Telluride Magazine Winter/Spring 2020-21

The last time an administration had so trans- including the Canada lynx in Colorado’s San Juan This blurring of ethical lines is standard for the parently attempted such an erosion from within Mountains. The MSLF sued to block the respective Trump administration’s cabinet. Pendley’s boss, was when President Ronald Reagan picked James designations of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Interior Secretary Bernhardt, has served as a lob- Watt to lead the Interior Department and Colo- Bears Ears national monuments, and continues to byist for Halliburton, the Independent Petroleum rado rancher and Sagebrush Rebel Bob Burford defend Trump’s shrinkage of the same. Association of America, the Westlands Water Dis- to take the helm at the BLM. Watt—notorious for While Pendley and his ilk portray themselves trict, and the company developing the Rosemont his stance against public land protections—chose as warriors fighting to get the oppressive federal Mine, proposed for public lands south of Tucson. a young Pendley as his Deputy Assistant Secretary government off the back of the small-time rancher He worked as a solicitor for the George W. Bush for Energy and Minerals. “One of the worst things or the working-class miner, they more often are administration’s Interior Department (run by Gale about going to work for the Administration is to working in the service of corporate extractive Norton, another MSLF alumna), which was known be referred to as a ‘bureaucrat,’” for figuratively and literally cozying Pendley said in a speech early in up to the industries it regulated. his tenure, “but since I’m working The Trump administration’s for Jim Watt, I wear that badge dalliances with corporate Amer- with some honor and distinction.” ica are manifested in the quest to Watt and protégé Pendley set achieve what the administration out to open up as much federal land calls “energy dominance.” Pendley, as possible to development, drilling, as acting director of the BLM, was and mining, while tearing down any a key figure in that mission, over- regulatory “impediments” to the seeing the plans that guide devel- same. They attempted to allow oil opment on public lands, national and gas exploration in wilderness monument management plans, and areas, and eviscerated the mining the oil and gas leasing program. regulatory office, preferring to let An example of how energy the corporations police themselves. dominance and corporate entan- In 1982 the department held an glements play out on the landscape auction on federal coal leases in can be found in the eastern part the Powder River Basin of Wyo- of San Juan County, Utah, which ming. Beforehand, Pendley encour- is mostly made up of BLM lands aged his colleagues to lease out as and is open to oil and gas leasing. much coal as possible, by whatever It isn’t especially dramatic country means necessary. at first glance, nor is its beauty as The sale ended up turning over readily apparent or as appealing to 1.6 billion tons of the American adrenaline junkies as the canyons public’s coal to huge mining com- to the north and west. Yet splendor panies at bargain basement prices, exists here in abundance for those ringing alarm bells in Congress. who slow down and look. It is in Ensuing investigations found that the way clouds play in the sky and the mining companies had received sunlight dances across the Abajos, confidential information prior to the Sleeping Ute, the Bears Ears the sale, presumably from someone in the distance. It is in the water- within the Interior Department, It isn’t especially dramatic country at first glance, worn stones along the bed of an allowing them to bid below market nor is its beauty as readily apparent or as appealing to arroyo begging to be caressed, in value for the coal. They also found the gnarled old junipers that have that attorneys for those same min- adrenaline junkies as the canyons to the north and west. endured for hundreds of years, in ing companies treated Pendley and Yet splendor exists here in abundance for those who slow down intricate seedpods that resemble his colleague to a lavish dinner at a and look. It is in the way clouds play in the sky and sunlight space-creature egg sacs. And it is Washington, DC, restaurant shortly in the architectural wonders left before the sale. dances across the Abajos, the Sleeping Ute, behind by people who lived here the Bears Ears in the distance. It is in the water-worn stones for generations. Pendley was never formally charged with ethics violations, along the bed of an arroyo begging to be caressed, in the Last September, just weeks but after Watt unceremoniously gnarled old junipers that have endured for hundreds of years, after Pendley was named acting stepped down from his post for director, the BLM put drilling making bigoted remarks, Pendley in intricate seedpods that resemble space-creature egg sacs. rights on 32,000 of these acres on was reassigned and soon exited And it is in the architectural wonders left behind by people the block. That included three con- the bureaucracy to join the Moun- who lived here for generations. tiguous parcels adjacent to Recap- tain States Legal Foundation. Watt ture Canyon, known by some as a started the Foundation in 1977 to “miniature Mesa Verde” due to the be the legal arm of the Sagebrush Rebellion, the interests. The MSLF has represented or fought proliferation of cultural sites. The remains of struc- anti-federal-land-management crusade that had alongside dozens of big companies, as well as tures and burials line the canyon bed, windows on erupted across the rural West in reaction to the rise receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cliff dwellings peer out from the sandstone rim, of environmental protections on public lands. donations from the likes of Joseph Coors, Exxon, and the mesa tops between Recapture and nearby Pendley served as president of MSLF for the Charles Koch Foundation, Yates Petroleum, canyons are covered with potsherds, arrowheads, thirty years, during which the organization fought Phelps Dodge, and other mining or oil and gas shrines, villages, and the barely visible remnants against environmentalists, Indigenous peoples, companies. In other words, the very same parties of ancient “roads” and agricultural fields. One and any federal land management agency that that Pendley is now tasked with keeping tabs on Chaco-era village sits atop a steep-sided mesita, stood in their way, particularly the BLM. They have been paying him to try to tear down the very like the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, just tried to overturn a ban on uranium mining near the agency he was chosen to lead. “I’ve said it before a stone’s throw from the lease’s western boundary. Grand Canyon, attempted to block tribal nations and I’ll say it again,” Pendley—Twitter handle @ Even before COVID-19, the agency made most from protecting sacred sites and from administer- Sagebrush_Rebel—tweeted just weeks prior to of its mineral auctions virtual, in part to keep pro- ing the Clean Air Act on tribal land, and fought taking the BLM helm, “fracking is an energy, eco- testors from interfering, and in September 2019 to overthrow protections for endangered species, nomic, AND environmental miracle!” Kirkwood Oil & Gas logged onto something called WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 47

48 • FEATURE While Pendley and his ilk portray themselves as warriors fighting Pendley and his actions, however. It would be Chief to get the oppressive federal government off the back of the small-time rancher District Judge Brian Morris, who ruled that by put- ting Pendley in charge of the BLM without Senate or the working-class miner, they more often are working in the service of confirmation, the administration had violated the corporate extractive interests. Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, meaning Pendley was serving unlawfully as acting director. Morris went on to order “that any ‘function or duty’ of the BLM Director that had been performed by Pendley would have no force and effect and must be set aside as arbitrary and capricious.” Morris only tossed out three resource man- agement plans that had been completed under Pendley’s watch, because they were the only ones named in the original lawsuit challenging Pendley’s authority. But the court’s ruling opened the door to further lawsuits, and further invalidations of dozens of actions across the West, throwing a key segment of the “energy dominance” agenda into jeopardy. In 2017, Steve Bannon, then chief strategist for the Trump administration, said that he and his colleagues were embarking on the “deconstruction of the administrative state.” But by hiring anti-bu- reaucrats like Pendley who believe they are above the law rather than seasoned administrators, they have ended up deconstructing their own mission, and leaving their agenda—and the fate of much of the nation’s public lands—mired in uncertainty. \\ Energynet—a sort of eBay for exploiting public Kirkwood is a member of the Petroleum lands—and bid about $3 per acre for the right Association of Wyoming, a client of Mountain to drill the three parcels. That opens the door States Legal Foundation during Pendley’s for them to get permits to drill, and proceed to time there. Robert Kirkwood, the company’s scrape the land of its cryptobiotic soil, sagebrush, co-owner, is also on the board of Energy Fuels, and other vegetation; build roads and pipelines; Inc., the operator of the White Mesa Uranium and drill deep into the earth, hydraulically frac- Mill, just about five miles away from one of ture the well, and suck hydrocarbons out of the the newly leased parcels. Energy Fuels suc- ground, all of which has been “streamlined” by cessfully pushed the Obama administration to the administration’s gutting of regulations. exclude uranium mining areas from the Bears Ears National Monument, and then lobbied Once the wells start producing, the compa- the Trump Administration to drastically shrink nies will pay the feds 12.5 percent on the sale the monument even further—as did Pendley price of the product — resources that belong and his organization. Later, as acting director, to the American taxpayers. Dozens of oil and Pendley was in charge of the management plan gas companies are getting an even better deal for the downsized monument. now, as Pendley and the Trump administration have cut or even eliminated royalties indefi- These kinds of conflicts and overlaps nitely because of “hardships” caused by the resulted in Pendley having a seventeen-page coronavirus. Kirkwood, based out of Casper, “recusal matrix” limiting his role in actions Wyoming, has received royalty reductions on that involve former clients and associates. It no fewer than fifty-four BLM leases. wouldn’t be conflicts of interest that derail TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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MARK SIMPSON STACY TICSAY STEVE TILTON is passionate about Real Estate. He has presided brings her strong communication skills, integrity, has been buying, building, and selling properties over more than 100 transactions, bought work ethic and love for the Telluride region to in Telluride since 1985. As an experienced real and sold many of his own properties, and every real estate transaction. “I was getting estate broker and professional builder, he can understands the complexity and uniqueness of displaced because my landlord had to sell the assist clients with all aspects of the real estate each deal. He truly cares about his clients and building where I was renting, so I asked Stacy for process as well as guide them through the will work hard to get them the best possible help. I’m so glad I did, because she found a way details of home ownership. To recharge, Steve results, without sacrificing honesty or integrity. for me to stay in Telluride! She never pressured can be found skiing, hiking, or mountain biking “Mark was awesome in helping us find our me to buy, but she gave me a few different in the mountains and deserts of the southwest, dream home for a great price! He acted quickly options and told me that I’d know when I was or adventuring on his 1200GS….most often to make sure we got our offer in and helped ready to become a homeowner. She ended up shared with his clients or kids in tow. us through each step of the closing process finding me my perfect home, which I didn’t think with calm clarity.” Away from the desk, Mark would happen because Telluride is not cheap. cherishes time with his young family and can I cannot recommend Stacy enough—she’s be seen flying his paraglider thousands of feet absolutely wonderful and she really cares about above Telluride. the working class of Telluride.” MICHAEL SAFTLER SCOTT ELKINS JOHN BALMAIN has lived in Telluride since 1974. He has has over 20 years of experience in Telluride is a passionate skier, originally from Sydney developed multiple subdivisions including with Real Estate, Development, Building, Australia. John came to Telluride originally to the Promontories, Lazy Dog Ranch, and the and Renovating. His current projects expand instruct at the ski school and has instructed for High Noon Ranches. Michael brings much to the surrounding region of Ouray, Ridgway 15 ski seasons now and living in Telluride year experience, local knowledge and enthusiasm and Montrose. Scott specializes in 1031’s round for 10 years. John is a property owner in to his career as a real estate professional. “I and complex Opportunity Zone funds, as well town and wants to help other people realize chose Telluride Realty because of its impeccable as, Airbnb/short term income rentals. Scott their dream of home ownership in Telluride. reputation for integrity and for its long standing enjoys “Living the dream” here in Telluride position in the community as the longest and Southwest Colorado with his family. continuous real estate brokerage in the town of Telluride since 1970.” If you would like to conduct your real estate business with a 46 year, and counting, local, Michael is at your service.

52 • TELLURIDE FACES Top Guides Sometimes the difference between an epic adventure and an epic failure is as simple as having a guide. With the experi- ence and knowledge of a guide, you can go farther, higher, faster, and of course, more safely. These three standout guides live in our community and co-own or run their respective guiding companies: Meet Joe Shults, Tara Butson, and Bill Allen. Very few people have been where MATT KROLL The last fifteen years have seen Ophir-based mountain guide Bill Allen spending the majority of his time Allen’s travels have taken him. On Top of the World in the San Juans, with fellow guide and He’s stood on the lofty pinnacles Mountaineer guides people to wife Sonja and their son Parker. He con- of the famed “Seven Summits”—the the world’s most challenging summits tinues to guide both locally and interna- highest mountains on each of the seven tionally for Mountain Trip and works as continents—twice. He’s graced the By Martinique Davis a heli-ski guide for Telluride Helitrax, top of Mt. Everest, arguably the world’s but admits that Alaska still holds a big most iconic mountain and one of the founder Gary Bocarde. “I started meet- my truck at the time, and really didn’t place in his mountaineer’s heart. “Our most challenging, three separate times. ing people who’d been doing this for have the money,” Allen says. Yet roots are there,” he says, “and it will With other daunting summits like Alas- twenty or thirty years, and that’s when I Bocarde was insistent that his com- always be the heart and soul, for the ka’s Mt. Foraker, Mt. Huntington, and began to realize that guiding was some- pany’s legacy continue with Allen and business as well as us personally.” Mt. Fairweather under his belt, Allen’s thing that I could do professionally and Rutledge at the helm. With substan- résumé of hefty mountaineering con- not just as a summer job,” he says. tial financial support from Bocarde, In looking back at his career as a quests certainly gives him some real the duo purchased Mountain Trip in mountain guide, Allen says that sum- “cred” in the climbing community. It was while working for Bocarde 2004 and moved the headquarters of miting Mt. Everest for the first time in and Mountain Trip, one of the preem- the operation to Telluride. 2010 was a transcendent moment. In Yet in an industry where grand inent concessionaires for guiding on that and the subsequent two Everest accomplishments are often analogous Denali, that Allen met fellow guide An avid backcountry skier, Allen trips, the group was able to put all of with outsized egos, Allen is an anom- Rutledge. After nearly a decade knew the San Juans held some idyllic their climbers on the summit: A feat aly. His signature low-key manner and working with Mountain Trip, Bocarde terrain that would be well-suited for that Allen, humbly, chalks up to luck— genuine nice-guy demeanor bespeaks approached Allen and Rutledge and guiding operations. They immediately although most would point to skill, too. what really drives Allen to the most suggested they buy the business. At began the lengthy process of obtaining “It wasn’t as much a personal goal for austere corners of the planet: Allen the time, Allen and Rutledge had both permits with the Forest Service, and me as it was a major goal professionally takes pride not so much in the places started spending their off-seasons in after nearly ten years were ultimately for Mountain Trip, and a huge accom- he’s been, but rather the places he’s Telluride, where Allen was guiding able to secure much of the permit- plishment for our clients,” he says. been able to bring others. at Silverton Mountain and courting ting needed to roll out a well-rounded his love, Telluride Ski Patroller Sonja menu of ice and rock climbing, skiing, After more than two decades In his words: “It’s about the clients.” Nelson. “I was basically living out of and hiking adventures locally. making a living in the mountains, A wide smile and easy laugh tend Allen still has the look of someone in to preamble Allen’s words, which are love with what they do: A bit of boyish generally understated despite the sparkle flashes across his surprisingly impressive stories he certainly could un-weathered face when he talks tell of the many expeditions throughout about the upcoming adventures he’s his decades-long career. As co-owner got planned. He’s enthusiastic about of Telluride-based Mountain Trip, a the prospects for expanding Mountain renowned guide service providing Trip’s local ski offerings, and will be climbing, skiing, and mountaineering providing guiding in Telluride’s storied trips and avalanche education courses side-country terrain in Bear Creek for both locally and around the world, Allen the first time ever this winter. “Early in and partner Todd Rutledge have helped my career, it was all about the travel- thousands of aspiring climbers, skiers, ing, and all the fun and exciting oppor- and adventure-seekers reach their out- tunities that come with it,” he says. But door aspirations. After more than fif- spending four to six months away from teen years at the helm of Mountain Trip, home in order to bag massive peaks Allen says he’s still passionate about holds less interest for Allen these days, what got him into the business in the he admits. He’s now just as excited to first place. “Now more than ever I enjoy share his love of the mountains with working with the clients we’ve created eight-year-old son Parker, all across relationships with,” he says. Telluride’s big backyard. Like most outdoor professionals, Allen got his start in the industry thanks Although Allen has honed the com- to his deep love of the mountains. He pass closer to home these days, his pas- grew up exploring Oregon’s Cascade sion for far-flung adventure certainly Range, and in his 20s began toggling hasn’t sizzled out entirely. His recent between guiding rivers in Alaska during ramblings led him to epic sail-and-ski the summers and ski patrolling in Park escapades in the polar Arctic climes City in the winters. His time in Alaska of Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago introduced him to big glacier explo- that is the northernmost year-round ration and the world of professional settlement in the world. Just another mountain guiding, and he ultimately place that very few people have ever started working for Mountain Trip been, and hopefully an adventure he’ll be able to share with others. \\ TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

