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
Locals are beginning to banter about the new Revelation Bowl skiing- how deep the snow will be. How IT WILL BE THE BEST THANG EVER! It is all true! The snow does get really deep over there as the Gold Hill ridgeline snows often blow over from the west and drop into the Revelation Bowl precipice. Around 7AM on powder days, while we are eating our Kashi Crunchy Lean morning cereal.....the ski patrol’s snow safety crew will have to control this steep bowl skiing terrain with dynamite. Listen for the boom! In addition to the work to be done on the Revelation Bowl side, the ski patrol will be testing out their brand new vintage US Military issued Howitzer Cannons to help control the snows off Palmyra Peak. With all this combined firepower to control the deep snows on some of the best hike to and lift accessed terrain in the country, it better snow like last year! With the addition of the new lift serviced terrain of Gold Hill 1 ( just to the south of the Gold Hill Chair), Revelation Bowl on the east side of Gold Hill in the Bear Creek drainage and the hike to terrain of the Palmyra Peak ridge line, Telluride Ski Resort has been receiving much press. It was voted 4th of 10 as one of the best ski resorts in North America by one of the ski magazines and it has already been featured on the cover of other ski magazine for this upcoming ski season.CURRENT EVENTS: Telluride is an attractive escape for all sorts of people. The beauty, solitude and rejuvenation that permeate life here affect them just like the rest of us. We have our handful of celebrities as well as an assortment of state’s people, and of course artists and entertainers- all whom make Telluride a top priority for a seasonal visit. Lucky Us!
One acclaimed artist who makes regular visits is Joanie Schwarz of Joanie Schwarz Photography/ Love Your Life Designs. Well, needless to say we did not take this picture- she is our new favorite friend and we want to share her gift with everyone we know! She is an acclaimed portraiture and illustrator who makes seasonal visits to Telluride. In fact she will be here December 27-January 3rd and February 14th - 21st Check out the hand painted background of the Wilson range!http://www.joanieschwarzphotography.com.
She and her family have been visiting for years. Her portraiture work is unique and intriguing as well as meaningful and true to life. Check out her intimate works of art at her site for yourself. She comes here to play but also to capture the life of families and their loved ones while they are here at play. We love her whimsical dog portraitures, hand painted photographs and intriguing textile arts. Amazing!Joanie has been known in the publishing world for over 25 years for the dreamlike quality in her painted and photographic imagery. Her work has appeared in Time Magazine, US News and World Report, Playboy Magazine, and she had created hundreds of book covers for Simon and Schuster and Scholastic books, as well as three children’s books of her own. Joanie’s work has hung at the Society of Illustrators in NYC for numerous shows over the last 20 years, and her original paintings and photographs are in private collections throughout the world. Contact Joanie directly or through Sheilagh (970-729-0707) for an introduction to what we think is a gem.
LIFESTYLE: Powder mornings are usually freezing. The snow storm is usually lingering in the early morning and the clouds push down on the cold air temps – the "freezer affect". Every local from the grocery clerk to the pharmacist is out in the lift line with you, creating a long, cold shady wait for the ride uphill. This is a good morning to pack a few extras along. Some hand warmers, some paper napkins or such to stuff into your goggles after they get hit with a face shot – (to absorb the extra moisture) which becomes a problem usually by the fourth or fifth run down the hill. I prepare for powder mornings with down mittens, an extra thick bottom layer (wet chairlifts) and sometimes I pack an extra neck gator underneath my pant leg area against the ski boot. This replaces the morning gator which is soaking by lunchtime!Most importantly I bring along a “don’t take yourself too seriously attitude.” Powder skiing is tricky business and tons of fun! It is not “If” you will fall but rather “When” you will fall. Might as well enjoy the ride while it is a soft landing!
If more than your goggles got drenched in your last fall on the ski slope you can always make a stop at the wine bar. The resort has opened a top of the mountain wine bar called Alpino Vino at nearly 11,000’ elevation! To get there take the intermediate chairlift #14 to the top of Gold Hill, progress down along the ridgeline towards Chair #6 along Upper See Forever- it is the first high alpine chalet on the left! Lower on the mountain The Skier’s Union restaurant has left their space in the TMV plaza core and the ski resort is opening up their own dining establishment in its place. The Hop Garden will be open for skiers this season to easily access breakfast, lunch and dinner! There will be no less than 10 craft beers available.
