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[click "Play" to hear Katie's conversation with Susan]

 

(ed. note: Katie suffered a broken pelvis in a fall during a training ride last Friday, barely a week before the start of RAAM. Here's the "indomitable spirit" part: As of today, Sunday, June 12, she is looking for a handcycle, in the hopes of starting the race and putting in at least a few miles.)

kicker: Youngest solo rower ever hopes for world record, switching gears to bike for safe drinking water

Katie Yes, this story has ties to Telluride. In fact what we've discovered over the years is that most roads lead to our remote mountain town, so read on. The overriding theme of Mountainfilm in Telluride, a key driver of world traffic, is "Indomitable Spirit," which the event celebrates. Katie Spotz certainly qualifies.

12 June, 2011 /

by Jon Lovekin

Slide chutes Often, the best way to the mountain top is where fierce energy has blown down a path to the bottom. Snow avalanches do this. Where they load and run, decade to decade, is a clear path to the top, avoiding the tree fall and other debris in the deep dark woods that densely cover the hills.

Today was one of those days. I got a late start after checking the gear and carefully arranging the pack. The hike, work at the mine, and walk back out would take me into the early hours of nightfall even on this June day. The climb always cleared the pipes and the mind and today was no different. A cool breeze pulsed up the hillside chilling the sweat drenched clothes. As I topped out, light headed at the ridge I suddenly started as I heard voices. Looking all about there was no-one to be seen. Snatches of a far away conversation brought to me in pieces in the abrupt and now mysterious winds coming up from the valley. I was now well primed for the ghosts from yesterday that haunt these old mine sites.

10 June, 2011 /

By J James McTigue

The Baffin Babes are four rad chics with whom it would be fun to have a beer, go dancing, or ski tour 1200 kilometers in the Canadian Arctic over 80 days. Except you weren’t invited on the ski trip; they chose to do it all on their own.

Babes Swedish sisters Vera and Emma Simonson, along with Norwegian friends Inga Tollefson and Kristin F. Olsen spent 80 days traveling along the eastern coast of Baffin Island, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world.

At Mountainfilm in Telluride they will be presenting their trip, the glacial scenery, and remote Inuit villages they visited, as well as the fun they had, in a multimedia presentation at 6:45 Friday night at the Sheridan Opera House and 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Palm. (Palm showing is free to the public).

26 May, 2011 /
[click "Play" to listen to Wade Davis' conversation with Susan]  

Wade, fireplace Ethnographer, writer, photographer, filmmaker, licensed river guide, Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society and major supporter of Mountainfilm in Telluride, Wade Davis returns for the 33rd annual gathering of the tribe, May 27 – May 30, 2011.

Wade is joined by other wide awake beings, among them, writer Terry Tempest Williams; the voice of youth eco-activists, Tim DeChristopher; eco-adventurer David de Rothschild; Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis, co-creators of Peabody-winning PBS documentary "King Corn." With this year's line-up, Mountainfilm director David Holbrooke may just manage to trump last year, which was Mountainfilm's best year ever.
19 May, 2011 /

Ludwig_valleyFloor_web 
Drew Ludwig, Valley Floor #1

Contest Dates:  May 19 – July 15, 2011
Exhibition:  July 30 – August 28, 2011
Location:  Ah Haa School Depot Gallery, Telluride, Colorado

The Telluride Institute is proud to announce the Atlas of the San Miguel Photo Competition, a first annual juried photo exhibition celebrating the San Miguel River Watershed. Amateur and professional photographers of all ages are encouraged to submit photographically generated works of art celebrating life in the watershed—in all of its many forms.

The photo competition is part of a larger exhibition at the Ah Haa School in August. The exhibition is divided into two components--an Invitational Exhibition featuring both local and nationally known artists and the Photo Exhibition featuring photos of the watershed.

19 May, 2011 /
When snow falls in Telluride in May, even the most rugged mountain souls dream of an escape. Luckily, for those of us who get to call Telluride home, there is a flipside to our paradise: road tripping over to Utah. Southeast Utah has all of the things that we lack right now—snow-free trails, electric green aspens, beautiful camping, and most importantly: warmth. Gathering Wild Flowers Chasing up a campsite on a Friday night in Moab, Utah, however, can be trickier than winning an evening plane flight with a young Robert Redford over Africa. Everyone wants in (or maybe that’s just me with that metaphor?)—Regardless, everyone wants in, and not everyone can have in. Utah residents have a joke about this Colorado infiltration that my husband, Andy, likes to tell everyone until they're nauseated: “You know how you know it’s spring in the desert? The license plates turn green.” Because of this Moab chaos, Andy and I have started heading south of Moab to camp out with our girls. On our most recent trip, we went back right back to a spot we’ve been to before: Indian Creek.
18 May, 2011 /
[click "Play", Jagged Edge's Erik Dalton speaks with Susan]

 

Kayak swap Friday, May 20, 7 p.m., Telluride's Jagged Edge hosts a movie night. The featured film is Young Gun Production's "Source."  Saturday, May 21, 9 a.m. to close, the store hosts a river gear and kayak swap. Both events are fundraisers for the San Miguel Whitewater Association, Telluride's local paddling/whitewater club.

"Source" provides unique insight into the lives of some of the biggest names in kayaking, their appreciation for diverse and challenging rivers and what keeps them up at night. We follow them on their global journey to experience new cultures from Vietnam to the high Sierras, meet new people, and, of course, push their limits in spectacular whitewater. Experience global first descents, explore new heights in freestyle, and witness the descent of the tallest waterfall ever paddled. “Source” captures stunning action in impossible locations.

18 May, 2011 /

by J James McTigue

What is Boggy Draw?

It sounds like a place Kermit the Frog lives. And, perhaps he does; but we didn’t find him. We did find ponds with leeches, horny toads, miles of mellow single track, and a few cacti stuck in the sole of our shoe.

We also didn’t find facilities. You have to bring your own water, pack out your trash and for the other: dig a hole; hold it; or pack it out.

Boggy Draw is essentially an open park of San Juan National Forest, situated about four miles above Dolores. The development is minimal: a trailhead, single-track and a dirt road to access sheltered alcoves among the Ponderosa pines -- stellar for car camping.

 

12 May, 2011 /

Let's get it out from the beginning: I never leave Telluride because I'VE JUST GOT TO GET OUT OF THE BOX CANYON! I leave because I haven't seen family for a while, or maybe there's someplace else calling me. I made my living traveling,...

10 May, 2011 /