Like Tony said - I have been visiting Telluride since early 1990s and have a brother who runs a business in town. Now Telluride has a tonier reputation, but it was more common to see underwear hanging in a ski bums Victorian than an art gallery - until at least the mid 2000s. However, most houses/condos in town in the early/mid 1990s cost 70-300k - probably similar to a place in Sandpoint, ID or Whitefish, MT - than an Aspen, Vail or Sun Valley. So there is a generation still locked in before before the advent of the one week per year mansions culture took hold.
In late 1980s/90s, Telluride was somewhat forced to make a strategic decision - primarily due to its remote location - to go more upscale due to its inaccessibility. But in a more low-key way. This choice was helped as a result of a Hollywood/Entertainment/Fashion industry connection due to its numerous summer festivals (BlueGrass, Jazz, Film, Blues and Brews, KOTO) - many which were established in the 1970s. For example, the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner has debuted now at the Telluride Film Festival (started in 1972 - much before Sundance) for the last 10 years. Currently, summer visits and tax revenues surpass winter.
Of course Telluride always has the natural beauty. It's in a box canyon with many 14kers and a box canyon with 4k vertical walls.
Onto skiing.....
snowave":1mfby9v9 said:
So,how busy it is at T-ride outside of holiday periods? Liftlines? (Looks like they avg under 500k skier visits, but that will likely increase a bit with the Epic starting next year. I read an estimated of 18k more people are expected).
You might find a few lines December 27 to December 31 -- and maybe an odd day or two in February or March. Line = 5/10 minutes on a couple of core lifts. Otherwise it's a non-issue. Some of the worse congestion is on the beginner lifts (Chairs 1 and 10) and maybe a little on Chair 4 that comes out of the village.
That said ... locals will come out of the woodwork on a 6"+ powder day. Etiquette is to place your skis in line (~8am) and go get coffee or something - if you want to be on the first ten chairs. Lots of able bodied skiers for competition, but far less testosterone than Jackson Hole, Squaw, AltaBird.
Epic Pass? Oh they would be lucky to get a good bump - 6 hours from Denver. Telluriders think this is Armageddon. However, the airport was suppose to kill the town, certain hotels could kill the town, any change or lift replacement...I have seen people cry over roof angles on a house. The town is populated with drama queens.
The Mountain Collective did not kill the place. If Vail or Aspen/Alterra buy it out - I would support the plan. My thoughts on ownership later....
However, from the Master Development Plan, there has been a growth trajectory since the 2008 Recession.
As shown in Table I-1, TSR’s annual visitation over the past ten seasons has averaged 445,668 with
fluctuations resulting from varying snowfall and economic conditions. However, since the period’s low
mark of 419,476 in 2008/09, there has been a strong upward trend with a 20% growth in annual skier
visits between 2008/09 and 2015/16, with 10% growth over the last three ski seasons. TSR averages 138
operational days per season.
Table I-1. Annual Skier Visits (2006–2016)
Season Visitation
2015/16 505,592
2014/15 478,211
2013/14 454,259
2012/13 420,362
2011/12 423,927
2010/11 423,621
2009/10 454,257
2008/09 419,476
2007/08 450,730
snowave":1mfby9v9 said:
Are they groomer friendly? Good amount of steepish groomers? (which is my go to terrain when it isn't a true pow day).
Trail map looks like it has some nice terrain for powder days as well. How is the mountain layout... looks a but disconnected on the trail map, but if it's easy enough to navigate, I'm OK with that.
Telluride has the best steep groomers in the US. Period. This is for a couple of reasons:
1. Most large Western US resorts do not simply groom many black runs on a consistent basis. So a lack of competition.
2. Telluride implemented a large scale steep grooming program of exceptionally long runs in the late 1980s. Needed some way to get skiers down the front face.
3. Telluride does not get the ski traffic to destroy the groomers until much later in the day.
Town-side: You will find steep 1700-2500 vertical ft. groomers on the steep front face. At least 2-4 are groomed every night. You can find Lookout, Plunge, Bashwacker, Coonskin, Milk Run groomed at least 2-4 times a week - sometimes a split groomed with half bumps / half flat. Sometimes Joint Point/Mammoth.
Powder Day Strategies
Control work is usually done with chairs 7/9 opening, then 6, then 12/14, then Revelation. Bigger storms prevent 12/14/Revelation openings leaving terrain for the next day. Gold Hill Chutes and Palmyra hike-to's after that. Watch openings after storms - you can score 1-2 days later. My personal powder tour is hitting 1-2 of front face groomers with powder, next a powder bump run, then go into the woods (Logpile/Jack's). Then drop over to chair 6. Apex or Chongos stay hidden. Than onwards to 12/14. There are lots of places all over this area: Rockslide, Mudslide, Bald, Traumer's Trees, etc.....
Terrain
There is also a lot more tree skiing than the trail map reveals. Tons of gladed areas off of chairs 9, 6, and 14 - some of which have been manually helped. Lots of tight chutes all over. Lots of steep bumps. Open bowl terrain/alpine is a little week. Revelation Bowl is nice, but too small - both in height and width...but the lift gets you to the Gold Hill Chutes and slackcountry quicker.
Side Country
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There is also a 4000 ft vertical side country area called Bear Creek that is more like the Alps. Care should be taken with San Juan snowpack though - there is about one death every other year.
Naviagation
Telluride skis like a series of pods versus a truly integrated mountain. A skier is fine. However, there are some catwalks that could challenge a snowboarder.
snowave":1mfby9v9 said:
I have done some searching here, but didn't find a whole lot other than a certain person who hates Telluride. :-s
There is some hate on many ski boards (TGR/this one) for any mountain that has large upscale development. But for me, this disqualifies too many places with great terrain and snow.
However, Telluride could have done a better job with zoning to get more mid-range hotel / "hot" beds when development was occuring. They have done a much better job with affordable housing for locals.