Lifestyle

[click "Play" for Art Goodtimes' take on the Mushroom Festival]

IMG_5180 "The mushrooms have two strange properties: the one that they yield so delicious a meat; the other that they come up so hastily, as in a night, and yet they are unsown," Francis Bacon, "Naturall Histories," 1624.

Probably the best mushroom harvest in years has upped the ante for the 30th Annual Telluride Mushroom Festival, Aug. 26-29.

Wild mushrooms have always prompted wild debate, because they make great eats, but also can kill you. In some parts of the world – Telluride is one such address - mushrooms are prized for their culinary properties. But elsewhere on the map, mycophobes associate fungi with witches and serpents oh my.

IMGP1420Friday afternoon in Telluride, Tim Erdman called: Did we want to go mushroom hunting with him Saturday morning? Robert Allen and Susie Coit would be joining us as well. We had never hunted with Tim but enjoy his company, so why not. Turns out he is as addicted to the hunt as we are, so even when we all agreed it was well past time for lunch, we couldn't resist adding more mushrooms to an already impressive stash.

The Telluride Mushroom Festival takes place next weekend, so we got a bit of a jump on the event. When the word goes out in Telluride that boletes are everywhere, it's time to be in the hills.

by D. Dion

_T9J9432 The first time Full Tilt came to Mountain Village, I went up to see my friend race on the downhill course. She is a pro downhill mountain biker, but I hadn’t ever watched a race, and even though I sat with her as she put on her padded suit of body armor I still was in disbelief as I hiked up the course. It looked impossible to ride, full of huge drops, severe turns and impenetrable trees and rocks. Could this be the actual course?

It was. This was probably ten years ago, and already mountain biking had progressed far beyond the old hard-tail bikes and slow, smooth rides I started on. Front shocks, rear shocks, beefy wheel hubs and a full-face helmet—and the body armor—pushed the sport to a whole new level. You could have fit a Subaru beneath some of the jumps my friend went off that day, and the wipeouts were so spectacular that I wished I’d brought a video camera. I was hooked.

by Lauren Metzger
Marketing & Exhibitions Manager
Ah Haa School for the Arts

IndianSummer_wilsonrange-386x0 Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. It brings to mind new clothes, crisp blank notebooks and an abundance of newly sharpened pencils. While school is part of my past (thank god) I am happy that the Ah Haa School for the Arts still supplies it's own fall adventures that allow me to grow creatively and not be graded on.

I know that when I go hiking and exploring in our amazing Telluride backyard, I bring my camera and try my damnedest to capture the scenes surrounding me. And I have to admit I fail miserably. This is not to say that my pictures don't capture the beauty but they sure don't capture the depth of the beauty and the majesty of the landscape. So, I am excited to say that National Geographic photographer Dave Edwards is back this fall to give me some tips in making a strong photograph. Capturing dynamic compositions, learning about light, subject content and artistic elements are sure to help me blow my friends and family away. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and if I can truly learn to capture where I live, I will hopefully leave people as speechless as I am taking the picture when they view the picture.

IMGP0588 Telluride Inside... and Out went online for the first time with a short teaser post from Susan on August 18, 2008. There were soon articles by our daughters, Kimm Viebrock and Kjerstin Klein, and a few by me.

In my notes from our early organization meetings I find a comment from the girls that we should consider posting at least "one or two" articles each week to keep the content fresh. The advice seems laughable in retrospect. I'm writing this post on August 16, and our count is 1523, over two stories for every day of TIO's existence!

Tour Operators From Around the Globe Visit August 16-19The Ski Tour Operators Association, also known as SkiTops arrives next week in Telluride August 16-19. For the first time, the largest gathering of tour operators and sales agents has chosen Telluride for their annual summer meeting...

[click "Play", Vivien Russell and Rick Fusting talk about One To One and the "Top Chef" event]

1__#$!@%!#__unknown A few smart Telluride non-profits seem to have gotten the message when New York Times columnist Tom Friedman entreated President Obama to make 2010 "the year of innovation" (NYT January 23 Op Ed).  Events such as the San Miguel Research Center's/Two Skirts' "Clutch for the Cause," The Telluride AIDS Benefit's "Intoxicating Cuisine," the Telluride Historical Museum's Muleskinners' Ball are all examples of what happens when the tough get going.

Telluride-based One to One San Miguel Mentoring Program has also stepped up to the challenge of  how to get enough pie when the overall pie has shrunk. Like many regional non-profits, One to One experienced funding cuts. The reaction: stage a lollapalooza of a first-ever fundraising event.

On Thursday, August 19, 6 – 9 p.m., at The Peaks, One to One hosts a Wine Tasting & Telluride Top Chef Competition, which also includes live music by Westward magazine's choice of Colorado's Singer-Songwriter of the Year, Rob Drabkin, also in the line-up for Blues & Brews.


click "Play" to hear Ashley Deppen of Two Skirts talk about Fall footwear] Summer in Telluride has felt a lot like Seattle. Nothing but rain. Who knows what the Fall will bring – unless we are talking footwear. According to...

[click "Play" to listen to Susan's interview with Steve Spitz]

Postcard Fruits and veggies are seasonal. AIDS tends to ignore changes in the weather.


The Telluride AIDS Benefit, the crown jewel of Telluride's winter cultural calendar, hosts its first ever summer fundraiser. Intoxicating Cuisine with returning TV host/author/entrepreneur Steve Spitz takes place Friday, August 13, 5 – 8 p.m., 602 West Columbia. The event pairs great wines with tapas prepared by Spitz to honor the flavors and ingredients from every continent on the globe.