Telluride Realty's Monthly e-Newsletter
January 2009

On Tap: January

Happy New Year to all and may 2009 bring great things! For being the quaint ski town adored by so many, Telluride is certainly living up to expectations this season. The ski area got off to a fantastic start as snow didn’t really stop falling during most of December, making for a glorious white Christmas and festive end to 2008. The new Revelation Bowl also had its grand opening last month and was very well received, with many touting it as a true alpine and very European-esque experience.

January hopes to bring more precipitation, as well as a little time to take a deep post-holiday breath, while getting the new year rolling. This month is highlighted by local favorites like the Ouray Ice Climbing Festival (9^th-11^th) – a world-renowned ice climbing competition at the Ouray Ice Park; SnowFest (9^th-12^th) – a winter celebration in Mountain Village replete with snow sculpting, music, a torchlight parade and more; the Priest Lake Pursuit (24^th) – a 15-km classic/skate ski race at the spectacular Priest Lake; and the legendary KOTO Lip Sync (30^th) – a pee-in-your-pants event where wanna-be rock stars perform ridiculous musical renditions to raise money for the local radio station.

January Calendar of Events

1	New Year's Day Happy 2009 to all
2	SAF Holiday Concert Performance at the Sheridan Opera House
9-11	Ouray Ice Climing Festival International climbers compete at the renowned Ouray Ice Park
9-12	SnowFest Weekend celebration in Mountain Village featuring music, snow sculpting, a torchlight parade, avalanche dog demonstrations, and more
10	Roger Clyne Musical performance at the Sheridan Opera House
11	Mother and Daughter Tea Formal high tea with the ladies at the Telluride Historical Museum
18	Sunday at the Palm: Free Movie The 400 Blows (1959) at the Palm Theater
23	Guest DJ Day Tune in for KOTO fundraising where local DJs vie for the coveted Silver Tongue Award
24	Priest Lake Pursuit Telluride Nordic Association hosts a 15-km classic/skate ski race for all ages with prizes
24	Hall of Fame Series A showcase of legendary musicians perform at the Telluride Conference Center
30	Winter Jazz Telluride Jazz Society presents Karrin Allyson at the Palm Theater
30	KOTO Lip Sync A hilarious, not-to-be missed KOTO annual fundraiser at the Sheridan Opera House
31	Todd Snider Musical performance at the Sheridan Opera House

Arts & Entertainment: Palm Theater Welcomes "Valkyrie" Thanks to Cruise

Hollywood mega-star and Telluride homeowner/part-time resident, Tom Cruise, helped out the Palm Theater by airing his new film, “Valkyrie,” as a fundraiser for the venue on December 26^th and 30^th. Cruise is a big fan of the Telluride community and showed his support once again with this recent gesture. Heather Knox Rommel, who runs the Palm, approached Cruise’s property manager about showing the movie and Cruise graciously agreed.

At $25 a pop for regular seats and $40 for VIP seats, tickets to attend the December 26^th “premiere” in the 650-person theater went fast and sold out completely. The encore performance on the 30^th was also a big seller.

Because the Palm will lose one of its major funding sources this summer (a major donation spread over five years is now expiring), it is exploring other fundraising measures. In addition to the ticket sales for “Valkyrie,” there was also a small silent auction at the screening, featuring heliskiing, lodging at the Franz Klammer, and other local items.

“Valkyrie” is based on the story of the 1944 plot by German army officers to kill Adolf Hitler, install a separate government, and make peace with the Allies to end World War II. Cruise plays the leader of the plot. The film was directed by Bryan Singer and co-written by Christopher McQuarrie, the same duo who collaborated on “The Usual Suspects” in 1995.

