Dave's Blog - All Comments

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Max — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:34:11 GMT

In regard to Anne's post . . . I don't know of any other resorts that keep a quality skiier/snowboard cross open to the public. The resorts that I've visited either close them off, when not using them for a competition, or they doze them after an event, for liability purposes.

Dave, before making the decision to eliminate the half pipe, please consider the repercussion of Telluride not having a pipe a couple years ago. Locals and tourists alike -- Not Happy!!!! We need a pipe that's dug into the ground and a crew that's able to maintain it in a professional manner.

The ski area expansion is great, but Telluride will not be "unmatched in North America" if it's a destination resort without a pipe -- please remember that families bring kids and a half pipe is a huge draw. You'll see that when they don't come because, no pipe. As you well know, many resorts have two or more pipes, these days.

Doing away with "Thrill Hill" was one thing, but not having a half pipe would be a huge mistake!

Thanks for your time, and please take a minute or two, to check out the archives,and very negative responses from a couple years ago when Telluride had no pipe. You seem like a progressive guy -- Why go backwards?

Dave's reply: Hi Max. We have not made any decisions yet. The observation I made was that the pipe was getting very little traffic. Regarding X courses, several areas out west have them all season. Again, no decisions, just blogging at this point. Thanks for the input and style though - very much appreciated.

Regarding an in-ground pipe, we built one before on Mt. Hood when I worked there so I understand what's involved. I'm having a hard time finding a really good location with snowmaking, correct sun exposure, grade, etc. at Telluride so far. Our existing pipe takes an enormous amount of snowmaking to fake it. I'm just wondering out loud if that time and $ could be better spent on parks when few people seem to utilize the pipe here?

The easy answer is: just build it. But, is there something that would be better in terms of utilization and progression? Progressive thinking usually means doing things differently than they have been done in the past - and taking a risk.

If the world were your oyster, what would it be?

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Jacob Ellis is Down — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:35:27 GMT

Hi Dave! Regarding your comment to Anne, I have a few points to make. Well first off, I don't think a boarderX course would be a good idea...tons of people would get hurt! You thinking building a boarderX course is good idea, but you won't let the park crew build a jump over 40 feet. I think a boarderx course is way more dangerous than a jump that is over 40 feet! I think your priorty should be set on the park and pipe. Also the pipe had low "utilization" because it was very poorly built!! At most times the pipe was DANGEROUS to shred because it was way under vert or way over vert! Maybe if you got the park crew to take better care of the pipe maybe more people would ski/shred it! It seems to me the park crew is more concerned with making little jumps and dumb jibbs that don't even have legit lips onto the features, than taking care of the pipe! I know why the pipe wasn't taken care of last winter, too, it's because none of the park crew can ride pipe, so they don't take the time to take care of it! If you get rid of the pipe this winter I'm going to be very bummed, and I know a lot of other people would be too!! Hmmmm...Why don't you dig the pipe??? And also send the person who grooms the park/pipe to a training course to learn how to groom and build features properly!!

Dave's reply: I can tell where your priorities are - giant jumps and a pipe. I can appreciate that but we have the responsibility to serve a wider customer group. It's harsh to say that our pipe was no good last year. Yes, with the record snow we had some times when it was not perfect but even with a fresh and good cut I saw very few people in it.

Regarding jumps, the fact is that 95% of the people in the park are not comfortable with a jump over 40 feet. It's a fact. Snowbird eliminated large jumps last year. Breck continues to build them big. Most areas are staying in the middle in terms of size.

Regarding a X course, I'm not sure you're as experience and wise as you may think. Several areas out west maintain them all season. At my last resort (Mt. Hood Meadows) we always had a X course because of the large number of high school competitions and the need for season long training. They were quite safe in terms of the statistics. Most of the time people go through the course by themselves when it's not a comp.

One final thought, insulting the park crew will not get you into the end-zone. Think about the delivery and response next time :) Thanks for the input Jacob.

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Adam — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:05:25 GMT

Hey Dave,

Special thanks has to go out to the forrest service for clearing the fallen trees on the Prospect trail. They had this trail riding and flowing smoothly after only a week of it being open.

The trail is awesome! I only got to ride it once last year after it had already snowed. So I didn't know how good it really was until a couple of weeks ago. It really exposes the potential this mountain has for exceptional cross-country trails. Do you know if there are plans to build more? I would gladly volunteer to help build more sweet high-altitude singletrack. I'm sure dozens of more locals would give their time as well to build more of these great trails.

Dave's reply: Hi Adam. I agree that we have a tremendous opportunity for a great cross country mountain bike system. We've got to work out the funding, liability, and operational issues and there are several stakeholders involved. It appears there are common interests and I feel it will get sorted out - it just seems to be taking more time than anyone thought. Thanks for your positive attitude and comments!

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Anne — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:08:01 GMT

Hi Dave, I hope your summer is going well. I'm wondering if you might have any plans to have a ski/snowboard cross course open throughout the season along with the park and pipe? I think there's a lot of people who would love to have a cross course to practice and play on!

