Telluride: 2/23 - 2/26 2016

They say there's a first time for everything. My first time visiting Telluride…








...And my first ever gondola ride of shame. The free gondola linking Mountain Village to the town of Telluride made it possible (open 7am - midnight!). 6+” of snow fell that night. The fact that I missed out on first tracks because of a hookup made it all the more shameful.



View from my gondola of shame


Hey….  Sometimes you have to go where the action is. In this case, it was hiking above lift 12 where I found the deepest snow on the mountain. Skied variations on Mountain Quail, Dihedral, Westlake.



Snowboarder gets fresh tracks in Mountain Quail



I spent a fair amount of time exploring the ridge in the right half of the photo



The hike above lift 12 leading to Palmyra Peak






Fresh tracks



Repeat

score.

ml242 wrote

score.

In more than one way.

I've always wanted to check this place out - usually ski Utah when I head west.

Looks awesome - how would you compare it to snowbird/alta (if you've ever been)?

Town looks like it would be really cool...how's the town?

I really loved the terrain along that ridge - Mountain Quail, Dihedral Chute.   Did you hike above Mountain Quail?

ADmiKe wrote

I've always wanted to check this place out - usually ski Utah when I head west.

Looks awesome - how would you compare it to snowbird/alta (if you've ever been)?

Town looks like it would be really cool...how's the town?

I've been to Alta/Snowbird, and based on skiing alone I prefer them both to Telluride. Telluride offers more variety than either, and has better bumps if that's your thing (chair 9). Telluride is also far less crowded so it takes far longer to track out. My biggest gripe with Telluride is the layout. It takes several lifts to get to the upper mountain from where I stayed at the base of lift 7. Getting from place to place can be a pain. Telluride also has some exposure issues from what I could tell. While there is some fantastic terrain off of Gold Hill, it faces west and is subject to some high winds that can scour the slopes.

The town is fantastic. In fact, if I were to evaluate a trip to Telluride vs. a trip to Alta/Snowbird beyond just skiing alone, Telluride would come out on top. The setting is beautiful. Anywhere you stay in town is basically ski-in-ski-out. It's totally walkable (plus there's a free shuttle about town if you want it). There are tons of options for food and drink (+ herb if that's your thing). I could go on...

Adk Jeff wrote

I really loved the terrain along that ridge - Mountain Quail, Dihedral Chute.   Did you hike above Mountain Quail?

I did not––though I had some buddies that went up to Palmyra. The reward-to-effort ratio seemed to diminish beyond that point.

takeahike46er wrote

ADmiKe wrote

I've always wanted to check this place out - usually ski Utah when I head west.

Looks awesome - how would you compare it to snowbird/alta (if you've ever been)?

Town looks like it would be really cool...how's the town?

I've been to Alta/Snowbird, and based on skiing alone I prefer them both to Telluride. Telluride offers more variety than either, and has better bumps if that's your thing (chair 9). Telluride is also far less crowded so it takes far longer to track out. My biggest gripe with Telluride is the layout. It takes several lifts to get to the upper mountain from where I stayed at the base of lift 7. Getting from place to place can be a pain. Telluride also has some exposure issues from what I could tell. While there is some fantastic terrain off of Gold Hill, it faces west and is subject to some high winds that can scour the slopes.

The town is fantastic. In fact, if I were to evaluate a trip to Telluride vs. a trip to Alta/Snowbird beyond just skiing alone, Telluride would come out on top. The setting is beautiful. Anywhere you stay in town is basically ski-in-ski-out. It's totally walkable (plus there's a free shuttle about town if you want it). There are tons of options for food and drink (+ herb if that's your thing). I could go on...

Thanks for the review - sounds like it's worth a visit.  Word on the street is they are flying direct from EWR to Telluride now....saw $383 a few weeks back. Not too shabby.

Also what about lift tix? Find any deals? I'm assuming they are crazy expensive (i.e. Jackson Hole, Vail resorts, etc)

This is sometimes a make or break for me and takes away from fun factor.  I can't stomach paying window price too easily. Tix getting too expensive these days...

If we are talking about inbounds laps alone than I would say that I prefer to ski at Snowbird over T-Ride. I'm not as into Alta as much as the Bird. But.....if you are looking at the whole experience than nothing in Utah compares to the ski town experience of T-Ride. It's the quintessential Colorado mining town turned into ski town. You really can't imagine a more picturesque town in a mountain setting.

The other shining aspect about Telluride for the serious skier is the accessible side country terrain. Bear Creek is probably the most incredible collection of ski area side country any where in the United States. It's often plagued by the terrifying San Juan snowpack but if you get it right it's one of the most outstanding lift served experiences in this country.

I bet it was fairly stable for your visit OP. See any tracks below the San Joaquin?

ADmiKe wrote

Thanks for the review - sounds like it's worth a visit.  Word on the street is they are flying direct from EWR to Telluride now....saw $383 a few weeks back. Not too shabby.

I flew direct out of Newark to Montrose. I think I paid $367 or something like that. Too good a deal to pass up. That said, accommodations were more pricey than I'm used to paying, and deals on lift tickets were nonexistent.

raisingarizona wrote

The other shining aspect about Telluride for the serious skier is the accessible side country terrain. Bear Creek is probably the most incredible collection of ski area side country any where in the United States. It's often plagued by the terrifying San Juan snowpack but if you get it right it's one of the most outstanding lift served experiences in this country.

I bet it was fairly stable for your visit OP. See any tracks below the San Joaquin?

I didn't notice any tracks below the couloir, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. I saw plenty of tracks in Bear Creek, and several people dropping off the ridge towards Temptation Chute as well as Nellie Bowl. Though I didn't ski it, the side country looked amazing and expansive.

Nice. Cool pics btw, thanks for the tr. Where were the first two pics taken from? I was thinking maybe the Cornet Falls trail but I'm not so sure.

raisingarizona wrote

Where were the first two pics taken from? I was thinking maybe the Cornet Falls trail but I'm not so sure.

It was the Cornet Falls trail.