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ENLARGE
Each week the Free Press profiles a Grand Valley citizen for its “Meet Your Neighbor” series. Look for a new “Neighbor” each Monday in the Free Press.
Tom Ela set off to see more of the world after he graduated from high school.
Ela left his native Colorado for 15 years, collecting a variety of job experiences — working in restaurants, as an orderly in a state mental hospital, and as a furniture mover with a band of musicians.
He spent eight years in Boston enjoying the cultural amenities of a big city.
Ela first graduated from Pomona College in southern California with a degree in English. Between spring and fall semesters he worked as a garbage man in Summit County where he shared a cabin near Quandary Peak with friends from Grand Junction.
“That was a great job for a kid,” Ela said.
Ela backpacked in New Zealand and worked for six months there in a leather goods factory making hand-crafted belts and purses.
“I was kind of casting around for experience and traveling,” said Ela, 56.
“Eventually, I missed the mountains and the Colorado lifestyle.”
Grand Mesa Nordic Council
Ela moved back to Grand Junction in 1985 and began working at the former Hilton Hotel where he was head waiter and a bartender for three years. Then he managed the upscale Gladstone's Restaurant for 12 years where he met Seth Anderson, an outdoors enthusiast kindred spirit.
“Tom was my stuffy boss at Gladstone's Restaurant in the mid-'90s, or so I thought,” Anderson said. “Later I learned firsthand he is an eclectic and punk-rock listening, fast skiing, running and mountain climbing zealot who dedicates his spare time and money to promoting outdoor activities that keep us healthy and happy.”
“And Tom is fun as hell,” he added.
One of the ways Ela promotes the outdoor life is his volunteer work with the Grand Mesa Nordic Council. Ela directs four adult cross country ski races and one kid race every year on the Mesa.
Ela helped found the nonprofit, largely volunteer-run organization 20 years ago for the purpose of grooming and maintaining cross-country ski trails on Grand Mesa.
The Nordic Council took over the task after Powderhorn Ski Resort discontinued grooming the trails.
Although the organization hires groomers — they end up volunteering as well, said Ela, a board member and current secretary.
“Most Nordic areas charge a trail fee, ($15-$25 a day), Ela said. “We want to keep it open for free, then hopefully people will donate. So far it's worked out well.”
Ela prefers cross-country to downhill skiing. For one, it's cheaper.
And, “I love the quiet and exercise aspect to it,” Ela said. “It's unbeatable.”
Mesa Monument Striders
Eventually, Ela grew weary of working holidays and weekends typical of the restaurant world. He returned to college eight years ago to earn a degree in computer science from Mesa State College. Now he works for Rocky Mountain Health Plans as a data analyst.
“It was quite a transformation to go from a very public position (manager/host at Gladstone's) to working in a cubicle, on a computer all day,” Ela said. He said he enjoys working for Rocky and using his analytical skills, although he misses the social aspect of the restaurant.
At Gladstone's “I used to see everybody in town,” Ela said.
These days he gets his “people fix” by running.
Ela belongs to the Mesa Monument Striders — a Grand Junction running club. The group goes running twice a week.
During the winter season five to 10 “diehards” run loops through local neighborhoods. In the summertime membership grows to a dozen or so and they take to the trails outside of town.
“It's a great social thing,” said Ela, who is single.
Colorado roots
Ela's paternal great-grandad moved from New Hampshire to a ranch in Glade Park in the 1880s.
His mother's family operated orchards in Clifton for several generations.
Ela grew up surrounded by fruit trees. His mother, uncle and grandfather all with contiguous property, operated the orchard together. It was eventually sold and is now the site of the Orchard Run subdivision.
“I still live there in my grandmother's old house,” Ela said. “I'm surrounded by houses now, instead of trees.”
His parents, Shirley and retired judge Bill Ela, now live outside of Hotchkiss where they own an organic fruit orchard that Ela's brother Steve runs.
His upbringing stirred a love of the outdoors, Ela said. Ela's family spent a lot of time at a cabin on Grand Mesa that his grandfather built in 1950.
Ela's family also backpacked together.
“Our favorite place to go was Pierre Lakes below Capital Peak in the Snowmass Wilderness,” Ela said. “My dad's motivation was to go fishing, which I'd do briefly before getting bored, and then I'd go hike around some boulder fields or go climb a high ridge where I got my taste for alpine hiking.
“I like to get up high somewhere and look around.”
Exploring in a ‘quiet way'
Climbing mountains is a great way to explore Colorado, Ela said.
He also enjoys hiking in the desert canyons of eastern Utah.
Fifteen years ago Ela completed all of Colorado's 14ers, most of which he climbed with his good friend, Chuck Bodie. Currently, he's working on climbing the top 100 peaks of Colorado. He has 10 left to climb. His climbing buddies include his father, Bill, brothers Steve and Dan, and his friend, Seth Anderson.
Ela will meet his brother, Wendell, in February to participate in a 24-hour mountain bike race outside of Tucson. Teams of six to 10 will trade off riding 16-mile loops for 24 hours.
Most would assume Ela is already in shape for the event. He's training for it, however, by adding bicycling to his other outdoor activities.
Ela bicycled the White Rim trail in Utah — a four-day tour around Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park last spring.
In June, he participated in a local triathlon at Highline Lake where he swam 500 yards, biked 16 miles and ran three miles. It was his third Highline Hustle triathlon.
“I do a lot of exploring just around the valley,” Ela said. “McInnis Canyons — I run those trails all the time. Glade Park, the Monument, the Bookcliffs — there's endless territory close by.