Town Happenings: The entertainment line up at the Palm Theatre this winter is very enticing and exciting! A Chinese Acrobat travelling troupe, a Shakespeare performance, comedy and more or some of the many acts that will be traveling to Telluride this winter. Investigate their many offerings to see whether one of the performances coincides with one of your visits this winter.
http://telluridepalm.com/contact.html
Some of you may not realize how strongly Telluride residents backed the Democratic Presidential candidate. The Obama campaign launched their campaign for Colorado, an important swing state, from our little town of Telluride. In addition to the presidential campaign, there were four substantial ballot issues for the medical center, day care, high school size increase and the spur, amounting to in excess of nearly $50 million of new bond requests in Telluride’s recent November election. None of them passed. Over 60% nixed the new $31 million dollar medical center. The improvements for the entrance to town, the 1.7 mile long highway spur were also defeated by a large margin. The $18 million dollar initiative to create more capacity and affordable housing for school staff was also vetoed. Finally a $670,000 budget for increasing pre school child care was also defeated.
#3. Why the closet doors are open at my house in the winter?The reason we crack open your closet doors is that very often the low temperature monitors are located in a inconspicuous place such as the space in the closet. Once the door is shut from the main room the heat no longer makes its way to the individual temperature alarm. Then we get false alarms for low temps at the house when in fact the house remains at the set temperature. These alarms usually come in around 1AM or later when the door to the closets are shut. When the room air freely circulates with the hidden thermostat in the closet, we get a clear and accurate reading at all times of your house temp and prevent the false 1AM alarms, thus we get a better nights rest!
At this high altitude what temperatures should our house thermostats’ be set at when we are away? i.e.: the basements, or any rooms with a lot of windows, etc....
We know that it is tempting to set the heat at 50 degrees when you leave for several months and it might even be “American” to do so.....conservation and so on. Read on below.
We set your temperature throughout the home at 60 degrees starting with the season’s first cold spells. We have set this standard for all the homes for good reason.
>For our alpine village in the first week of November, the night time temperatures have been near zero at times. If we turned basements and kitchens to 55 degrees or 50 then the risk of a plumbing freeze up jumps exponentially if the boiler system fails. The mid winter average temp outside here is 21 degrees. That is in the sun. Not every wall of your house gets full day sun. When the homes are set at this low temperature we usually get a low temperature alarm around 10 pm or earlier in the evening. At 60 degrees the house will send out a low temperature alarm between 1 am and 2 am if the boiler malfunctions. Since plumbers won’t respond to a no heat call till the next morning, the home will be hovering in the 30’s if the house was previously set at 50 degrees or in the 40’s if the home was set at 60 degrees. This extra 10 degrees of buffer is usually all that we need to keep a home from having frozen pipes, knock on wood! When the heat it set at 60 and the sun is shining on a cold winter’s day the house creates and holds onto some on that daytime heat till the wee hours of the morning. If a freeze situation occurs with this extra insulation factor we will probably have enough time to respond to the low temp alarm and get a repair crew the next day. Alternatively, without the little bit of extra insurance we could have an earlier low temp alarm, more hours for the house and the exposed plumbing to be in the dangerous freeze zone and less chance of getting a repair crew in on time before pipes start to burst after a total thaw. Further, many homes have the in floor heating system which can take half a day to kick in and raise the room temperature. This is a worse case scenario if the boiler system goes “out”, the exterior temp is around zero and we had a cold house to start with. Of all the possible scenarios this is the scariest one. Usually we respond with electrical plug in units which we have stockpiled over the years.> Homes in the Telluride region are just as susceptible to a freeze up- somewhere in the maze of pipes that run through the home.
We have arrived at homes during our weekly check to water floods at that house one would never suspect would be the victim of a freeze up. These homes won’t even send out a signal for losing temperature inside the home. Usually a construction oversight or an architectural default sets an area of the house up for failure, such as running the plumbing on an external wall that was not insulated.
>Over the past 18-years we have seen as many as a dozen homes have freeze up issues -each year. Which we typically catch before it turns ugly because of our sweeping coverage of the house.
Historically-where do the freeze ups occur? Older homes are more susceptible, walls in proximity to an exterior wall, boiler systems have not been serviced (tuned up) regularly, and basements are susceptible. Sometimes kitchens have great wide windows and the sinks are located on an exterior wall which may not get full day sun. There have been many instances of construction defects, lack of insulation on the pipes and so on. Unfortunately, we don’t know about the possible disasters until the system in place fails. So our motto is to always keep the home warm and have the insulation effect in place – just in case. The good news is we know what to do should the pipes freeze in a private home or the town’s gas service is cut off (been there, done that). We have a crew who can handle this domestic crisis throughout the winter season (mid-October-mid-April).
What can you and Kastle Keepers do to prevent a freeze up?
As far as guests coming and going and shutting down the house as they leave- we ask that you simply remind them to "don’t touch" or maybe a simple “don’t turn down the heat.”
