Telluride
Telluride Ski Resort, Colorado The name “Telluride” was possibly adapted from a mumbled “to hell you ride”, but to ride at Telluride ski resort is far from hell – it’s absolute paradise.
Telluride has a colourful mining history and now the town has made the progression from pick to powder. Once upon a time Telluride ski resort had a reputation for being the best kept secret in Colorado, but there’s nothing hush hush about Telluride nowadays. Telluride has transformed into a high profile destination resort.
Apart from the great skiing and snowboarding, a drawcard is the spectacular setting of the box canyon with dramatic steep mountain vistas. The contradictions of Telluride also have an allure. The town has fantastic historic charm and the culture is very easy going, yet the infrastructure of the town and ski resort is modern and well developed. Telluride finds the perfect balance between sophistication and unpretentiousness.
Ski and Snowboard Terrain Telluride continues to develop and expand the resort with an increase of 400 acres since 2006-07. The Telluride ski and snowboard terrain is now 2,000 acres (810 hectares) in size, which is about average amongst the
Colorado ski resorts. It has an impressive vertical drop for Colorado with 3,845 feet (1,172 metres) of thigh burning pleasure.
The first-rate lift infrastructure is another highlight of Telluride Mountain Resort. Of the 18 lifts, 2 are high speed gondolas and there’s another 7 high speed quads. Considering the tempo of the lifts, the thighs will definitely be burning with pleasure.
To-Hell-You-Ride has terrain to keep everyone happy including gentle bunny slopes for those on the “L” plates, great long groomers for intermediates, and an award winning terrain park with enough hits to keep any shredder permanently bruised. Telluride has been gaining more notoriety for its advanced and expert slopes, especially considering the recently opened terrain; the above tree-line Revelation Bowl; Gold Hill chutes; as well as other extreme hike-to in-bounds terrain. Beyond the boundaries there is also lots of backcountry terrain to choose from.
Where is Telluride Ski Resort? Off the beaten track somewhat, but this is one of the major attractions of the ski resort. Telluride sits in southwest Colorado in the four corners region where Colorado meets Utah, Arizona and Utah. Nearby are the Telluride and Montrose regional airports with flights available from nine North American cities.
To get to Telluride from the airports, there are various ground transportation options. Once there, getting around Telluride is fuss-free with a gondola that links the town to the mountain village, as well as the Galloping Goose (yes you read that name correctly!), a shuttle that whizzes (or gallops) around town.
Telluride Accommodation Telluride accommodation is either down in the historic town or up in the mid-mountain village. Staying in town has benefits because it’s stumbling distance from restaurants and nightlife, whereas the modern mountain village is often preferred by families for its convenient location. However either location is pretty handy as both the town and village are ski-in ski-out (for intermediate riders and above), and the gondola that connects the two areas is open from 7am until midnight.
Telluride lodgings include luxury hotels, condos, cabins, private houses, and bed and breakfasts. Many of the accommodations are upscale, but there are a couple of hotels suited to the more budget conscious.
Activities Telluride has a diverse range of activities to complement a ski or snowboard holiday. Activities in the area include winter fly fishing, sleigh ride dinners, dog sledding, or a treatment at one of the day spas. Or for those who want to keep the adrenaline levels high there’s ice-climbing, snowmobiling and glider rides, or you can pretend to be a cowboy and go horse riding.
Why Ski or Snowboard at Telluride? A ski or snowboard holiday in Telluride has plenty on offer – a great range of terrain, dry Colorado snow, sophisticated restaurants and bars, and plenty of non-alpine activities.
And if that’s still not enough to satisfy every whim, you can spread your wings and go
heli-skiing with Helitrax, the only heliski operation in Colorado. The temptation of the pristine powder in the backcountry may be too much to resist!
Move over Butch Cassidy. The Powderhounds are coming to town in January 2010 to steal Telluride’s most precious treasure.