Telluride, Colorado

January 16 - 23, 2010

Florida Ski Council Trip

Beginning with a pre-trip party at Carrabba’s on Merritt Island, we checked out our fellow trippers and got into the mood for one of the most fun SCSC trips in years. Boarding the plane at 7:00 AM wasn’t an easy feat with most concurring that 3:30 was the wake-up call. Danny’s rules were broken before we even arrived at the airport. John Dutton broke his ankle getting out of the car to pick up Lloyd Lewis who said there’d be “NO SNOW!” Other casualties during the week were Bob Brozman’s sprained ankle and Sam’s bruised ribs. Ouch!!.

Little did we know, or did we, traveling with our own meteorologist, (Matt Bragaw predicted three major weather systems would visit our destination ski resort) that during our stay we would be inundated with more than three feet of snow, which made for fabulous conditions every day. Telluride is a stellar mountain resort and boasts both the charm of an old mining town and, just a gondola ride over the ridge, a newer upscale village awaits. Both venues have their own unique ambiance and we prided ourselves in trying as many night spots as we could, beginning several times for pre-flight at trip leader Danny Molina and Becky Allgaier’s condo with wine, beer and appetizers before venturing out to local favorites such as Tracks, Blue Point, Over the Moon, The New Sheridan Bar, Hop Garden, The Peaks, and The Last Dollar Saloon, affectionately called “The Buck” by the locals, just to name a few. While the Charnaskys could always be found getting on another lift, blizzard or not, Tamara and Jeff Koss were the restaurant aficionados and could be relied upon to know where to find the best cuisine. Lovebirds Ron Raphael and Robin Jones brought Ron’s sister Lakey Raphael-Underwood all the way from California, and John Selbach, from another club, easily transitioned to “one of us.” Priscilla Bragaw was our own in-house therapist. We had just a little something for everyone.

Being a Florida Ski Council trip afforded us many special events that were shared by more than 540 Florida skiers. Highlights included an introductory mountain tour on Sunday to learn the terrain. Telluride , in southwest Colorado, is 9,540’ at the base and rises to 13,320’ at its highest peak, Palmyra. With some runs more than 4 miles long, rated from green to double black, there were plenty of runs to satisfy every skiing and boarding ability. Monday’s NASTAR race clinics provided pointers that significantly improved the slalom course times of everyone on the SCSC team including Mat Bragaw, Vicki Bristol, Danny Molina, Lloyd Lewis, Dave Eddins, Shaygan Bean, John Duckwall, Kenton Anz, Don Charansky, John Selbach, Stacy Burgett, Diane McConnell, and Jill Kelley. On Monday evening we attended the welcome party at the beautiful conference center in the village, ate, danced and rode home in the gondola. Tuesday’s race netted medals for Matt Bragaw, Shagan Bean, and Vicki Bristol, followed by the mountain lunch at Gorono Ranch located mid-mountain with a crazy hat and boxer shorts theme well represented by John Duckwall, Kenton Anz and Dave Eddins.

On Thursday, the Convention Center was once again our venue for the Safari/Buffet Dinner. All clubs wore jungle and beach themed costumes. Our own Stacy Burgett and Debbie Silva were close seconds for their creative and sexy jungle attire. Awards were given to race teams, and dancing and drinking commenced, as usual.

Friday came all too quickly and we had our last party at the Riverview Condo where Bob Brozman’s 50th birthday was celebrated. We all were packed (Theresa Guest with her designer luggage), and were picked up bright and early for the trip back to Florida where now the mountain remains just one of those good memories. We’d all go back in a heartbeat!