Telluride Scores a Tourism Trifecta

Telluride Scores a Tourism Trifecta
by Seth Cagin www.TellurideWatch.com

Dec 23, 2009 LOCAL PERSPECTIVEStill reeling from the Great Recession, with local businesses under tremendous pressure as they wait for the economy to improve, Telluride just completed a phenomenal week that offers real hope to anyone trying to make a living here.

The community just celebrated the completion of the major phase of runway improvements at the Telluride Regional Airport, brilliantly hosted its first World Cup, and saw the revival of its landmark destination hotel. All three of these major developments reflect that fact that at least some portion of the local population has been hard at work to build a sustainable visitor-based economy.

Reliable, affordable access. Full-service accommodations. And major events to bring visitors during shoulder seasons. Most serious observers would agree that these are three of the most significant bases of a tourist economy for Telluride. All three have been challenging over the last three decades. But as of last week, Telluride made huge gains in all three.

Even though it is almost 25-years-old, the Telluride Airport has not yet fulfilled its potential. The reason has been the notorious dip in the original runway, which kept the airport below the safety rating it could achieve from the Federal Aviation Administration without the dip. A higher safety rating would qualify the airport for more types of aircraft.That improved safety rating is now, hopefully, just one year away. The dip is gone, following $24 million in work last summer, and just one summer’s construction remains for the airport to be able to accommodate 74-passenger Q400 planes. The bulk of that work is already approved and funded by the FAA for next year. Even assuming the airport achieves its new rating, there will remain challenges before the airport actually sees its first scheduled Q400 flights, not least getting airlines to come here. (This will be especially problematic if the Telluride and Montrose Regional Air Organization declines to participate, as, unfortunately, it has for the most part for the last decade.) But for the first time it will be possible. If we can actually get frequent, affordable flights between DIA and TEX, we may finally be at the point where we no longer have to battle the longstanding perception (and reality) that Telluride has been expensive and difficult to get to. That can only help us build visitation numbers to a sustainable level.

It has taken almost a quarter-century of persistence and patience from the Telluride Regional Airport Authority Board of Directors to get this far. Twenty-four year board chair John Micetic was honored at Thursday’s celebration of the new runway’s completion by having the airport renamed the Telluride Regional Airport at Micetic Field, a well-deserved recognition. Not only Micetic and the board, but current and 17-year airport director Rich Nuttall and former airport director Dick Arnold deserve credit, as do former Telski CEO Ron Allred and President Jim Wells, and many others.

Immediately after Thursday’s Grand Opening of the new airport runway – featuring the first man to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong, and garnering national media attention – there was a large event at The Peaks to celebrate Telluride’s first World Cup. There were a reported 700 people there, which begs a question: Can anyone remember the last time The Peaks hosted such a large gala?

Under the new ownership of a local group of investors, with a new management team in place and with the irrepressible Mike Hess running the sales and marketing operation, The Peaks has jumped back to life after years of decrepitude. OK, decrepit may be (a tad) too strong to describe how lackluster The Peaks has been for at least the last ten years and irrepressible may be too weak to describe Hess, who has always excelled at throwing a party, but there is no question that The Peaks finally shows promise of fulfilling its potential. As is true of the airport, there is more work to be done to get there, more parties, more marketing, more renovations. But there is every indication now that it will happen. And Telluride has not just one major hotel now, but two, with the Capella Telluride up and running. Yes, both are in Mountain Village, leaving the town of Telluride out in the bitter cold with its handful of very small boutique hotels and aging condos and no full-service hotel. But still, we can now, as a resort, actually match up to other major ski resort destinations in terms of accommodations. Like the improved airport, this development has been a very long time coming. Its apparent arrival is seriously overdue, and all the more welcome for that. Finally, kudos to Telluride Ski and Golf Co. CEO Dave Riley, who has done more than anyone would have thought possible just a few years back, deploying extremely limited resources to improve the Telluride Ski Area. This includes not only opening up spectacular new terrain, but also luring the FIS and USSA to Telluride for a snowboarding World Cup this past week. Thanks to early-season snow, Telluride looked and skied great last week, as we hosted athletes and their entourages and the international media. World Cup events put ski resorts on the map, and this one was Telluride’s first. But it may not be the last, with early indications that Telluride pulled it off – thanks to untold hours of work by Telski employees, the Telluride Visitors Board under the leadership of Scott McQuade, and others on the Telluride World Cup Organizing Committee. The week before Christmas has never been a big week in Telluride, but it was big this year, and will be big, hopefully, for years to come. One more week of robust business in an economy that enjoys, at best, 15 or 16 good weeks a year, is a major achievement.

As is true of air service (actually getting the flights here) and hotel accommodations (especially in the moribund town of Telluride), there is more to be done in terms of both ski area improvements and adding weeks of viable commerce to our still-frail economy. More money is needed for marketing, for example, if the Telluride Tourism Board is to build on an encouraging start in successfully giving Telluride an effective position in a highly competitive market.

But there will be time to look to the challenges ahead. For now, this week before the holidays in this most challenging time, we can stop briefly and celebrate the glass that may now, finally, be more than half full.

Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for all your Telluride real estate information.

Telluride Ski Season Update & Happy Holidays 2009/2010!

Unbelievable Snow and Snowboard World Cup to Start the Season!A number of snowstorms hit Telluride in December, leaving in their wake an excellent base and tremendous early season ski conditions. The best of the best took over the mountain from December 17-20 when Telluride hosted multiple World Cup events. These Olympic qualifiers filled the towns with eager athletes, coaches, media, family and friends from around the world.

NBC, the Olympic network, will broadcast the Visa U.S. Snowboardcross Cup Dec. 26 at 2 p.m., and the cable station Versus will broadcast the event's SBX competition Jan. 3, 2010 at 5 p.m. and the PGS competition Jan. 10, 2010 at 4 p.m.

Terrain Expansion
This season, the ski resort continues its unprecedented terrain expansion by opening Gold Hill Chutes 2 through 5. The new chutes offer intermediate and expert skiers the opportunity to explore world-class runs, the likes of which are seldom accessible by chairlifts.

Lace up Your Skates!
Mountain Village celebrates the opening of a new ice rink at the Capella Hotel. The rink is open to the public daily and is ideal for family fun.

Venture out and discover all Telluride has to offer! For further information on the above as well as Telluride real estate, contact Buzz Fedorka at buzz@fedorka.com. Click on www.fedorka.com ... where listings are updated daily!

Telluride's Mountainfilm update:

Author, adventurer and activist Greg Mortenson will return to Mountainfilm in 2010. We’re looking forward to getting an update on his adventures since he last passed through Telluride. Greg’s latest book, Stones into Schools, was just published and has been getting great reviews.

December 26 Telluride Fundraiser The Wildest Dream will be playing at the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, Colorado on December 26. The film really has several plotlines, the primary one concerning legendary mountaineer George Mallory and his attempt to be the first person to climb Mt. Everest. It also tells the story of how longtime Mountainfilm guest Conrad Anker discovered Mallory’s body high on the mountain and his own attempt to summit Everest in the same style and manner as Mallory. Conrad will be in Telluride for the event and will answer questions after the film, so it promises to be a special evening. Tickets are $100, including an open bar reception, and you can see a trailer of the film here.

For more information on this or other Telluride events, Telluride homes, Telluride condos or Telluride land, contact Buzz Fedorka at buzz@fedorka.com. www.Fedorka.com.

Telluride's Featured Property Listing of the Day

133 Arizona Street - $2,395,000

Lone Beaver Lodge is a 3-bedroom, 3-bath energy efficient cabin on a large wooded lot with a stream running through it, on a private street. Rustic accents throughout add to this fully custom-furnished home’s charm.

Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for more information on this home or other Telluride real estate information.

TELLURIDE, CO (Dec. 15) - Sunny Telluride opened its doors to the world's best snowboarders Tuesday as the LG FIS World Cup kicked off with the first of two parallel giant slalom competitions. Fraenzi Maegert-Kohli of Switzerland and Matthew Morison of Canada won the event while Michelle Gorgone (Boston) finished 11th for the U.S.

It was the first of five Olympic qualification events for the discipline.

Maegert-Kohli was followed in the women's results by Germany's Amelie Kober in second and Kimiko Zakreski of Canada in third.

"It was a very disappointing day from my side. We've had great support from Telluride with the training on the hill, so there are no excuses," U.S. Snowboarding Alpine Head Coach Jan Wengelin said.

