Airline week in full swing in Telluride

02 Apr Airline week in full swing in Telluride

Telluride is hosting around 250 airline personnel, members of the North American Airline Ski Federation (NAASF)  this week, March 28- April 2. Telluride Inside… and Out spoke last week with Telluride coordinator Demian Brooks who provided an event overview. Dem is a pilot with Delta Airlines and a Telluride local. The schedule for the week included race training, races for both experienced (A Racers) and newby racers (B Racers), parties, barbeques, dinners, and connections with old friends.

Shelby Van Zeedon,
Gary Commock

Demian Brooks,
Shelby Van Zeedon

The nature of the airline business is such that friends don't always see each other in the course of their working life: flying for different airlines, seniority differences, choices about where to live; these all conspire to separate. So these several day events (there are three ski weeks at various U.S. resorts annually) are great opportunities to catch up with buddies. As an example, when I talked to Demian Brooks on Tuesday, he was swapping stories with his former flight instructor, Shelby Van Zeedon, now a 767 copilot for UPS, based in Ontario, CA and her friend Gary Commock, a copilot on the MD 11, based in Louisville, KY with UPS.

At the barbeque at Gorrono on Tuesday I had the opportunity to speak with NAASF vice president Steve Amoia, an LA-based 737 Captain for American Airlines. Steve has volunteered with NAASF for the past 20 years, first in support of American Airlines' ski club, then as a national officer. Amoia said the gathering in Telluride was going very well and is the best-attended of this year. He also confessed that though he still maintains an A Racer standing, administrative work has taken a toll on his race times.

On the lift I talked with Laurie, a D.C. based flight attendant with United. She told me she hadn't been skiing for years, had the idea of attending this airline week, and with a big smile, was determined to not let any more time go by without spending more of it on skis. NAASF has brought one more person back to the mountains. Glad to have you back, Laurie.