The Ultimate Experience Once-in-a-lifetime adventures are everyday trips for guides By Sarah Lavender Smith You might think that someone who MATT KROLL dig into my atlas of runs that are in my makes a living by heli-skiing must mind, and it’s not easy.” be an adrenaline junkie. Only In addition to guiding and direct- head out for a tour that includes six a thrill-seeker would choose a career ing at Helitrax, Shults has worked epic runs. “Skiing is what people tend Thankfully, close calls involving that involves helicoptering to the high- professionally as a home builder and to focus on, but once you’ve gone, you avalanches and other hazards are est points in the San Juan Mountains, continues to pursue his other passion realize it’s a much bigger experience,” extremely rare. In nearly four decades dropping into high-alpine basins brim- of cycling. For several seasons he has says Shults. “It’s the flying, it’s being of operation, he says, “We’ve had prob- ming with pristine powder, and skiing led bike trips throughout the West as out in these incredible mountains with ably half a dozen slides where people down steep slopes untouched by oth- a guide for Lizard Head Cycling, and just a small group of people, so there’s triggered them and were actually ers—a breathtaking but inherently he competes in cyclocross races. more to it than just the skiing part.” caught. We’ve never had a complete risky experience that demands high burial, so we’ve never had to use bea- levels of fitness, skill, and smarts. Asked to describe a typical day at Surprisingly, Shults says that a cons to locate somebody.” Personally, Helitrax, he says each day hinges on perfect-snow day isn’t necessarily his he says, “I’ve been caught in some small But Joe Shults, lead guide and the weather. Starting with a 7 a.m. con- favorite day as a guide. “I can go out slides but never been caught in a big program director for Telluride Heli- ference call between Shults, the pilots, and have a day where the skiing is a slide and never been buried. More of my trax, comes across as the opposite of and the other guides, they study the five on a scale of one to ten, but I can close calls were doing control work in a thrill-seeker. “Really, this is one of weather in detail to determine whether have an amazing day, because it’s all ski areas. I’m a fairly cautious person.” those jobs where if your adrenaline is and where to fly. “We need to know, ‘Is about the guest experience,” he says. pumping, then something’s not right,” that cloud over there going to lift?’ It’s “If the guests have an incredible Knowing the terrain so well— Shults says in his soft-spoken tone very micro,” he says of their forecasting. experience, then I have a great day.” from guiding clients and performing while talking outside of Helitrax’s avalanche mitigation—is key to their office next to The Peaks in Mountain If they greenlight the day’s outing, He actually finds pleasure in days crew’s safety. “We have a really good Village. “I’m not out there for my own then they discuss their clients and when the conditions present chal- understanding of the snowpack,” Shults adrenaline rush. If I’m nervous, I’m create a list of runs to ski based on the lenges because it makes his job as says. “That’s what keeps you safe in the doing something wrong.” conditions and on the clients’ desires guide more interesting. The days he backcountry—the constant feedback and skill. When the clients arrive—up likes best, he says, are “when you know you get from what’s under your feet and Looking a decade younger than to 16, divided into groups of four with there’s good skiing out there, you’re from looking at what’s around you. We his 60 years, tanned and toned from one guide per group—they receive a not sure where it is, you’re hoping it’s see more terrain in a day than a lot of a lifetime of outdoor adventure and safety briefing and get equipped with out there, and you have to put on your skiers see in a season, just because of endurance sports, Shults presents gear including beacons and airbags to guide hat to figure out where the good the nature of what we do, so we can see a calm, unflappable demeanor that deploy in case of avalanche. skiing is. Those days when I can pull if there’s activity going on.” makes him seem more like a yogi off a great experience against the odds than an expert in heli-skiing, a sport Then they board a helicopter from are really fun for me, because I’ve gotta The thing people need to under- he half-jokingly says is “basically a landing pad in front of The Peaks and stand about heli-skiing, he says, is backcountry skiing on steroids.” “it’s not an extreme sport. It’s not for everybody, but if you are a skier who’s He loves what he does, he says, spent most of your life just skiing a ski not because he engages in extreme area, and you really enjoy skiing, then skiing, but rather because he gets you probably should try helicopter “to go out there and provide an expe- skiing at least once before you can’t rience for people and feed off their ski anymore, because it could very stoke. You get people out there who well be the best skiing of your life.” are blown away. They’re so excited and can’t believe it. Not everybody, For Shults, epic bike rides and but the vast majority of people.” heli-skiing are just part of his every- day life. But he realizes that for his Shults lives in Ophir with his wife clients, it is something special, often Alison Palmer (a well-known physi- a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and cal therapist in Telluride) and their that’s what he loves most about being 14-year-old daughter. Originally from a guide. “What I like is creating a western New York, Shults studied for- memory, a moment in time that the est management at Syracuse Univer- guest will remember for many years sity and moved to Washington State to come. Everyone remembers the day “because that’s where the trees are,” whey went heli-skiing or the bike tour then wound up developing a specialty they did. They may not remember in snow safety and ski patrolling. every moment of it, but they will hang on to certain snapshots. I run into He came to Telluride in 1991 seek- people all the time that stop me and ing new mountains to ski and new say ‘I went heli-skiing with you guys people to meet and soon discovered once and it was awesome.’ Sometimes heli-skiing. He began working for Tellu- they went with us over twenty years ride Helitrax in 1999, a few years after ago and their eyes still light up when owner Todd Herrick took the helm of they think about it. That gives me a the company, which four hard-core real sense of accomplishment.” \\ local skiers started in the early 1980s. WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 53

54 • TELLURIDE FACES MATT KROLL The Journey Guiding for recovery, not TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 just recreation By Sarah Lavender Smith When Tara Butson guides clients on Tellu- ride’s Via Ferrata, she personifies calm and capability while traversing a thin ledge with a 300-foot drop-off. On one outing in September, for example, she showed a woman who was struggling with nerves and fatigue how to navigate a challenging section nicknamed “the monkey bars.” “You got this,” Butson told her, demonstrating how to swing her body upward to secure the next handhold. “Use your skeleton, not your muscles,” she added, coaxing the woman to trust her movement rather than freeze and grip to the point of exhaustion. “I love empowering other women to do outdoor adventure activities,” says Butson, 42. “Most are so much stronger than they think.” In addition to guiding and co-owning San Juan Outdoor Adventures with her husband Josh, But- son is a Nordic ski instructor, an ultrarunner, and the mother of two boys ages 9 and 4. Seeing her guide with confidence on a moun- tain or run with joy down a trail, it’s hard to believe that earlier in life, Butson found herself on the edge of a figurative cliff, teetering toward self-destruction due to heavy alcohol and drug use. Before she became sober in December of 2007, she was drinking so heavily that she developed acute pancreatitis that led to hospitalizations and also became addicted to opiates. Her recovery is something she’s open to talking about now that she has a new role guiding others who struggle with addiction. In early 2020, Butson became a certified “sober coach” for the recovery group Addict II Athlete, and then she started a chapter of the group here in Telluride. Pronounced “Addict to Athlete,” AIIA is a non- profit team-orientated addiction support group that promotes physical activity to help people replace addiction with things of greater value and with the self-image and lifestyle of an athlete. The program is inclusive, welcoming anyone (such as partners or friends) who’ve been affected by addiction. Unlike Alcoholics Anonymous or other 12-step programs, Butson says the support group “is all about being, ‘hey, I’m not anonymous, I’m going to be open and talk about this because this is not something to be ashamed of; it’s about breaking the stigma of addiction, and being honest about what you’ve been through.” Through the program’s support and activities, “You go from thinking of yourself as an addict, to thinking of yourself as an athlete and champion.” Butson holds a meetup on Tuesday evenings in Room 201 above the Sunshine Pharmacy, where any- one can show up to talk for a while and then go on a hike or participate in some other type of workout with the group. At one gathering last fall, a newcomer who looked to be in his early 30s said he increasingly turns to drinking to manage stress. Next to him, a man who looked nearly twice his age said he’s been sober for 25 years, “but I have friends who are into all kinds of stuff, and I’m here to help in any way I can.”

When Butson learned about also became part owners of the for- ORBRING THE NATIONAL HOME | ORDER TAKEOUT ONLINE Addict II Athlete, she became mer Telluride Fitness Center. Butson determined to bring the support says her health was pretty terrible at TDAINKEE-IONUTrdeisnerivnagtiornoosmreqoupirened d|aliilmy it5e-d9s:3e0atpinmg group to Telluride because she that point, and she limited herself knows firsthand that sober living to working in an office rather than WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 55 in this community is challenging. guiding outdoors. “I didn’t want to be “Everything in Telluride usually around people and didn’t want to be includes alcohol and drugs,” she responsible for anybody,” she recalls. says, describing how partying is as “I was pretty heavy and out of shape.” much a part of the local culture as hiking or skiing. Escapism through The desire to strengthen her alcohol, weed, and cocaine proves marriage and start a family motivated tempting for many residents who her to work with a doctor and thera- work insecure seasonal jobs and pist to get healthy. “I got to the point who struggle with depression where I said, ‘enough is enough,’ and when comparing their lives to the I asked for help.” Attending AA meet- enviable mountain lifestyle that ings in Telluride helped her stay on a more affluent residents and visi- path to recovery. tors enjoy. Fast forward a decade to 2017, Butson, who grew up in a small and Butson was still sober, rais- town in the Adirondack mountains of ing two sons, and managing their New York, began having trouble with guiding company. But she felt out drinking and drug use around age 18. of shape again due to pregnancy Shoulder surgery at 19 introduced weight gain and a trio of knee sur- her to opiates for pain medication, geries to repair torn ligaments in to which she became addicted. “I both knees from skiing. always dealt with anxiety and depres- sion,” she says. “Drinking was a social Thankfully, she discovered run- ning rather than relapsing to alcohol or substance use. She joined a group SEEING HER GUIDE WITH CONFIDENCE ON A MOUNTAIN OR RUN WITH JOY DOWN A TRAIL, IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT EARLIER IN LIFE, BUTSON FOUND HERSELF ON THE EDGE OF A FIGURATIVE CLIFF, TEETERING TOWARD SELF-DESTRUCTION DUE TO HEAVY ALCOHOL AND DRUG USE. lubricant and way for me to feel com- class in spring of 2017 to train for fortable in my own skin. Eventually it the Imogene Pass Run and success- was a way of dealing with pain and fully completed the arduous 17-mile stuff going on in my life.” mountain race. Then she set her sights on ultras and ran 50K and Butson became a wilderness 50-mile races the following year. EMT (emergency medical techni- cian) and a guide in 1999 after earn- When Butson launched the ing degrees in outdoor recreation local chapter of Addict II Athlete and adventure-based recreation last summer, she and her husband program management from North- guided several AIIA members all the ern Vermont University. Early on, she way up to the 14,016-foot summit of specialized in wilderness therapy for Wilson Peak. Afterward, she wrote, “I troubled youth. She married Josh in cannot even come close to explaining 2001 at age 23, and the couple moved what an incredible day it was and to Montrose when Butson took a wil- how uplifting it felt to help this team derness EMT position there. achieve the summit. We climbed through many crux points mentally She fell into a pattern of binge and physically. Each of us has strug- usage, drinking extremely heavily on gled with addiction or loved and her days off. By 2005, her drinking supported an addict. The experience caused severe inflammation of her truly erased some of the bad times by pancreas. While in the hospital for replacing it with a day of challenges treatment, doctors warned her that and pure joy in the achievement.” \\ pancreatitis could be life threatening For more information about Telluride’s if she continued to drink excessively. Addict II Athlete chapter, see their Facebook page www.facebook.com/ Meanwhile, her husband started AIIAtellurideadventures. working for the original owner of San Juan Outdoor Adventures, which he took over in 2006, and the couple

