I was up for a few runs yesterday and took advantage to surf the springtime slush. All-in-all, the mountain is doing fairly well at the end of March. There are a few noteable run closures:
- Stumper
- O'Reileys
- Sully's Gully
- Apex Glade
I'm not sure of the status of lift 8 runs?
Of course, all of the above have signficant southern sun exposure and melt quick. I think there's still a couple paths down Sully's and O'Reileys, but they're both far enough gone for patrol to call it at this point. Kind of funny though, there's no ropes though ... still, they'd be difficult lines at best. I think you can get in some decent lines on the lower portions of Apex if you traverse right past the old lift line (but not staying too high).
So, looks like Milk Run and Cookskin are the two remaining challenging springtime slush runs and are both doing fairly well ... although Milk Run definitely has the advantage of having snow blown onto it early in the season.
I didn't get up to lift 9 or Gold Hill, but it's a safe bet from my last time out on Sat. that they're both doing very well. Lifts 4 & 5 is also in good condition. Who knows about Prospect? Although I did hear about the new terrain opening up higher up the ridgeline.
Apparently there's a system coming through, but we'd need a lot to cover up the exposed rocks and so forth. Although, I do believe there was second life breathed into the mountain late last season.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
This Blog could've been "SaveMilkRun.blogspot.com"
Before I launch into what might be perceived as a rant, let me firsts thank Jeremy on lift maintenance for rectifying a an equipment failure I suffered last week at the top of lift 7. I lost a not on one of my binding straps and he happened to have a replacement screw and nut to allow me to have a "real" final run of the day down Milk Run - let alone more safely. Thanks again Jer!
Now to Milk Run: it's been a sore spot for me ever since I put "2 and 2 together" while sitting on the bench in front of the Coffee Cowboy and noticed a straw column decending down the center of Milk Run during the late Spring (early Summer) a few years ago. I knew something was up, but the full impact of what was going down didn't weigh in until the subsequent season started next fall. Telski was going to groom Milk Run and cordon it off into an alpine race venue.
Let me say right off that I'm all for individuals pursuing their passions; be it official alpine or freestyle competition or simply free-riding for fun. Moreover, I understand everyone has their agenda in so far as shaping the landscape in so far as getting from A to B in pursuing their particular passion. What I'm not a fan of is a process which does not allow all parties to voice their opinion in so far as shaping such policies. In other words, the transformation of Milk Run into a groomed alpine race venue seemed to be a unilateral decision - lacking public input. The latter is no surprise - even in light of the use of public lands (NFS), but to me it's akin to domolishing a landmark such as Wrigley Field or Penn Station.
In subsequent posts, I'll go into greater depth regarding reasons why, but for now let me explain why the Milk Run of old was a jewel on the mountain:
Telluride Ski Area is a very dichotomous in terms of the type of terrain: either long steep sustained bump runs or long sustained flat & mostly sub-cruisers. For reasons I'll explain later, the ski company has long opted to groom what they deem as suitable steep runs to provide more advanced intermediate terrain (I believe to cater to their target market - which is profiled to purchase real estate). The "old Milk Run" was somewhat of an anomoly in that it wasn't super steep, yet was definitely not flat ... thus the bumps which evolved were more tame but still challenging. In fact, the old Milk Run bumps were probably ideal for freestyle competition.
However, what set the old Milk Run apart from ALL OTHER RUNS ON THE MOUNTAIN is the tranformation into "hero bumps" on either powder days or spring slush days. The sun exposure is one of the most intense on the mountain -- easily bringing the run into the realm of softedness by 11am in mid-March. The natural countour of the run allowed a variation of tight bumps on rider's right into more "GS bums" on rider's left ... with a compromise down center left. Top-to-bottom lift 7 runs were the real deal & a spring time ritual; connecting with either "Stumper" or "O'Reilly's" at the very bottom. If it wasn't spring, it was "mopping up" territory on a powder day.
This was taken away. I can't let go. More later.
For now, this afternoon, I'll probably try to make lemonade out of lemons.
Now to Milk Run: it's been a sore spot for me ever since I put "2 and 2 together" while sitting on the bench in front of the Coffee Cowboy and noticed a straw column decending down the center of Milk Run during the late Spring (early Summer) a few years ago. I knew something was up, but the full impact of what was going down didn't weigh in until the subsequent season started next fall. Telski was going to groom Milk Run and cordon it off into an alpine race venue.
Let me say right off that I'm all for individuals pursuing their passions; be it official alpine or freestyle competition or simply free-riding for fun. Moreover, I understand everyone has their agenda in so far as shaping the landscape in so far as getting from A to B in pursuing their particular passion. What I'm not a fan of is a process which does not allow all parties to voice their opinion in so far as shaping such policies. In other words, the transformation of Milk Run into a groomed alpine race venue seemed to be a unilateral decision - lacking public input. The latter is no surprise - even in light of the use of public lands (NFS), but to me it's akin to domolishing a landmark such as Wrigley Field or Penn Station.
