Outdoors

Editor's note: For eight years, Telluride local Ben Clark and a few friends/business colleagues have made Spring treks to the majestic mountains of the Himalayas. Follow his adventures on Telluride Inside... and Out, including links to his regular podcasts.

Benbioshotlr-254x300 "Dispatch 2: Thuli Kharka/13,900'.

""The hiss of stoves, songs of porters and cries of ravens fill the damp air here at 13,900'. Our team has traversed a 15,000' pass to reach a granite filled bowl and crossroad of expeditions exploring the Hunku valley. This is day three of our eight-day approach, and we are in a crude site known as Thuli Kharka.

"The trekking here has been magnificent. In addition to being immediately surrounded by jagged thrusts of granite and icy 20'000' plus summits, we are charmed by the presence of French, Dutch and Nepali accents as we ascend and descend into our approach valley, the Hunku. This year is far different from last...There are people here and we are happy to greet old friends and porters I've expeditioned with in years past.

Here at Telluride Inside... and Out, one of our primary goals is to show off the twin jewels of Telluride and Mountain Village at their sparkling finest. If you ever ask anyone outside the region about Telluride, though, you're probably used to hearing "Tellu-what?" as often as you hear, "I totally love Telluride!" - with a smattering of, "Telluride - they ski there, right? Somewhere in Colorado?" thrown in for good measure. 

Knowing that striking the right balance between being a "best-kept secret" and bringing in tourists who occasionally fall so much in love with the place that they just have to live here (at least part of the year) is part of what keeps Telluride thriving, I love when I run across outside coverage of my favorite microcosm (in the fullest sense of the term). 

Two different people shared clippings about Telluride with me recently - one from Sunset Magazine, and one from New York Times featuring a review of Capella, one of TIO's most recent sponsors to come on board. That got me curious - who else has become enamored of Telluride lately? 

IMGP1105 2 Another great thing about being in Telluride: even the mundane can be a mini-adventure. Perhaps the errand is in town and could as easily be accomplished on a bike. In a month there will a number of choices about which route to take: quickly on the bike path, almost as quickly on the dirt track along the San Miguel, or a real adventure (and a fair amount more time) up Mill Creek Road and down the Waterline. See what I mean?



By D. Dion


Most kids graduate high school and go to college to figure out what they want to do in life. Not Telluride’s Gus Kenworthy. Kenworthy knows exactly what he wants to do, and he's already doing it: pursuing his ambition to become a professional skier. This season his dreams became reality when he won $15,000 and the acclaim of Powder Magazine, which named him one of the top 20 young (under 18) freeskiers in the world.


Easter Sunday was a great day on the mountain at Telluride. First, the skiing was great. I did a few cruising runs on Lift 5 with Susan and our friends Lawrie and Sheila. At the top of the lift we chatted with Dylan and Dawn and their young kids. There were also some wild costumes in evidence, so the people watching was fun as well. Hawkeye was, guess what, a pirate. Hard to believe the lifts will be still tomorrow, another ski season done.

Longroadcover Telluride Ski Resort is pleased to announce the appearance of the Drew Emmitt Band at Gorrono Ranch Easter Sunday, April 4, 2 p.m. at the Gorrono Ranch.

Following a decade of success with Leftover Salmon, Drew Emmitt is revered as one of the most energetic and innovative mandolin players on the jamband/newgrass scene today.

The Gorrono deck party is free to skiers and riders with valid lift tickets and passes. No other access to Gorrono Ranch is available. No outside alcohol is allowed. Backpacks are checked at the Gorrono Ranch entrance. Wristbands are issued for alcohol purchases for those over 21 years of age and PROPER ID IS REQUIRED.

IMG_0714 IMG_0713 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.

[click "Play" to hear Gareth Martins' conversation with Susan]


CIMG7288 Telluride's The New Community Coalition's Green Building Roundtable continues with the third talk in the series. "The Evolution of Sustainability in an Independent Outdoor Company" focuses on the story of Osprey – "Pack Your Passion and Go" – and the company's green team. The event takes place  Friday, April 2, 8:30 – 9: 30 a.m. upstairs at the award-winning Wilkinson Public Library. The speaker is Gareth Martins, Director of Marketing.

Last November, Telluride Inside... and Out sponsor/contributor Erik Dalton of Jagged Edge was all hopped up about a new ski/snowboard backpack for the winter season he believed to be the perfect travel companion on all sort of outdoor adventures: the Kode series from Osprey could do everything but walk your dog.

A storm hit the San Juan Mountains Friday, bringing an incredible 22 inches of snow to the Telluride Ski area in the last 24 hours. Snow fell at a rate of 2-4 inches/hour throughout the region Friday night.Today, Saturday was mostly sunny and on...

[click play to hear Demian Brooks' conversation with Clint] View from the top of Telluride gondola The North American Airline Ski Federation (NAASF) is holding one of their ski weeks in Telluride from Sunday, March 28-Friday, April...