56 • HISTORY A LONE CHAIR, WASHED AS IT THE GREAT PROBABLY WAS OUT OF THE AND TERRIBLE FIRST NATIONAL BANK ON MAIN STREET, OFFERED A RINGSIDE FLOOD SEAT FOR ANYONE WISHING TO WATCH THE EXTENSIVE TOWN CLEANUP AFTER THE GREAT FLOOD ON JULY 27, 1914. By Paul O’Rourke what they saw: the five-room home of the Oscar Wun- A few feet of mud and debris was deposited in derlich family was riding a fifty-foot wide and nearly several buildings at the City Hall complex a block The Wash Out ten-foot tall wave of rocks and mud down Oak Street. or so south, on North Fir Street. With access in or Before they could react—Vera was desperately trying out made impossible, had there been a fire reported “Everything was gone.” (Elvira Visintin to corral their excited puppy—the flood crossed to in town, the fire department wouldn’t have been Wunderlich in Conversations at 9,000 Feet) the east side of the street, crushed the home occu- able to respond. Further down North Fir, Margarite pied by the Johnson family next door, and in a flash, Kagey and the heroic crew of telephone operators Mrs. Vera Blakeley could feel the thunder they were swept away, Vera holding tight to her little clung to their posts, answering call after call from rattle the walls. She could hear the rain dog’s collar. The next thing Mr. Blakeley knew, he was Telluride’s frantic citizenry. They refused to leave, coming down in buckets. A cloudburst in a backyard on North Fir Street, fully two blocks despite the imminent threat posed by the wall of all it was, she reasoned; happens pretty regular away. His wife and the dog were nowhere to be found. mud that pressed up against the building. in the summertime. Mrs. Blakeley had no way to know what was happening up Cornet Creek, about At the corner of Galena Avenue and North Oak The flood moved south down Oak and Fir and like a mile north of town. some malevolent monster. It invaded the businesses It’s King for King / on the north side of Main Street between those two Liberty Bell Mine employee, P. S. Abbott, could Queen for Queen / It’s gonna streets, barging in the rear, depositing the bulk of its hardly believe what he was seeing. An immense wall ugly mess, and then escaping out the front. of water and mud had just rushed past him, headed be the meanest Flood / down the canyon, toward Telluride. Mindful of the Anybody’s seen Alta Cassietto, in Conversations at 9,000 Feet, imminent danger to life and property, he phoned an recalled, “they tell the story about somebody sitting exchange operator at the telephone company office, —Bob Dylan and the Band there (in the New Sheridan Hotel restaurant) eating, who had to take a moment to fully grasp the enormity and it (the flood) came down right through the hotel of what Mr. Abbott was telling her. With remarkable the flood split. The west “slide,” as it was called—the and took the table away from in front of this person.” calm considering the urgency of the moment, Mar- fast-moving surge of mud and debris took on charac- garite Kagey directed “runners” to alert the neigh- teristics similar to an avalanche, a frightening if not From the New Sheridan east to the First borhood (the telephone company office was on North deadly natural phenomena all too familiar to most in National Bank the damage was extensive. The Daily Fir Street just a half-block up from Main Street) and town—rushed south down the 200 block on the east Journal reported, “many of the businessmen of the called as many homes as she could, warning everyone side of North Oak, either crushing or tearing from city estimate the amount of financial loss will easily with whom she spoke to leave their homes immedi- their foundations the five residences belonging to reach $300,000.” Stating that it would be impossi- ately. Vera Blakeley never got the message. William Anderson, J.W.S. Cross, E.D. McKown, J.W. ble to exaggerate the “awfulness” of the flood, the Rogers, and Anne and Katy McDonald. paper went on to note, with its characteristic opti- It was 12:50 p.m. on Monday, July 27, 1914, one of mism, the town’s good fortune when considering those time-frozen moments when just about everyone The east slide took a more southeasterly that had the deluge occurred twelve hours earlier in Telluride would remember with absolute clarity for course. Near the corner of Galena and North Fir or later, things would have been much, much worse. the rest of their lives where they were and what they the tidal wave of mud crushed the west facade were doing when THE FLOOD swept through town. of the J.H. Litchfield property, causing its roof to As lucky as the town may have been, the cave in. According to the Journal, “the valuable Journal asked if images of “tearful, frightened Mr. and Mrs. Blakeley had been in the cellar of residence of Dan Hanlon, due east of the Litchfield women with babes in arms fleeing from the path their home on North Oak Street, gathering gear for house was absolutely wrecked…the whole dwell- of the death-dealing river of mud…or men forced an upcoming camping trip. A disarmingly loud and ing torn from its foundation.” to stand by and see the results of many years of unfamiliar sound from outside the house prompted hard labor ruthlessly torn from them in one short the couple to investigate. They couldn’t quite process moment” would ever be forgotten? TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

The Aftermath ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE GENEROUS FOLKS FROM extraordinary for experienced miners; mucking the SILVERTON ATTENDED A BENEFIT DANCE FOR PEOPLE IN broken stone onto wagons, a matter of course. Oh, the water / Oh, the water / Oh, the water / TELLURIDE AFFECTED BY FLOODING ON AUGUST 5, 1914. Hope it don’t rain all day—Van Morrison The Journal informed the community later city. According to the Journal, on July 30 “the first that day that it “would not have to face a water As Monday evening settled in, so too did the sad shift of two volunteer firemen—some of the most famine, as the Mill Creek pipeline has been put and stark realization that what had occurred in only whole-hearted men in the entire world—threw the back into service and the storage reservoirs are a matter of minutes was mind-numbingly devastat- first streams of water from their hoses onto the hun- again being fed by pure water from Mill Creek.” ing. Significant portions of Telluride’s residential dreds of thousands of tons of mud, forcing the muck Water Commissioner Herman Wunderlich and his and business districts were in ruin. The good peo- into the flume on its journey down to the San Miguel crew had worked all night to affect the repairs. ple of Telluride had no time to relax, to ponder the River.” The plan was simple enough; perhaps overly moment when they’d come face to face with their optimistic. The firemen were scheduled two to a shift J.A. Segerberg, of the New Sheridan Hotel and own mortality. There was too much work to do. of four hours throughout a 24-hour day, until the city the Segerberg Opera House, wasted little time in was dug out and cleaned up. The Journal applied beginning cleanup efforts at his properties employ- Mr. Blakeley, along with at least 100 others, words like “herculean” and “iron-willed” to describe ing a “necessity is the mother of invention” sort of pursued their frantic search for Vera. The Blake- the firemen’s efforts over the next several days. practicality. Wire cables with an attached “scoop” ley’s neighbor, Mrs. John Johnson, clung to life at were connected to an electric hoist—furnished by the Hadley Hospital after she’d been pulled from Dealing with the mud and debris and even large the Junta Consolidated Gold Mining Company— the raging muck by Harry Lyle and Johnny Sams. fallen trees was one thing. Clearing property and and after a week the mechanical extraction process Her prognosis was less than encouraging. the streets and alleys of what was estimated to be produced the hoped-for results. By August 3 the hundreds of tons of large boulders was something New Sheridan was partially back in business. On An emergency meeting of the city council was else altogether. Telluride was a hardrock mining that evening the opera house screened The Port of called by Mayor Loebnitz: Aldermen Quine, Sackett, town, after all. Drilling and blasting rock nothing Missing Men with special music. Admission was 15c McMahon, Waggoner, Perino, and Bartels were in or 25c, depending on seat location, of course. attendance at the county courthouse. The meeting was brief. Business was limited to mayoral commit- J.D. McAdams’ Phoenix Meat Market, one door tee appointments. A Relief Committee, composed of east of the New Sheridan, was a mud-filled sham- attorney John Woy, attorney E.B. Adams, and town bles. Rather than endure the lengthy process of clerk W.A. Nicodemus, was charged with overseeing digging out and cleaning up and losing his inven- efforts to take care of those made homeless by the tory of meats and other perishables, McAdams flood. A General Committee made up of hardware purchased the New Club Mercantile across Main man F.E. Cristy, Liberty Bell Mine General Manager Street, hung up a new sign and opened for busi- Charles Chase, and alderman E.H. Sackett would ness, telling the Journal, “in order that the public direct the daunting task of digging out and cleaning may not suffer from a lack of meat supply.” up the flooded sections of town. Everyone in Telluride knew the day would In an abbreviated edition on the evening of July come. On July 30, some seventy hours after the 27, the Daily Journal instructed its readers that “use flood hit town, the body of Vera Blakeley was recov- of water should be severely limited so as to prevent ered, not 75 feet from where her house once stood. a water famine.” The advisory included an apparent The Journal made no mention of the Blakeley’s threat: IF YOU ARE CAUGHT WASTING WATER THE pet, but informed its readers Vera’s “blue house LAW WILL BE UPON YOU. The paper also reported dress wasn’t torn and the dust cap which she was looting going on in the “stricken district” warning accustomed to wearing was still on her head.” those involved in such a “deplorable thing” the Sher- Two days later, Mr. Blakeley, said to be bearing up iff’s office had put on a force of deputies to watch for bravely, left Telluride with his bride of just over looters and SHOOT IF NECESSARY. one year for Churdan, Iowa, Vera’s home. The day marking the flood’s one tragic loss of life held By sundown, the inundated and home- significance beyond Vera Blakeley’s passing. It less—numbering about 75 people—were being became obvious to just about every person in town: comforted and cared for. Friends, relatives, and Telluride was in trouble; Telluride needed help. neighbors reached out with open-armed compas- sion and began taking in their friends, relatives, and neighbors. In the midst of all the kindness and camaraderie an intermittent rain reminded all of just how tenuous their situation was. The Cleanup You can flood this town / But you can’t shut the party down / Ain’t no drownin’ the spirit / We callin’ the children home.—Little Feat As it always has, the sun did come up on the THE SCENE ON NORTH OAK STREET morning after Monday’s flood. Almost immediately, a FOLLOWING THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1914. crew of at least fifty carpenters, led by Harry Doyle, began constructing a wooden flume that would even- tually run from the San Miguel River at the foot of South Fir Street up to the rear of the Tomkins-Cristy hardware store, through the vacant lot to the west, across Main Street and through the gutted Commer- cial Club Saloon (one door west of the First National Bank). Following the path of the flood up North Oak Street the flume was extended up to Cornet Creek. The makeshift water chute not only directed the creek’s flow through town but would help flush the mud and debris down to the river. A system of sluiceways was connected to the main flume at strategic points in the flooded sections of the WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 57

58 • HISTORY VIEW OF THE HADLEY HOSPITAL AFTER THE FLOOD. NOTE with the dismantling of the Cornet Creek flume, THE SIZE OF THE BOULDERS THAT WERE BROUGHT DOWN deemed unnecessary after Engineer Wells and a The Relief CORNET CREEK. crew of a dozen men finished work on blasting out a 25-foot wide, 8-foot deep channel to carry water That which does not kill me makes me stronger. FLOOD AND ROCKS CRUSHED THE BLAKELEY RESIDENCE from the creek southwest through the city. The Jour- —Friedrich Nietzsche INTO THE MORRIS LEHMANN HOUSE, SHOVING IT OFF nal, extolling Mr. Wells’ engineering expertise, pro- ITS FOUNDATION. SUBSEQUENTLY PURCHASED BY J.H. claimed, “Work is now progressing more rapidly and We, the undersigned…respectfully petition you LITCHFIELD (FOR $510) THE HOUSE AT 316 N. OAK STREET successfully…than at any time in the past…Many of to immediately send to the outside world an official WAS LIFTED BACK ONTO ITS FOUNDATION AND REFURBISHED. the streets covered a week ago to a depth of several call for financial aid…In the majority of instances IT LOOKS TODAY MUCH LIKE IT DID IN 1914. feet are now in as good shape as before the slide.” we have lost our homes and practically everything of value in them. [No one had flood insurance] Many graduate Benjamin Wells (no relation to Bulke- That Telluride had somewhat turned that prover- of us are without funds or means of even making a ley) was put in charge of Telluride’s cleanup. bial corner on its way back to “normal” was provided start in the clean-up of our premises…A few of us are Meanwhile, the Journal took every opportunity to further validation when on the morning of August 16, at present residing in houses filled with mud, being report some of the “uplifting” news. 175 “happy souls”—as the Journal referred to the forced to make entrance and exit through windows. trainload of Ouray citizens and their ball team— The stench in these houses is now almost unbearable. On August 6 Telluride Hose Company No. 1, whose arrived at the depot. Following lunch and band stalwart membership was on the front lines of the concerts in front of the New Sheridan, a group of The letter to the Relief Committee was signed by cleanup effort, voted to have their next three quarterly “Ourayites” surveyed the damage done by the flood. twenty-three individuals, many of whom were fairly payments from the City directed to the Relief Com- According to the paper, “even though most of the prominent Telluride citizens. Over the objections of mittee, “to help in restoring the normal conditions slide had been cleaned up, many remarked that it Bulkeley Wells, manager of the Smuggler-Union Min- to sufferers from the flood disaster of July 27.” Their looked pretty bad as it was.” The ball game ended ing Company, who insisted that asking for financial donation would total $800. Only the $1,000 donation well for the Telluride team. The Ouray Highgraders assistance would “make Telluride look ridiculous to from the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce was larger. returned home on the short end of a 7-1 score. those who might render aid,” the city council, after days of debate, directed the relief committee to send The Journal must have taken some pleasure Perhaps even more reason to celebrate—Tellu- out the call for financial help. in advising its readers, “a crew of Telluride Boy ride did rejoice in its baseball as we know—was the Scouts are industriously engaged in the work of announcement the next day that Mrs. John Johnson The Journal headlines during the first ten days shoveling the mud out of the Stoermer shoe shop had fully regained her health; she was up and walk- after the flood were nothing if not hopeful. WORK OF on East Columbia Avenue…Mr. Stoermer is nearly ing about for the first time since July 27. For many, REMOVING DEBRIS PROGRESSING RAPIDLY… 80 years of age and without financial means to however, recovery in the form of promised financial GREAT PROGRESS IS BEING MADE WITH CITY assist himself which consideration but adds to the assistance was too long in coming. If it came at all. CLEANUP… CLEANUP WORK NOW WELL IN HAND. praise due the generous spirited youth.” By August 17, the Relief Committee had helped Unfortunately, the reporting didn’t match the real- The towns of Silverton and Durango staged ben- raise close to $5,500 (the total would be $6,610.20) ity on many of the streets and in most of the alleys in efits for the “Telluride flood sufferers” on August 5 from nearly a hundred donors, a decent effort by town. A collective grumbling was heard regarding the and 11 respectively. Proceeds totaled nearly $300. most accounts. But it wasn’t enough, apparently, to perceived lack of progress in Telluride’s cleanup. The satisfy all who thought they deserved reparations, general committee members were said to be at odds By mid-August, a promising development came and the committee came under severe public scru- with the engineer in charge, that one of the members tiny. In a formal letter to Mayor Loebnitz, all three was “bull-headed” and wouldn’t listen to the others. members quit, stating: “Not desiring to be perpetu- The Journal taking note, asked, “Is as much being ally execrated for doing what we conceive to be our done as could be done? If such progress is not being duty, we desire to be relieved from further service.” made, it is time to get together and formulate plans for The mayor wouldn’t accept the resignations. a more efficient method of procedure.” If some were upset with the Relief Committee Following a succession of “chief engineer” over how funds were distributed, even more folks in appointments during the two weeks following the town were up in arms when city council informed flood, on August 13 a Colorado School of Mines them that flood debris should not be dumped on the street or in the alleys unless they were prepared to pay the cost of carting it away. “Considerable ill will has been engendered as a result of the notification,” reported the Journal; “fight it out in court is heard in many circles.” Three days later, on August 20, council secured a total of $25,000 in loans from the Bank of Tel- luride and the First National Bank. The city promptly resumed—at its expense—the daily hauling away of the accumulated remnants of the great flood. As August rolled into September and with only few exceptions, many in town had gotten back to what they’d been doing before the flood. One per- son, quite without knowing it, became the unof- ficial and unintended poster boy for Telluride’s “moving on” from the tragic flood. On September 15 the Journal announced, “Mr. E.E. Blakeley returned here last night…For a time Mr. Blakeley was undecided whether or not to return, but his better judgment prevailed, and he arrived on last night’s train from Ridgway.” \\ POSTSCRIPT of supporting the weight of the bank’s impressive red tectural amputation, a new tower, a replica of the sandstone exterior. The stone, ironically, had been original, will crown the wonderful accomplishment The post-flood task of repairing the First National quarried from Cornet Creek canyon nearly thirty that is the decades-long rehabilitation of this historic Bank building took longer and was more involved years earlier. To save the property, its stately stone landmark, another Telluride comeback, if you will, than many had, at first, imagined. The building’s tower was removed. Nearly a century after this archi- from that great and terrible flood. foundation, weakened as it had been by the inunda- tion of flood water, was deemed unstable, incapable TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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60 • FICTION IT’S NOT YOU By Elizabeth McCracken Illustrations by Stephanie Morgan Rogers HOTELS WERE DIFFERENT IN THOSE DAYS. YOU COULD SMOKE IN THEM. THE ROOMS HAD BATHTUBS, WHERE YOU COULD ALSO SMOKE. YOU DIDN’T NEED A CREDIT CARD OR IDENTIFICATION, THOUGH YOU MIGHT BE MADE TO SIGN THE REGISTER, SO LATER THE PRIVATE DETECTIVE—JUST LIKE THAT, WE’RE IN A BLACK-AND-WHITE MOVIE, THOUGH I SPEAK ONLY OF THE LONG-AGO DAYS OF 1993—COULD TRACK YOU DOWN. MAYBE YOU ANTICIPATED THE PRIVATE DETECTIVE, AND USED AN ASSUMED NAME. TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