Be extra sure to close the cracked windows, double check the outside doors to be sure they are locked shut and keep those closet doors cracked open. We do that all when you leave but it is good to keep it up!
November Calendar:
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Telluride Historical Museum Lecture Series
Part three of a series: "Clearing the Air on Green Winter: How and Why Ski Resorts are Going Green" presented by Luke Cartin, environmental manager for Vail Resorts Mountain Division. Telluride Historical Museum, 6-8 p.m. 970.728.3344
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Telluride Unearthed
Discover more about Telluride's rich history through the lens of science. Telluride Historical Museum, 6 p.m. 970.728.3344
Friday, November 21, 2008
Gondola Opens
The Gondola opens for the winter season.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Turkey Bingo
Telluride's Elks invite all to Swede-Finn Hall to participate in frenzied bingo games. Win a turkey for the Thanksgiving table. 970.728.6362
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Telluride Ski Resort Opens
Ski the first day of the 2008/2009 lift-served season in Telluride. 970.728.6900
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday at the Palm
The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975) follows world champion skier Yuichiro Miura and his team as they battle avalanches, icefalls and altitude sickness to climb and ski Everest. Palm Theatre, 4 p.m. 970.626.3137
News:
THIN BUDGET PASSED FOR 2008
A slowdown in the economy of real estate, construction and development has resulted in a light influx of revenues which were expected to be heavier this year. Real Estate Transfer Taxes alone are estimated to come in $1.2 million less. Other development related revenues are also expected to fall short of expectations.
The town cut $2.5 million from what it hoped to spend on budget items. Sliced from the budget were streetscapes project on North Davis Street, a Coronet Creek bridge, festival and stage improvements, grandstands, parking meter replacements and cash requests from community originations like the Telluride Business Alliance, the Nordic Association, as well as Public Works department.
The town maintains that despite these cuts the "same level of service" will be preserved----"there will be softball games at the park and street crews clearing snow from the streets---and fund reserves kept at healthy levels".
ONGOING business at Kastle Keepers, LLC:
The fall off-season period has come and gone. The townspeople of both the town of Telluride as well as the Mountain Village are so excited for winter to arrive given the country’s economic turndown. There are many exciting ski area improvements which all of us will benefit from this season. The ski resort started making snow this month for the traditional Thanksgiving opening. Hopefully you have ordered you season passes at the reduced rate we posted over the past couple newsletters. Let Trevor hand hold you thru the process of renting ski equipment and arranging lessons this season: reach him at (970)729-1326.
We have received and acted upon many of the written Christmas special request questionnaires. We have already lined up catering, rentals, tree orders and cleaning requirements for the owners that desire those services.
Mailings boxes or ski equipment to Telluride: Feel free to send your large packages or extra bedding and so on to our personal home at:
ATTN: Lee “YOUR NAME” Roufa 109 West Serapio Drive, Telluride, Colorado 81435 970-729-6240
Be very sure to include your name on the address label whether shipping via Mailboxes, a catalog or yourself. The Lee YOUR NAME Roufa part of the addressing is very important. Otherwise we will need to open the box to check for a packing slip and make phone calls to determine who this package belongs to!
We have the Kastle Keepers, LLC Suburban for hauling you and your friends to and from the airports when needed. The Suburban can accommodate up to seven (7) passengers plus gear in the overhead rack. Give us a call ahead of time so we can schedule you for private service.
All the cars have had their winter tires put on and fluids checked by now and spas have been thoroughly cleaned and filled with new water for the approaching season. The heat melt systems are in ready mode or are on depending on the sun aspect your home receives. We are well into installing Christmas tree lighting for the homes that desired this amenity. Take time to consider what services you might benefit from for your early winter visit. We are here to help and assist and to implement your vision so you can free up yourselves for family time. Things to consider are extra bed rentals, car shuttles to and from the regional airports, catering, lights on exterior trees, Christmas interior décor (garland, wreaths, etc), equipment rentals, lessons, dinner reservations, special present deliveries, shipping equipment back to Telluride and or the Christmas presents!! Don’t forget those!
As Thanksgiving fast approaches we at Kastle Keepers have been very busy prepping the homes for winter and setting them up for the holidays. Thank you to everyone who has already returned their holiday request forms. It makes the planning much easier now for the busy upcoming holiday season. I have gone ahead and attached the forms one more time for those that have not turned them in yet. The cleaning schedules are all but set, but we will do our best to fill in the last minute requests. If you need anything else, please let us know and we get it taken care of. We have gone ahead and attached the forms one more time.
From all of us at Kastle Keepers, LLC, have a great Thanksgiving!
