Alpine Updates

Alpine Technical Workshop celebrated with an open house and BBQ weekend to recognize the milestone of 100 attendees through our 40 workshops over the last four years. We are humbled and grateful to everyone who has joined us or been involved with Alpine since Jan 2010. It’s always great to have ways where old and new friends can meet from around the world. Two of the original Alpiners from our Beta workshop, Joe and John, joined us for this special occasion, while others also attended with their spouses and children. Looking back, reconnecting with such exceptional people from across the world was made this weekend a special time for us at Alpine.

On the first day, we had a knowledge session by Joe Calhoon and Jaroslav Soukup explaining wood window joinery, followed by an open discussion on wood processing. We then took a lunch break for our first of three BBQs over this weekend – a lunch held at the workshop under a beautiful Colorado sky. The afternoon session was presented by Bob Bein of Gemini Coatings on the topic of water-based finishes. We thank our presenters for traveling and putting on the knowledge sharing sessions.

Our evening BBQ was held at the Ouray Brewery along the Uncompahgre River, a wonderful, beautiful evening with ribs, burgers and of course, beer! We thank our sponsor for the evening, Rorbert Bein of Gemini Coatings, for providing us with a memorable meal with great friends.

Saturday morning was an open time for our Alpiners and their families to enjoy scenic Ouray. Many of the group took up the challenge of a lively hike in the mountains around the town. With Alpine instructor Joe Calhoon’s three generations of local knowledge, the hikers got a chance to really get to know Ouray and the majestic box canyon it's nestled in.

In the early afternoon, we began our main event of a guided jeep tour to the Yankee Boy Basin, followed by a western cookout in the mountains. The weather in the mountains can be unpredictable, and Saturday was no exception, windy and cold, but the view was amazing. The Twin Falls and spectacular scenery were well worth braving the elements for, as we took in some incredible scenery and the fascinating history of a ghost town sitting at over 11,000 feet.

The sun did come out for our western cookout, and as the kids enjoyed s’mores, the adults enjoyed a great selection of red wines our Alpiners had brought to enjoy with each other. We also thank our sponsors, Soupkup America and Rangate, for this day.

We arrived back in Ouray full and content, but not wanting to end the evening. We made a great attempt to find a pub that would allow an Alpiner, Ian, to play the piano for us, but this was not to be, so we just enjoyed an early evening toast to a wonderful weekend with friends.

Alpine has become more than just a place to learn about the production of Euro Windows and Doors, which was our concept when the workshop series started in January of 2010. Now not only do we have three other workshop series, Alpine is also a place to network, grow knowledge, and investigate new businesses together. We thank our attendees and sponsors for creating such a wonderful experience with the spirit and willingness to share their knowledge openly so that our community of woodworkers continues to flourish. For our readers who were not able to attend, we hope to see you participate next time!

We look forward to many more great experience like this together in future workshops and events.