Ear to the ground

“I can’t do this. These skis are too slick!”

– A never-ever 9-year-old minutes before mastering the Stem Christie at Purgatory

Scary landings

One of North America’s hairiest runways went back into business recently. The Telluride Regional Airport celebrated a grand re-opening Dec. 17. And get this, the highly trafficked runway now actually meets Federal Aviation Administration standards.

Telluride spent $22 million and nine months ironing out the wrinkled airstrip. As anyone who has flown into the 22-year-old airport knows, the runway ranked high in terms of exposure. At 9,070 feet above sea level, Telluride has bragging rights for the highest commercial strip in North America, perched high on a mesa with sharp drops on either end. Until upgrades, it also boasted a 16-foot dip in the middle.

“It was sporty,” Chip Taft, a pilot with Mountain Aviaton told theTelluride Daily Planet. “The wheels would leave the ground on takeoff, and the runway would try to come up and meet us.”

Nonetheless that crooked strip had attained cult status in Telluride. Prior to 1987, Telluride was little more than a former mining and struggling ski town. The airport opened the door to tourism and was a major factor in the town’s resortification.

On Dec. 17, Neil Armstrong, the man who piloted the moon lander, was aboard the first flight back into Telluride. The astronaut who first stepped on the moon cut the ribbon on the new strip.

Best in stress

Colorado earned a dubious honor recently as Denver slid into the No. 1 slot on a list nobody wants to visit. The American Psychological Association has ranked the Mile High City as the single most stressed-out city in America.

The APA conducted surveys across the country, and Denver topped the cranky criteria. More than 75 percent of residents in the state’s capital reported significant stress related to work or money, and nearly half of them said their stress levels rose in the last year.

Fellow Coloradans can rest easy, however. The Gallup Organization’s Well-Being Index was released right on the heels of the APA stress study. The index ranked states of overall well-being by rating emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors and job satisfaction. Colorado nudged into 4th place just behind Wyoming, Hawaii and Utah.