Tag: Quality Inn

Backcountry Snowshoeing Tours in Durango

Durango snowshoeingGet your snowshoes out and get your snowshoe on this Saturday, March 1, at Durango Mountain Resort. (I was going for a “get your swerve on” joke, but I don’t think it worked.)

You don’t have to go this Saturday; Alpenglow Snowshoe Tours leads groups of snowshoers on after-hours, backcountry trips every Saturday and other designated evenings. During the tour, you will ride the chairlift to the top of the mountain and then take your time snowshoeing down skier-free ski slopes as you enjoy the sunset. Trips are 3:30-5 p.m. and cost $60 per person The price includes your snowshoes, chairlift ride and guide as well as après-snowshoe drinks and appetizers at the Powderhouse restaurant. Call 970-385-2147 to reserve your spot.

Durango Mountain Resort also offers daily snowshoe tours at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Guides provide step-by-snowy-step instruction and as they lead groups on 2- to 3-mile trips into the surrounding hills of the San Juan Mountains. Snowshoers will get to see and learn about wildlife, geology and local flora and fauna during the trip. Call 970-385-2147 to make reservations.

Durango Mountain Resort is a 30-minute drive from Durango and a straight-shot north of the Durango Quality Inn on U.S. Highway 550. Book your room with us while you’re in Durango enjoying all of our winter sports!

by dgoquality

Durango Winter Photographer’s Train and Night Photo Shoot

Photo: Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
Photo: Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

There’s still time, and  there’s still space, so there’s still a chance to get on the Durango & Silverton Winter Photographer’s Train this Sunday. This trip sells out every year, but there are still a few coach seats left, although spots are all booked up for the Night Photo Shoot in the D&SNG rail yard on Saturday, Feb. 15.

2014 Winter Photographer’s Train

8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 16

The Durango & Silverton railroad offers a few photography trips each year that give shutterbugs — professional and amateur alike — a chance to ride the rails through the pristine wilderness of the Animas River valley and the San Juan Mountains then deboard to take photos of the antique engine pulling the train through the winter landscape.

Sunday’s train will feature a K-36 steam engine pulling three heated coach cars as well as the first-class, glass-ceiling Knight Sky car that will serve as a classroom for a workshop during the trip. The train will stop in the woods, and passengers must be physically able to climb on and off the train to take photos. It will be a long day — the train departs at 8 a.m. and returns at 5:30 p.m. — so passengers-slash-photographers should be prepared for the long haul.

After the train returns to Durango, photogs are invited to meet up at Brew Pub & Kitchen about a block from the depot. Passengers can warm up with happy-hour prices on drinks and appetizers and chat about the shots they got and the ones that got away.

Call 970-247-2733 or 1-888-872-4607 to make your reservations now.

Night Photo Shoot

The night photo shoot is booked up this year, but you can always put your name on the wait list and cross your fingers. For future reference, the night shoot gives photographers a rare chance to capture the Durango railroad’s engines and passenger cars in the D&S rail yard. The event is limited to 20 photographers and only offered to Winter Photo Train passengers. Call 970-247-2733 or 1-888-872-4607 to be put on the waiting list.

by dgoquality

Durango Biathlete Gives Her Olympic Spot to Twin Sister

There’s a super cool story making the rounds right now, and we just want to share it with you. It’s about two Durango residents. Twins, actually. Olympic biathlete twins from Durango, if you want to get all technical about it.

Watch this awesome commercial, which only aired for one day on Wednesday, Jan. 29, due to some regulations about Olympic athletes and ads and sponsors and blah, blah, blah.

Try not to cry.

Are you crying? Yeah. We know. It’s OK.

Lanny and Tracy Barnes are from Durango, and the twins are both biathletes (biathlons pair the sport of cross country skiing with rifle shooting). They both went to the 2006 Olympics, and Lanny also competed in the 2010 Olympics. Although they were both aiming to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Lanny was too sick to compete in the final two Olympic trial races. Meanwhile, Tracy qualified. So, what did Tracy do? She gave up her spot to the next person in line: her twin sister.

As Lanny told The Denver Post:

“I was completely shocked,” Lanny said. “I almost always know what Tracy’s thinking, and for once in my life, she actually caught me by surprise. When she told me what she wanted to do, I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say. I tried protesting and telling her, ‘No, this is your spot, you deserve it.’ She wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Since the Barnes’ announcement on Jan. 13, their story has been making headlines across the country and around the world. They’ve been featured on live news shows and in newspapers. On Wednesday, they appeared in their one-day-only Guinness ad, which aired several times on TV and quickly went viral online.

Dang. That’s some cool stuff, Barnes twins. All of us at the Durango Quality Inn just want to say: Way to go, Tracy, and best of luck in Sochi, Lanny!

by dgoquality