Serving you, homeowners in the Telluride Valley, with insights highlighting the abundant happenings and hidden surprises of this wonderfully remote mountain community which we call our year-round home
Please don’t forget to at least $652 per adult season ski pass by purchasing passes before OCT. 31st
Fall temperatures and winds have already descended upon our mountain valley hamlet. The grass in the rolling pastures is turning brown around the edges and the rivers have come down to just a trickle. Winter coats are thickening on the backsides of the horses as the cool nights of another alpine fall season settle in. The daytime temps are enchantingly mild. The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival will be host to an excess of 8,000 festivarians in mid-September underneath sunny mid-70-degree weather. The fall leaf color change promenades through the valley a little later in the season-usually sometime around the 1st week of October-see below. Fall is an exciting time here at 8,750-feet in altitude and at
We are already planning to send our homeowners a notice about (NO! don’t say it!) outdoor Christmas tree lights! In years past we waited too long to string up the lights (mid-Nov) and end up in snow squalls in November stringing lights on your exterior trees. Not this year. Look for that Outdoor Christmas light request sheet soon. Things to consider: How many trees will get lights, where would you like them to be positioned? Would you like to be able to see them while inside next to the fireplace or just while driving past?
Of Telluride’s eight-week long fall shoulder season October will shape up to be a very busy month. There are owner’s cars that need appointments for a tire changeover plus tune ups as needed. Then there are all the outdoor furniture, umbrellas, BBQ’s and such that need to be hauled inside before the snows arrive. Hoses are to be gathered, shrubs trimmed and debris cleaned up so that the gardens have a good start in mid-May or in this year’s case; early June. That’s correct; the snow did not even melt off our own lawn which is actually located on what is called the sunny side of the T’Ride valley till around June 1st! When compared to the nation at large Telluride seems like it has its own climate zone.
Telluride and
BRING YOUR OWN O2! Revelation Bowl: the construction of the new chairlift #15 to access the expert Revelation Bowl will be completed late this fall. Look for exciting new un-groomed terrain that rivals any in
The summit of this spectacular lift will be at 12,570’ and will give expert only skiers access to a dazzling 800’ vertical drop. Make no mistake, this terrain has been taboo and black listed hereto now and this season we will be able to glissade and romp to our heart’s delight! Further below this is an area of couloirs and narrow, straight-edged slim passages that have lead more than a handful of fool-hardy and ill prepared adventure seeking skiers to their death. Between improvements during the ’07 and ’08 season, the resort has added over 400-acres of new terrain. This infusion of capital improvements bucks recent ski industry trends as most resorts have dwindling visitor numbers.
The Telluride Ski Resort has reported a 2-3% increase in skier days over the past 5-years. www.tellurideskiresort.com. Note visit Dave’s Blog for awe inspiring views of the lift construction. Note: this terrain will ski like nothing else on the mountain. It will be more advanced than Gold Hill but in a similar genre. Do not hesitate to take a refresher, skills development with one of a handful (note ‘handful’) of qualified ski school instructors. Call Sheilagh or Trevor today for the A-list of the best qualified instructors!
WINTER ‘08-‘09 AIRLINE SERVICE
Getting Here: The purpose of the Telluride-Montrose air organization is to attract and facilitate expanded flights to the region to help benefit tourism. The organization recently announced that both United and Delta Airlines are either expanding and/or adding new service to and from Montrose from
United and Delta Airlines will begin new or expanded service this winter season from
This past April the area’s primary natural gas provider SourceGas petitioned the Colorado Utilities Commission for an increase in excess of 20% for the non-gas component of their monthly rates to consumers. Budget line items such as the labor, billing and equipment for the utility has not risen in 14-years for the western region of Colorado and the need to increase user fees in order to remain competitive was requested of the Commission.
The town of
Early bird seating discounts; NEW: Honga’s Lotus Petal Restaurant has offered a between 6:00-7:00, $12 for a Mojito and a sushi roll. The Excelsior Café has a similar early bird special; a glass of wine and a selected entrée before 6PM, seating at the bar area. The Cosmopolitan has ‘dinner before 6PM specials’. La Marmotte has a weekly Chefs Prix Fixe Specials where there is a limited menu and a handful of wines to select from.
September 2008 Calendar:Friday, September 12, 2008 - Sunday, September 14, 2008
Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
Microbrew tasting, crafts and food booths, and international blues and rock acts in Telluride Town Park by day and intimate late-night blues clubs by night. 866.515.6166
Monday, September 15, 2008 - Friday, September 19, 2008
Black Bear Awareness Week
An all-ages event to learn more about bears in the region that culminates with the Black Bear Ball on main street. 970.728.0190
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Reel Rock Film Tour
Peter Mortimer introduces this climbing film, which features the latest releases from the filmmakers at sender films, other shorts and footage of many of today's hottest climbers.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Mountains to the Desert
As a fundraiser for the Just for Kids Foundation, bikers spin 133 miles on the road from Telluride to
Friday, September 26, 2008
Art Talk & Potluck
Bring a dish and join visiting ceramic artist Jim Romberg and painter Doug Dawson at the Ah Haa School at 6:30 p.m. for a free slide show and discussion. 970.728.3886
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday at the Palm
Through interviews with astronauts, we are given a personal glimpse into the history of NASA's Apollo space program in In the Shadow of the Moon. Palm Theatre, 4 p.m.