Gorgone was the sole U.S. woman in the finals. The Bostonian was looking fast, but a problem took her out of the first run, landing her with a hefty time differential she was not able to make up, finishing in 11th."On the second run she made up a lot of time on the other rider's advantage, but it wasn't enough. Could she have made it? Yes, she could have," Wengelin said.

In the men's race Austria's Benjamin Karl was second and France rounded out the podium with Mathieu Bozzetto in third.

Justin Reiter (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Chris Klug (Aspen, CO) were each aiming for a podium finish for the home crowd but, after finishing a slim margin behind their counterparts in the first run, they were unable to catch up. Klug wound the day out in 15th and Reiter in 16th.

"It's there in all the athletes, but they just need a little bit of work and a little bit of confidence to go in the right direction," Wengelin said. "We've just got to look ahead to Thursday.

"The racing action in Telluride continues on Thursday with the second PGS competition and Visa Snowboardcross Cup races on Saturday.

Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for further Telluride real estate information.

New Premiere Mountain Village/Telluride Home Listing

184 Butch Cassidy Drive – $15,000,000

With unparalleled privacy and unobstructed 200° views, this slope-side home in a forested setting is a superb contemporary architectural statement embodying exceptional design elements: 5 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, ski funicular, spa/exercise wing, wine tunnel, elevated tree deck, wood-burning fireplaces, smart systems, theater, fully furnished, guest house and oversized garage on a private cul-de-sac. Please go to http://www.184butchcassidydrive.com/ for further detail.

Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for further information on this premier Mountain Village real estate listing.

Wealthy Investors Plan to Buy More Real Estate

By Peter Woodifield
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Individuals with more than $800,000 to invest plan to increase their property holdings because they foresee better long-term returns than from stocks and bonds, according to a Barclays Plc global survey.

Twice as many people plan to raise their investment in commercial and residential property as intend to reduce it, the Barclays Wealth unit said in an e-mailed statement today. The richer the individual, the greater the proportion of wealth is placed in real estate, the survey found.

“I was surprised how big a share of their wealth property represents,” Mike Dicks, the London-based head of research at Barclays Wealth, said in an interview. “It’s not what I would tell grandma. None of our data suggests that would be a good allocation.”

The global recession pushed down commercial and residential real estate prices in every region except Asia. The value of U.S. shops, offices and warehouses fell 21 percent in the first three quarters of this year, following a 12 percent decline in 2008. Belief that properties are now undervalued was the second most common reason cited for increasing investment.

Real estate investment among wealthy individuals is set to rise to 30 percent of the average portfolio for the next few years from 28 percent now, according to the survey. That excludes properties used as a principal residence. Most rich people, other than the extremely wealthy, should have no more than 10 percent of their assets in property, said Dicks.

‘Emotional Attachment’
“An emotional attachment to bricks and mortar,” can mean that rich investors are often unwilling to sell real estate at short notice and may be less rigorous in measuring its performance as an asset, according to the report.

Investors from Canada and the Persian Gulf were the most likely to increase their property allocations, with an average rise of 4 percent, the report said. Spain was the only country in the survey where more individuals said they would reduce the proportion of real estate investment, said the wealth management division of London-based Barclays. About 60 percent of rich individuals in that country have more than half their assets in property.

Almost 30 percent of British and Indian investors have more than half their wealth tied up in real estate. About 40 percent of the total respondents worth more than 30 million pounds ($49 million) have a similar allocation, Barclays Wealth said.

U.S. Attractive
Three out of four investors surveyed said residential property is looking attractive and two-thirds are keen to explore investing in commercial real estate, the survey said. About 75 percent said they feel hampered by borrowing costs.

The U.S. was the most attractive real estate market for investors outside their home country, the survey showed. The country was seen as having the highest potential for return on investment.

Barclays Wealth surveyed 2,000 people. Forty percent were worth 500,000 pounds to 1 million pounds. An additional 40 percent were worth between 1 million pounds and 10 million pounds. Ten percent had assets of as much as 30 million pounds and the rest were wealthier than that.

Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for Telluride real estate information.

Telluride's Featured Property Listing of the Day

210 Basque Road, Aldasoro Ranch - $2,996,000

This property at sunny Aldasoro Ranch is an architectural masterpiece with an open, spacious design and many thoughtful design and construction details; the home also sits on 3.11 very private acres, adjacent to 13 acres of open space, with true 360-degree views and all-day sun. Two-story vaulted windows line the southern exposure and capture breathtaking views of the Wilsons, the ski area and the Telluride box canyon. 6 bedrooms and 4.5 baths (workshop/rec room is plumbed for 5th bath and/or kitchen, so could be 7th bedroom or caretaker unit). Interior features include a two-story stone fireplace, sunken great room with wet bar, elevated gourmet kitchen with custom cabinetry, and extensive patios. Deer, elk and other wildlife abound in the front yard. Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for information on the above property or any real estate information.

Telluride Market Update

Telluride Continues to Plug Away
Numbers Down but Notable Sales and National Predictions Encouraging

In a nutshell, Telluride is getting through it like everyone else. On account of the current state of the economy, or rather where it was during the first two quarters of 2009, real estate activity slowed considerably. After a string of high marks between 2000 and 2007, with the latter reaching record heights by year’s end ($710 million in total dollar volume),numbers changed significantly in 2008 and thus far in 2009. According to data compiled by the Telluride Association of Realtors. (TAR), overall figures between January and June 2009 were $80 million in total dollar volume, distributed over 105 total transactions. This is 54% lower than the first two quarters of 2008, which totaled $174 million and noticeably lower than earlier in the
decade when property values were less. TAR’s figures encompass the greater Telluride region, including San Miguel County, as well as occasional out-of-county sales (i.e. Montrose, Ridgway, and other communities).

But with a little optimism and acknowledgement that ebbs and flows are the nature of the real estate beast (albeit this ebb is a tad more drastic), it’s still possible to find a silver lining behind this dark cloud.

First of all, resort economies, once largely sellers’ markets, are now giving buyers a chance. With ample inventory to choose from and low interest rates, it’s a good time to make a purchase. Secondly, Telluride has endured negative market effects now for roughly 18 months. Certain experts predict the tides may start turning. The Wall Street Journal stated in a June 3, 2009 article, “In another sign that the housing market may have begun to recover, the number of people who signed contracts to purchase homes increased for the third month in a row.” The piece included data from the National Association of Realtors, which said its pending home sales index rose 6.7% from March (84.6) to April (90.3), and Joshua Shapiro, an economist with MFR, the Manhattan global economic consulting firm, was quoted: “Clearly, within the next couple of
months there’s going to be a decent increase in actual homes sales.” On another note, the
widely recognized financial analyst, Mad Money’s Jim Cramer, predicted back in September 2008 that the housing market would bottom in the third quarter of 2009
(read more at: http://skiresortmarkets.com).

As for Jim Cramer, he likely has as many foes as fans, but it would be comforting, nonetheless, if his prediction is correct. Perhaps the first two quarters of the year can be chalked up as part of the trip toward bottom, and the worst might in fact be over.

Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for further detail on the above article or about other real estate opportunities in Telluride.

Telluride Snowboard World Cup

Snowboard World Cup in TellurideTelluride is the sole U.S. stop of the LG sponsored FIS (International Ski Federation) Snowboard World Cup and will feature both SBX (snowboardcross) and PGS (parallel giant slalom) competitions during the second in a series of five Olympic qualification events for the two disciplines.

With snowmaking already in full swing, the mountain will be fully prepared and eager as athletes, coaches, media, families and friends from around the world visit Telluride for this Olympic qualifying event.

"Snowmaking is off to one of our best starts in years with the cold weather, and the new snow we have received in the last couple of weeks is a great bonus," said Ryan Mackey, snowmaking and grooming manager. "Currently we are making snow on Upper Village Bypass, Lower Boomerang into the Mountain Village, Meadows and Lower Misty Maiden (especially for the World Cup)."

According to U.S. Snowboarding Head Coach Peter Foley, Telluride is a perfect home in the west for an early-season World Cup stop. "With the early start on snow happening at Telluride we are getting really excited to get there. We can't wait to show the athletes from around the world how great Telluride is and let them experience a real world class course." Competition and Event Services Manger, John Jett, has been working with the USSA and the FIS on course procedures and qualifications. "The last of our summer projects for the event, including laying the timing wire for the PGS, has been completed. Both FIS and USSA course inspections have been approved for the World Cup Competition," said Jett.

