2022 – Telluride

The HFSC returned to Telluride for the second time February 9-13, 2022. There were fifteen skiers on the trip.

Participants: The HFSC welcomed three new members-Paul Abernathy, Michael Cohen and Jordan Cohen. Returning members included- Rob Adams, Richard Corles, Mark Hammer, Lowell Middleton, Frank Rottier, Jon Rottier, Peter Smith, Gerry Sullivan, Bruce Tanenholz, Don Travers, Bill Williams and Lee Williams.

 Thursday, Feb 9, Arrival Day

Everyone had safe, on time travel and arrived by 5 PM.  We all complied with getting a PCA Covid test 3 days earlier – -we were all negative.

We were all in awe of the house Peter had found.  It certainly sets a new standard for accommodations. Check It out:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/187-San-Joaquin-Rd-Mountain-Village-CO-81435/124653776_zpid/

Jon brought beef stew which he promptly put on the stove to thaw, and Richard began opening wine which he brought.

While the stew was thawing the focus of conversation was what we all did since our last trip 2 years ago to Snowmass.   The majority of conversation centered around COVID.  Bill Williams was the most experienced with Covid having acquired it twice.  Fortunately for Bill, it was like a bad cold.  Lee explained how FL managed the bug and Gerry Sullivan (aka Sully) explained the Canadian approach.  There was much discussion about both approaches and everything in between.

After dinner Sully taught Lee, Bill, Frank and Peter a new pool table game called CRUD. This was quite entertaining, required quick thinking, fast moves, and a bit of cardio.   Like poker pool, this game would draw a crowd of on-lookers in a pool hall. But everyone would have to stand way back.  You need running space around the pool table.  It is a good deal of fun and to the unknowledgeable observer nothing but chaos.

After CRUD Lee, Bill and Frank spent some time educating Paul on the game of Liars Dice, while Michael and Lowell watched.  After maybe 30 minutes Paul decided it was best if he just observed while Lee, Bill and Frank played.  While no money was in play Trust me – -Frank would not have made any if money had been in play.

Thursday, Feb 10 First day of skiing.

 After breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, Peter and Jon took time to learn the best way for us ski in and ski out.  When they returned, we learned the difference between ski-in, ski-out and ski accessible.  We could walk downhill via the driveway and road about 1/8-1/4 mile then climb 100 feet or so to the Sundance trail, or, we could call the Shuttle service.  The shuttle service would take us to the Mountain Village where would get the lifts.  All but Peter, Jon, Frank and Michael took the shuttle.  A ski in trail/path had not been carved through the trees – -so walk up that 1/8-1/4 mile or take a shuttle.

The snow conditions were hard pack groomed snow.  The weather was perfect with temperatures in the low 40’s, blue sky, and no wind.  The skiing conditions were superb based on the lack of natural snow.

Everyone had a great first day with a few exceptions.  Lowell dropped a glove off the ski lift.  Jon recued it.  However, the glove Jon retrieved while the correct hand, and it fit, was totally different that the one Lowell dropped. Michael lost his fanny pack, but it was found.  Frank was run over on his 6th run by an out-of-control skier.  Fortunately, he was able to ski down but he suffered badly bruised hip muscles bone.  Frank’s skiing was over for the week.

Oh, and then Sullly, had his skis and poles stolen. All brand-new last year.  That is the bad news.  The good news is the Telluride spy in the sky cameras saw who took them, a guy in a red jacket, and later in the day Sully got a phone call that the skis were recovered.  As expected, the perpetrator of the crime claimed he made a mistake.  The cameras were sharp enough to clearly indicate the fellow’s skis were real chucklers and his poles were not graphite with cork handles.

With the hot tub only accommodating 4 comfortably we took turns, in groups of 3-5, cooking ourselves.  Fortunately, if your room was at the far end of the residence from the hot tub you were able to get to it without going outside.

Rob introduced a new dinner.  Philadelphia Pork Italiano sandwiches, broccoli raab complemented with sharp provolone cheese.  A real winner. Of course, there was plenty of excellent wine and other spirits.

While dinner was being prepared Jon, Rob and Peter entertained us with music.  Kevin (FINGERS) Bogle was missed as was Chris Reid on vocals.

For those who remained upstairs after dinner there was a very loud game of CRUD downstairs, followed by time watching the women’s Luge event on tv.  Everyone was in bed by 10 PM.

Friday, Feb 11,

During the night a new envelope was opened when Michael’s nephew, Jordan, arrived.  This is the first time a HFSC member’s nephew has been on a trip.  This obviously may open opportunities for new additions to our exclusive HFSC group.

Frank did not ski and watched the house while his body began the healing process, He indicated that if he were 30 years younger he’d probably ski.  Lee said maybe you’re getting smarter.  After a yard sale, Richard came in.  Paul came in shortly after.

In the late afternoon Peter, Rob, Jon, Paul, Bruce, Frank, Lee, Bill took the gondola down into the town of Telluride.  Paul, being an engineer’s engineer, quickly calculated that our combined weight in the gondola was well within the max rated weight.  In town, we all enjoyed sitting outside in the warm sunshine having a drink at the old original 1895 Sheraton Hotel Bar.  Once the sun sank below the mountains the air temperature dropped fast, and we headed back to the gondola and our residence.

