November 2009 - Posts
November 26, 2009
Hi Folks,
It was a great opening day with groomers, sunshine, and great conditions! The Telluride Ski Resort staff would like to thank everyone who came out to join us for the first day of the 2009/2010 ski season.
After a ribbon cutting, the first chair was loaded with members from the World Cup Organizing Committee. From left to right was Meehan Fee - Director of the Telluride Conference Center, Justin Chandler - Executive Director of the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club, Elizabeth Howe, Executive Director of TSG Resort Services and Chief of Operations for the World Cup, and Scott McQuade - CEO of the Telluride Tourism Board.
Classic Telluride sunshine and exceptional customer service from attentive staff members was the theme for the day. Below is a picture from the Mountain Village base area looking up the Village Express lift and the Misty Maiden run. The gondola in the foreground is the famous free public transportation system that runs seven days a week 'til midnight between Mountain Village and the Town of Telluride. This is one of the best things about the Telluride destination experience - you don't need a car once you've arrived:
The snowmakers and groomers did an outstanding job preparing the slopes. Below is a picture of the Chondola and the Meadows run:
The best apres ski in Telluride Mountain Village was happening at the Hop Garden's new heated outdoor bar:
We hope you can hit the Telluride slopes soon! Feel free to post a comment or question. Also, you can always contact me directly at driley@tellurideskiresort.com if you need assistance with anything. - Dave
November 25, 2009
Hi Folks,
This blog outlines the plan for opening day at Telluride Ski Resort.
We will open the following lifts:
Village Express (Chair 4)
Polar Queen Express (Chair 5)
Apex Lift (Chair 6)
Chondola (Chair 1)
Ski School Magic Carpet
Adult Magic Carpet
The Gondola will allow people to off load at St. Sophia Station but skiers/riders will need to walk up to the top of Chair 7 to access the Village Bypass run - so, if you're coming from the Town of Telluride, you might want to ride over to Mountain Village and then hop on Village Express.
Chairs 5 and 6 are only used to access the See Forever Run off the top of Chair 6. In other words, all the runs are closed in those pods except the route from the top of 4 to the bottom of 5, and the route from the top of 5 to the bottom of 6. It's basically one big loop - 4,5,6 to See Forever, because that is where we have snowmaking.
Below is a picture of Upper See Forever at the Lookout intersection from this morning. The groomers will be busy spreading out large snowmaking piles this afternoon and evening.
We'll also have a mini park set up above Gorrono with some rails and a few small jumps to warm up on.
Gorrono Ranch will be closed for lunch so we recommend that people go to the Hop Garden in Mountain Village for lunch and/or apres ski. The indoor restaurant and bar, as well as the new heated outdoor bar at Hop Garden is set up and ready to go. It will be great:
I think you'll be pleased with the conditions for opening day. Thanks go out to all the Telluride Ski and Golf staff for pulling it together and making it happen for our guests. Enjoy the holiday and we hope to see you on the slopes!
Please feel free to post a comment or question, we love to hear from you. - Dave
November 21, 2009
Hi Folks,
I went up on a snowmobile this morning to check out the snowmaking progress and coverage. We're opening November 26th, and I'm sure everyone wants to know what lifts we're thinking about opening.
Things are actually looking pretty good for this time of year. The natural snow we received last weekend plus some good snowmaking temperatures have allowed us to get a head start on building a base in the key "connector" runs between the lift pods of Chairs 4, 5, and 6.
Below is a picture of See Forever, right below the Plunge turn off. Those are some huge piles of artificial snow:
Here is another shot of the same section of See Forever:
Below is a picture of the middle section of See Forever. It looks great too:
The snowmaking crew has set up guns on See Forever on the lower pitch just above the top of Chair 7. I was concerned we would be able to get to this location quick enough. They're working the lower end of this pitch, and have not made it up to the upper section of this pitch quite yet. They hope to work their way to the top of this section this week:
This is the same location but looking downhill. We're getting there:
Village Bypass looks really good. The cats have started to knock the piles down and spread the snow:
Some areas still need to have snowmaking applied. For example, the section between the top of Chair 4 and the bottom of Chair 5, and the section from the top of Chair 6 to Joint Point on See Forever.
Certainly, it will be easy to open the Chondola and Chair 4 on November 26th. The possibility exists that we could also open Chair 5 and Chair 6 so our guests can access the See Forever run from the top of Chair 6 down to the Village. We can't promise it, but it's looking like it might come together if we have productive, cold temperatures at night between now and the 26th. I don't see any new natural snow coming mid-week, but there is a possibility over the weekend - which would be great. The natural base at the top of Chair 6 has settled down to 22".
I'm quite pleased with what we have going on, especially for mid-November. It should be a fun opening. We hope you can join us for opening Day!
Feel free to post a comment or question. - Dave
P.S. Just for fun, below is a picture from today looking from the top of Gold Hill Chute 9 down into Palmyra Basin and Prospect Basin. It's filling in:
November 15, 2009
Hi Folks,
Took my daughter, Alex, up for a few snowmobile laps this morning. There is quite a bit of snow up high from this last storm. Bye the way, that's a peace sign :)
The snow stake at the top of the Apex Lift (6) was showing 34" this morning. There is a lot of air in the pack, so it will settle quite a bit this week:
Nice turns on See Forever:
The sun came out around noon:
Revelation Bowl is filling in nicely. This looks great for mid-November:
Snowmaking is running full speed on See Forever right below the Plunge:
Sweet November powder:
Last run of the day:
The forecast calls for sun all week, with snowmaking temperatures each night, and maybe another storm next weekend. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Feel free to post a comment or question! Think more snow - Dave
November 14, 2009
Hi Folks,
We're in the middle of a nice snowstorm! I went up the mountain this afternoon on a snowmobile to check it out. Below are a few pictures:
We've got 24" of natural at the snowstake at Patrol Headquarters near the top of the Apex Lift (Chair 6):
The new three-tier deck at Alpino Vino is ready for the railing and outdoor wine bar to be installed:
Snowmaking is going very well. Below is a picture of huge piles on Village Bypass:
This storm is forecast to continue through Sunday. Yes!
Feel free to post comments or questions - we love to hear from you. You can always contact me at driley@tellurideskiresort.com too. - Dave