"Our core competition jury; Technical Delegate Tim O'Brien (CAN), Chief of SBX Gary Wright, Chief of PGS Mark Lamberson, and FIS Commissioner Tom Winters met to review our operating plan, to ask questions and offer suggestions. They are truly excited and in awe of our progress," continued Jett. "Looking forward, the next month and a half is all about the details, logistics and scheduling of our volunteer manpower."

"The Telluride Ski Area and the towns of Mountain Village and Telluride are excited to be hosting the upcoming Snowboard World Cup beginning on December 17, 2009," added Frank Bell, Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee. "These challenging and crowd pleasing events, which will be the Telluride area's first World Cup competition, will showcase things to come at the Vancouver Olympics in February of 2010. We hope the world will join us either in person or through the media coverage in introducing the best snowboarders in the world to the great terrain, spectacular mountain setting, and two great ski towns that embrace the 2009 Snowboard World Cup."

Telluride will be the sole U.S. stop of the LG FIS Snowboard World Cup and will feature an SBX, PGS and the newly added Team Snowboardcross competition during what will be the second in a series of five Olympic qualification events. The heat will be on in the snowboardcross as four athletes race through rollers, jumps and banked turns in an attempt to be the last racer standing. - Telluride Ski & Golf Resort

For more information on this event or real estate information please contact buzz@fedorka.com.

Women’s Ski Week II, Telluride, Colorado

Join a consortium of leading ladies from around the globe for a week of outdoor activity offset by pampering of your mind, body and soul. At Women’s Ski Week II, you will have the opportunity for all-day expert ski and snowboard instruction, complimentary use of top-of-the-line gear, and use of the NASTAR course at the World Renowned Telluride Ski Resort.

In addition to becoming mountain sport divas, you can indulge yourself in morning yoga stretch, soothing spa treatments, as well as the finest in apres ski...followed by delicious dining and special shopping discounts. Women’s Ski Week II is also pleased to welcome renowned Keynote Speaker Rebecca Shambaugh, Author and CEO of Shambaugh Leadership Group - www.shambaughleadership.com. Ms. Shambaugh promises to deliver a compelling motivational presentation entitled, “Leading with Resilience - A Time for Reinvention”. In this session, participants will learn how to assess their individual resiliency as a critical life skill during these changing and challenging times! Join us for this rewarding event with your esteemed colleagues and friends!

Women’ Ski Week I will be February 6-11 with details to follow.

Packages Include:
Welcome Reception • Après-ski events
Celebration Dinner • Keynote Speaker Session
Yoga Stretch • Shopping Discounts
Gifts, Prizes & Raffles • Sponsor Trunk Shows

For more information on packages and to make a reservation, visit www.capellahotels.com or call 1.877.247.6688 and provide CODE 00011 at time of booking.

For information on Telluride Real Estate, contact Buzz Fedorka at buzz@fedorka.com, website: www.fedorka.com.

Telluride's Featured Home Listing of the Day

260 Double Eagle Drive - $2,550,000

This fully furnished 4-bedroom, 4.5-bath mountain rustic timber and stone home is close to both golf and skiing and features panoramic San Sophia Ridge views, along with superior construction and top-of-the-line appliances, features and finishes, including a 2-sided fireplace, granite counters, three steam showers and a hot tub.

Telluride Resort Terrain expansion

TELLURIDE, Colo. (Sept. 14, 2009) – Telluride continues this year on an unprecedented run of terrain expansion, opening Gold Hill Chutes 2-5 for the 2009-10 winter season. Revelation Bowl opened in 2008-09 as the biggest story in ski country, along with Gold Hill 1. Palmyra Peak, Black Iron Bowl and Gold Hill 6-10 opened in 2007-08 to a huge public response. All told, the resort has expanded by more than 400 acres over the past three seasons, adding to Telluride’s already legendary terrain and offering some of the most spectacular skiing and riding on the planet. The resort’s vertical drop is now one of the largest in North America at 4,425 feet, with 3,845 vertical feet lift-served.

The opening of Gold Hill Chutes 2-5 gives full access off west Gold Hill ridge, with 1-10 now accessible to the public. Reminiscent of the long, open lines of Alaska, the spectacular terrain drops 1600 vertical feet into the Prospect Basin, including faces, couloirs, chutes and rock features all above treeline. A ride up the new Revelation Lift offers easy access, with direct skiing into Gold Hill 1, and a short 5 minute hike up a new snowcat road to the top of Gold Hill for 2-10. The area is controlled by two WWII vintage 105mm howitzers, installed last year.

Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for information on the above or any real estate information.

34th Annual Telluride Jazz Celebration

The 34th Annual Telluride Jazz Celebration has returned to its historic summer dates -- August 6-8, 2010. Mark your calendar!
Early Bird Tickets Online Now
Discounted Early Bird tickets are available online at www.telluridejazz.org. Keep the Jazz vibe alive in Telluride... Telluride Jazz tickets make great holiday gifts!
PS: Take advantage of our Limited Time Holiday Offer -- we are waiving the online handling fee until December 31, 2009. Enter code HF2010 at check out.
Telluride Jazz Celebration 2010
Telluride Jazz Celebration (TJC) is busy working on the 2010 line-up reinforcing our long-standing commitment to nurturing the roots of the classic Jazz, Latin and African traditions. The initial lineup will be announced in the weeks ahead and will include a full Friday slate of events, so stay tuned.

New this year is the addition of Core Power Yoga as a Presenting Sponsor www.corepoweryoga.com. Each morning of the festival weekend, Core Power Yoga staff will offer free introductory and advanced level yoga classes to TJC ticket holders in the Telluride Town Park. Get loose, stay loose.

TJC 2010 promises to be another intimate experience with a great show in the beautiful Telluride valley. Make your plans now to join us next August.

For more information on this or other festivals or Telluride real estate, contact Buzz Fedorka at buzz@fedorka.com.

Telluride's Featured Home Listing of the Day

110 Saddlehorn Lane, Ski Ranches - $1,650,000

Beautiful 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom main house with a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom guest apartment. Located on a very private 1.3 acre lot in the Ski Ranches. Sandstone and granite countertops, large workshop, cherry and pine cabinets, doors and floors, many other custom details.

Telluride Snowboard World Cup 2009

For information on this or Telluride real estate, email Buzz Fedorka buzz@fedorka.com

The Peaks Resort sells to a local group for a reported $20 million

As reported in the Telluride Daily Planet by Matthew BeaudinEditor
Published: Thursday, November 5, 2009 8:44 PM CST

After languishing on the market for more than two years, The Peaks sold on Wednesday to a group of local investors for a reported $20 million — less than half the price of bids in late 2007 and some $80 million less than the hotel was built for in the early ‘90s.

The purchase ends failed deal after failed deal: since hitting the market, Telluride’s largest and best-known hotel has seen many a suitor, none of which saw their engagements to the altar.

And now comes the hard part: Making The Peaks the flagship of a region in need of an economic engine.

“Through the years of corporate ownership, The Peaks has distanced itself from the community,” reads a press release from Todd Herrick, a managing member of Peaks Capital Partners, LLC., which bought the hotel from The Blackstone Group, a New York based private equity firm. “The Peaks was designed to be the cornerstone hospitality property of the area. Our objective is to finally unlock the property’s potential…”

Ted and Todd Herrick, Mike Theile, Bruce MacIntire and Kevin Jones make up the buyers, in addition to John Cullen and Brian Martin, two principals of the hotel’s new management company, Grand Heritage Hotels & Resorts.

Grand Heritage Hotels & Resorts manages other seasonal properties, such as the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

“We know that The Peaks needs further work — please be patient,” the release reads.
The company plans to update the lobby, bar and dining room by Christmas, but major renovations will not begin until the spring off-season.

The Peaks will remain open through the ski season.“I see a golden opportunity to help drive more business, not only for The Peaks but for the whole region,” said Brent Truax, who was just named the hotel’s general manager. “There is a lot of work to be done. This property has nowhere to go but up.”

Ascendancy to a lofty hotel will have its price, though the new owners have yet to declare how much money they’ll pipe into The Peaks. Upgrades, Truax said, will include flat-screen TVs in rooms and wet bars, things that are “expected” in upper-echelon hotels.

The Peaks will also get a new continental type restaurant — to be named this winter — and a re-named spa, which recently underwent millions in upgrades under Blackstone.

“I think, immediately, people are going to see service standards changing,” Truax said. “The immediate impact is going to be on the customer service.”

Truax is moving with his 2-year-old daughter and wife to Telluride from the Finger Lakes region of New York. He’s managed properties in Arizona, Vermont and New Hampshire.