“I'm not particularly competitive. I like staying healthy and seeing the countryside in a quiet way.”
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
Tom Ela set off to see more of the world after he graduated from high school.
Ela left his native Colorado for 15 years, collecting a variety of job experiences — working in restaurants, as an orderly in a state mental hospital, and as a furniture mover with a band of musicians.
He spent eight years in Boston enjoying the cultural amenities of a big city.
Ela first graduated from Pomona College in southern California with a degree in English. Between spring and fall semesters he worked as a garbage man in Summit County where he shared a cabin near Quandary Peak with friends from Grand Junction.
“That was a great job for a kid,” Ela said.
Ela backpacked in New Zealand and worked for six months there in a leather goods factory making hand-crafted belts and purses.
“I was kind of casting around for experience and traveling,” said Ela, 56.
“Eventually, I missed the mountains and the Colorado lifestyle.”
Grand Mesa Nordic Council
Ela moved back to Grand Junction in 1985 and began working at the former Hilton Hotel where he was head waiter and a bartender for three years. Then he managed the upscale Gladstone's Restaurant for 12 years where he met Seth Anderson, an outdoors enthusiast kindred spirit.
“Tom was my stuffy boss at Gladstone's Restaurant in the mid-'90s, or so I thought,” Anderson said. “Later I learned firsthand he is an eclectic and punk-rock listening, fast skiing, running and mountain climbing zealot who dedicates his spare time and money to promoting outdoor activities that keep us healthy and happy.”
“And Tom is fun as hell,” he added.
One of the ways Ela promotes the outdoor life is his volunteer work with the Grand Mesa Nordic Council. Ela directs four adult cross country ski races and one kid race every year on the Mesa.
Ela helped found the nonprofit, largely volunteer-run organization 20 years ago for the purpose of grooming and maintaining cross-country ski trails on Grand Mesa.
The Nordic Council took over the task after Powderhorn Ski Resort discontinued grooming the trails.
Although the organization hires groomers — they end up volunteering as well, said Ela, a board member and current secretary.
“Most Nordic areas charge a trail fee, ($15-$25 a day), Ela said. “We want to keep it open for free, then hopefully people will donate. So far it's worked out well.”
Ela prefers cross-country to downhill skiing. For one, it's cheaper.
And, “I love the quiet and exercise aspect to it,” Ela said. “It's unbeatable.”
Mesa Monument Striders
Eventually, Ela grew weary of working holidays and weekends typical of the restaurant world. He returned to college eight years ago to earn a degree in computer science from Mesa State College. Now he works for Rocky Mountain Health Plans as a data analyst.
“It was quite a transformation to go from a very public position (manager/host at Gladstone's) to working in a cubicle, on a computer all day,” Ela said. He said he enjoys working for Rocky and using his analytical skills, although he misses the social aspect of the restaurant.
At Gladstone's “I used to see everybody in town,” Ela said.
These days he gets his “people fix” by running.
Ela belongs to the Mesa Monument Striders — a Grand Junction running club. The group goes running twice a week.
During the winter season five to 10 “diehards” run loops through local neighborhoods. In the summertime membership grows to a dozen or so and they take to the trails outside of town.
“It's a great social thing,” said Ela, who is single.
Colorado roots
Ela's paternal great-grandad moved from New Hampshire to a ranch in Glade Park in the 1880s.
His mother's family operated orchards in Clifton for several generations.
Ela grew up surrounded by fruit trees. His mother, uncle and grandfather all with contiguous property, operated the orchard together. It was eventually sold and is now the site of the Orchard Run subdivision.
“I still live there in my grandmother's old house,” Ela said. “I'm surrounded by houses now, instead of trees.”
His parents, Shirley and retired judge Bill Ela, now live outside of Hotchkiss where they own an organic fruit orchard that Ela's brother Steve runs.
His upbringing stirred a love of the outdoors, Ela said. Ela's family spent a lot of time at a cabin on Grand Mesa that his grandfather built in 1950.
Ela's family also backpacked together.
“Our favorite place to go was Pierre Lakes below Capital Peak in the Snowmass Wilderness,” Ela said. “My dad's motivation was to go fishing, which I'd do briefly before getting bored, and then I'd go hike around some boulder fields or go climb a high ridge where I got my taste for alpine hiking.
“I like to get up high somewhere and look around.”
Exploring in a ‘quiet way'
Climbing mountains is a great way to explore Colorado, Ela said.
He also enjoys hiking in the desert canyons of eastern Utah.
Fifteen years ago Ela completed all of Colorado's 14ers, most of which he climbed with his good friend, Chuck Bodie. Currently, he's working on climbing the top 100 peaks of Colorado. He has 10 left to climb. His climbing buddies include his father, Bill, brothers Steve and Dan, and his friend, Seth Anderson.
Ela will meet his brother, Wendell, in February to participate in a 24-hour mountain bike race outside of Tucson. Teams of six to 10 will trade off riding 16-mile loops for 24 hours.
Most would assume Ela is already in shape for the event. He's training for it, however, by adding bicycling to his other outdoor activities.
Ela bicycled the White Rim trail in Utah — a four-day tour around Island in the Sky in Canyonlands National Park last spring.
In June, he participated in a local triathlon at Highline Lake where he swam 500 yards, biked 16 miles and ran three miles. It was his third Highline Hustle triathlon.
“I do a lot of exploring just around the valley,” Ela said. “McInnis Canyons — I run those trails all the time. Glade Park, the Monument, the Bookcliffs — there's endless territory close by.
“I'm not particularly competitive. I like staying healthy and seeing the countryside in a quiet way.”
Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.
