MOUNTAIN LIFE
MAGIC ON ICE
with much of the choreography designed by the students, while the spring performance tends to be more collaborative.” The fun doesn’t stop with just hockey and figure skating at Hanley. There are also daily open skates and an adult curling league. Curling, which is a kind of shuffleboard on ice, has a small but devoted following. According to Patty Arndt, who has curled for as long as the sport’s been around in town — eight years — and serves as the secretary on the Telluride Curling Club BY EMILY SHOFF board, curling is all about having fun and building community. “As a sport, curling is easy to learn but can be hard to master; the more skillful fact that everyyou get, the more strateone has a chance gic the game becomes. to gain skills It helps that the last rule at their own of curling is that the pace. Because winning team buys the everyone shares losing team drinks, so in the ice during a way everyone wins.” their tri-weekly Outside of the practices, there’s Hanley Ice Rink, which room for youngis an indoor, National er kids with Hockey League-sized, ‘OUR TOWN advanced skills refrigerated ice rink loIS MORE INTERto skate with oldcated in Telluride Town CONNECTED THAN er groups. “We Park, there are two outMOST AND THAT focus on fun door rinks in the park. IS MAGNIFIED and on always In Mountain Village, IN HOCKEY.’ teaching them there are two spots for something new, skating: the Reflection G r ays on Fe r tig so that they keep Plaza rink, which is coming back,” overseen by nearby says Daniel. New in recent years is the addition of a Madeline Hotel and Residences, and another at harness, which allows more skilled skaters to try out the Village Pond, located in Village Plaza. harder tricks. There is also a bonus morning session In a town with plenty to do come wintertime, geared towards advanced skaters. Grayson Fertig is on to something when he The program has two performances, one in points to the vital role ice sports play in building the winter at the Reflection Plaza rink in Mouncommunity. Trying your hand at curling, watching tain Village and one in March at the Hanley. an exquisite performance by local figure skaters or “Each are incredible in their own way,” remarks cheering your hockey team alongside friends and Daniel. “The winter one is more individual, neighbors are all a part of the winter fabric.
Ice sports are a key part of this community’s winter fabric
Tim Barber
Melissa Plantz
A
s anyone who has been down at the Hanley Ice Rink on a Friday night to see an adult co-ed hockey game can attest, there’s a whole lot more to this community than skiing. Ice sports of all kinds — from hockey to figure skating to curling — are a key part of the winter fabric of both Telluride and Mountain Village. At “Hanley” alone, there’s a vibrant youth hockey program, ranging from the wee mini-mites ages 6 and under all the way up to competitive leagues for high school kids. There are also two divisions of men’s hockey, a women’s team, hockey fitness classes and daily pick-up games. The town’s ability to have such an impressive hockey program stems from the tight-knit community, reflects Grayson Fertig, executive director of the Telluride Lizard Head Hockey Club. “Our town is more interconnected than most and that is magnified in hockey,” he says. Fertig, who jokes that the hockey rink becomes everyone’s second living room during the winter, says that the town’s general love of play is also part of hockey’s success. “Telluride is exceptional at recreation.” Equally special is the town’s figure skating program. Offered to ages ranging from 5 through high school, skating classes offer kids the chance to build skills in a fun, low-stress environment. Alysha Daniel, the program’s director, points to the
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