According to Telluride Mountain Village Owner’s Association — the entity that collects real estate transfer taxes in the Village — the association will take in a little more than $500,000 in transfer taxes off the sale; that’s no burp for a town that’s had to cut its budgets at every turn.

As of Thursday afternoon, the deed had not been recorded at the San Miguel County Clerk and Recorder’s offices, but TMVOA documents indicate that the taxable “Total Land and Land Improvements and Total Building & Building Improvements” came in at $17.3 million for the sale.

The organization can’t collect transfer taxes on “personal property” that changes hands in transactions, meaning the purchase price could have been for more.

Bob Delves, Mountain Village’s mayor, greeted the news warmly. “I think it’s terrific that it’s in local hands,” Delves said. “From what I know of this group, they intend to return The Peaks to its former glory.”

And that, he said, is certainly possible given the hotel’s setting and stature.

“There’s nothing like it. Its location is incredible; the views are incredible … It just needs some love,” Delves said.

George Harvey, a real estate agent with Telluride Properties, said the sale could mean good things for Telluride.

“I do think it makes a difference it’s local owners. They have the passion as well as the money. And that matters. … It’s personal. It’s like a chain restaurant vs. the owner showing up every day,” he said.

The price may have been just right, too: “They bought it right,” Harvey said. “And a heck of a lot of how hotels work is the price. That gives them a huge leg up, when you have less debt to service. So maybe their timing’s good.”

For more information on this or for real estate in Telluride please contact buzz@fedorka.com

Telluride's Featured Property Listing of the Day

Cimarron Office Space – $750,000

Ski-in/ski-out and riverside, base of Lift 7, Cimarron Lodge ($3.3 million exterior
remodel of complete complex is underway). Truly one of Telluride's best custom offices with slate and antique oak floors, alder distressed custom doors and cabinets, granite and marble countertops throughout office on custom distressed alder built-in work stations (6), wired for complete custom sound and internet for each room, high end Italian lighting all tied in with 200-year-old hand-hewn beams. Foyer/reception area, 2 large executive offices, large production room with 4+ work stations (office can accommodate 6-8 full time employees comfortably, more if necessary). Large handicap-coded bathroom with full tub/shower. Employee break area in back offers full kitchen (sans oven) with custom alder distressed cabinets and granite counter tops, queen-sized murphy bed with storage closets and drawers all with ladder accessible loft and large storage closet wired for servers and stereo components. All lift-side and just 1 block off Colorado Avenue (Main St.) and 3 blocks from the heart of town.

Alchemy Hospitality Group is named the new operator and manager of the Telluride Conference Center

Alchemy Hospitality Group is named the new operator and manager of the Telluride Conference Center; the town still owns the facility and its assetsThe Town of Mountain Village has signed a five-year contract with Alchemy Hospitality Group (Alchemy) to run the Telluride Conference Center in Mountain Village. For the past 10 years, this responsibility has been that of the town’s. As of November 2, 2009, Alchemy has taken over as the Conference Center’s exclusive manager and operator and is responsible for most of the facility’s associated costs while the town remains the owner of the facility and its assets. The agreement between the two parties will result in a reduced town subsidy and a higher level of future cost controls.

The Conference Center, with 16,000-square-feet of rentable space, has historically experienced financial losses due to fixed operating costs that were not covered by sufficient revenues. If the town were to continue to operate the Conference Center in the coming years, the subsidy is projected at $470,000 for 2010 and escalating to as much as $500,000 for 2011. With this new agreement, the town will realize significant savings now and into the future. “We hope for a much smaller subsidy over the next five years,” said Sparks. “The more events Alchemy books, the closer the town’s subsidy gets to zero.”

Under the agreement, Alchemy will keep 100% of all gross revenue derived from its operations of the Conference Center but is obligated to pay the town up to a maximum of 5% from revenues. The town will continue to pay all Franz Klammer HOA dues and any major capital repairs and replacements. Further, all utilities will be paid by the town through December 31, 2011, when Alchemy will take over those responsibilities.

According to Spark’s, the town’s long-term goal for the Conference Center is threefold: for it to be an intricate part of the town's economic engine; to drive conference and group sales to Mountain Village; and to help the community become a sought after tourist destination. Sparks added that a vital part of the community includes its nonprofit organizations, many of which have utilized the Conference Center over the years for events. Under the agreement with the town, Alchemy will honor all contracts currently on the books and with current Conference Center pricing as quoted by the Center’s staff. For any new bookings, Alchemy is entitled to set its own pricing and fee schedules for usage of the Conference Center with a separate fee schedule for nonprofit organizations.

Major Selling Point:

Tthe ability to flex staff Over the past 10 years the town has managed the Conference Center, it has employed full-time staff members and additional part-time and on-call staff members as-needed. Established in 2003, Alchemy’s principal owners are Jake Linzinmeir and Tony Kalyk, no strangers to the Telluride region. Linzinmeir and Kalyk run The Bluepoint Grill & Noir Bar, The Excelsior Café and Chair 8/X Café. With locally established businesses, Alchemy is able to save money and time by flexing staffing levels and multitasking its labor dollars as they relate to the facility’s bookings – a major selling point for the town. As for Conference Center employees, Alchemy has been encouraged, but not obligated, to offer full and part-time staff members positions within its company.

In addition to Linzinmeir and Kalyk, the Alchemy Hospitality Group’s Conference Center Team includes other principals of companies who have experience in the ski resort market and in the hospitality, restaurant, group marketing and conference related fields. Those team members include Jeffrey Zogg and Doug Leiber of Azul Group and Meehan Fee, owner of Alpenglow Event Management.

Checks & Balances:
Since the town will continue to invest in the Conference Center, a Telluride Conference Center Oversight Board will be formed. Alchemy is required to meet with this board a minimum of twice a year. The board will be comprised of the mayor, a town councilmember, the town manager and a representative from both Marketing Telluride Inc. (MTI) and the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association. In addition, Alchemy is required to provide the Mountain Village Town Council with information regarding the Conference Center’s usage, total gross revenues per event, number of attendees, and the following year’s calendar of events and revenue projections. Alchemy also is responsible for the development and delivery of a customer satisfaction survey to all groups utilizing the Conference Center with the survey results presented to the town on a quarterly basis. If Alchemy meets these and other town requirements, it will have the option of extending its contract with the town for two additional five-year terms.

To meet specific town marketing requirements, Alchemy is responsible for maintaining the Conference Center brand while working with MTI and Telluride Ski & Golf on marketing the facility. Moreover, MTI will continue to act as the primary group booking agent for the Conference Center with Alchemy directing all group bookings through them. In turn, Mountain Village will, as budget amounts provide, continue to make an annual contribution to MTI for group sales marketing.

For further Telluride Conference Center inquiries or to book an event, contact Alchemy’s General Manager Meehan Fee at meehan@tellurideconference.com, (970) 369-4760 or (970) 369-6400.

For other Telluride area information or real estate inquiries, contact Buzz Fedorka at buzz@fedorka.com.

Snowboard World Cup in Telluride

Telluride Tourism Board press release regarding the Snowboard World Cup in Telluride:

Date: 17th Dec 2009 - 20th Dec 2009

Telluride will be the home of international snowboarding competition in the U.S. as the 2010 Visa U.S. Snowboardcross Cup hits the Rocky Mountains. Telluride is the sole U.S. stop of the LG FIS Snowboard World Cup and will feature an SBX and PGS competition during what will be the second in a series of five Olympic qualification events for the two sports.

The Visa U.S. Snowboardcross Cup Schedule:
Thursday, December 17 - PGS qualifications and finals
Friday, December 18 - SBX qualifications
Saturday, December 19 - SBX finals
Sunday, December 20 - Team SBX

NBC, the Olympic network, will broadcast the Visa U.S. Snowboardcross Cup Dec. 26 at 2 p.m. and the cable station Versus will broadcast the event's SBX competition Jan. 3, 2010 at 5 p.m. and the PGS competition Jan. 10, 2010 at 4 p.m.

Competitors

The heat will be on in the snowboardcross as heats of four athletes race through rollers, jumps and bank turns in an attempt to be the last man standing. The pressure will be on the U.S. Snowboarding's men's SBX roster as Olympic champion Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME), five-time X Games gold medalist Nate Holland (Squaw Valley, CA), World Championship bronze medalist Nick Baumgartner (Iron River, MI),World Cup winner Graham Watanabe (Sun Valley, ID), World Cup podium performer Jonathan Cheever (Saugus, MA) Olympic halfpipe gold medalist Ross Powers (Londonderry, VT), snowboarding legend Shaun Palmer (South Lake Tahoe, CA) and the rest of the domestic riders battle it out to solidify their spot in the up to four spots open on the men's Olympic team.

