Jim Schley

Great snow, great town, incredible terrain, and bright southwestern sunshine pretty much sum up the trip. We pulled into the historic mining town of Telluride, Colorado which sits at the end of a box canyon in the Sneffels Range of the Northern San Juan Mountains and were immediately blown away by the surroundings. The town is surrounded by jagged, skyrocketing peaks, and the ski trails run steeply down the side of the canyon with two lifts and a gondola running right down to the valley floor on the edge of town. Talk about the good life! Wake up, grab a breakfast burrito, throw the ski boots on and head out the door with the skis for the three minute walk to the lift.

The ski terrain at Telluride is very expansive, yet at the same time, accessible. When we arrived, it felt like we’d never find a way to ski all the terrain, but by the time we left, we had, in fact, skied the majority of it. With 2000 acres of skiable terrain and over 4000′ of vertical, that is saying a lot. I was surprised by how varied it was, with the whole gamut of gentle intermediate trails to extreme off-piste chutes, bowls, and steeps and everything in between. I was impressed with the extent and quality by which they groomed some trails and left plenty of others alone. Revelation Bowl opened last season, and it alone was an expansive playground. The highest lift tops out at 12,570′ above sea-level which is also pretty sweet.

Telluride got a huge dump totaling 37″ the week before we arrived. We had lots of sunshine while we were there and most of the fresh powder had been tracked out on the trails and in the obvious woods lines, but we did get some snow on Wednesday night that made for great conditions on Thursday and Friday. Up until that point, conditions were not bad by any stretch, but we were mostly skiing packed powder with the occasional hidden powder stash here and there. I’m not sure exactly WHO it was that tracked up all that powder since it felt like the place was empty the entire time– we didn’t wait in a lift line even once.

One thing that definitely sets Telluride’s skiing apart is its hike-to terrain options. With the ability to climb another 750′ vertical above the top lift to the summit of Palmyra Peak (all in-bounds) and the endless options of chutes and steep faces off the peak and Prospect Ridge into Black Iron bowl, you really see the true expanse of the area. I used a combo of skinning and bootpacking to access the various options. My first hike took me down Mountain Quail with sweet carved turns into the steep wall of Black Iron bowl and then a traverse into Jello Bowl below the towering Palmyra where I found fresh tracks in deep powder before making my way over to Nice Chute. That chute was very narrow and very steep! whoa! Gold Hill Chute #9 was also a pretty spectacular run with a hike along a road atop Prospect Ridge to a short scramble up a jagged rock face. It was an exquisite run, unlike anything I’ve skied before. The chute dropped me steeply into Palmyra Basin which allowed for a long run through untracked deep powder. I had many other great runs over the course of the week, but these were definitely a notch above, especially as I was able to float the deep stuff.

With its location in the southwestern corner of Colorado, Telluride has one of the most pleasant climates for skiing with dry desert air and bright sunshine. This is a particularly sweet deal when it comes to aprés ski, and Telluride is particularly well suited to this with lots of options for hanging out outside in the sun when you’re doing sliding on the hill. There were great options for catching some rays with a frosty beverage. Our favorites were the Garrano Ranch at 10,000′ sitting above Mountain Village, and the outdoor bar at the Hop Garden where we had interesting conversation with the friendly localfolk.

Everyone we met was super-friendly, from the patroller who stopped his snowmobile to chat with me while I was starting out on my hike on Prospect Ridge to the bartender at the Hop Garden, to the lifties blasting their tunes. I loved the vibe. We were skiing on a 48″ base with 154″ of snow at Telluride season to-date. Next report from Sugarbush.