Telluride advice?

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Honestly, you will be fine with a map.   Gold is awesome.   Man I hope you have good snow.    

If so, there is a way to go from Gold to town--the waterfall.  A nice little bowl there that no one will mess with.  I would recommed a local tho.     You can climb to a hill off the lift near the tee pee...you will see it, its on the map.     I have not as I always had my kid(s).      

If you have a car and a free day---go to Silverton.     2 hrs with good weather.    

After skiing, if you want a drive---Hot springs and ice climbing in Ouray.  About 50 minutes.

+1 on silverton and ouray. hot springs there are very nude. which was odd when the hot 19 year old (natural) red head jumped in the little tub with me and mrs. ml, and also a little weird in the big pools with the old folks nips and everything else up to the sky. it was pretty awesome being in the hot water with snow on the ground though.

I'll also say that silverton didn't take me two hours to drive to... but you won't want to leave. That place is just incredibly special.

If you need any gear or local advice, the Jagged Edge is the best shop in town.

ml242 wrote

.... hot springs there are very nude. which was odd when the hot 19 year old (natural) red head jumped in the little tub

Sure to cause an untimely condition.

We're only going to be there for 3 days, so traveling beyond Telluride is unlikely.  But man, I'd pretty much give my left nut for a day at Silverton, based on everything I've seen and read.

Adk Jeff wrote

I'm going to Telluride at the end of January for 3 days of skiing.  Stoked!
I've never been there, so has anyone got some recommendations for must-ski terrain (trees, steeps, chutes)?  I don't mind hiking but won't be bringing avi gear. Gold Hill chutes look cool.  This is a guys trip, no family (same guys I skied with at Alta/Snowbird last year and Big Sky the year before).  We are staying in the Mountain Village, not in town.  Restaurant / bar recommendations would be helpful too.  I know Mattchuck and ML242 have both skied there in the last couple years, anybody else?

Why are you going there? Jay peak gets more snow and the trees are tighter at jay peak so that's more core. Everyone knows jay peak gets 355, which is just as much as telluride. So why bother flying? You'll get just as much powder here on the ec.

Maybe he just needs some space a bit farther from you

It has been years for me....the second to last time that I went there, my left knee hit a tree stump on spiral stairs....and well, when I returned to NJ two days later, i was black and blue from my left toe up to my left arm pit...no surgery and i did not ski well the following day....what sucked was my brother and I were staying with a friend out of town and it was a 1/4 mile walk to the house...through snow.

When I was a Brooklyn ADA, Telluride was the first stop on my ski safari.  My Brother and I drove there from NJ...one ticket...arrived and slept 2 hours in the parking lot....skied strong, but all front side.   Mountain village was just getting developed....we stayed on the floor of a cousin of a friends of mine....three days later, my brother left...and i drove to
Aspen to meet the dr. i was dating

had more fun in Telluride

First off, why would you not be bringing your avi gear?

Telluride has some of the country's most amazing side country down into Bear Creek Canyon. If you don't know a local that is willing to show you around there is a guiding service in town that can. If the snowpack is pretty stable it's not something I suggest missing out on. However, it is very scary in there, you are almost always exposed to being slid on and the San Juan pack is notoriously one of the most dangerous in the world. When you see the San Joaquin you will want to ski it! It is possibly the most perfect and beautiful looking coulior ever.

For trees the Log Pile/West Drain areas have some good lines.

Far skiers left on Happy Thoughts is really fun.

All of the Gold Hill shots are excellent. That permanently closed area called the Poison Spider Chutes is the spot I was caught in an avie back in 2006. I got tossed over those cliffs in there, lost a ski, and was buried up to my neck. It was a eye opening experience. Sometimes tho this area is the windward aspect and it gets some sun. If that's the case ski the shots off the Prospect lift, they require some hiking and the shots are short but they sometimes are the only lines with good snow. Palmyra is the super goods. Make sure to ski off the summit if it's open. If you hear rumors that it's going to open get there and wait. Being first or at least among the first few on that face is incredible. It's worth the extra effort. All of the shots above the Gold Hill lift look rad, it was all closed when I lived there but I hiked along them and looked at em a little.

Telluride can be tricky. The snow is often lean and finding quality can be difficult. Pay attention to elevations and aspects. I have seen it where there is only one ski run that has good snow. But it skied great! Good luck and have fun. T-Ride is seriously one of the most beautiful mountain towns you could imagine.

raisingarizona wrote

If that's the case ski the shots off the Prospect lift, they require some hiking and the shots are short but they sometimes are the only lines with good snow. Palmyra is the super goods. Make sure to ski off the summit if it's open. If you hear rumors that it's going to open get there and wait. ... All of the shots above the Gold Hill lift look rad, it was all closed when I lived there but I hiked along them and looked at em a little.