Olympic silver medalist Lindsey Jacobellis (Stratton Mountain, VT) will also be on hand looking to dominate the women's field. Parallel giant slalom athletes will also be in the hunt for their Olympic team nominations. Michelle Gorgone (Boston), who took to the podium of two World Cups last season, will be aiming to take the stand again in the U.S.

On the men's side Tyler Jewell (Steamboat Springs, CO) will be back in the race after an injury kept him from competition last season. Joining him will be Adam Smith (Bend, OR) who finished second in a World Cup last season.

Capping things off in Telluride will be a team SBX exhibition competition. Team SBX pairs two riders from the same country on a team. One races the course against three to five other competitors, and when that competitor crosses the finish line, the gate at the start triggers for the next teammate to begin racing.

Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for further information on the Snowboard World Cup or for any real estate needs.

Telluride's Featured Condo Listing of the Day

Mountain Lodge Unit 4113 - $300,000

1-bedroom, 1-bath condo in the ski-in/ski-out Mountain Lodge complex, just a short stroll to all resort amenities. The Lodge is full-service, complete with linen service, concierge, bell staff, shuttle service and on-site property management.

Please email buzz@fedorka.com for more information on Mountain Lodge #4113 or any of your Telluride real estate needs.

New snow, new improved Telluride airport runway

We have a foot or so of new snow, so winter is underway. It will be great to see the airport with its new improved runway open next week, see below.

(Photo by Brett Schreckengost)

TELLURIDE — After peak crews of up to 85 workers spent seven months rearranging more than 1 million cubic yards of dirt at the Telluride Regional Airport, runway safety improvements have been completed and TEX is scheduled for an on-time reopening next Wednesday, Nov. 4. “It was a good project, it went well,” said Airport Manager Rich Nuttall. “In another week or so we’ll be open for business.”The second of a four-phase project that will eventually increase the airport’s safety rating and enable it to accommodate the 66-to 78-seat Q400 turboprop aircraft, the project lowered the runway by 30 feet at its west end and by 14 feet at its east end.The excavated material was used to backfill a 16-foot dip at the runway’s center that gave it the concave curve of a banana and helped earn TEX its reputation as one of the most challenging mountain airports in the nation.Crews also paved the formerly dirt shoulders alongside the runway, began widening the adjacent safety areas, and set in place an 800-foot long steel tunnel that should be completed between now and 2012, according to Nuttall.The tunnel is wide enough to accommodate a semi-trailer truck and will eventually allow drivers to pass underneath the runway to access hangars planned for its south side.“We used to be known for the dip, now we’re going to be know for the tunnel,” he said

Contact me, Buzz Fedorka, for updates on this or Telluride real estate at buzz@fedorka.com.

Telluride: Colorado's best kept secret?

Below you will find a link to a recent article about Telluride in the Denver Post. I have also pasted the article in the text below. I hope to see you in Telluride this winter. The snow has been falling all day today! For info on Telluride real estate contact Buzz Fedorka at buzz@fedorka.com

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_13620417


Telluride: Colorado's best-kept secret?
By Kyle Wagner Denver Post Travel Editor

The view of Telluride's slopes and bowls astounds. (Telluride Ski Resort )
Raise your hand if you've never skied Telluride.
You're certainly not alone. Chances are you've never even visited Telluride, and you're not alone there either.
To the locals, that's one of the many reasons that it's so great to be among the slightly fewer than 2,400 people living in this former silver mining town tucked up against the San Juan Mountains.
"It's not one of the drop-in places," says Alicia Nogueira, who moved to Telluride 18 years ago from San Francisco. "You have to plan to come here, and that brings people with a different purpose. They really want to be here, as opposed to, 'Oh, I'm here because that other place was full.' "
That's what Telluride Ski Resort founder Joe Zoline was banking on when he put in the first ski lift in 1972.
A skier cuts a swath through Revelation Bowl, the newest cluster of runs.
Joe Morita bought the resort in 2002 from Ron Allred and his partners, who purchased it from Zoline in 1979. Morita then doubled the skiable terrain by adding Prospect Bowl. A private investment group took over in 2003 and added Black Iron Bowl in 2007 and Revelation Bowl last year. Now the ski area sports more than 2,000 skiable acres, and at 13,150 feet, has the highest skiable terrain in the United States that you can hike to (its highest lift-served skiable terrain sits at 12,570) — not to mention some of the most sought-after, as freeskiers from all over the world come to practice for World Cup events and compete in the qualifiers held here annually.
But for the most part, the resort, like the town, has retained its quirky character — even as celebrities (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, makeup mogul Bobbi Brown, diplomat Richard Holbrooke and Ralph Lauren with his mega-ranch up the road, to name a few) followed the hippies famous for having followed the miners in discovering Telluride's isolated charms.
Thrown into the mix is an ever-increasing number of festivals — possibly the most festivals per capita in the country. They include the world-famous Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the Telluride Film Festival, the Blues and Brews and the Mountainfilm Fest. It reached a point in 1991 that the town added a "Nothing Festival" as a half-hearted protest.
A four-legged visitor waits while two-legged ones partake of the town's hip shops and dining.
Nogueira considers herself to be more of a hippie type. She owns Bali Dog, a shop that sells handpainted yoga pants from Brazil. In San Francisco, she had been a computer-graphic artist but also a yoga instructor. She was looking for a calmer way of life, but one that also incorporated her love of skiing and the outdoors.
"I had skied since I was 16, in Switzerland, and when I visited Telluride, some friends said, 'You should move here and teach,' and I thought, 'You guys are crazy,' " she says. "But then I decided I would just come and spend a winter and just hang out. Yeah, that was the plan, and I came and fell in love with the place, and so then I stayed a summer, and wow, the summer is great. That hooked me. So the next year I bought a house."
Nogueira started teaching yoga, but also became a ski instructor and taught ski school for Telluride Ski Resort, and had daughter Olivia Nogueira-Wheaton, now 12. They explore Telluride together, reveling in the outdoor activities that a town nestled in a box canyon and carved by a glacier have to offer.
"We go snowshoeing in the full moon on the valley floor," Nogueira says. "My daughter loves doing that. There's so much to do here year-round, but winter is a magical time; it's just so pretty, and the mountain is so diverse and challenging. The fact that we don't have lift lines or crowds here means you can get a lot of time up there and really explore, get a good workout."
A self-described "laid-back skier," Nogueira says she seeks out the gentler runs. "I don't go into the bush too much," she says. "I don't do trees that much. I'm kind of conservative."
She likes Bushwacker, an easier black-diamond run off the Plunge Lift. It's steep, groomed every few days, and ideal for strong intermediates who want to push themselves.
"The new terrain is fantastic," Nogueira says, referring to the runs on Prospect Bowl. "I love Gold Hill, which has these stunning views, and it's wide-open and steep."
This year, there's actually more to love, because the resort added another four chutes on the double-black Gold Hill. With the addition of Chutes 2-5, that means Chutes 1 through 10 are now open to the public in an area controlled by two World War II 105mm howitzers that were installed last season. The howitzers fire explosives into areas prone to avalanches (which the Gold Hill section is). Howitzers have an extremely low misfire rate and can be shot in poor visibility, and have been key in Telluride's long-range plan for controlling steep areas with high snow buildup.
The new terrain drops 1,600 vertical feet into Prospect Basin (Chute 1 is right off Revelation Lift, while chutes 2-10 require hiking), and has a variety of features — including couloirs, rocks, faces and chutes — all above treeline.
"It's not easy skiing, but it's very straightforward," Nogueira says. "You can see everything from there."
Captivated by the breathtaking silence
James Kleinert would not describe himself as a conservative skier.
"I prefer to be out of bounds," says the former member of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team. "I like the quietness, being out away from the resort. You can hear a pin drop. It's just beautiful."
Kleinert was captivated by Telluride decades ago as a competitive skier, but it wasn't until May 2007 when his other passions, documentary filmmaking and horses, brought him back to the area to work on a film, "Saving the American Wild Horse."
"I was living in Taos at that point, and there's this amazing mustang herd out at Disappointment Valley, so the film immediately tied into the Telluride community," Kleinert says. "So I was basically commuting from Taos to Telluride every other weekend from that point forward."
He moved to Telluride for good in February 2008. "That was quite a time to move here," he says. "That winter they had the biggest snowfall they've recorded since the mountain opened, and it was an unusual year because the snow bonded, so they weren't getting any big, nasty avalanches. We had these epic days of skiing."
And like so many Telluride residents that season, Kleinert was faced with a tough decision: sit at his computer all day or ski?
"Ha, well, I picked skiing," he says. "And I couldn't help but start collecting all this great footage."
Kleinert also reconnected with an old buddy from his competitive days, Scott Kennett, a freestyle skier who had moved to Telluride as well. That same winter, Kennett introduced Kleinert to a group of backcountry enthusiasts, and the result was "The Edge of Telluride," a film that premiered at the Mountainfilm Festival in May.
"The mountain resort itself is wonderful, but the backcountry here, now that's something else," Kleinert says. "I've skied many mountains around the world, after skiing the World Cup for almost 10 years — Japan, Europe, North America. But there's something about the San Juans, their jagged ruggedness. There's a wildness and a remoteness to it all. You really feel like you're in the mountains there."
He's now working on the next project for his Moving Cloud Productions, movingcloud.com — there's a follow-up to the wild horses film that focuses solely on Disappointment Valley. Meantime, he plans to be in the mountains as much as possible. "I really enjoy the cardio workout you get from putting on skins and climbing," he says.
Then he'll refuel at some of the exceptional dining Telluride has to offer.
"When you live here and are working, it's hard to get out much, and it gets expensive," he says. "But my favorite place is this little Mexican place called La Cocina. They make this amazing fresh homemade salsa, four or five flavors. If you get their chips and salsa and a beer, it's great. I think its $3.50. If you're on a budget, it's the best cheap meal you'll ever have."
La Cocina is one of Nogueira's favorites too. She also likes the pad Thai at Siam and the fresh seafood at Honga's Lotus Petal.
"It's funny that these are places that we all run into each other at," Nogueira says. "But that's what I like about Telluride. I like it that everyone knows everyone else, and that it feels safe and special.
"Sometimes I think, 'Ah, it's too small, too closed in and I have to get out of here' — but that's crazy. It's amazing to live here."