Dave's reply: Hi Anne. We're in the process this summer of evaluating our freestyle terrain program and will keep your input in mind. I can't say for sure what the changes will bring at this date. One thing I was surprised with last year was how low the utilization is on the pipe. It appears the extent, diversity, and quality of the parks is the most popular thing at this point. A cross couse can be very popular also. Thank you.

re: Telluride Announces the New Revelation Lift and ANOTHER New Terrain Expansion

craig — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:06:06 GMT

I thought that Telluride was the most fun, beautiful place that I have ever skied. Now It will be the most spectactularly challenging place that I have ever skied.

Dave's reply: Hi Craig. Yes, in many ways Telluride is clearly "unmatched in North America"!

re: Telluride Announces the New Revelation Lift and ANOTHER New Terrain Expansion

oly — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:01:42 GMT

Are you guys hosting the Lifestylez Winter Break '09 trip this year. If so, I cant wait!

Dave's reply: Hi Oly,

Lifestylez will once again be bringing their group to Telluride from January 4-9, 2009. This will be another great winter break week with activities including skiing from Monday-Thursday, daily happy hours, spa gatherings, and free sponsor giveaways, plus the headlining hip hop concert at the Telluride Conference Center on Wednesday night. More events are in the planning stages at this time, and don’t forget Telluride is opening the new Revelation Bowl this season, so come check it out!

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Matt — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:52:29 GMT

Hi Dave, Find your blog very good, Im am in a option to move to your town for one off the jobs coming up in the hotels, I got a couple of Questions,

Is Tellride an children friendly Town, many kids around ,nurserys, play ground schools etc..?

Is T more off a vinter season or summer season?

How big increase does each season has in population,nad what is the base All year population?

Is it "Dining out" town?

With all the building going on is the locals supportive?

Hope to read some off your thoughts soon as I am eager to get a fair view from a person like your self.

Thanks Matt

Dave's reply: Hi Matt, Telluride is very much a kid friendly town. I have a 12 year old who really likes the local school and has lots of friends. It's a very safe place for kids and there are lots of healthy outdoor activities, parks, and things to do. The Telluride school is consistently ranked as one of the best in the state. The only challenge is if you need 5 day a week daycare (which can be hard to find or expensive) but once your kids are in school it's great. Telluride is busy in both the winter and the summer and is very quiet in the spring and fall. Winter is the most busy. I think Telluride has a resident population of about 2,500 and Mountain Village has a population of around 1,200. During peak season in the winter the ski area does about 4,000 to 8,000 skier visits daily which is less crowded than many Colorado ski resorts. During a festival in the summer I would guess the count may go over 10,000+ but I'm not sure. There are many great restaurants in Telluride that we enjoy. Regarding the construction and development, the town of Telluride doesn't have too much going on but there is quite a bit of activity right now in Mountain Village. Although some people don't like change or growth and complain about it, I'd say that many people also want a healthy business climate and economy and are looking forward to the projects and what they will bring to the community. I moved here 1 year ago and feel great about living and working here. My family is happy also. Good luck with your decision making and let me know if you have any further questions. My email is driley@tellurideskiresort.com

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Linh — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:43:12 GMT

Do you know when online ordering for the season passes will be available? Your post from above on June 22 states "next week at the latest" but it's still not available. Seems like a long time to get this problem fixed!

Thanks

Dave's reply: Hi Linh. Yes, I agree. I'm not happy at all with our subcontractor's performance who is changing the I-Store software system over. I've been told "it will be fixed tomorrow" for a week. I'm on it - and personally apologize for the inconvenience. Hopefully it will be functional next week..

re: Telluride Announces the New Revelation Lift and ANOTHER New Terrain Expansion

Kent — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:29:14 GMT

Dave, thank you for continually working to make Telluride an even greater mountain. Cannot wait to come back for my 7th year in a row to ski the new terrian. Keep up the good work!

Dave's reply: Hi Kent. Thank you for your nice comments. I have to give all the credit to the staff and management team at Telluride Ski and Golf. They're making great things happen! Thanks for your support!

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

C. Drew — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:15:12 GMT

Comment off topic and deleted.

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Craig — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:06:11 GMT

Hi Dave-

Did my post from last week get lost. I thought it was a fair and relevent question relating to your cold bed / hot bed answer to WH's post above and the low occupancy rates in the offseason?

Dave's reply: Hi Craig. Sorry about that. Scroll up and you'll see your post and my response. Have a great weekend too!

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Patrick — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:21:37 GMT

due to construction in revelation bowl, will see forever be closed for hiking this summer?

Dave's reply: Hi Patrick, There was a press release that we sent out just a few days ago dealing with that. See Forever Trail and the Wasatch Connection trail will both be closed from now through the end of the construction which should be in November.