Nobody was looking for me. I didn’t use wanted to obliterate myself, but I intended to “How long will you be with us?” asked the an assumed name, though I wasn’t myself. survive the obliteration. spoon-faced, redheaded woman behind the I’d had my heart broken, or so I thought, I’d desk. She wore a little white name tag that been shattered in a collision with a man, or It wasn’t the collision that had hurt me. read Eileen. so I thought, and I went to the fabled pink It was that the other party, who’d apolo- hotel just outside the Midwestern town gized and explained enormous deficiencies, “It will only seem like forever,” I prom- where I lived. The Narcissus Hotel: it sat on self-loathing, an unsuitability for any kind of ised. “One night.” the edge of a lake and admired its own reflec- extended human contact, had three weeks tion. Behind, a pantomime lake, an amoebic later fallen spectacularly and visibly in love She handed me a brass key on a brass swimming pool, now drained, empty lounge with a woman, and they could be seen—seen fob. Hotels had keys, in those days. chairs all around. January 1: cold, but not yet by me—necking in the public spaces of the debilitating. In my suitcase, I’d brought one small town. The coffee shop, the bar, the I had packed the bottle of bourbon, the change of clothing, a cosmetic bag, a bottle movie theater before the movie started. I apples, my cosmetic bag, but forgotten a of Jim Beam, a plastic sack of Granny Smith was young then, we all were, but not so young nightgown. Who was looking, anyhow? I built apples. I thought this was all I needed. My that public necking was an ordinary thing to my drunkenness like a fire, patiently, enough plan was to drink bourbon and take baths do. We weren’t teenagers but grown-ups, late space so it might blaze. and feel sorry for myself. Paint my toenails, twenties in my case, early thirties in theirs. maybe. Shave my legs. My apartment had a You shall know a rich man by his shirt, and small fiberglass shower I had to fit myself New Year’s Day in the Narcissus Hotel. so I did. Breakfast time in the breakfast room. into, as though it were a science fiction pod The lobby was filled with departing hang- The decor was old but kept up. Space-age, with that transported me to nowhere, but cleaner. overs and their owners. Paper hats fell with stiff, Sputnikoid chandeliers. Dark-pink leather hollow pops to the ground. Everyone winced. banquettes, rosy-pink carpets. Preposterous I would watch television, too. In those You couldn’t tell whose grip had failed. Noth- but wonderful. I’d eaten here in the past: they days, I didn’t own one, and there was a cer- ing looked auspicious. That was good. My New had a dessert cart, upon which they wheeled tain level of weeping that could be achieved Year’s resolution was to feel as bad as fast as examples of their desserts to your table—a only while watching TV, I’d discovered— I could in highfalutin privacy, then leave the slice of cake, a crème brûlée, a flat apple tart self-excoriating, with a distant laugh track. I tatters of my sadness behind, along with the that looked like a mademoiselle’s hat. empty bottle and six apple cores. I had my own hangover now, not terrible, a wobbling threat that might yet be kept at bay. I had taken three baths; my toenails were WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 61

62 • FICTION TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

vampy red. I had watched television till the to save them for review, as my mother saved the were a precious thing, but it was thick china, end of broadcast hours, which was a thing scrapbooks from her childhood in a small town, the kind you’d have to hurl at a wall to break. that happened then: footage of the American where her every unusual move—going on a trip “Business,” he said at last. “You?” flag waving in the breeze, then here be mon- to England, performing in a play in the next sters. In my other life, the one that happened town over—made the local paper. “I live here.” outside the Narcissus Hotel, I worked in the “You live in the hotel?” HR department of a radio station. I lived with Who in this story do I love? Nobody. “In town.” voices overhead. That was why I didn’t have Myself, a little. Oh, the waiter, with his dia- “Oh, you’re merely breakfasting, not a television. It would have been disloyal. I’d critical mustache above his armored teeth. I staying.” found a rerun on a VHF station of squabbling love the waiter. I always love the waiter. “I’m staying.” I started to long for a sec- siblings and then wept for hours, in the tub, ond Bloody Mary, like an old friend who might on one double bed, then the other. Even at the The Bloody Mary had some spice in it that rescue me from the conversation. “Somebody time, I knew I wasn’t weeping over anything sent a tickle through my palate into my nose. was mean to me,” I said to the radio shrink. actual that I’d lost, but because I’d wanted A prickle, a yearning, an itch: a gathering “I decided to be kind to myself.” love and did not deserve it. My soul was sneezish sensation. One in ten Bloody Marys He palmed the cup and drank from it, then deformed. It couldn’t bear weight. It would did this to me. I always forgot. I took another settled it back in the saucer. The green shirt never fit together with another person’s. drink, and the feeling intensified. Beneath was a terrible color against the pink leather. the pressure of the spice was a layer of left- “It’s a good hotel for heartache. Join me,” he The rich man sat at the back of the break- over intoxication, which the vodka perked said, in his commercial-break voice, deeply fast room in one of the large horseshoe booths up. I thought, not for the first time, that I had intimate, meant for thousands, maybe millions. built for public canoodling. His pale-green a sixth sense and it was called drunkenness. shirt, starched, flawless, seemed to have There were other radio hosts in those been not ironed but forged, his mustache The rich man sat at the back of days, also called “Doctor,” who would yell tended by money and a specialist. His the breakfast room in one of the at you. A woman who said to penitent hus- glasses might have cost a lot, but twenty large horseshoe booths built bands, You better straighten up and fly years before. In his fifties, I thought. In for public canoodling. His pale- right. A testy man—No, no, no, no: Lis- those days, fifties was the age I assigned green shirt, starched, flawless, tener—he called his listeners “Listener”— people undeniably older than me. I never seemed to have been not ironed Listener, this is your wake-up call. looked at anyone and guessed they were but forged, his mustache tended in their forties. You were a teenager, or my by money and a specialist. His But Dr. Benjamin practiced compas- age, or middle-aged, or old. glasses might have cost a lot, sion, with that deep voice and his big but twenty years before. In his feelings. Once you forgive yourself, you The waiter went to the man’s table and fifties, I thought. In those days, can forgive your mother, he would say. murmured. The man answered. At faces, I fifties was the age I assigned Or perhaps it was the other way around: am terrible, but I always recognize a voice. people undeniably older than your mother first, then you. He told sto- me. I never looked at anyone ries of his own terrible decisions. Unlike “Dr. Benjamin,” I said, once the and guessed they were in their some voices, his had ballast and breadth. waiter had left. He looked disappointed, forties. You were a teenager, or For some reason, I’d always pictured him with an expression that said, here, of all my age, or middle-aged, or old. as bald, in a bow tie. I pictured all male places. With a nod, he recognized my rec- radio hosts as bald and bow-tied, until ognition. “I listen to you,” I told him. “No good?” the radio shrink asked me. presented with evidence to the contrary. “What?” Instead, he had a thatch of silver hair. He had an overnight advice show, 11 “You’re making a terrible face.” The expensive shirt. Cowboy boots. p.m. to 2 a.m., on another AM channel, “It’s good,” I said, but the sensation was not mine. He had a beef-bourguignon more complicated than that. “What are you I listened to his show all the time, voice and regular callers. Stewart from doing in this neck of the woods?” because I hated him. I thought he gave Omaha. Allison from Asbury Park. Linda “Is it a neck?” He touched his own with terrible advice. He believed in God and from Chattanooga. the tips of his fingers. “I like the rooms here.” tried to convince other people to do like- “You probably have a nicer room than I wise. Sheila from Hoboken, Ann from “Thank you,” he said. Then added, “If do. The presidential suite. Honeymoon?” Nashville, Patrick from Daly City. On the that’s the appropriate response.” “I’m neither the president nor a honey- radio, it didn’t matter where you lived, mooner.” small town or suburb or New York City “I’m in radio, too,” I said. “Not talent. “Those’re the only suites I know,” I said. (though nobody from New York City ever HR.” It was possible to be somebody else in a called Dr. Benjamin): You had the same access hotel; I was slipping into a stranger’s way of to phone lines and radio waves. You could The waiter stood by my table, a tall, speaking. “Still, far from Chicago.” broadcast your loneliness to the world. Every young man with an old-fashioned, Cesar “Far from Chicago,” he agreed. He picked now and then, a caller started to say some- Romero mustache. When I looked at him, he up his coffee cup in both hands, as though it thing that promised absolute humiliation, and smiled and revealed a full set of metal braces. I’d have to fly across the room to snap the dial off. My husband cannot satisfy me, Doc—. “I will have the fruit plate,” I said. Then, So long ago! I can’t remember faces, but as though it meant nothing to me, an after- I can remember voices. I can’t remember thought, “and a Bloody Mary.” smells, but I can remember in all its dimen- sions the way I felt in those days. The worst It is the fear of judgment that keeps me thing about not being loved, I thought then, behaving, most of the time, like the religious. was how vivid I was to myself. Not of God, but of strangers. Now I am loved and in black and white. Up close, he seemed altogether vast. Paul “Hair of the dog,” the radio shrink said to me. Bunyan-y, as though he’d drunk up the con- “Hair of the werewolf,” I answered. tents of that swimming pool to slake his thirst, “You could be. On air. You have a lovely but he didn’t look slaked. Those outdated voice.” In my head, I kept a little box of compli- ments I’d heard more than once: I had nice hair (wavy, strawberry blonde), and nice skin, and a lovely voice. I didn’t believe the compliments, particularly at such times in my life, but I liked WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 63

