COVID

How do I book? Booking is done on Winter Park's Ways Website

 

Can you add availability on a certain day?

Usually not Winter Park tours are planned months in advance if you want to do a tour at my Boulder location I usually have a lot more flexibility to change dates

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How much is a tour?

 

we ask 59$ for the hill house tour, and 79$ for the gondola

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I’d like to know more about the tour:

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Tours start at sunset and last 2hrs. I start with a talk about the telescopes and looking at a few twilight objects. Then there's a 30 to 45min astronomy talk where, I will teach you how to navigate with the stars, point out some constellations with my lazer and share their stories as we let our eyes adjust to the night. Next is ~45 min of telescope time where we get to look at: planets, constellations, satellites, nebula, clusters, galaxies, maybe some shooting stars, and our universe. I end with a 15min q&a and a last few objects (I love looking at things in the telescopes so, guests are free to stay as late as they like and I will keep pointing telescopes at things, answering questions, and talking, as long as there's an audience).

 

What’s the Weather looking like?:

 

I'll keep you posted with weather reports as the day of the tour gets closer These is usually my most trusted source if you want to keep track of it with me: Natl weather service here

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What happens when the weather looks bad?

 

I give as much heads up as possible if it is looking like it might be cloudy 3 to 4 days out: Don't panic, weather reports are notoriously wrong here in Colorado. I don't make any calls until the day before the tour, and I will keep my eye on it as the day gets closer.

 

If I see a tour day isn’t looking that clear 3-4 days out I send a message warning guests and advising on days that have better weather and has room to add extra guests.

 

1 to 2 days before the tour: If the weather report hasn’t changed much and it is a day or two before the tour I send a message informing guests that cancellation is likely and offering days to rebook.

I might hold off officially calling the tour off if it looks to be clearing a little, in hopes it will continue to clear.

I often will add an additional tour on a day which looks to be the more clear at this point and encourage anyone that’s able to rebook to do so

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Within 24hrs of the tour:If the weather is still cloudy, we will have to cancel

If you are unable to rebook I will put your refund in shortly after letting you know it has been canceled, let me know if you do not receive a refund within 24hrs.

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Is there any hiking or walking involved?

 

Nope, No hiking required. the Tour takes place near the starting location there might be a 75yard walk max.

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Is this show suitable for children?

 

All ages are welcome! I just warn parents of young children: this is a late night show geared for a developed mind requiring a good attention span, little ones often fall asleep. As 2 year olds will probably be asleep the whole time, I offer it free to babies 2 and under.

 

Will there be cell phone reception?

 

Yes, I’ve never had a guest have trouble getting a phone signal at the sight. All major networks have coverage. There's also free Wifi.

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Can I give a tour as a Gift? The Boulder tour is more flexible and therefore likely better for a gift

 

What telescope should I buy?

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For back yard I'd say a Dobsonian telescope and for camping/travel/etc a Schmitt-cassigrain. don't get anything smaller than a 4 inch telescope (smaller than 4inch would just be a toy for looking at the moon, you're better off with a pair of binoculars).

 

Honestly just starting with a good set of binoculars is a great way to go. you will be impressed with what you can see in binos and if you do get a telescope they're nice to find what you want to point a telescope at. get (15 to 20)X(60 to 40). first # is zoom more zoom makes it harder to use The second number is aperture the bigger the better but harder to carry so 60 would be for in a car 40 would be for on a hike with ~50 being a good middle ground.

 

There's a few more options, but those are good rules of thumb.