In subsequent posts, I'll go into greater depth regarding reasons why, but for now let me explain why the Milk Run of old was a jewel on the mountain:
Telluride Ski Area is a very dichotomous in terms of the type of terrain: either long steep sustained bump runs or long sustained flat & mostly sub-cruisers. For reasons I'll explain later, the ski company has long opted to groom what they deem as suitable steep runs to provide more advanced intermediate terrain (I believe to cater to their target market - which is profiled to purchase real estate). The "old Milk Run" was somewhat of an anomoly in that it wasn't super steep, yet was definitely not flat ... thus the bumps which evolved were more tame but still challenging. In fact, the old Milk Run bumps were probably ideal for freestyle competition.
However, what set the old Milk Run apart from ALL OTHER RUNS ON THE MOUNTAIN is the tranformation into "hero bumps" on either powder days or spring slush days. The sun exposure is one of the most intense on the mountain -- easily bringing the run into the realm of softedness by 11am in mid-March. The natural countour of the run allowed a variation of tight bumps on rider's right into more "GS bums" on rider's left ... with a compromise down center left. Top-to-bottom lift 7 runs were the real deal & a spring time ritual; connecting with either "Stumper" or "O'Reilly's" at the very bottom. If it wasn't spring, it was "mopping up" territory on a powder day.
This was taken away. I can't let go. More later.
For now, this afternoon, I'll probably try to make lemonade out of lemons.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Spring Powder Day
Wasn't quite sure what to call the 5" overnight & 1" yesterday we had received; on one hand, it's definitely a notch above dust on crust, yet it's also not quite an all out powder day. Nonetheless, it's still a powder day.
With a herniated disc, my back isn't very strong these days and is very suseptible to further injury. So, today was a day where I could normally use brute force to correct the typical surprises which invariably arise due to the hard underlayer when trying to get the most out of the powder-like conditions. However, my back simply can't deal with getting totally thrown out of position. So, I called it quits after two runs ... there was just too much temptation to try and push it into higher gear. Trying to think ahead to next season (and enjoying the summer).
Still, nice to be able to ride lift 9 under good circumstances this late in the season. Hopefully, we'll get some bigger dumps to breath new life into what I call home base.
With a herniated disc, my back isn't very strong these days and is very suseptible to further injury. So, today was a day where I could normally use brute force to correct the typical surprises which invariably arise due to the hard underlayer when trying to get the most out of the powder-like conditions. However, my back simply can't deal with getting totally thrown out of position. So, I called it quits after two runs ... there was just too much temptation to try and push it into higher gear. Trying to think ahead to next season (and enjoying the summer).
Still, nice to be able to ride lift 9 under good circumstances this late in the season. Hopefully, we'll get some bigger dumps to breath new life into what I call home base.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Half Day, But Not Half Price
My brother and sister-in-law will be visiting shortly and plan to ski for three days. While I hope they are able to get in a full three days, typically either weather or exhaustion will cause a slight change in plans. This is where a half day ticket might come in handy, but unfortunately the Telluride Ski and Golf Company does not charge half price for a half day ticket.
As of today, the 2006/2007 price for a full day ticket is $79 while the price for a half-day ticket is $68 ... which is about 86% of the price of a full day ticket. A half day starts at noon. Given the lifts start at 9am and close at 4pm, the half day ticket allows for lift access approximately 57% of the day. So, there's approximately a 30% discrepancy of the half day ticket price and the amount of time available to access the lifts in relation to the full day ticket price.
I called the Telluride Ski and Golf Company's ticket office today to ask why the half day ticket is not half price. The answer I received was essentially that it's a common/standard practice in the industry to not charge half price for a half day ticket.
Aside from an inflated regular lift ticke price, I don't believe the pricing of a half day ticket (at 86% of the full day ticket) is a fair practice.
As of today, the 2006/2007 price for a full day ticket is $79 while the price for a half-day ticket is $68 ... which is about 86% of the price of a full day ticket. A half day starts at noon. Given the lifts start at 9am and close at 4pm, the half day ticket allows for lift access approximately 57% of the day. So, there's approximately a 30% discrepancy of the half day ticket price and the amount of time available to access the lifts in relation to the full day ticket price.
I called the Telluride Ski and Golf Company's ticket office today to ask why the half day ticket is not half price. The answer I received was essentially that it's a common/standard practice in the industry to not charge half price for a half day ticket.
Aside from an inflated regular lift ticke price, I don't believe the pricing of a half day ticket (at 86% of the full day ticket) is a fair practice.
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