64 • FICTION glasses had just a tinge of purple to the lenses. “That I have a PhD?” but you won’t cut yourself a break.” He said, Impossible to tell whether this was fashion or “That we call people who study English “All right. OK. We can go to my suite. They’ve prescription, something to protect his eyes. literature for too long the same thing we call probably finished making it up.” His retinas, I told myself. He’d slumped to the people who perform brain surgery.” bottom of the hoop of the horseshoe, his body “Oh dear,” he said. “Psychology, not Even the hallways were pink and red, the at an angle. I sat at the edge to give him room. English literature.” gore and frill of a Victorian valentine: one of “I’d like to see your suite.” those mysterious valentines, with a pretty He said, “Better?” He shook his head. girl holding a guitar-size fish. The suite was “Maybe,” I said. “Are you a real doctor?” “Why not?” less garish, less whorehouse, less rubescent, He stretched then, the tomcat, his arms “I’m married,” he said. “You know that.” with a crystal chandelier, that timeless sym- over his head. His big steel watch slipped Of course, I did. Her name was Evaline. bol of One’s Money’s Worth. The two sofas down his wrist. “Sure.” He mentioned her all the time: he called her were as blue and buttoned as honor guards. “You’re not.” Evaline Robinson the Love of My Life. A mint-green stuffed rabbit sat in a pale- “I’m not a medical doctor,” he allowed. “That’s not what I mean,” I said, and I salmon armchair. “I know that,” I said. tore the little muffin in half, because maybe “Then, yes. Yes, I’m a doctor.” it was what I’d meant. No, I told myself. Every “What’s that?” I asked. The table had an air of vacancy: he’d time I walked down a hotel hallway, I peered He looked at it as though it were a girl eaten his breakfast, which had been mostly into open doors. Was there a better room who’d snuck into his room and undressed, tidied away, except for the vest-pocket bot- behind this one? A better view out the win- and here came the question: throw her out, tles of ketchup and Tabasco sauce, and a dow of the room? Out of all these dozens of or . . . not. basket filled with tiny muffins. I took one, rooms, where would I be happiest—by which “A present,” he said. blueberry, and held it in the palm of my hand. I meant, least like myself? I only wanted to “Who from?” The waiter delivered a Bloody Mary I hadn’t see all the hotel rooms of the world, all the “Not from. For. Somebody else. Some- ordered, unless by telepathy. “You have a other places I might be. body who failed to show up.” PhD,” I said. I was waiting to be diagnosed. “A child.” “Yes.” He said, “You’re a nice young woman, He shook his big head. “Not a child. She “It’s strange.” must have lost her nerve. She was supposed to be here yesterday.” TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

“Maybe she realized you were the kind of too, but the sheers were closed and all I per- and a careful raising of the whole impressive man who’d give a stuffed bunny to a grown ceived was light. structure of him. “No, let’s have a drink.” He woman.” went to the minibar, which was hidden in a “A listener,” I said. “A caller. You’re meet- cherry cabinet and had already been unlocked, He regarded me through the purple ing somebody. Linda from Chattanooga!” already plundered, already refreshed. Imagine glasses. Amethyst, I thought. My birthstone. a life in which you could approach a minibar Soon I would be twenty-eight. “You are young “Not Linda from Chattanooga,” he said with no trepidation or guilt whatsoever. to be so unkind,” he observed. “She collects contemptuously. He put the rabbit beside him, stuffed animals.” He turned again to the rab- as though aware of how silly he appeared. He lifted a midget bottle of vodka and bit and seemed to lose heart. “This is sup- a pygmy can of Bloody Mary mix; he didn’t posed to be a good one.” After a while, he said, “Dawn from Baton know I’d ordered a Bloody Mary because it Rouge.” was one of the only acceptable drinks before “What makes a good one?” 10 a.m. He was a man who drank and ate “Collectible. But also, it’s pleasant.” I couldn’t remember Dawn from Baton what he wanted at any time of day. He plucked it from the chair and hugged it. Rouge. “What does she look like?” “Pleasant to hug.” “We’ll toast to our betrayers,” he said. “Careful. It’s probably worth more uncud- “I only know what she tells me.” Because it was something he might say to dled.” I put myself on the chair where the “Should’ve asked for a picture.” a midnight caller, I said, “I thought we only rabbit had been. I don’t know why I’d thought He shrugged. “But: cold feet. So it doesn’t ever betrayed ourselves.” the chair might still be warm. He sat on the matter.” “Sometimes we look for accomplices. No sofa, in the corner closest to me. “And now you’ve invited me instead,” I ice,” he said, turning to me. “To get through “I thought you might be her,” he told me. said, and crossed my legs. this, we’re gonna need some ice.” “But you’re not old enough. How old are you?” “Oh god, no,” he said. “No, darling—” For a moment, it felt as though we were in “Twenty-seven.” The endearment undid me. I was aware a jail instead of a reasonably nice hotel, sen- “Not nearly old enough.” then of what I was wearing, a pair of old blue tenced to live out our days—live out our days “Do I look like her?” jeans but good ones, a thin, black sweater being another way to say hurtle toward death. “Oh. I mean, I’m not sure.” He made the that showed my black bra beneath. Alluring, In those days, it was easy to disappear from rabbit look out the window, and so I looked, maybe, to the right demographic, slovenly to view. All the people who caused you pain: you the wrong one. “Sweetheart,” he said. He got up from the sofa. It was a complicated job: hands to knees WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 65

66 • FICTION might never know what happened to them, “Yeah?” ress. Wish him well.” unless they were famous, as the radio shrink “I would have been a better man. How long?” “I wish him well but not that well.” was, and so I did know, it happened soon after- “How long what?” But that wasn’t true. I wanted them both ward, before the snow had melted. He died of a “Was your relationship with whoever heart attack at another hotel, and Evaline Rob- broke your heart.” dead. inson the Love of His Life flew from Chicago to “He didn’t break my heart.” “The only way forward is to wish peace be with him, and a guest host took over until the “ ‘Was mean’ to you,” he said, with a play- guest host was the actual host, and the show acting look on his face. for those who have wronged you. Otherwise, slid from call-in advice to unexplained phe- I did the math in my head, and rounded it eats you up.” nomena: UFOs. Bigfoot. I suppose it had been up. “A month.” about the unexplained all along. All the best “You,” he said, in his own voice, which I I wished him peace when I thought he advice is on the internet these days, anyhow. understood I was hearing for the first time, was doomed. That person who broke my heart might be a “have got to be fucking kidding me.” priest by now, or happily gay, or finally living It had actually been two-and-a-half How can it be that I felt like this, over so openly as a woman, or married twenty-five weeks. “Don’t say I’m young,” I told him. little? It was as though I’d rubbed two sticks years, or all of these things at once, or 65 per- “I wouldn’t,” he said. “But someday some- together and they’d detonated in my lap. cent of them, as is possible in today’s world. thing terrible will happen to you and you’ll It’s good that it’s possible. A common name hate this version of yourself.” “I bet you have a nice bathtub,” I said. plus my bad memory for faces: I wouldn’t know “I don’t plan on coming in versions.” “You should go look.” how to start looking or when to stop. “Jesus, you are young.” Then his voice I got myself a dollhouse bottle of bourbon. shifted back to its radio frequency, a fancy At some point, he’d had ice delivered, in a silver The minibar wasn’t equal to our thirsts. He chocolate in its little matching, rustling cren- bucket, with tongs. I’d never used tongs before. sat so long, staring out the window, that I won- ellated wrapper. “How mean was he?” I’ve never used them since. The serrations bit dered whether something had gone wrong. “He was nice, right up until the moment into the ice, one, two, five cubes, and I poured A stroke. The start of ossification. Then, in a he wasn’t.” the bourbon over, a paltry amount that mostly spasm of fussiness, he untucked his shirt. “Well,” he said. “So. You’re making prog- didn’t make its way to the bottom of the glass, it just clung to the ice, so I got another. The bath- He said, “In another life—” room was marble—marble, crystal, velvet, it would be some years before hotels stopped mod- eling opulence on Versailles. There was a phone on the wall by the toilet. I ran a bath and got in. TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

This was what I needed, not advice or contradic- the water on the surface of me, which wasn’t on all this time, and I’d soon learn that it was tion, not the return of the person who’d broken enough, not even the water over my face, like raining into the bathroom below, I had caused my heart, because I would not be able to trust a hotel pillow, up my nose, in my lungs, but the weather, and the radio shrink had packed up any love that might have been offered. It took me water that soaked through my bodily tissues, and left and hung the Do Not Disturb sign out- a long time, years, to trust anyone’s. running along fissures and ruining the tex- side his room and paid for mine. Dawn from ture of things, till it finally reached my heart Baton Rouge was a disembodied voice again, The door opened, and another tiny bottle and all my autonomic systems said, Enough, but the redheaded woman, Eileen, she was of whiskey came spinning across the floor. you’re awake now, you’re alive, get out. here, slipping across the marble, tossing me a robe, turning off the tap, tidying up my life. “Irish is what’s left,” said the radio shrink That was one of the few times in my life I through the crack of the door. might have died and knew it. I fell asleep in a “You’re all right,” she said. I could feel her bathtub at twenty-seven. I was dragged out to name tag against my cheek. “You should be “You’re a good man,” I said. “You are one. sea as a small child; I spun on an icy road at ashamed of yourself, but you’re all right now.” If you’re worried that you’re not.” eighteen, into a break in oncoming traffic on Route 1 north of Rockland, Maine, and aston- I would like to say that this was when my Then he came in. He was wearing his ishingly stayed out of the ditch; I did not have life changed. No. That came pretty quick, within cowboy boots and slid a little on the marble. breast cancer at twenty-nine, when it was weeks, but not yet. I would like to say that the Now he looked entirely undone. In another explained to me that it was highly unlikely I suggestion of kindness took. That I went home version of this story, I’d be made modest by a would, but if I did, it was unlikely, it would and wished everyone well. That I forgave myself little cocktail dress of bubbles, but no person and found that my self-loathing was the curse: who really loves baths loves bubble baths, ~Poetry ~ nobody over seven, because bubbles are a forgiveness transformed me, and I became form of protection. They keep you below Happy Birth Day lovely. But all that would wait. the surface. They hide you from your own view. He looked at me in his bathtub with Each morning, this chance He was wrong, the shrink: nothing truly that same disappointed expression: just to birth again the self— terrible ever happened to me, nothing that like you to bathe in your birthday suit. to push it through would make me cry more than I did in those the canal of dream, weeks of aftermath. I’m one of the lucky “I have some advice for you,” I said to him. this chance to open ones. I know that. I became kinder the way “Lay it on me,” he said. through the center anybody does, because it costs less and is, “Lay it on me. How old are you?” nine times out of ten, more effective. He shook his head. “What’s your advice?” and let the new self emerge, “You should call your callers ‘Caller.’ to marvel as it appears, At some point, it had snowed. The night Like, ‘Are you there, Caller?’ ” glistening with potential. prior, that morning. It had been hours since “They like to be called by name.” I’d been outside. The snow was still white, “Overly familiar,” I said. Of course the new self cries. still falling, the roads marked by the ruts of “That’s your advice.” It needs to be warmed, tires. Soon the plows would be out, scrap- “Yes,” I said. nourished, held. ing down to the pavement. My clothing, left He was sitting on the edge of the Imagine what it’s like behind by the side of the tub, sopping wet, tub. The ice in his glass, if there’d ever to be that new— had been replaced with a stranger’s sweat been any, had melted. I had no idea what suit, abandoned by some other guest at he might do. Kiss me. Put a hand in the to not believe any thought, the Narcissus Hotel and found by Eileen, water. His eyebrows had peaks. Up close, to not assume any thing. a stranger’s socks, too, my own shoes and his mustache was even more impressive. winter coat. I had to walk by the house of I’d never kissed a man with a mustache. I Imagine what it’s like the couple who’d been necking everywhere, still haven’t. It’s not that I’m not attracted to be that attentive, a story that seemed already in the past. By to men with mustaches, but that men with past, I mean I regretted it, I was already mustaches aren’t attracted to me. that vulnerable. telling the story in my head. The woman “Can I have your maraschino cherry?” Self, can you meet I hadn’t been left for drove a little red I asked. Honda. There it sat in her driveway, draped “No maraschino cherry.” each day in snow. That was all right. It was a com- “I love maraschino cherries. All kinds. like that? Like that. mon car in those days, and I saw it and its Sundae kinds, drink kinds, fruit cocktail. doppelgängers everywhere. Even now, a lit- Tell me to change my life,” I said to him, —Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer tle red Honda seems to have a message for and put a damp hand on his knee. me, though they look nothing like they used “I won’t tell you that.” be fatal, almost never at your age, but when to. When will this be over, I wondered as I “But I need someone to tell me.” at your age, rapid and deadly. pushed through the drifts. The humiliation He put down his glass beside the little is what I meant. Everything else is over, and all bottle of shampoo. Such a big hotel. So many Those are the fake times I almost died. The that’s left are the little red Hondas. minuscule bottles. “You must change your real ones, neither you nor I ever know about. You would recognize my voice, too. Peo- life,” he said. ple do, in the grocery store, the airport, over “Good, but I’m going to need some details.” The radio shrink would have said, I guess the phone when I call to complain about my “I keep sitting here, I’m going to fall into she died of a broken heart, and I would have gas bill. Your voice, they say, are you—? the water.” He stood up. “You know where to ended my life and ruined his, for no reason, I have one of those voices, I always say. I find me.” just a naked, drunk, dead woman in his room don’t mind if they recognize me, but I’m not There isn’t a moral to the story. Neither who’d got herself naked, and drunk, and dead. going to help them. of us is in the right. Nothing was resolved. He kept telling me I had to be kind. Why? Decades later, it still bothers me. But I wouldn’t see the radio shrink again. Why on earth? When life itself was not. \\ No way to tell how much later I awoke, I was gasping and out of the tub, and some- © 2020 by Elizabeth McCracken. “It’s Not You” facedown in the bath, and came up gasping. body was knocking on the bathroom door. was originally published in Zoetrope: All Story I’d fallen asleep or I’d blacked out. It was I don’t know why knocking—the door was and is reprinted here by permission of Dunow, though the water itself had woken me up, not unlocked—but the water was sloshing onto Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency. the floor, the tap was on, it couldn’t have been WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 67