Back at the residence, Lee gathered Bill, Rob and Frank for a friendly instructional game of Liars Dice for Jordan and Jon.  As a warning, Lee advised Jordan, who was to Lee’s left side, that “I’ll probably underbid every hand – – -Trust me”.  Jordan’s a pretty quick learner – -but not fast enough.

Dinner was barbequed pork ribs done by Michael.  Michael’s barbeque recipe was completely different than Chris’s recipe, but they were delicious and kept the tradition of barbequed pork ribs going.  Michael has offered to do homemade porchetta next year if he is invited back.  Seems like a no brainier.

After dinner CRUD was played on the pool table.  At one point as many as 9 or 10 players were participating.  This is a fun game which drew out the competitive nature in all the players.  At the games progressed so did the players blocking skills.  Fortunately, there was no tackling.

The band didn’t play on Friday evening.

Saturday. Feb 12

 Another beautiful blue bird day which everyone enjoyed.  Jon saw another glove along the trail and he and Lowell got into a negotiation about what it would be worth to Lowell if Jon got it and it turned out to be the glove Lowell lost on Thursday.  Lee and Bill observed the negotiations, and it turns out Lowell owes Jon a shot of the best scotch in the local bar.  The glove was Lowell’s.   That debt will have to be paid at another event since they all came in and there was no scotch in our bar.

Most were in by early afternoon.  Jon had plenty of volunteers to help prepare the Saturday evening meal.  During the preparation, we enjoyed another HFSC first.  As a result of the kitchen exhaust fans not being able to handle the smoke generated by the stove grill, the fire alarms went off and within minutes the fire department was on the scene.  The smoke dissipated quickly once the doors were open.  But not before the fire department arrived.

Saturday dinner started with Jon’s smoked salmon and Mark’s bruschetta appetizers; mini corn pancakes with dollop of sour-cream (mixed with Worcester sauce and chives) and julienne of smoked salmon and chives on top, and Mark’s amazing, toasted bread with tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.  What a start.

Main course was a variety…  Authentic Caesar salad (yes, dressing with anchovies); then main course was surf & turf:  Chilean Sea Bass with Mark’s mango-avocado salsa and/or Beurre Blanc sauce; Beef Filet with Bearnaise sauce; garlic mashed potatoes; mushrooms sauteed with shallots in red wine; and green beans with garlic in olive oil.  Dessert was kept simple, vanilla ice cream with blueberries.

To complement the meal, Richard brought a collection of red and white wines that helped it all come together perfectly.

Unconventional to former trips, but a complement to the HFSC group – our Saturday dinner this year was a group effort by all on the trip.  All hands were on deck to help prep, cook, serve and then clean up.  As great as it is to have servers and a full menu to choose from, this was our first Half Fast Ski Club top-notch, in-house dinner performed by the entire group.  Big Bonus round:  This meal was a small fraction of the cost we would have paid in a restaurant.

After dinner, Lee led a discussion of trip pluses and minuses.  The list is as follows:

Plus:

• Residence – -everyone in the same location led to more discussions (discussions ranged from Covid to Climate Change/Global Warming – -to Global Supply Chains, Health/Nutrition, Evolution of Control Systems, to name a few)
• Views from every window were spectacular
• Heated floors
• Didn’t have to remember a condo key
• Kitchen facilities were excellent – -except for stove exhaust fans
• Plenty of space for eating
• Ease of coordinating with those you were going to ski with because we were all together in one location
• Ability to easily have discussions one-on-one, break off, etc because there was so much space/room.
• Pool table – -in a room large enough for pool and CFRUD.
• Huge entertainment TV, lounge area in pool table area. Nice for those watching the Olympics.
• Could play Liars Dice in completely different area while CRUD was going on.
• Bottom line – -the residence comfortably accommodated the diversity and flexibility of our group all under one roof.

Minuses

• Hot tub too small only held up to 4 people comfortably.
• Ski accessible which is very different than SKI IN-SKI OUT.  However, the excellent shuttle service made up for that.

Other topics & plan for next year

 We also a productive discussion concerning when a participant becomes committed to the trip.  Frank agreed to draft a guideline document putting in place the new lessons from this trip concerning when a participants is committed to the trip and the consequence of backing out.

Frank then led the process of selecting next year’s ski location.  After the initial list of nominations was developed, it was narrowed to Big Sky in MT, Sun Peaks in BC,, and Mammoth in CA.  The final round of voting was Mammoth-6, Big Sky-5, and Sun Peaks-4. So, the HFSC will make its first trip to Mammoth in 2023. It was agreed this time of year works well by avoiding MLK day, Presidents, Day and Spring Breaks.  To avoid crowds there was also discussion of skiing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to avoid skiing on the weekends.  It was noted this might be an issue for those not yet retired.

This was followed by another game of CRUD.

Music began with Jon, Rob and Peter playing some of their favorites and just jamming until after 11 PM.

Sunday Feb 13

Everyone was up early and out by 10 AM.  Gerry and Don stayed over to ski another ½ day.

All arrived home safely as scheduled.  However, Frank, Lowell, Richard and Mark became sick a day or 2 after the trip with the Covid bug.  How they picked it up is anyone’s guess.

This year’s Half Fasters:

• Newcomer: Paul Abernathy
• Newcomers: Michael Cohen and Jordan Cohen
• Rob Adams
• Richard Corles
• Mark Hammer
• Lowell Middleton
• Frank Rottier
• Jon Rottier
• Peter Smith
• Gerry Sullivan
• Bruce Tanenholz
• Don Travers
• Bill Williams
• Lee Williams