Telluride, CO – Is Telluride about to get a second ski area, or is it the latest ploy by a real estate investor?

Texas real estate broker Tom Chapman and his partner, Ron Curry, have begun the federal permitting process to open the Bear Creek at Telluride ski area in the Bear Creek drainage adjacent to the existing Telluride ski resort. But Bear Creek won’t have any lifts as its terrain would be open only to touring skiers or perhaps those opting for a helicopter or snowcat lift into the drainage.

Sounds vaguely familiar? For a few short months in 2010 Telluride offered guided skiing in the Bear Creek drainage before Chapman and Curry acquired 103 acres of mining parcels in Bear Creek as the Gold Hill Development Company and threatened to pursue trespassing charges against any skiers or hikers crossing the land. Telluride ski resort was forced to abandon the program and the U.S. Forest Service to close backcountry gates from the resort into Bear Creek.

Plans call for skiing to range from the summit of 13,555-foot Wasatch Mountain to a yurt on Gold Hill Development’s land at 11,562 feet, which would make Bear Creek at Telluride the highest ski areas in the state. However, in addition to the lack of lifts there would be no snowmaking, no grooming and no avalanche control. Chapman does, however, plan to offer a site for a private 1,000 square-foot home.

Some question Chapman’s motives. In the past he acquired abandoned mining claims in Colorado’s Holy Cross Wilderness and threatened to build homes on the site unless the U.S. Forest Service bought him out. He did the same in the West Elk Wilderness Area, where he proposed to build a ridgetop lodge. Many speculate that this latest announcement is merely a ploy to coerce Telluride Ski Company into purchasing his mining claims in Bear Creek.

The good news for local backcountry skiers is that they are now once again able to access the Bear Creek drainage, but only after first signing, submitting, printing and carrying with them a liability release on the website www.bearcreekattellurideskiresort.com.

Chapman is well known in local circles as a property rights activist with a penchant for acquiring land parcels in pristine alpine areas, including one within Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park upon which he constructed a luxury home.