Today was day ten and third riding regular. Basically mopping up powder in spots and going fast in the open. I took the Gold Hill lift for the first time this season, but opted out of taking a run down after hearing confirmation from the person next to me on the lift that it was very rocky … at least on the inbounds & chokes. Little Rose was closed.
Yesterday was a much better day, was in the exact right spot at the right time yesterday when patrol dropped the rope to North Chute off of Telluride Trail. It was a top notch run which had me racing up lift 7 yelling to downloaders that they didn’t have to download anymore (although it’s probably not a bad idea for some … since the Ttrail is a bit sketchy with man made snow). Got a first track on the western headwall to Coonskin, probably the best 6 turns of the season for me right there! Raced up for a 2nd on Coonskin, but by then it was fairly well chopped up so I headed over to 9 and got a great run in my favorite Mammoth Finger. The photo below was taken from the top before I dumped in.
If you click on the photo above (and then click on the “Full Size” icon), you can view the full version in the gallery where you can really see the way the clouds are lower than the mountain peaks way off in the distance. It kind of blurs a bit, so it’s harder to tell on the smaller version.
Otherwise, I had a slice of cheese pizza at the Crazy Elk today. The regular price is $6. Yep, that’s SIX DOLLARS for a slice of pizza! Plus tax probably brings it to like $6.50. I paid just shy of six dollars out the door after my “discount” from having a season pass. Pepperoni and Veggie slices were $7 +tax. It was actually a decent piece of pizza, but lets face it … they’re ballpark/airport prices! I believe the Crazy Elk is run by the ski company, but I could be wrong. If this is the case, then the support by Dave Riley (CEO of the ski company) to rid the Telluride Mountain Village of vending carts would seem to me to be a means of insurance to be able to continue to charge what are already relatively inflated prices for quick food items such as burgers and pizza. I’ve stopped eating pizza routinely, but I can’t wait until Baked in Telluride is back up and running.