Telluride's Featured Property Listing of the Day

Idarado - Pandora, Lot 4 - $925,000

One of 37 exclusive homesites to the east of the Town of Telluride, Pandora 4 boasts river frontage, and spectacular views of Telluride’s box canyon, mountains and green spaces, just a short distance from town, via road or walking path. 1.37 acres.

For information on Pandora Lot 4 or other Telluride real estate information,

email buzz@fedorka.com.

Telluride Air Bookings

The Telluride Montrose Regional Air Organizations is reporting that December and February air bookings are ahead of where they were at this time last year, but still a bit short of where they were at this time in 2007/2008. Not as good as the 2007/2008 ski season, but better than ’08/’09s season…already, and it’s only October! The closer in booking trend appears to continue to Telluride so now it is time to make your air reservations to Telluride for the holiday. Please contact buzz@fedorka.com for information on Telluride travel or Telluride real estate. I hope to see you here over the holidays.

Telluride's Featured Home Listing of the Day

Valmoré - 751 Mountain Village Boulevard - $12,500,000

Nestled on the Mountain Village Center’s most prestigious lot, overlooking the Lift 4 ski runs and the hub of the Village, this ski-in/ski-out retreat is a truly stunning European-styled mountain house. With 7 bedrooms including 3 masters, 8 bathrooms and 2 powder rooms, this home also features a spa/massage/exercise area, elevator, gourmet kitchen with butlers’ pantry, office, eat-in wine room, large media room with wet bar, 6 fireplaces, and much, much more.

For information on Valmore or other Telluride real estate information, email buzz@fedorka.com.

The Peaks Resort Named A Top 10 Best Snow Resort

The Peaks Resort Named A Top 10 Best Snow Resort
Acclaimed family publication, Parents magazine, names countrys leading winter resorts

October 21 , 2009 (Telluride, CO) Americas number one family magazine, Parents, revealed the findings from their first-ever 10 Best Snow Resorts For Families survey. On the newsstands in November, the survey findings boast the best resorts for winter vacation locales across the United States. Considered to be one of the leading affordable, snow covered and family friendly, The Peaks Resort joined the ranks of other notable resorts including: the Tripp Family Lodge (Stowe, VT); Resort at Squaw Creek (Lake Tahoe, CA); or The Lodge at Suncadia (Cle Elum, WA). For a complete listing of the resorts, visit parents.com/snowresorts.

At Parents we know that a winter vacation is a real treat, but tight budgets and the challenge of finding a kid-friendly destination can make planning a trip tricky, said Dana Points, editor-in-chief of Parents. The ten affordable resorts on our list have thought of absolutely everything families could want while on vacation. Whether youre interested in skiing or smore-making, an ice rink or a heated pool, there is something for everyone at Parents top picks.

Indeed, The Peaks Resort offers winter wonderland activities for families of all ages and interests. Located mid-mountain on the Telluride Ski Resort and in the Mountain Village, the resorts aprs ski and snowboard oasis, the resort includes smores by the fire, a thrilling waterslide into the year round indoor / outdoor swimming pool and even an indoor rock climbing wall. And, out the resorts front door awaits ice skating and dog sledding, sleigh and horseback rides and Colorados only heli-skiing operation.

A fact not overlooked by Parents, each resort on the list offers their family friendly activities and amenities at rates starting at less than $250. To be one of the premiere winter and family vacation resorts in the country, as recognized by such a reputable, family-oriented publication, is a considerable honor, said Noel Vanlandingham, The Peaks Resort general manager. Time and time again individuals and families return to visit us, no matter the season, because of our commitment to the guest experience and making their vacation as enjoyable as possible.

For more info on the hotel, visit The Peaks Resort & Golden Door Spa at www.thepeaksresort.com. For information on real estate, contact Buzz Fedorka at buzz@fedorka.com or 970-728-1234.. www.Fedorka.com.

Improvements to the Peaks/Golden Door Spa Telluride, Colorado

There have been many changes happening at The Peaks and Golden Door Spa this summer – from the exterior renovations of the resort, to the introduction of a number of new fun activities at the spa including the launch of the ISUN Skin Care line, Summer Soiree pool parties and live music at the pool.

Upcoming improvement projects include the opening of a new restaurant on the lobby level, installation of a new outdoor Jacuzzi and other smaller and larger changes.

In the interest of minimally impacting member and guest routines, the spa and resort are planning to remain open through the fall. The spa will keep the same hours: 6:30 am – 8:30 pm, 7 days per week and valet parking will be available during that time as usual.

The Peaks is also going to be one of the official host hotels for the 2010 Snowboard World Cup this upcoming December! The Peaks will certainly be the center of activity with the media center in the ballrooms and many of the snowboard competitors staying there and hosting of the Opening Party.

If you want information on any of the upcoming events or real estate in Telluride please email me at buzz@fedorka.com.

The challenge is on ... Fall Tilt 12-Hour Endurance Downhill Mountain Bike Race October 3 at the Mountain Village Bike Park & Calendar of Events

After a two-year hiatus, downhill mountain biking is back in Mountain Village in a big way with a bike park dedicated solely to the sport. To celebrate the park’s grand opening, the Town of Mountain Village, in conjunction with Bigfoot Production, is hosting Fall Tilt, a 12-hour endurance downhill mountain bike race challenge. The race will be held Saturday, October 3, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the Mountain Village Bike Park is the stage for this event. Fall Tilt is geared towards all levels of mountain bike riders, and the total number of laps during the 12-hour period will determine the various challenge winners. Prior to race day, the town will host the park’s grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for Friday, October 2 at 10 a.m. at the entrance of the park. Fall Tilt Race Open Practice will begin right after the ceremony.

“This downhill bike race challenge is going to bring out some of the region’s best riders and allow them to showcase their endurance and strength,” said Mountain Village Community Relations Manager Nichole Zangara. “From speaking to some of the local downhill riders, I’m certain the race course will test the riders’ skill levels, offer a technical challenge, and determine the toughest competitor. Never before has Mountain Village ever hosted a gravity event like this one, and one that goes into the evening hours. It’s certainly going to be worth watching.”

Riding after dark will require the use of approved front-mounted bike lights. Rentals will be available, but limited. If a rider intends to run the last two or three hours of the event, they are required to have an adequate lighting system otherwise they won’t be allowed on the lift.

There are various classes and categories for the Fall Tilt race: solo, duo teams and four-person teams. Registration is available online at BikeReg.com; on-site For rules and regulations, visit the Web site, www.falltiltintelluride.com.