68 • TELLURIDE TURNS Headlines & Highlights from the Local News VIDEO EVIDENCE New Colorado law mandates police body cams By Lorraine Weissman In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, amid nation- Because cameras Masters, first elected in 1980, is the longest wide protests against police brutality and racial have become so ubiquitous, serving sheriff in Colorado’s history. He is currently injustice, Colorado commemorated the June- a registered Democrat, but has previously run as a teenth holiday (which celebrates the end of slavery) the public—and juries Republican and a Libertarian, and wrote a book in by passing the nation’s first sweeping police reform in particular—expect them 2001 calling for the decriminalization of drugs. A legislation. The measure, named the “Enhance respected and well-liked public figure, his polic- Law Enforcement Integrity Act,” is meant to create as part of the evidence ing principles are focused on “peacekeeping.” But accountability and transparency in policing. It bans presented at trial. despite the county’s early adoption of the cameras, the use of carotid chokeholds, limits the use of tear he isn’t enthusiastic about the legislation. He crit- gas and rubber bullets in response to demonstrations Recognizing these facts, Masters’ department pur- icized the effect of the measure on private citizens or protests, requires detailed reporting and trans- chased twenty-three cameras for his deputies and and described it as “Orwellian.” Masters’ objec- parency regarding use of force, eliminates “qualified jail personnel. First-year costs for the equipment and tion is primarily because the act mandates that immunity” as a defense to some claims of civil rights data storage were approximately $60,000, with ongo- all interactions with the public be filmed, and to violations, and requires state and local law enforce- ing data storage and maintenance costs of around ensure transparency, there are provisions for the ment agencies to issue body cameras to all officers $14,000 per year. Despite the cost, the county deter- footage to be made public. Masters notes that which must be worn during all interactions with the mined the investment was worthwhile, even before often, encounters with law enforcement expose public. Despite polarization at the state house on it became mandatory. The difference, however, was a person’s worst moments, frequently when they nearly any topic these days, the bill passed 32-1 with filming was done at the officer’s discretion. are upset, intoxicated, or experiencing mental strong bipartisan support. Governor Polis praised health challenges. Should these most vulnerable the bill, tweeting that “Coloradans should be proud” moments, he asks, be filmed and made available that our state will “make policing more accountable, for public consumption or to the media? He would restore trust in law enforcement, [and] uphold an answer no. The law does make an exception for individual’s civil liberties… .” video which raises “substantial privacy concerns” for criminal defendants, victims, and others, but San Miguel County, a mostly rural area that the stipulation that all interactions be filmed sees very little violent crime, had already invested means that these sensitive, private moments will in body cams in 2019, a year before the law was be on tape, and their disclosure discretionary. enacted. Public confidence in law enforcement is at an all-time low, so cameras allow officers “to While it is not a panacea, the Enhance Law prove to the public that what we say happened is Enforcement Integrity Act at least demonstrates true,” says San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters. that the legislature can be responsive to pub- And, because cameras have become so ubiquitous, lic outcries like the protests sparked by George the public—and juries in particular—expect them Floyd’s murder. We still have work to do to restore as part of the evidence presented at trial. Without trust between law enforcement agencies and the corroborating footage, conviction rates go down. public, but the transparency and accountability Additionally, video footage offers protection to offi- promised by the legislation is a step toward mend- cers against false claims of inappropriate conduct. ing those relationships. \\ TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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70 • TELLURIDE TURNS Headlines & Highlights from the Local News CALLING FOR HELP Counselors respond to mental health emergencies Every 911 call starts with an emer- By Lorraine Weissman mental/behavioral health evaluations gency, but if the reason for your and offers referrals to treatment facili- call involves substance abuse Law enforcement has limited ties or other available services. or mental health problems, the police response options. They can really only arrest are probably the last people you want Slater gave an example of how to see. But until recently, unless you the person or simply leave them be. CORE intervention has been able to needed a ride in an ambulance, there When someone is experiencing a mental help. In a recent call, a woman was was a good chance that call to 911 health crisis, neither of these is a great experiencing mental health issues. would land you in the back of a police During the pandemic, she lost her job cruiser. That’s why San Miguel County’s option as they don’t address the and her home, which pushed her to new Co-Responder program (CORE) is underlying problem. a breaking point. After talking with such an important addition to the coun- the woman, Slater realized what the ty’s emergency response toolbox. CORE woman really needed was a good night’s offers a new approach to criminal jus- sleep and a shower. Slater arranged a tice diversion, pairing law enforcement hotel room for the woman for the night. officers with behavioral health special- This seemingly insignificant act was a ists to respond to emergency calls for turning point for the woman—she was mental or behavioral health matters. able to find her footing. The goal of co-response is to de-escalate situations and offer non-punitive solu- In another anecdote, Slater tions for people in need. So rather than described an at-risk young person taking a ride to jail, people in crisis can who had stopped attending school get help without getting booked. and was habitually using marijuana. In the past, this boy’s behavior San Miguel County’s CORE pro- would have resulted in placement gram is run by Robin Slater, who holds in a youth detention facility (read: a master’s degree in professional coun- jail). With help from Slater and seling and is a trained addictions coun- CORE, however, he has an opportu- selor. Prior to taking over CORE last nity to make positive changes. Slater spring, Slater was the Director of Acute found an in-patient treatment facil- Services at Colorado West, a psychiatric ity for him and is currently helping care facility in Montrose. Before that, him get back in school. Although he she ran a mobile-response crisis team still faces challenges, keeping him in Mesa County. Her experience allows out of the criminal justice system her to quickly assess the problem and offers him a much greater chance of direct the person to the appropriate future success. services. “Law enforcement has lim- ited response options,” Slater explains. Unlike a police encounter, CORE “They can really only arrest the person does not operate on a one-and-done or simply leave them be. When someone basis. Instead, they work with clients is experiencing a mental health crisis, toward long-term solutions. “When neither of these is a great option as we respond,” Slater said, “we help they don’t address the underlying prob- with case management needs and lem.” CORE, on the other hand, aims link them to appropriate resources. to resolve the fundamental issue by We offer continuity of care through referring people to treatment facilities, case management.” After treatment or social services, medical care, or other other intervention, CORE officers will necessary services. follow up with individuals to ensure sustained success. “Once the crisis is CORE responses are intended as over, sometimes people are just stuck non-threatening contact, designed to and they need a good map to guide make the affected person feel com- them. We can offer that.” \\ fortable. Unlike police, CORE workers arrive in plain clothes. They don’t carry 2020 has been a rough year. If you or some- weapons or present themselves as one you know is experiencing depression, authority figures, making it clear that anxiety, substance abuse, relationship they only intend to help. As a result, trouble or other mental health crises, help CORE responders can often connect is available. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Please better and de-escalate more quickly contact Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844- than a law enforcement officer alone 493-TALK to talk to a licensed professional might. Upon arrival, CORE provides counselor. For suicide prevention, contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 1-800-SUICIDE.

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72 • TELLURIDE TURNS Headlines & Highlights from the Local News POT OFFENDERS PARDONED Polis overturns minor marijuana convictions By Lorraine Weissman Under federal law, possessing an ounce or When Coloradans took freedom and allows them to clear the legal cloud less of marijuana —even as a first offense— to the polls in 2012, they hanging over their lives. Moreover, the convicted can get you a $1,000 fine and up to a year rejected the notion that are granted an overdue acknowledgement from in prison. But in Colorado, you can buy an eighth small amounts of marijuana the governor that their actions were illegal at the legally for around $40. Everyone knows marijuana possession merited legal time, but unjustifiably so. When Coloradans took is legal in Colorado; in 2012, voters passed Amend- to the polls in 2012, they rejected the notion that ment 64 which decriminalized possession of up reprimand. small amounts of marijuana possession merited to an ounce of marijuana and legalized pot sales legal reprimand. It follows that the convicted were at recreational marijuana dispensaries. But for ing. It also brings social stigma, the potential reprimanded unfairly, even if the law at the time people already convicted of marijuana possession for incarceration, and greater sentencing length specified the consequences of their actions. By prior to passage of Amendment 64, the new law did on subsequent offenses. While a pardon cannot pardoning ex-marijuana possessors, the governor little to improve their situation. remedy those ills retroactively, it does free con- affirmed that the policy of marijuana prohibition victed people from further restrictions on their disproportionately harmed low-income, non-white That changed on Oct. 1, 2020, when Governor people and unjustly wielded the judicial arm of the Jared Polis signed an executive order automat- state for a nonserious crime. ically pardoning 2,732 marijuana convictions, expunging the records of people dating back as Questions about the governor’s treatment of far as fifty years. “It’s ridiculous how being written ex-offenders still loom, however. Governor Polis was up for smoking a joint in the 1970s has followed only able to mass pardon ex-offenders because of some Coloradans throughout their lives and gotten the passage of House Bill 1424, a marijuana licens- in the way of their success. Too many Coloradans ing bill which grants dispensary licenses to those have been followed their entire lives by a convic- most likely to be victimized by past marijuana law tion for something that is no longer a crime, and (black and brown minorities). Still, the governor these convictions have impacted their job status, assumes pardoning power with his office; both Gov- housing, and countless other areas of their lives,” ernor Polis and former Governor John Hickenlooper said Governor Polis. “Today we are taking this step could have pardoned many of the 2,732 a long time toward creating a more just system and breaking ago, even if the process was more complicated. down barriers to help transform people’s lives as Moreover, HB 1424 permitted mass pardons for peo- well as coming to terms with one aspect of the ple possessing up to two ounces of marijuana. Why past, failed policy of marijuana prohibition.” Governor Polis chose to limit his clemency to pos- session of only one ounce or less is unclear. Still, for Indeed, for the 2,732 pardoned, the executive those who were pardoned, the clean slate provided order will certainly have an effect. A conviction by the order is surely welcome. \\ makes it harder to find employment and hous- TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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74 • TELLURIDE TURNS Headlines & Highlights TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 from the Local News OLD SCHOOL Tinkering with typewriters By D. Dion Tom Hennessy bought seventeen typewriters just in the past year. Few people have even one typewriter anymore, especially the manual kind, which are ver- itable antiques. They don’t plug in, they don’t connect to Wi-Fi, and if you make a mistake, you can’t just hit delete. Those are some of the things Hennessy actually finds charming about old typewriters. He started collecting them and refurbishing them after his interest was piqued by some typewritten letters in a photography museum in Tucson. He bought an old Smith Corona for $50 at a sec- ondhand store, restored it, and later sold it—and he was hooked. He started learning about typewriters and began typing letters to friends—about one a day, every day— and even takes a typewriter with him when he goes camp- ing. “It’s so much more satisfying to get a letter than it is to browse your email inbox,” he says. According to Hennessy, there is a certain type of audi- tory and tactile feedback that comes with using a typewriter that you just don’t get with a computer keyboard. He says he likes the feeling of accomplishment you get when you pull the typed page out, and also the effort it takes to press each key—it triggers a natural pause that helps make your writ- ing more thoughtful. “It just engages the brain differently. For me, I feel more creative and more descriptive.” Hennessy likes to work with his hands. A brewer by trade, he opened successful breweries in Ridgway and Montrose, so tinkering with the machines came easily to him. He was surprised to find that at least one of the type- writers he acquired, a 1947 Underwood, was still in nearly perfect working condition. Most of the time, he says, the only thing they need is a good cleaning. He dismantles them and brushes out the eraser shavings; in the early days, before white-out was invented, people used thin, onion-skin paper where they could take an eraser and rub away errors. He uses alcohol or a thinner to scrub off dirt, changes out the ribbon, and sometimes has to align the carriage, but it’s usually not a lot of work—he says he hasn’t run into anything too complicated yet. With celeb- rities like Tom Hanks and many famous authors collect- ing typewriters it’s become something of a trend to find and restore the old machines. There are lots of YouTube instructional videos about fixing them, and his wife even bought him blue overalls embroidered with “Tom’s Type- writers.” These machines were built to last, he says, not to be constantly replaced like an old generation iPhone or a plastic piece of office equipment. “They’re wonderful machines, made before planned obsolescence; they last forever. Basically, they are home printing presses. It just takes a little maintenance.” He’s sold most of the typewriters he’s refurbished, but he isn’t charging much—he just hopes to break even and to share his passion with others. He’s kept four of them for himself, and his favorite is his 1955 Olivetti Lettera 22, the same machine Stephen King used to write “Carrie.” Hen- nessy admires its design, which was groundbreaking in 1955, but mainly what he loves about it is that it just feels right when he uses it. “Every machine is different for every- body, but I like the font and it has just the right clack. It’s about finding the one that fits your personality.” \\