Ski Area News: Telluride Taking it to Extremes with Freeskiing World Tour

Free Skiing World Tour Back by popular demand, The Subaru Freeskiing World Tour hits Telluride again this year, February 5-8. The event is sure to feature several local faces amid the numerous male and female extremists who get their kicks by hucking their stuff. Registration filled up quickly for the event, which will again be held in the terrain off the ridges of Black Iron Bowl and Prospect Basin, below the summit of Palmyra Peak. Westlake, Genevieve and La Rosa will host the qualifying rounds, while the precipitous Mountain Quail, Dihedral Chute and Dihedral Face are the venues for the finals. Local Travis Wolfe, who finished fourth in Telluride last year, is entered and has high aspirations for 2009. “I’m hoping I’ll be able to hold my own and stay in the top five,” he said. Another local ripper, Jake Cohn, who last year won the Taos competition and finished fifth in the Freeskiing World Championships in Alaska, will unfortunately not be competing this year. Cohn broke his back while skiing in the New Zealand Freeskiing Open in August. He’s healing well, but said he’s looking to scale back his freeskiing participation and hopes to focus more on ski movies.

Always a great spectator sport, the freeskiing competition tends to draw quite a crowd at the base of the runs. The Telluride event is a Freeskiing World Tour qualifier, which means that athletes who finish in the top spots (top five men and top three women who are not previously pre-qualified) don’t have to compete in the onsite qualifiers at Crested Butte, Kirkwood, and Snowbird.

Regional News: All I want for Christmas is a New CT Scanner

The holiday season kicked in a little early this year for the Telluride Medical Center with the arrival of a BrightSpeed from GE Healthcare – an advanced Computed Tomography (CT) Scanner offering the latest in CT technology. The acquisition was made possible from a $225,000 gift from The Telluride Medical Capital Fund, a fund at the Telluride Foundation, and was installed mid-November. This is the final TMCF monetary contribution, tallying the fund’s total contributions to TMC at over $900,000.

“As the first imaging center in our area to offer this technology, TMC is on the leading edge of providing excellent care that benefits both patients and physicians,” said Gordon Reichard, TMC administrator. “We are proud to once again raise the level of excellence in the healthcare services offered to the residents of the Telluride region.”

Along with the state-of-the-art piece of machinery comes clinical applications to allow physicians to quickly and accurately perform multiple diagnostic exams, such as imaging needed to identify embolisms and evaluations for aneurysms and dissections. “Our acquisition of the BrightSpeed raises the level of care that our physicians can provide for a multitude of injuries or illnesses without the need to transfer patients to a hospital,” said Dr. Paul Koelliker, Emergency Room physician.

In order to continue the philanthropic efforts initiated by the Telluride Medical Capital Fund, TMC has filed with the IRS to establish the charitable Telluride Medical Center Foundation.

Community News: Yea or Nay on Bear Creek Snow Study

The Telluride Ski Resort is applying for a permit to study the snow in Upper Bear Creek and the United States Forest Service extended the comment period until late December. The study, which would occur on public land, would keep Upper Bear Creek closed to skiers until 10 a.m. every morning this season while ski patrollers study the weather, dig snow pits and throw bombs to trigger avalanches. According to Telski CEO Dave Riley, the study is designed to keep the patrol safe and help with the resort’s future planning, which could include expansion and possibly a new lift in Bear Creek several years down the road. It is also necessary to determine if a new lift (which could potentially run from Nellie Mine to the bottom of the new Revelation Lift) is even possible due to the dangerous nature of the terrain.

While the public is likely divided on whether or not to favor a possible lift in Bear Creek, it is also on both sides of the fence with regard to the snow study. Gary Hickcox, who runs the Bear Creek Preserve, said his organization would have “a very strong objection” to any new lift in Bear Creek, but supported the snow study. “Anything that will provide more information for ski patrol and search and rescue…I think we would not have the slightest issue with that,” he said. County commissioner Art Goodtimes also said he supported the study. But many comments to both the Telluride Daily Planet and the Forest Service opposed Telski’s proposal.

Riley’s primary concern is the safety of his patrollers, who are often the ones called to perform winter rescues in Bear Creek. He believes that more skiers will risk skiing in Bear Creek this year on account of the new Revelation Lift and thus worries his patrollers will have to perform more rescues than in years past. As of press time, the overall results of the comment period weren’t available.