Here is a copy of the article in today's Telluride Daily Planet:

Telluride, Colo. -

Sometimes, you have to give a little to get a lot. Or so goes the thinking at Telluride Ski and Golf, which had to shut down seasonal access to some trails this week in order to build a new lift into the Revelation Bowl, the gentle, tempting east-facing pitch off the back of Gold Hill high above Bear Creek.

As of yesterday, the Revelation Bowl lift was under construction and access into the ski area on the Wasatch Connection (trail 508.1B) was closed for the summer. In addition, both the hiking and biking portions of See Forever (trail 415/West Drain Rd.) will be closed for the summer season. The Bear Creek Trail and Wasatch Trail (trail 508) will both remain open. Telski says it had to close to trails for safety reasons.

“Right now, all they’re doing up there is some excavation. Helicopter work won’t begin for several weeks, but there’s a lot of heavy equipment going up and down,” said Telski CEO Dave Riley.

Grand Junction-based Leitner-Poma will build the four-person, fixed-grip lift, which will add 50 acres of terrain and another 315 vertical feet to the ski area, putting the highest lift-served point at 12,570 feet.

The top of the lift will spit riders out at the base of the Hillary Step, and also offers quick access Gold Hill Chutes 6-10. The base of the lift will sit on a flat area near the bottom of the pitch, above some 1,500 feet of cliffs that drop into Bear Creek. The project will cost Telski some $2.2 million.

But if you built it, they will come.

“I’m extremely excited about it,” said avid skier Mike Munno. “I think it’s going to be a great lift. I think the snow should hold on that area extremely well.”

What’s more, Munno says, is that the slope, which is east-facing, will serve as a canvass upon which spring skiers will paint corn masterpieces, everything sloshy and wet.

Munno also got a little dreamy.

“With all the hike-to terrain now, we might start seeing less bumps,” he said.

That’s a maybe. One thing for certain, though, is ski patrol seeing more work.

Ski Patrol Director Pat Ahern said he isn’t sure if patrol will beef up its staff or not.

“The size of it … we would need probably three different teams. So the decision needs to be made, ‘do we add people to get it open as soon as possible?’” wondered Ahern.

The best control method, he said, is skiing. Patrol will try to bootpack the aspect early in the season and get skiers on it soon thereafter. “You can throw explosives at it all year long but the best thing you can do is get it open and ski it up,” he said.

Telski has been on a bit of a new-terrain bender in the past year; the first strike came with hike-to access in Black Iron Bowl last December. Mid-season, Palmyra Peak and Gold Hill Chutes 6-10 both opened, giving riders a chance to scratch the white blue sky and plummet toward the Prospect Basin below.

The resort’s vertical drop is now one of the largest in North America at 4,425 feet, with 3,845 vertical feet lift-served. For more information, check out www.revelationbowl.com
Until the snow falls again in mothballs, skiers will have an important question to ask themselves. Munno wonders when it snows big “What do you do? Do you go down Gold Hill or do you take a quick lap down Revelation Bowl?”

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Jonathan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:24:48 GMT

Last winter was our first time in Telluride and we loved it. We brought our 5 month old daughter and the daycare was great. We are already finalizing our visit this year. My question is why aren't there more group lesson offerings during the regular season? Having one that starts in the middle of the day is pretty inconvenient. If you want something that starts in the morning (around 9 or 10) you are forced into a private lesson. This can get costly over the week. Most other resorts I have been to over group lessons for the day that start at 10 and half day that start at 1. Also, any plans to open up any more intermediate terrain for us average folks?

Dave's reply: Hi Jonathan. I asked Nick Herrin, Executive Director of the Telluride Ski and Snowboard School to reply to your question which is posted below. Let me know if you have any further questions. Thank you.

Thanks for your message. We schedule our adult group lesson so they work optimally with check-in for the kids lessons…so parents can drop off the kids and still have time to comfortably make it to their lesson as well. (We realize there are non-parents in that group, but our goal is to make it accessible to all). We do run 9 a.m – 11 a.m. group lessons as well during the regular season (non-holiday). If you happen to hit a couple of those, you might be ready for our new Revelation Bowl this season, which will have an advanced groomed path down the middle.

re: Telluride Announces the New Revelation Lift and ANOTHER New Terrain Expansion

jarrett — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:08:51 GMT

hey just wondering when a trail map might be available for the new terrain.

thanks

jarrett

Dave's reply: Hi Jerrett, I'm not sure if your wondering about on-line or hard copy but as you ask this you've prompted us to get the on-line map done soon so people can get a better feel for the new Revelation lift location. Thank you.

re: Golf and Vacationing in Telluride Mountain Village, Colorado!

Paula Gregore — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:57:01 GMT

My boyfriend and I will be visiting Telluride in the fall. We want to stay in a condo or hotel in Mountain Village. Can you send me some information?

My email address is: pgregorie@fox16.com

Thank you,

Paula Gregorie

Dave's reply: Hi Paula, Thanks for your interest in Telluride Mountain Village. I'll have Bill Noyes contact you from our central reservations department. You'll love it here in the fall!