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by Kris Holstrom

_DSC0133 It’s nice to get out of the Telluride region for a bit during off-season if circumstances allow. Our family +1 managed to accomplish a whirlwind tour of colleges in the Pacific Northwest. Daughter Kelsey is a junior, and it was a great opportunity to see new country as she considers where to launch the next phase of her life after graduation next year.

Colleges were many and great, but the most fun for me was staying at the Out 'n’ About Treehouse Treesort just outside of Cave Juntion, Oregon. If you ever played MYST and enjoyed the treehouse world or coveted a treehouse of your own as a kid, you would love this place.

28 April, 2010 /

IMGP0403
2009 Mountainfilm
Clint Viebrock photo

The 32nd annual Mountainfilm in Telluride Festival is scheduled this year May 28 – 31. The event will feature a rich mix of special guest presenters drawn from a wide spectrum of experience and expertise: adventurers, artists, activists and an ambassador.

“Mountainfilm is about so many things:  climbing, mountaineering, world cultures, the environment, art, extreme sports,  social justice and foreign policy,” said Festival director David Holbrooke. “One of the things that makes Mountainfilm so unique and exciting is that we attract interesting people from all of those worlds. And the chemistry between them, and with our audiences, is just amazing. Despite the range of their fields and backgrounds, they all seem to complement and inspire one another. Our films are great. But our guests are what really set us apart.”

The list of this year’s special guests includes:

26 April, 2010 /

by Tracy Shaffer

Brian
Brian Jacobson

Spring fever hit Colorado, creating the perfect opportunity to stroll away a sunny afternoon with virtuoso chef and Foodswings owner, Brian T. Jacobson. First stop, coffee at Paris on the Platte; Brian swinging in with his energy as fresh and delicious as the food he cooks. Dipping biscotti into double espresso, we talk food, spices and the five essentials I must have in my kitchen. Brian leads me down the spice trade routes and into my very own culinary Age of Discovery. We speak of Dutch West Indies Trading Company, talk of blends, balance and the culture of cardamom. Trading the secrets of pepper and hanging on his every word, and armed with my vintage parasol, I’m restless to sojourn in the sunshine. Under the umbrella of a turquoise floral print, I link my arm in Brian’s and saunter up Little Raven to the Savory Spice Shop.

26 April, 2010 /

Editor's note: For eight years, Telluride local Ben Clark and a few friends/professional 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. If you have missed any of Ben's posts, just type "Ben Clark" into Lijit Search to find them all.

Benbioshotlr-254x300 "Dispatch 7: 17,600'/So we wait

Gray clouds build overhead as high winds stream and batter our position. Boy are we lucky to be landlocked today rather than our initial plan of ascending to camp one at 20'000'. We set out in clean clothes under sunny skies this morning only to be turned back with an equipment failure. The mountain is now being blasted hard. Fighting upward would have resulted in dodging rockfall and hunkering into a stormy night. Bad luck is good luck sometimes, no?


26 April, 2010 /

By D. Dion

Telluride Snowkiting Instructor Mark Worth is a wind junkie. After spending winters here teaching people how to snowkite, he blows out of town and spends summers in Hood River Gorge in Oregon, where he teaches people how to kite surf. He owns his own businesses in both towns, Telluride Snowkite School and Gorge Kiteboard School, and leads something of a double life.

“The migration thing’s just become part of the deal. It’s really a challenge to deal with the logistics,” says Worth, “but the upside is that in the Gorge, in the summertime, it’s really sunny and dry; but in the winter, it’s cloudy and rainy, so it’s nice to be in Telluride where the sun is shining and the snow is falling.”

25 April, 2010 /

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. If you have missed any of Ben's posts, just type "Ben Clark" into Lijit Search to find them all.

Benbioshotlr-254x300 "Buffalo Soldier, Bryan Adams and Mera La pass...What do they have in common? The cell phone of one of our porters, Nema. He swears that the Bryan Adams song (one I regretfully learned with all other 7th graders when the Kevin Costner Robin Hood film came out) was loaded on his cell phone when he got it. Priceless and yeah...busted, in the dizzying heights of 17,600' Mera La pass we sung it with him while his phone rang That was after Buffalo Soldier. The world loves Marley.

"We are now settled on a beach, sands blowing against our tent and sun shining overhead. The backdrop is not exactly coconuts and grass skirts, but five star nonetheless...Everest, Lhotse and Baruntse stand vigil over our site erupting early season plumes like an unbridled mare. This was definitely the most enchanting and rewarding day of this year's trek into the mountains for our climbing and skiing expedition. We have two and a half hours left before we will build a semi-permanent site at the base of 23,390' Baruntse and begin our ascent to become the first climbers to ski Baruntse's white frigid flanks.

25 April, 2010 /

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. If you have missed any of Ben's posts, just type "Ben Clark" into Lijit Search to find them all.

Benbioshotlr-254x300 "Dispatch 4: Khare/16,000'/Day 5

"Sweeping buttresses of untouched granite glimmer overhead as our team moves through the alpine zone again en route to Baruntse basecamp. The temperatures are mild, the weather is predictable and the trail winding and spectacular. This is a trek worth doing for those who wish to experience the Himalayas from the valley floor and only sample the heights.

"The last two days have brought us out of the lower juniper forests and the many sherpa dance parties that drive late through the evening. Yeah, that's right, for all the Buddhist oh mani padme hum soundtracks that fill our ears, there is an equal amount of chang 'a special Nepali beverage' and pop tunes flowing through each misty night. It's cool, I've traveled these regions for eight years with several of the cooks and porters we have on this trip and every morning they are bright eyed and bushy tailed...but we exchange smiles.

24 April, 2010 /

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 3: Khote/11,850.

"The world is full of intrepid explorers. Each day,  at each village we meet travelers from all over, on their way from one adventure to another. That is what makes expeditions to the Nepali Himalayas so inviting. It is a melting pot of culture and mountain-inspired endeavors.

"Some trek, some climb, there are all ages and abilities..We are the only ones with skis. It's funny how a resounding sigh of agreement and perhaps a bit of hindsight washes over each person's sun-affected face who we share this fact with. Hidden in the creases of age, we all identify with having fun.

"We were once alpinists tired of fighting our way downhill, overwhelmed by storms seiging the steep slopes and faces we had already climbed. Now, we work with the elements...It is silly to constantly challenge what you can't control. This expedition, to climb and ski 23,390' Baruntse, is especially satisfying with that philosophy in mind.

23 April, 2010 /

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.

22 April, 2010 /

by Tracy Shaffer

What a wonderful morning! One of those where it’s a bit overcast and you’re wishing you’d never scheduled one of those outside meetings, especially on a Friday. You'd be oh so content to work from home.
The light looked silvery in my golden room as I roused myself, vowing to keep my commitment. I’d set up coffee and an interview with Brooke Young, Autism Specialist with the Colorado Department of Education to discuss autism: not something I would normally bounce out of bed for, but April is National Autism Month and Brooke is headed for the Telluride region to mentor a Model Autism Team. I write for Telluride Inside... and Out. You get the picture.

I headed downtown to one of 15 Starbucks in a five block radius, ordered my Joe, asking if any of the many blondes in line was Brooke. Feeling luckily out of luck, I sat down to write and enjoy my overpriced java, secretly hoping I was at the wrong Starbucks as I guiltily scrolled through my Blackberry to find her number. One minute later in walked Brooke, apologetic for having gone to the wrong Starbucks, along with Gina Quintana, Significant Support Needs Specialist, also with the CDE.

19 April, 2010 /