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76 • INNOVATION BABY STEPS Local entrepreneur creates app for lowering an individual’s carbon footprint By D. Dion A n unlikely hero emerged during the OLIVIA PEDERSEN Not just over the course of time, but also if these climate change crisis—Swedish teen- new habits and behaviors spread to their peers. “I ager and environmental advocate Greta Making little changes, one thing at a time, that see it as a ripple effect,” said Pedersen. Thunberg ignited a movement of youth align with your values.” activism. She spoke at the United Nations Climate Pedersen graduated with a bachelor’s degree Action Summit, was the youngest person ever to be Those small changes—someone reducing the in design and immediately began working in the named Person of the Year by Time Magazine, and number of times they eat beef per month, or check- outdoor industry. It should have been a perfect fit was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 ing their tire pressure to make sure their vehicle is for an active, athletic young designer, but Peder- and 2020. Thunberg did more than just try to rally more fuel efficient—can have a cumulative effect. sen said she recognized how “unsustainable the world leaders and corporations to take action; she industry was.” That’s when she decided to go back also encouraged individual people to do their part to school, earning a master’s degree in sustain- to effect change. “I have learned you are never too able design from Minneapolis College of Art and small to make a difference,” she said. Design. She said the program was an incubator for ideas, developing ways to implement principles of This point is not lost on local designer and sustainability into a design. And of the twenty or so tech entrepreneur Olivia Pedersen. Pedersen is ideas she turned over, the one that became her the- another strong young woman doing her part to sis was also the genesis of the Sustaio app. “I landed protect the environment. At just 27, the Telluride on the app because it’s a daily reinforcement. Peo- native is the CEO and founder of Sustaio, a com- ple want to be on their phones, so let’s turn that pany that is creating a mobile app to help guide time that people spend on their phones into some- people in developing a more sustainable life- thing that can be helpful to the rest of the world.” style. “It may be up to government and industry to make big changes, but that doesn’t mean that Pedersen did some networking to find the we as individuals can’t make a difference,” said perfect software engineer, Leif Schjeide, a like- Pedersen. “It’s not about trying to produce zero minded full-stack developer and the company’s waste, or be a vegan; it’s about taking baby steps. CTO (Chief Technology Officer). Schjeide has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and science TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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78 • INNOVATION “IT MAY BE UP TO GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY TO MAKE BIG CHANGES, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT WE AS INDIVIDUALS CAN’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IT’S NOT ABOUT TRYING TO PRODUCE ZERO WASTE, OR BE A VEGAN; IT’S ABOUT TAKING BABY STEPS. MAKING LITTLE CHANGES, ONE THING AT A TIME, THAT ALIGN WITH YOUR VALUES.” from the University of Oregon and a master’s spheres can be overwhelming; once a person Sustaio ran a crowdfunding campaign this fall degree in mathematics from the University of starts researching, it can be like falling down a with a modest goal of $50,000 to raise money for the Miami. Together they built a prototype of the app, rabbit hole of information, with endless tangents startup and the app launch. The company is using launching the first version this winter. “I didn’t and sometimes conflicting facts. Sustaio does the a “freemium” business model, where people can just want to find any engineer, I wanted to find research for you, reading, investigating, and vet- access a free trial and then pay for a subscription. someone that believes in sustainability and the ting sources to curate the best “learning moments” Pedersen said that they don’t plan to commercialize idea that an individual can make a difference.” for users as they decide what kind of seafood to the app. “The goal is never to have any advertising,” buy or whether to purchase used jeans instead of she said. “The idea is to have people buy less stuff.” The app is meant to simplify the process of mak- getting a new pair. ing more ecological lifestyle choices. Users set their There are other tools out there, according to baseline—for example, how many miles they drive Pedersen, but not one that doesn’t just simplify the in a week or month—and are given a “learning process of learning and making lifestyle changes moment” article on the topic. Then they are offered but also tracks a person’s progress. “That’s what’s a suggestion, something they can act on, such as missing. There’s no follow-up.” riding a bike to run a particular errand or taking public transportation once a week. Users then set Pedersen hopes that by making this app a fun and goals and track their progress using the app. “It’s easy way to track your footprint in the world, these really about habit adoption,” said Pedersen. “A sus- positive changes will trigger a chain reaction. “We’re tainable lifestyle is all about habits and behavior.” trying to tackle cognitive overload and alleviate it with this personal assistant. We want to empower The app focuses on all the “touchpoints” a the individual. If they adopt habits personally, it will typical person might have as a consumer: food, spread exponentially in their family, friends, and pro- household products, transportation, clothing, and fessional life. It’s a contagion, almost.” more. Making a decision in any of these consumer For more information, visit sustaio.com. \\ TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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80 • ESSAY CAMPAIGNING Cfor old TAKE THE PLUNGE By Michelle Curry Wright It’s winter here in the mountains, and I can’t and cool blues, of indoor-outdoor dualities, of cli- coziness, conviviality, and contentment, as well help bracing against the cold, because fun- mate-controlled realities. as for friluftsliv, an unpronounceable Norwegian damentally, I’m a naked creature, just like buzzword that essentially means “get outside in you. Let’s face it, we’re not anything like “Well, I personally like winter,” you might say, the cold open air and have fun in it.” Where the two that silvery fox in the clearing during the purple if you’ve got your winter sports all lined up. You things intersect, in a word, is in enjoyment. There is of twilight, bounding through an early snow, meld- pile on the gear and schuss down a slope—maybe no doubt about the value of feeling good and having ing with the landscape in a way that says: I belong even all the livelong day—and maybe you come wholesome physical fun outside. It’s good for your here so profoundly you may never know anything back so tired, you feel like a hero. Maybe you even brain and good for your flesh and bones. of what this slice of time feels like. sense the slimmest glimmer of the fox within your consciousness, like a deep and forgotten memory I’m not here to talk about fun, however, but Our birthday suits are our everyday suits; and or something from a dream. But that fades away as about the cold. To exalt it, pitch it to you, and sell as such, we have to address this concept of how to you sink into your Epsom salt bath or let a steamy- it for all its worth. To get you out of your comfort keep “warm,” hence the embracing of cozy fires, hot shower pound the cold right out of you. zone and into discomfort, in fact. squash-y soups and bulky sweaters. That’s part of how we settle into a long stretch of winter whites There are cases to be made both for hygge About a dozen years ago, I started turning (ˈh(y)oo͞ ɡə), a popular Danish word relating to on just the cold in the shower first thing in the TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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82 • ESSAY THERE ARE CASES TO BE MADE BOTH FOR HYGGE (ˈh(y)o͞oɡə), A POPULAR DANISH WORD RELATING TO COZINESS, CONVIVIALITY, AND CONTENTMENT, AS WELL AS FOR FRILUFTSLIV, AN UNPRONOUNCEABLE NORWEGIAN BUZZWORD THAT ESSENTIALLY MEANS “GET OUTSIDE IN THE COLD OPEN AIR AND HAVE FUN IN IT.” morning. I’d position myself under the shower- what it can do for our immune systems in times when more than twenty-five years. Once considered head and then throw the switch all the way, fan- we all so desperately need it. To champion what it crazy, his protocols for cold showers, bathing, cying myself just a fraction more daring and bold does for our lazy brains, so coddled—or fried—by breathing, and breath holding are now so popular in the process. I’d dance around as if on hot coals whatever has floated to the top of all our feeds. he can hardly keep up—except that with his phys- for half a minute, gasping and rubbing my body. ical conditioning, he can. And so I’m back in the Why did I do this? Because it was deeply startling, My latest go-round began with a cold plunge shower; for two minutes, and beginning with hot. lifted my mood, and made me feel lighter inside. in late September at Porphyry Lake, a small pris- I did it because my daughter was a teenager and tine jewel at 12,000 feet, accessed via Red Moun- Reading about him, one is struck by some I needed perspective. Maybe I did it to somehow tain Pass. We’d hiked up with some friends; and beautiful notions: the value of listening to the body return to and heal the insane temper tantrums I as I watched one of the men dive in, I was mes- and testing its limits, the value of a clear head and had as a toddler, tantrums so unrelenting that my merized by the movement, a body slicing cleanly a fresh and positive perspective. Though there is a mother, yes, would have no choice but to put me in into high alpine water. I could feel it! Though pile of juicy scientific inquiry accompanying him the shower and turn on the cold. headfirst had never been my way, this time, I fol- now, he is the first to say he didn’t invent anything, lowed suit. Frogging to the surface, I noted that that people have been using the cold for hundreds Whatever the reasons, I did it for weeks despite the icy temperature of the lake, it was far of years and that his breathing is actually a form and weeks on end until finally, one day, I pulled more calming to dive in than baby step. I recog- of Tummo, an ancient Tibetan breathing practice. a back muscle from tensing so hard in the frigid nized the brilliant clarity of the cold even as I Anyone can take the plunge. And best of all, Hof’s water. Navigating my way cagily out of the stall, all gasped back to shore. At some point, it felt as if protocols are free and accessible to everyone. laughing and lightness were squelched. I started gasping were more expectation than need—that Pretty cool (I mean cold) stuff. \\ to tense at the merest thought of tensing up, and there must be a better way. Michelle Curry Wright is a longtime local writer and stopped going for the cold shock treatment. painter, and is now certified as a health coach. She Enter Wim “Iceman” Hof, a trending Dutch can be found at DandelionWellnessCoaching.com. But now, the research is in, I’ve been called, and iconoclast and extreme athlete who has been I’m ready to campaign for cold again. To champion advocating cold water bathing and swimming for TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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84 • NATURE NOTES BAD NEWS FOR BIRDERS Mysterious bird deaths in Southwest linked to climate change T By Deanna Drew agers, and flycatchers. Bodies of less However, data reveals that every winds, burn millions of acres in west- he year 2020 was a tough one common species like the dark-eyed, historic die-off is linked to extreme ern states, some that were experienc- for birds, too. secretive flammulated owl were also weather events like those that hit ing the hottest and driest months on Not long after ornitholo- reported, all with diets that consist the West in 2020. Audubon warns record. The wildfires further destroyed gists released a report show- mostly of insects which are scarce in that these kinds of extreme weather damaged habitats and drove down ing a 29 percent decline in overall bird winter in North America. events could become the new normal insect populations, potentially prompt- populations in the United States since due to the shifting weather patterns ing migrating birds to head south early 1970 primarily due to human activ- Even in a good year, the birds’ of climate change. “You don’t need to and without adequate fat reserves for ity, there was a horrific mass die-off seasonal movements from one region look hard for the metaphor: Birds are the journey. “That’s their energy, their of migratory birds in the Southwest, to another are risky: exhaustion, the canaries in the coal mine that is ‘sack lunch’ that they take along with apparently the result of severe weather starvation, bad weather, and preda- the earth’s future,” says David Yar- them,” says Jonathan Hayes, Execu- events caused by the warming climate. tors account for many deaths annu- nold, President and CEO of National tive Director of Audubon Southwest. ally. But mass-death events during Audubon Society. The thick, poisonous smoke blanketed Tens of thousands of carcasses bird migration are rare, and scien- parts of the west for weeks, pushing were found in singles and groups tific records dating back to the early Last year saw a series of major the birds off-course and forcing them scattered on the ground, in back- 1900s show few have been as large as wildfires, several ignited by severe to fly farther around plumes to their yards and forests, along trails and this one in the Southwest. thunderstorms and driven by strong location, further depleting their energy streets across at least five south- stores. “Under adverse conditions, west states and Mexico. Observers even the slightest change could make reported the birds’ bodies seemed an impact. They pack only enough for to be nothing more than feathers their journey.” and bones that had fallen out of the sky mid-flight, while those still alive Heading south, the birds next moved in a lethargic and wobbly encountered the arid southwestern manner, often unresponsive and hud- states, where their rest stops were dled in distressed-looking groups. experiencing exceptionally dry condi- tions, meaning fewer insects to refuel The birds died while making their on and gain crucial protein for the annual fall migration south from migration. Then in early September, breeding grounds in Canada and the temperatures in the region dropped Pacific Northwest over the South- abruptly as an unusual cold front came west to wintering grounds in Mexico through, bringing snow and hurricane or Central America. The majority of force winds to parts of the migration species found dead were small, insec- corridor, killing off most of the remain- tivorous western songbirds, including ing insect populations and making food the colorful swallows, warblers, tan- availability for the birds even worse. TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

It is not clear which of these severe High Quality Toy and Baby Gear weather events—or perhaps a combination of Rental service all of them—pushed the migrating birds over the edge. But because autopsies revealed all We work with your rental company the dead birds found were considered in poor and hotels prior to arrival; body condition with their fat deposits drawn far down, Hayes says one thing is evident: “These making one less item on your birds were emaciated, and starved to death.” “to-do” list. Scientists say climate change is the biggest Telluride Sitters, LLC threat to the birds we love. “Birds are excellent indicators of environmental health,” says Dr. Please CALL/TXT: 970-708-0170 • 202 Society Dr, (Next to Paper Chase) Nicole Michel, a senior ecologist with Audu- [email protected] • www.TellurideSitters.com • Rentals.TellurideSitters.com bon. “Severe declines in common birds tell us something is wrong and underscores the need 970.728.3234 to become better stewards of the planet.” [email protected] Audubon predicts over 60 percent of North marketing & design American bird species are threatened with extinction by human-induced habitat loss and corporate identity • event promotion • architectural rendering • packaging • email marketing climate change, and more long-term bird losses will occur unless efforts are made to stop pol- WILKINSON lution, maintain healthy forests, and practice PUBLIC sustainable agriculture. “We’re through the LIBRARY WE’RE THROUGH THE Books. Programs. Community. LOOKING GLASS. Something for everyone. THESE EVENTS ARE TELLURIDELIBRARY.ORG HAPPENING NOW; THEY ARE NO LONGER 100 W Pacific Ave  970-728-4519 PROJECTIONS. IT’S SCARY TO THINK THAT WHILE WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 85 WE ARE ALREADY PROJECTING LONG-TERM DECLINES IN BIRD POPULATIONS, THE DECLINES WILL BE PUNCTUATED BY BIG DIE-OFF EVENTS LIKE THIS ONE. looking glass,” Hayes says. “These events are happening now; they are no longer projections. It’s scary to think that while we are already pro- jecting long-term declines in bird populations, the declines will be punctuated by big die-off events like this one.” However, Hayes still holds some hope. “Cli- mate change does not have an on-off switch. It’s happening, and we have the power to avoid the worst impacts through individual choices and collective political action around how much we drive, the food we eat, how we provide energy for our homes.” It is an established fact that where birds live, people prosper. The same conditions that support life on earth also support healthy econ- omies and quality lifestyles, and those things can’t be separated. “The connection between humans and birds is undeniable—we share the same fate. This is a bird emergency with a clear message: The natural world humans depend on is being paved, logged, eroded, and polluted,” says Yarnold. “We have to act now to protect the places we know birds rely on.” \\

86 • ENVIRONMENT PROTECT OUR WINTERS Sports celebrities help champion climate advocacy Hilaree Nelson is nothing if not Christina Callicott weather, and glaciation that climate courageous. She was the first change is already causing. As a celeb- woman to summit two 8,000- IF YOU COULD GET EVERY rity athlete, she can open doors that meter peaks in one day: Everest and PASSIONATE OUTDOORSPERSON IN THE U.S. others can’t. She and the other POW Lhotse. She went back to the mas- ambassadors leverage their name sif to make the first ski descent of TO VOTE FOR THE CLIMATE, recognition and celebrity status to Lhotse. She led an arduous and har- IT WOULD BE THE BIGGEST SWING access the inner workings of Congress rowing trek into the Burmese Hima- as well as the hearts and minds of the laya that almost cost her—and her STATE IN THE COUNTRY. estimated 50 million outdoor sports teammates—their lives. But when enthusiasts across the United States. the time came to take the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Those 50 million people are what Switzerland, a stage she shared with POW calls “the Outdoor State.” Said former Vice-President Al Gore, author Nelson: “If you could get every pas- Naomi Oreskes, and other luminaries, sionate outdoorsperson in the U.S. to she was understandably apprehen- vote for the climate, it would be the sive. “I was incredibly nervous,” she biggest swing state in the country.” said. “I wasn’t sure what the point of my being on the panel was.” That voting bloc has been key to POW’s recent foray into electoral The Davos forum was Nelson’s politics. “For the first ten years,” first event as an athlete ambassador explained POW’s strategist Torrey for Protect Our Winters (POW), an Udall, “we never had any intention organization founded in 2007 by pro of getting political. But after 2016, snowboarder Jeremy Jones to mobilize we realized that all the work we’d the outdoor sports community against done to advance our policy initia- climate change. As a snowsports pro- tives could get wiped away with one fessional, Nelson has a front-row seat change in leadership. We realized to the rapid changes in snowpack, that the outdoor community has to have a voice in elections.” THE NORTH FACE/NICK KALISZ