Fall Tilt Venue:
The downhill race course is comprised of four adjacent downhill trails that will be utilized simultaneously from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Terrain will vary from rocky, technical riding on the World Cup course to flowing, slower riding on a “recovery” trail or two. It is up to the rider’s discretion as to which trail they will use for each downhill lap.

Fall Tilt Downhill Course
No Brainer:
This single blue, three-foot wide and one-and-a-half-mile trail runs from the top of the park to the bottom with a 12 percent average grade. Expect smooth, rolling, curvy cruisers. It’s family fun for everyone.
T-Bone:
This double blue, singletrack trail cuts off from the No Brainer Trail and reconnects after one-third of a mile. T-Bone is a good introduction to singletrack turns while weaving through the trees.
Pan-Coaster:
This brand new single black trail runs a half-mile long and features numerous, meticulously crafted berms that flow in and out of the trees adjacent to the World Cup Trail. There are plenty of opportunities for air on Pan-Coaster.
World Cup:
What’s a Mountain Village Bike Park if it doesn’t incorporate a little of the old with a little of the new? As part of the original World Cup downhill race course, this double black, rocky singletrack stretches a quarter-mile long and incorporates log jumps, steep drops, and berms … a potpourri of a downhill rider’s dream.

Fall Tilt & Fall Fest 2009 Calendar of Events In addition to Fall Tilt, the Town of Mountain Village and the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association have planned a weekend jammed-packed with things to do: Oktoberfest activities and live music Friday and a Fall Crawl and the Fall Tilt After-party at Hop Garden Saturday.
Please view the complete Fall Tilt and Fall Fest Event Schedule.
For further information on this and Telluride real estate, contact Buzz Fedorka at buzz@fedorka.com or 970-728-1234.

Telluride is featured on the cover photo of Ski Magazine in October, 2009!

Email me at buzz@fedorka.com for info on Telluride real estate or for anything else to do with Telluride!

Telluride Airport - New runway photos!

Please see the below pictures of the new Telluride airport runway. There is still some work that needs to be done on the taxiway and cleanup, but the Telluride Airport is on target for a November 5th reopening. This is a great news for Telluride. Please call or email me at buzz@fedorka.com for information on flights or on Telluride real estate.

Telluride Blues and Brews – Tickets still available

One of the most highly anticipated festivals in Telluride, the Blues and Brews Festival, has officially started and it is not too late to get tickets. With a great line up coupled with the beautiful scenery and fall colors there is no better place to be than Telluride this weekend. Below is an update with regards to new additions to the line up and a link on how to get tickets. If you are in town now, planning to come to town for the festival or for the fall colors please do not hesitate to call or email me at buzz@fedorka.com to look at real estate in Telluride or ask for a Telluride real estate market update.

The premiere Mountain Village Bike Park officially opens to downhill bikers beginning today

For anyone whose heart ached when the Full Tilt course was dismantled back in 2007, gravity riders and supporters, the pain has ended. The long awaited, premiere downhill Mountain Village Bike Park opens Monday, September 14. The community will celebrate the park’s official opening with a 12-hour downhill endurance race the first weekend of October.

The exclusive Mountain Village Bike Park gives downhill riders access to three miles of mountain trails dedicated solely to this sport; nowhere in the Town of Mountain Village or the Town of Telluride could riders practice their skills (legally) until now. With 1,100 feet of vertical drop, about 30 berms, and multiple jumps, the free Mountain Village Bike Park is sure to deliver high-speed frivolity. Further, the town’s free gondola used to access this park makes this a one-of-a-kind downhill biking experience. From the gondola station St. Sophia, the Mountain Village Bike Park entrance is situated about 150 yards south. Once there, riders can indulge their senses as they steer their way through the various trail options, each built to International Mountain Bicycling Association guidelines.

No Brainer: This single blue, three-feet wide, and one-and-a-half-mile trail runs from the top of the park to the bottom with a 12 percent average grade. Expect smooth, rolling, curvy cruisers. It’s family fun for everyone.

T-Bone: This double blue, singletrack trail cuts off from the No Brainer Trail and reconnects after one-third of a mile. T-Bone is a good introduction to singletrack turns while weaving through the trees.

Squirrel Catcher: This trail may be a quickie, only 150 feet long, but with a reason. The Squirrel Catcher is a test track feature. Bottom line, if you’re not sure you want to go down this single black trail, and you’re friends say it’s okay, don’t do it. Instead, ride back to No Brainer and stay there until your heart’s content (and you’ve gained the skills needed to progress).

Pan-Coaster: This brand new single black trail runs a half-mile long and features numerous, meticulously crafted berms that flow in and out of the tress adjacent to the World Cup Trail. There are plenty of opportunities for air on Pan-Coaster.

World Cup: What’s a Mountain Village Bike Park if it doesn’t incorporate a little of the old with a little of the new? As part of the original World Cup downhill race course, this double black, rocky single track stretches a quarter-mile long and incorporates log jumps, steep drops, and berms … a potpourri of a downhill rider’s dream.

“While incorporating all of the natural features making up this trail system, we addressed erosion control and safety concerns,” Mountain Village Recreation Manager Tony Forrest explained. “This means the Mountain Village Bike Park isn’t just for the armored up, gravity junkies. Instead, we hand-selected, and in many cases hand-crafted, five trails that appeal to intermediate downhill bikers on up to expert downhill bikers. This is a rider’s playground, free for the picking. We simply ask that downhill bikers stay on the trails, and if they need to gain access to the Town of Telluride, they load their bikes on the back of a gondola cabin and take the free gondola into Telluride.”

The impetus to building a downhill bike park and devoting specific trails to this kind of riding, aside from the fact that the community asked for it, it will help boost the local economy, and that it’s just plain fun, is to help alleviate user conflict. The town, along with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), a major player in the this project, hopes that through proper trail signage and peer education, illegal trails will become a thing of the past and that trails users – hikers and bikers alike – will enjoy the trails harmoniously. Moreover, the town asks riders and hikers to read and obey all trail signage as signs were erected to keep all trail users safe. Moving forward, the Town of Mountain Village will maintain and inspect the trails daily and determine when conditions are unacceptable for riding. The park’s opening and closing dates will run concurrent with the gondola summer schedule and operational hours are from 7 a.m. to sunset, weather permitting.

To this end, it has taken a (mountain) village to raise the bar and create this multifaceted bike park. Of course it couldn’t have happened without the generosity of the Town of Mountain Village and all its supporters and sponsors: the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association (TMVOA), Telluride Ski & Golf (TSG), S.U.N.R.I.S.E. Inc., the San Miguel Bike Alliance (SMBA), Tracks Café & Bar, Dakine, the Telluride Daily Planet, and the USFS. The USFS got the ball rolling on this project. TSG donated the land that crosses the Misty Maiden, See Forever and Butterfly ski runs. Tracks fed the countless SMBA volunteers who helped build the bike park. TMVOA funded the project, a $23,500 financial contribution which defrayed the costs associated with course design, construction and event production. TMVOA also contributed, in kind, the cost to operate the gondola to service the park. S.U.N.R.I.S.E., Inc. provided the machinery and operators to help construct portions of the trails. This in kind contribution totaled $20,000. The town provided $25,500, also in kind, for labor, signage, administrative work, marketing and event production. The Telluride Daily Planet continues to promote the park on its Web site. And Dakine will cloth and outfit the park’s course workers and bike patrol with backpacks. This all totals more than $70,000 and over 2,000 hours of work by the aforementioned supporters and sponsors.

Fall Tilt Bike Race in Telluride at the Mountain Village Bike Park on Saturday, October 3rd.Almost three weeks after the Mountain Village Bike Park’s soft opening, the town will host the park’s grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, October 2. The Fall Tilt bike race open practice will begin right after the ceremony. Fall Tilt in Telluride at the Mountain Village Bike Park is a 12-hour downhill endurance race that will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, October 3. Race classes include solo, duo teams and four-person teams. Entry fees are based on a rider’s class. For more information about the race, contact Recreation Manager Tony Forrest, tforrest@mtnvillage.org or Community Relations Manger Nichole Zangara, nzangara@mtnvillage.org.

For further info on Mountain Village go to: www.townofmountainvillage.com or contact Buzz Fedorka at Telluride Real Estate Corp. at buzz@fedorka.com.