Telluride can be tricky. The snow is often lean and finding quality can be difficult. Pay attention to elevations and aspects. I have seen it where there is only one ski run that has good snow. But it skied great! Good luck and have fun. T-Ride is seriously one of the most beautiful mountain towns you could imagine.

Agree with all of the above. Definitely pay attention to elevation, aspects, and tree cover. It will be the difference between good snow and lousy snow (most of the Telluride crowd won't care about that, but you should). And definitely hike above the Prospect Bowl lift. That's where we found the best snow on our day. It's a relatively easy hike, too, with a Lodge right at the top of the lift for water and food supplies.

I don't remember all of the places we ate, but I remember them being great. The Bakery in town had a really good breakfast and cool morning vibe. Staying in Mountain Village isn't ideal (mostly for aesthetic reasons), but the free Gondy links Mountain Village with Telluride, and is open until midnight, which gives you plenty of time to party, then have the cool experience of riding the Gondy up and out of town after dark.

I generally don't like spending all my time at one resort on my ski vacations, but I wish I had more time in Telluride. Would be cool to explore the backcountry, Ouray, etc. but I guess that means I'll have to take another trip.

Silverton is awesome and I highly recommend it, but it's probably better to either make a spur of the moment decision while you're out there with the group (possible pitch "I'm sick of these rich, yuppie assholes! Let's get back to the core skiing experience") or just save it for another trip.

raisingarizona wrote

First off, why would you not be bringing your avi gear?

Well, there’s this:

raisingarizona wrote

…it is very scary in there, you are almost always exposed to being slid on and the San Juan pack is notoriously one of the most dangerous in the world.

 and this:

raisingarizona wrote

That permanently closed area called the Poison Spider Chutes is the spot I was caught in an avie back in 2006. I got tossed over those cliffs in there, lost a ski, and was buried up to my neck. It was a eye opening experience.

But really it comes down to the fact that it’s only a 3-day trip, and any exploring I do will likely be solo, so I’m mostly looking for hike-to stuff where avi gear isn’t required.  The stuff you & Matt mention above the Prospect lift (Black Iron Bowl), the Gold Hill chutes and Palmyra all look like they would fit the bill.  That stuff looks awesome and is the kind of stuff I really love on a western trip because you just can’t ski terrain like that out east (well maybe Tucks).

By the way, what’s the pucker factor for the lines off Palmyra Peak (Roy Boy, Senior’s, Tram Shot on the trail map)?  At Big Sky, I loved the steep stuff off the tram (Lenin, Marx, some other chutes).  Big Couloir looked super cool, but I’m not sure I would have had the stones to jump into the no-fall zone at the top (it’s 50 degrees), so that’s kind of my pucker limit.

Thanks for all the beta!

mattchuck2 wrote

Staying in Mountain Village isn't ideal (mostly for aesthetic reasons), but the free Gondy links Mountain Village with Telluride, and is open until midnight, which gives you plenty of time to party, then have the cool experience of riding the Gondy up and out of town after dark.

Yeah, that's pretty much the plan.

mattchuck2 wrote

Silverton is awesome and I highly recommend it, but it's probably better to either make a spur of the moment decision while you're out there with the group (possible pitch "I'm sick of these rich, yuppie assholes! Let's get back to the core skiing experience")

That'll work.  I'm kinda hoping our flight back gets cancelled and I get stuck there and have to go check out Silverton.

Palmyra is not so bad. It's a great pitch and very long. There are options to get rowdy but the main lines aren't anything to be scared of.

The year I was there it was still a closed area. I poached it a few times by climbing up Gold Hill and then around the back of Palmyra. A bit of traversing then a good boot pack puts on the summit that way. Palmyra is a very BIG mountain experience.

The San Juan's are my favorite range in the lower 48, they have some of the most aesthetic ski lines you can find anywhere. The catch is that darn snowpack. It does see stable periods, it happened perfectly the year I was there late February and all of March but much of most seasons it is super sketch.

The Bakery "Baked In Telluride" burned down a few years ago, hopefully it was rebuilt. It's a great place and somewhat affordable for Telluride. Chair 8 is a joint right at the bottom of the lifts in town and it used to have some bitchen breakfast food. The Brown Dog is a good spot for sports tv, beers, and pizza. The bar looking right at the Village Lift was always a fun locals hang out.

Thanks for all the input. Any tips on trees?

Apex lift.

Adk Jeff wrote

Thanks for all the input. Any tips on trees?

Don't ski near the evergreen tree wells!

There's a variety of skiing out there including trees.  Both Silverton and Telluride give you a great big mountain feel.  Make sure you ski off the back at Telluride.  Very cool sidecountry route back into town, including repelling down ropes.  Here's a picture of the Mrs. demonstrating proper YIKES ZONE! technique from when we lived in Colorado back in 2004.

^^ Now that looks like fun!

Thats a fun little area.   Hard with limited snow, next 500 feet is even more fun, same rocky line as the slope progresses skier right.