Winter Weekend

I love me some corduroy. Ski runs, that is. Nice groomed trails, no bumps, and absolutely no powder deeper than an inch or two. Solid blue, maybe a double blue if conditions are right and I’m feeling confident. Yeah, I love the idea of skiing, it’s just that sometimes the reality of it leaves me a little cold, pun intended. Last year I went up to Powderhorn maybe twice. Dan and I started snowshoeing and we had so much fun doing that we didn’t bother to ski. It’s been years since I’ve seen Alex on his board and I really don’t want to know where he goes on the mountain. (If I knew, I wouldn’t allow it and that would ruin his fun.) But when Dan’s friend Russ offered us all free lift tickets to Telluride last weekend we cheerfully accepted. Russ works for Telluride ski patrol and its one of his perks. But wait - there’s more! Another of Dan’s friends has a “cottage” in Telluride (aptly named See Forever Cottage) that he generously offered us for the weekend. Alex got his first weekend off from work in two years, and we all (me, Alex, Dan and his two sons) caravanned to Telluride after work last Friday. Let me just sum it up - we had a great time! The cottage was perfect, and if you’re going to Telluride I highly recommend it. I don’t think I can get you the same deal we got, but you can check it out here. It was a full moon while we were there which you could see through the skylights in the roof at night. And check out the sunset. By the time we rented an assortment of equipment (did I mention that was free too?) it was just after 10:00 Saturday morning when we hopped on the gondola to the first run. Ready to launch Russ knows the mountain like the back of his hand, and was a great tour guide for us. The boys were soon off on their own doing black runs See you later, boys while Dan and Russ and I cruised the blues. Look! It's Suzy Chapstick! It was so uncrowded and the snow was just the way I like it. Telluride is a huge mountain, especially for someone who has mostly only skied at Powderhorn. Most of the day was sunny, but the wind was picking up by late afternoon. By 4:30 we headed back to the cottage, which is less than ten minutes from Mountain Village. We spent the evening grilling hamburgers, drinking beer and other liquids, watching movies from a vast DVD collection, reading and generally having a great time. After a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast, we headed back towards home, promising Russ next time he came to Grand Junction we’d treat him to Powderhorn! It was a wonderful weekend getaway, and it was especially nice having all the “kids” with us. I also got all the cobwebs off my ski boots so I might as well hit Powderhorn this weekend. So long for now.