Telluride - Autumn Color Season

The leaves in Telluride are just starting to turn. The next two weekends will be prime color season. It is wonderful time to come visit Telluride and explore owning real estate. Not only is it a great time to visit, but next weekend is also the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival which is one of the biggest festivals of the season. Click on this link www.tellurideblues.com to get more information on the Blues and Brews Festival and the artists who will be performing.

There was also an article in the Wall Street Journal that reviewed the films that premiered at last weekend's Telluride Film Festival. A link to the article is below.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574404672369047680.html

As always please feel free to contact me with any questions and if you would like any information on Telluride real estate.

Market Update – Labor Day 2009

Labor Day marked the arrival of Telluride’s 36th Film Festival. Not only did a lot of people come to town for the Film Festival, but it was a busy weekend for contracts on regional real estate. A 35-acre lot listed for $2.6 million went under contract at Grayhead. Two luxury properties went under contract in Mountain Village including a Dakota Place condominium and a single family home located at 118 Rocky Road. These properties are listed at $2,680,900 and $2,495,000 respectively. A fourth home at100 Miguel Road in Aldasoro listed at $2,995,000 also contracted.

Last week two lots went under contract in Mountain Village which is interesting news since no vacant lots have closed in Mountain Village since December 2008. These are Boston Commons lots 423 and BC513 which are at opposite ends of the price spectrum. Lot 423 is listed for $1.625 million and BC513 is listed for $299,000.

Team Fedorka closed a townhouse condominium in Mountain Village last week. Lodges on Sundance #16 sold for $1.55 million which was an incredible value for the buyer. This four bedroom townhouse was sold completely turnkey furnished.

This is a great start for the end of August and beginning of September. As always please email me at buzz@fedorka.com with any questions or comments.

Tesla Returns to Telluride, This Time as a Roadster!

The most efficient, high performance production sports car on the planet is here in Telluride today and was parked outside our office:



100 years ago at Telluride’s nearby Ames power plant, Tesla, Westinghouse and Nunn established AC electricity as the dominant power source and forever altered the electrical grid. Today, the Tesla Roadster delivers an electric car that is as efficient as it is powerful and promises to alter the way we drive.
*Pure electric
*Zero omissions
*244 mile range
*0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds!!!

Summer Festivals provide the heart of Telluride's tourist economy

This weekend we will enjoy one of the most important events of the summer festival season. The Telluride Film Festival has brought some of our most prominent second homeowners to town for their first visit. Please read on for a brief synopsis of this year’s Film Festival. For more information you can go the following link http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/.

Telluride Film Festival celebrates 36 years
For 36 years the small town of Telluride, Colorado has been host to the Telluride Film Festival and currently the myriad of volunteers and board members are working hard to prepare the venues for the mecca of films to be previewed this Labor Day weekend. In keeping with tradition, the program will be kept secret until opening day on Friday, September 4th. Although the program is kept secret this doesn’t stop the flocks of film enthusiasts from descending upon town year after year knowing a wonderful cinematic experience awaits. On average 20 to 30 new films from around the world are featured and each film is accompanied by either its director, producer and/or actors.
In addition to the feature films there are free noon seminars in Telluride’s Elk’s Park where festival attendees can listen to industry experts discuss films and issues affecting the industry. There are “Conversations” where guest artists discuss their work with a celebrity moderator and each evening there is a feature film in the open air cinema. Whether you have a pass or not there is something for everyone at Telluride’s Film Festival. As always if you have any questions please email me at buzz@fedorka.com. I will post the program up on my blog on Friday afternoon when it is announced. Happy Film Festival!

News from Mountain Village & Telluride, September calendar, extended gondola hours and more...

Thursday, August 27
Heritage Parking Garage opens with pay-for-parking fees Heritage Parking Garage is the long awaited parking structure located under the new Capella hotel. It will provide for 24-hour parking in a heated, underground garage in the center of the Mountain Village core. This will provide convenient parking for any condominium owner in the Village core who does not own their own deeded parking space. Parking rates are set at $2 per hour for the first three hours. After the first three hours, that rate increases to $6 per hour up to a maximum charge of $30 for each 24-hour period with the rate structure reapplied cumulatively for successive 24-hour periods. The only acceptable form of payment is credit card. Friday, August 28 to Monday, August 31; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m27th Annual Blizzard SaleVarious Mountain Village core retail locations in Heritage Plaza will hold what is probably the biggest ski sale event on the Western Slope.
Wednesday, September 2 Annual Mountain Village Adventure Rock Bouldering Competition Series - Finals Conference Center Plaza in Mountain Village; 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. There will be a men’s and women’s division and a children’s under-12 division with prizes awarded to first, second and third place winners. The free Competition Series will continue throughout the summer with finals scheduled for Wednesday, September 2, 2009. At that event, the winner in each category with the most points earned throughout the Series will be awarded a grand prize. Prize sponsors include BootDoctors and Dakine. Novice and expert climbers are encouraged to register the day of the event. Competitors will be allowed to climb as many problems as they can in the two-hour period. Wednesday, September 2; 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. rain or shineSunset Concert Series featuring Hill Country Revue This is part of the very popular summer long, outdoor music concert series. The concerts are free and take place in the Sunset Plaza in Mountain Village;
Friday, September 4 to Monday, September 7; times vary 36th Annual Telluride Film Festival Various Mountain Village and Telluride locations Official Telluride Film Festival Web site Friday, September 4 to Monday, September 7 Extended Gondola Operational Hours for the Labor Day holidayAll gondola stations open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, September 18 to Sunday, September 20 Blues & Brews Festival Extended Gondola Operational Hours All gondola stations open from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday & Saturday and 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday Information regarding parking during the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival will be released via e-mail and on the town’s website the second week of September. Friday, September 18 & Saturday, September 1916th Annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival
Downtown Telluride and Telluride Conference Center in Mountain Village; various venues and times…click on link for more infoOfficial Telluride Blues & Brews Festival Monday, September 21 Dial-A-Ride Taxi Service Closes Dial-A-Ride is Mountain Village’s free shuttle pickup and drop-off service that takes Mountain Village owners and guests anywhere in the Mountain Village for free. Dial-A-Ride ends at 1 a.m. for the summer season. The service closes in the off-season and will resume for the winter season.

If you have any questions regarding any of the above events please email me at buzz@fedorka.com.

The Big Opportunities Open House and Workshop, Mountain Village provides alternative ways for the community to participate in the 15-Year Planning process:

Last week, the town hosted the Big Opportunities Open House and Workshop. Both events were a success with over 200 attendees participating either in person or watching remotely via the town’s live Web stream or community television channel 15. The goal of the day was to discuss and suggest specific physical and policy opportunities for the town to incorporate into its 15 Year Plan land use framework and policies. To do this, participants used reference tools such as maps and a list of specific physical and policy opportunities that have emerged from this process thus far (the opportunities suggested are, and must be, in line with Mountain Village’s Vision, adopted by Town Council in June 2009.) At the end of this all-day event, the town was able to accomplish its goal due to the vocal community members that were willing to share their ideas. But, the town knows there are many more voices still to be heard.
For those who were unable to participate in the open house or workshop, but still would like the chance to provide comments and ask question regarding this phase of the 15-year planning process may do so by stopping by Mountain Village Town Hall. Much of the information presented at the open house and workshop is on display at this locale. Moreover, the town encourages you to fill out the Site Specific Opportunities Worksheet; this worksheet is identical to the one used at the August 13 event. Directions regarding this planning exercise, and the necessary materials needed, are available in the Town Hall Conference Room. The town will continue to collect community input on this particular subject matter through Friday, September 4. Town Hall hours are Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The results from this planning exercise will be used to form several foundation concepts to be presented to the public later this year and, ultimately, be used to form the community’s preferred land use concept.
For those who were unable to attend the Big Opportunities Open House and Workshop and can’t make it to Town Hall to complete the planning exercise worksheet, may do so online. You will need to visit the town’s Web site, www.townofmountainvillage.com/bigopportunities, where you will find all the pertinent information and directions for submittal.
If you have questions or comments about the planning exercise, please contact Community Relations Manager Nichole Zangara, nzangara@mtnvillage.org or (970) 369-6430. If she is unavailable, please contact Deputy Town Clerk Jane Marinoff, jmarinoff@mtnvillage.org or (970) 369-6429. Both town staff members’ offices are located in Mountain Village Town Hall.
To find out what occurred at the Big Opportunities Workshop, watch the archived event on the town’s Web site, www.townofmountainvillage.com. On the homepage under Village Video, click on the “play” link located below the heading, Big Opportunities Workshop August 13.