THE NORTH FACE/NICK KALISZ Getting people to the ballot box, however, proved to be a challenge. In response, POW con- ducted an athlete motivation study in which they found, among other things, that “outdoor sports enthusiasts look to escape the world, not save it.” The answer? Put people and place first. Give cli- mate change a human face, and tell stories about its impact on the places we all know and love. This was Nelson’s role in Davos. “It happened to take place that year that Telluride didn’t get any snow,” Nelson recalled, “so I talked about my children getting up in the morning for ski PE and looking out the win- dow and crying, because they wanted to go out and play in the snow and there wasn’t any.” She also told the story of a 2005 expedition to Baffin Island where, because of warming tem- peratures, there was more snow than usual. “The caribou were floundering in all the snow, and there were mass die-offs,” she said. An elderly Inuit hunter had accompanied them on the expedition, providing food for the group, and he described to Nelson the changes in hunting and in polar bear behavior that the warm weather and diminished sea ice had wrought. She told the Davos attendees of the increased danger to Sherpas and climbers on Everest from a thawing Khumbu icefall, and of the economic impacts that climate change is hav- ing from Telluride to Nepal. POW’s strategic thinking has led them to focus on some groups that other environmental organi- zations have missed. One of their target groups in 2020 was Colorado’s third congressional district— San Miguel County’s own district, a constituency of heavy outdoor users whose electoral weight is gen- erally overshadowed by the Front Range. Another target group are Republican skiers: “Skiing has been a long family tradition for people from all walks of life and from all political persuasions,” Nelson said. “You have a very nonpartisan reach in terms of who you can affect through skiing.” POW operates with a tripartite strategy: sup- porting the right technological and financial solu- tions, building the political will to enact them, and generating a cultural shift to provide the social foundation for change. “We have to change the narrative around climate,” said Udall. “Specifically within the outdoors community, it has to be a pre- requisite that if you’re going to participate in out- door sports, you also have to participate in climate advocacy. This is a nonpartisan issue.” \\ WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 87

88 • BOOK REVIEWS SAN JUAN Scribes CITY OF GOLD HISTORIC TREASURES OF AIR MAIL THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS WILL HOBBS Letters of Politics, Pandemics, and Place HARPER COLLINS CHILDREN’S BOOKS The Photography of Thomas Livingstone PAM HOUSTON & AMY IRVINE $16.99 THOMAS LIVINGSTONE TORREY HOUSE PRESS 978-0061708817 WESTERN REFLECTIONS PUBLISHING $15.95 978-1948814386 Confession: I made it to the end of this book without re- $79.95 alizing that it was meant for young readers (ages 10 and 978-1937851477 Reading Air Mail feels a bit like finding an old box of hand- up). Sure, it was written from the perspective of 15-year- written letters in an attic; you know you shouldn’t read old Owen, but the historical context—Butch Cassidy and The images in this book—all black and white—are stun- them, they weren’t meant for your eyes, but you just can’t the Sundance Kid, the Robbers Roost outlaw hideout, the ning. The compositions capture the nuances of the old help yourself. Before you know it, you’re sitting cross-legged, tuberculosis epidemic, the Smugglers-Union mine strike, mining buildings and machinery, the delicate features of engrossed, laughing and crying, an unapologetic voyeur. the days of mule rustling and traveling by horseback or the alpine landscapes, and even the dramatic moods of The difference with this book is that these two women in- train—was all so intriguing that it was hard, even for an the weather. Thomas Livingstone is a professional pho- vited you in. They shared their missives, which are poignant adult, to put the book down. tographer and gallery owner in Silverton, and a graduate and deeply personal and even painful, publicly as a sort of The same qualities that help children relate to these of the renowned Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa salve to heal our wounds from the separation we all suffered characters are just as endearing to adult readers; Hobbs’ Barbara, California. But it took more than his skills behind though during the pandemic. use of dialogue and description are masterful. The two the lens to compile this collection. The letters were written during the lockdown in spring of boys, Owen and his younger, mischievous brother Till, For starters, it takes a lot of endurance and physical 2020. Irvine and Houston, peers in a peerless echelon of are charming as they track down the thief that stole their strength just to get to some of the locations he shot: renowned female writers in the West and living just a few family’s prize mules, without which their widowed mother Most of the weathered and broken structures from that hours away from each other on either side of the Continental will not be able to make a living on their land in Durango. era sit at extreme altitude in the furthest reaches of the Divide, had never met. They had read one another’s books, Owen makes a solo journey into the high country and over San Juans. A seasoned athlete—skier, kayaker, paraglider, though—and have kindred writing styles exalting the natural the treacherous mountain passes to Telluride, where one spelunker—he trudged across the mountains with his gear world and a person’s place in it. of the mules has been forced to labor for the mines, and in all kinds of weather, even snow. The correspondence begins a bit formally, and soon evolves joined by Till, they hunt the rustler all the way to canyon In an effort to document the remains of the historic min- into a real friendship, and then transforms into an intimate country. The landscape jumps off the pages thanks to ing age, he also researched their origins. The book con- connection. The writing is evocative and at times confession- Hobbs’ obvious familiarity with the terrain from back- tains lovely bits of history, and old poems and writing al; they share private moments and feelings, experiences packing and exploring; he is deftly able to reimagine these from people who experienced life in those bygone times, from their own landscapes, stories about their families and settings as they would have looked and felt more than a during the frenzied search for gold, silver, and other min- histories, and even some things that feel like deep secrets. century ago. Even the raucous mining town of Telluride is erals. One passage recounts the largest single gold rock No spoilers here—you’ll have to read it yourself. But the inti- brought into sharp relief, contrasting the upscale ski re- ever found in Colorado: a 141-pound boulder that had macy isn’t just between these two writers, it also extends to sort it has become since. rolled downhill from the surface of the Annie vein in the the reader; an opportunity to realize that we can still connect This is a great piece of historical Western fiction for readers Summitville gold camp to a public road—which netted with each other, even during a pandemic, even when we are of any age, but it is certainly appropriate for young people 350 ounces, about 22 pounds, of gold. There are other physically isolated from one another. That is Air Mail’s beau- curious about what life was like around these parts long ago. great stories and tales chronicling the past, thanks to tiful gift to you, waiting to be opened. Beverly Rich, Stephen R. Rich, and P. David Smith, that ac- company the photos and help put them in context. Whether you’re interested in history, or preservation, or just enjoy beautiful images, this book will bring you joy. TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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90 • BOOK REVIEWS SAN JUAN Scribes HOLD THE MEAT THE SEED BEHIND THE OF IMAGINATION SLICKROCK CURTAIN Vegan & Vegetarian Recipes with Sassy Asides AGGIE UNDA A Malcolm Brautigan and Eliza Santos Novel CHEF ELIZA GAVIN $7.99 (Project Petrichor Book 1) $60 979-8650987598 JONATHAN THOMPSON 978-0-578-23027-6 LOST SOULS PRESS Very few books meant for fifth-graders are also required $19.99 The most delicious thing in any cookbook is usually the reading for adults, but this is not your average story. B08JD4S2VD food recipes, but in this one, it might well be the commen- The Seed of Imagination takes the reader on a fantastical tary by Chef Eliza, the “sassy asides.” odyssey with two young children searching for a stolen Jonathan Thompson, an award-winning Western jour- The boisterous and energetic celebrity chef made a name flower, and the narrator—one of the children—is autistic. nalist, steps into the world of fiction with his new novel, for herself as a contestant on the reality show “Top Chef,” Seeing and experiencing their adventure from Risho’s Behind the Slickrock Curtain, an environmental thriller set but she was already renowned in Telluride for her food at perspective transforms the story into something power- in the near future and in Utah canyon country. 221 South Oak St., an exquisite restaurant in town. She is ful and insightful. From the way he is affected by noise The story has the familiar feel of the current al- quick-witted, sharp, and a little wild, and her personality and disorder, to the magical way he perceives the world, most-apocalyptic state of affairs in our corner of the really shines through in this cookbook. It is laugh-out- and the tender way his sister Kaia is able to comfort him, Southwest. As the planet burns, the nation reels from loud funny and even a little inappropriate. “Enjoy a filled The Seed also serves as a teaching tool to help people the effects of a pandemic, and the late-president pasta without breaking out that pasta roller. Let’s pretend understand and empathize with people on the autism tweets madly from the grave, Durango artist Peter Si- like you have a pasta roller and your cupboards aren’t spectrum. Indeed, each chapter comes with discussion mons heads into Utah to scout locations for his biggest just filled with booze,” she writes. Or, “Can you use frozen questions to guide young readers as they parse the text. project ever. When Peter fails to return on time, and spinach? Why, sure, but you may want to time travel back While the narrative itself is wonderful—a mystical flower, mercenaries working for the federal government and to the ‘50s when that sort of ingredient was fashionable.” a pirate ship, a dragon, a benevolent forest keeper, an evil reeking of Axe body spray start asking questions about She advises people to find the good balsamic vinegar magician, and a hero’s journey—the beauty of this story is him, Peter’s wife Eliza Santos launches a search. She from Modena, Italy, which is a little expensive: “It will have in its subtext, the unique way an autistic child navigates calls on Peter’s old friend and her ex-lover, disgraced a fancy red seal and may be under lock and key at your through challenges and conquers his fears. journalist and purveyor of fake news, Malcolm Brauti- store, just like the Nicorette and pregnancy tests.” The Seed of Imagination is author Aggie Unda’s first novel— gan, for help. As they dip behind the Slickrock Curtain Oh, and the recipes are beyond anything you could ever a Telluride local, she is by trade a performer, director, to search for Peter they unwittingly uncover a tangled imagine. Seared jackfruit and banana with pomegranate producer, and playwright—but her personal experience scheme led by oligarchs, an alluring petroleum en- molasses. Shiitake-crusted tofu with butternut squash as the mother of an autistic child informs the book and gineer, and corrupt government officials to ravage a fries. Parisian gnocchi with red wine-braised cucumbers. makes it an indispensable resource for students and sacred landscape with a tar sands operation. But the Purple potatoes poached in champagne broth with mo- teachers, as well as parents and kids. more they learn, the more they suspect that it is merely rels. Cauliflower steaks with goji berry-walnut jam. You get a smokescreen for a much bigger operation involving the picture. Any of these dishes, if you can pull them off at a long-lost deposit of high-grade uranium. But are the home, will wow your dinner guests. And she does include perpetrators trying to destroy the planet? Or save it? very simple instructions for all of it; it is meant to guide and And why are they so interested in Malcolm’s memories? cultivate beginner vegetarians into seasoned home chefs. Behind the Slickrock Curtain, Part I of the Project Pet- This book is a must-have for anyone wanting to learn how richor Series, is a satirical and irreverent thrill ride to cook without meat, but it would also make a great gift through the Anthropocene. Thompson provides readers for anyone, anywhere because it is so entertaining to read. with an insightful, humorous, and sometimes scathing “Although this book does not have any meat in the reci- exploration of eco-despair, disinformation in the post- pes, the dishes are terribly flexible,” writes Chef Eliza in the truth age, love, friendship, and the power of memory introduction. “Please replace the tofu with steak or a live and place. monkey. I just ask that you don’t cook bacon naked. Other than that, it’s your kitchen. Have a ball!” TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

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92 • TELLURIDE FACES BY COLOR NEWS THIS LAND ARTIFICIAL LIVE BEHIND VIEWS IS YOUR LAND SNOW MUSIC BARS 38% of adults in the U.S. Bureau of Land By the 2009-2010 ski Live Nation, the world’s Marijuana arrests in 2018 use network news daily Management administers season, 88% of National largest event promoter, made up 40% off the as a resource, with 5.3 244 million surface acres Ski Area resorts were lost $588 million by Q2 total drug arrests in the million viewers watching of public land, about using snowmaking to 2020, after profiting U.S., and 92% of those the evening news. The 1/10 of the total land in supplement natural snow. $178 million in 2019. were for possession (not local TV news industry the U.S., and 710 million It takes approximately The $10 billion Save Our sale or growing). 67% of makes almost $28 billion acres of mineral estate 106 gallons of water to Stages Act, which would Americans say marijuana in revenue annually. on or below public and produce 1 cubic meter provide grants to venues should be legal. private land. of snow. Natural snow and entertainers, awaits cover in the Northern approval in Congress. Hemisphere is predicted to decrease 15% by the end of the century. TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021

NUMBERS HABITAT SHRINKING SMILE AND HOUSE KEY LOSS SNOW SEASON SAY “CHEESE” CALLS SPEED An estimated 100s of Since 1972, the U.S. By 2016, about 80% of Before the COVID-19 14% of businesses 1,000s of migrating “snow cover” season has large police departments public health emergency, around the world still use birds died in 2020. decreased by 2 weeks. with 500 or more just 0.1% of Medicare typewriters. The world Approximately 1 in 3 Between 1972 and 2015, full-time officers had primary care visits were record for typing on a plant, insect, and animal the average extent of body cameras, compared through telehealth; typewriter is 216 words species face extinction North American snow to just 31% of small during the crisis, it was per minute, set in 1946 by 2070 due to climate cover decreased about police departments with 43.5%. 10 million people by Stella Pajunas. The change/increasing 3,300 square miles part-time officers. had telehealth visits average number of typed temperatures. per year. 90% of snow Colorado is the 6th state between mid-March and words per minute is 41. monitoring sites in the to require them. early July. Western U.S. are showing declines. Sources: Statista, BLM.gov, NRDC.org, Ambo/JSTOR, New York Times, EPA.gov, Yahoo News, Congress.gov, Pew Research, CNN.com, Nature.com, Bureau of Justice statistics, NCSL.org, HHS.gov, smallbiztrends.com, Wikipedia WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021 TellurideMagazine.com 93

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96 • LAST LOOK Steed Speed Skijoring brings together two of the best pastimes in the Rocky Mountain West: skiing and riding horses. Originally a mode of winter travel in Norway, skijoring is making a comeback in the United States as a competitive sport. Pictured above are the 2020 Open Division Champions: On horseback is Richard Weber III, the skier is Tyler Smedsrud, and the horse is Serge to Paradise. PHOTO BY GARY RATCLIFF TellurideMagazine.com WINTER/SPRING 2020-2021