April 12, 2009
Hi Folks,
We'll, all good things must come to an end. Many locals and a few out-of-towners showed up for a spectacular powder weekend. Twenty inches of new snow fell in the last 48 hours and the face-shots where plentiful today ;-)
I'd like to start out by thanking all the staff who worked this last "bonus" week. It was fun to see everyone chip in and the teamwork was awesome!
In typical Telluride fashion, the powder line was full of happy locals this morning. Below is a picture of Captain Jack and Larry Iverson, first in line on closing day:
Every chair was pretty much full on the Plunge all day:
Can you find the always stylish Plum powder girl, Ramona Bruland on the lower Stairs in this picture?:
The F&B crew did a great job putting out some Mai Tai drinks, pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, sliced brisket, and everyone packed into Giuseppe's - just like always! Looks like we've got a new rock star in Telluride :)
Dina, you can't move to Hawaii, you must come back to Telluride. Go stick your feet in the sand and splash around in the ocean for awhile if you must, but come back! It just won't be the same without you!:
A diet of Black Bean Saute, PBR, and Mai Tai. Giuseppepalooza!:
Good times and good friends:
Cheers to a great season:
The little house that could. Did you know that Giuseppe's used to be a restarurant at the bottom of Coonskin (Chair 7) in the old days? When I was a college kid, I remember buying toasted bagels with cream cheese out of that building 25 years ago at the base area at 7:
This has been a season of great memories and accomplishment. We started out with new state-of-the-art snowmaking equipment on Misty Maiden which really helped us open with a great base on time:
Of course the big news of the season was the new Revelation terrain expansion and new quad lift. Below is a picture of the kamikaze downhill when the rope was dropped on the first day Revelation was opened. Those are people, not trees! It was pretty wild seeing all those people charging down Reve! If I recognize the coat, doesn't that look like David Glynn in the foreground?:
The new observation deck at the bottom of Revelation Bowl turned out great too. This was also opening day as the blue sky emerged. Aren't we all glad we never saw another lift line like that? That's scary!:
Big thanks go out to the Forest Service for helping with the Revelation expansion. Below is Judy Schutza, District Ranger and Scott Spielman, Permit Administrator. I'll bet Scott hiked Revelation Bowl a few dozen times last summer and fall as he administered the project. He's got his thumb print on the bowl for life, which is pretty cool. By the way, I know the unload ramp at the top didn't work well, and we've got a plan to fix it up this summer. Please accept my appologies!
We dedicated "Bee's Run" in Revelation Bowl to Bee Reichel last month. Bee and her husband Frank have been an important part of this community for decades. This was a great event attended by many of her friends.
The new Hop Garden in Mountain Village was a big success. Thanks to Mountain Village for permitting us to expand the patio!:
Alpino Vino, the world's highest wine bar, was also very well received. Thanks to San Miguel County for the special use permit!:
Once again, the ski patrol did an outstanding job getting the mountain open and keeping it safe. We installed 2 howitzers with nice new buildings in order to help with the avalanche control work (a project Sterbie has worked on for decades), but without their talent and dedication the big guns would be worthless. These folks have developed cutting edge data, practices, teamwork, leadership, and results. We have over 70 folks on the TSP team now. This picture was taken at the top of Gold Hill last Monday. Pat Ahern, Eric Larson, Craig Sterbenz, Matt Steen and I took a run into the Creek to discuss the snow study they've been working on in that area:
Remember the train of people hiking Palmyra every sunny day? I asked Sterbie how many days it was open this year. He said it was a little over 40. Skiing Palmyra Peak has become a signature experience at Telluride. Awesome work!:
Gold Hill #1 was opened for the first time this winter:
I realize the Goat Trail from the bottom of Gold Hill #1 to the top of #1.5 didn't work very well. Below is a picture of it from last fall as it was being built. It gets wind striped pretty bad as it faces southwest, and I realize it needs tweaking. We're developing some new ideas to try and get this to work better. We'll get at it this summer:
I can't close this blog out without thanking the entire Telluride Ski and Golf team. We have 30 departments and 1,000 employees in the winter. It's an enourmous undertaking for everyone on the front line and through management to create the outcomes our customers expect from a world-class resort. I'd like to thank each and every one here and now but, well, that would take some typing! Seriously, we made great strides this year and I'm very proud of everyone. THANK YOU!:
Additionally, I want to sincerely thank our locals, second homeowners, visitors, and all the employees that work in all the stores, bars, restaurants, hotels, service organizations, and governments in the region. It's a team effort and collectively, we create the wonderful experience people think of as "Telluride". There are great people in this community, and I'm blessed to be a part of it. Thank you.
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Have a great summer.
Kindest regards,
Dave Riley
P.S. Thanks Elaine, for all you do.
