Southwest

In April our staff went to the Southwest for a conference, and also had the chance to experience a part of the state far from Denver.  It was my first time to Durango and I loved it!  We started in Ignacio, where we visited the Sky Ute Cultural Center.  It was a wonderful facility that told the story of the Sky Ute Native American tribe in such a graceful and modern way.  I love that it incorporated the voices of the elders, and described many of the mystical and cultural aspects of the people.  We then had a wine tasted at Foxfire Farms Vineyard, woo!

Next up was Mesa Verde, which are the original ruins of the Ancient Puebloan people - they built their communities into the sides of canyons.  Truly unbelievable how in tact they are - it made me feel very connected to the people of the past.

We then spent time at the conference and Durango, which is such a cute mountain city.  It is also home to the Durango & Silverton Railroad (for the history buffs).

I'm really falling in love with Southwest Colorado and hope to get back soon!

In March I was the lone "client" on our winter TV shoot in Silverton, Ouray and Crested Butte. It was a really amazing experience to see a full shoot come together. We were up on the mountain at 5am every day into late in the night, stayed at a creepy, haunted hotel in Silverton (which itself was like a ghost town), and just tromped all over to get a great shot.

Sunrise in the San Juan's

Taking snowcats to the top (almost tipped over a few times!)

Representing the Jayhawks from 14,000 ft in the Sweet 16! We had to wear avalanche beacons at all times, as well as carry shovels and picks in case of avalanches.

One of the best parts was hanging out with dudes like this, who are really passionate about they do, love the outdoors and having fun. And I'll say it, not too hard on the eyes either :)

This was one of our guides. When the other group was off getting shots, we hiked to the peak with two of the guides - one started climbing a rock face in his ski boots and the other jumped off the peak in this! I also got to watch the KU/North Carolina with a Tar Heel (man it was good to win), meet some very cool people and guides -- and make movie magic. I'm very excited to see the final ads this winter!

Steamboat

One of the best ski weekends of the year (okay, THE best) was when Molly, Luke, Ty, Cameron and Lee came from Kansas City to spend the weekend in Steamboat Springs. The house Ty won at his school's auction couldn't have been more perfect, and it was awesome catching up with this girl:

Who would have thought a few weeks later she would be asked to become "Mrs."??

Of course Ty orders bloody marys for the table. Another fun "small world" moment was when I found out Lee is from Logan!

It was one of the biggest dumps of snow in Colorado the whole season, so it was so cool to be there and remember what GOOD snow is like! Not so fun driving back the next day through it, but worth it.


Steamboat is now one of my favorites and can't wait to go back next winter. Or Molly and Luke's wedding in December!