970.708.4009
Okay, it seems like at some point each homeowner asks the same questions in the life of their account with us- so here are your answers in writing to the most common questions we get.
1. Do you walk thru my house every week? YES!
n We provide one personalized walk-thru each week which is customized, scrutinized and a detailed check point of the home, 52-weeks a year.
Plus not to mention random drop-ins for meeting tradesmen, dropping off boxes and such at the houses, which are also on-site visits as well.
An average house check takes about a half-hour +. (Turn the car on/check the spa/check the mechanical room, etc…) We have two people who have been trained to perform the house checks and they rotate the homes between them.
NOTE: We offer you a wide range of services. However our core service begins with and is measured by our ability to provide the week-by-week house check. Our service begins with attention to tiny, tiny details from the turn-of-the-key.
We customize our walk through to accommodate every homeowners needs; such as watering the indoor plants, balancing out the chemicals in the hot tubs, adding water to spas when needed so that they have water running through the filtration system, starting and running the cars in the garage to keep the battery charged up (versus allowing the LED (interior display lights) to drain the battery over months of inactivity, opening and observing your mechanical rooms for a) operations, b) leaks and any noticeable changes (i.e.: silence in the mechanical room is not a good thing!) Checking the garbage cans, bringing the garbage out, and so much more………… The homes become our day-to-day workplace and we have a “feel” for them and we can tell with something is not quite right. Plain houses have problems as do the tricked out, super mechanical residences.
NOTE: One of our main jobs is to simply “Take Care” of the mountain homes and alert you when needed. As you know all of the other services and options are A La Carte.
DISCUSSION: Mountain homes are subject to year-round threats. The following is a discussion of one problem area that we are on the lookout for during our house checks. From the interior we visually follow the roof lines looking for any signs of moisture that may occur in closets as well as open rooms. We often have homes with snow load melting problems and it is part of our job to examine these potential "build up" areas from the outside decks and walkways. Snow loads are subject to many uncontrollable factors including direct sun exposure, air temp, roof design, and recent snowfall levels. Year round threats may also include warm weather problems involving missed sprinkler areas, fallen limbs, hot tub covers askew and the bear/bird-feeder/trash summer hazard.
While some homes are "tight as a drum", others involve a virtual Pandora's Box of problems: water features break, pictures fall off the walls, plaster cracks and crumbles to the floor, hot tubs get "tired" and thermostats just up and quit. We discover these surprises as we knock off house checks week by week.
That is enough hows and whys of Keeping Kastles for this newsletter. Next month we will tackle another of the MOST COMMON QUESTIONS: CLEANING "Why is cleaning so expensive here"
Thanks for your time and participation in our constant communication! If you have any comments please feel free to email LEE or Sheilagh at or call Trevor or Lee on their cell.
Fall Leaf Color change- what a wonderful time to drop in for a visit-
PLEASE feel free to give us a call to inquire about the status of the leaf color change around the 20th-24th of September. Usually by the first week in October the trees turn and everywhere you look you will see the bright reds, and oranges which usher in a big shift in the weather as well. Sometimes it lasts a week, sometimes a little longer. Usually by the 15th of October it is a done deal. Factors that could alter and speed up this target date would be a lot of rain between now and then and/or a severe cold snap. These factors not mentioned in the either the Farmer’s Almanac or the NOAH sources for this year so pencil Telluride into your schedule in early October. We will send out a special alert ahead of time when the trees start changing.
****Remember the restaurants close down come mid-October till Thanksgiving or even into the first week in December. If you are hoping for a
NOW is the time to discuss next summer’s project………… Believe It or Not!
September we will find ourselves ushering in the sub contractors to tie up, start up and polish off any projects which they had on their bustling summer schedule (reminder: “Summer” is approx. 3.5 months here). If you have a project in mind discuss it this fall with Trevor and Lee so that you move to the head of the subs lists for next April and May.
Already we have begun to assess the overall condition of the homes in preparation for the heavy winter usage. We assemble lists for what needs to be done, spa drains & cleans and refills. Car tires need to be switched over and windows cleaned, humidifiers and boiler systems need an operations check. We continue to treat your homes like our own and create a hassle free experience for you and yours.
See you soon. Lee, Sheilagh, Freddie, Trevor, Rusty and Keith
“We are not waiting for our Knights in shining armor to have fun!” Kendahl and best–ever best friend Natalie
