.  

I wish there was a way to educate the ignorant and oblivious!  Which includes people hitting the jumps and also, and maybe more dangerous, the people chasing through the park without a clue (who really don't belong in there in the first place).  

Dave's reply: Here is a good website on terrain park safety http://www.terrainparksafety.org/get-smart.asp You can always politely suggest that someone check it out to learn more about parks and safety.

Dave - what has happened to your Blog?  You started strong and frequent, and now we hardly hear from you!

I know that everyone has thoroughly enjoyed your commentary, and you have set a precedent - keep it up.

SP

Dave's reply: Thanks Scott. I've gotten so much positive feedback on the "Skiing Palmyra Peak" blog that I decided to leave it up. I'll post a new one soon. Thanks for logging on and being a part of the online community we've created!