On Wednesday afternoon we drove 4 hours from Aspen to Telluride and checked into the Peaks Hotel for the NASJA annual meeting. This is the most upscale facility of the 6 years of meetings I have attended, with a Deer Valley level of service. Each morning your skis are laid out on the snow for you and a valet picks them up at the end of the day. For apres-ski there is an indoor lap pool with a nearby waterslide down to the indoor/outdoor pool on a lower level that also has 3 jacuzzis and a sauna and steam room. Food was also excellent, even when served collectively for our big group of 275.
Weather returned to the warm pattern of the early week. Telluride is a bit higher than Aspen, so temps were only in the 50's, the snow froze a bit harder overnight, and I skied in a light sweater instead of a T-shirt. Afternoons were not as slushy as Aspen, and coverage was a bit better due to the 4-foot dump at the end of February.
I started with the new Prospect Bowl. Telluride still has separated terrain pods with topography that does not "flow well" in terms of getting around. But the addition of Prospect and new lifts has greatly mitigated this problem. And it is now easy for advanced skiers to stay on the upper chairs 6, 9 and 12.
Here's Garry skiing La Rosa, a short steep pitch at the top of Prospect's chair 11. Most of Prospect is meandering intermediate runs with generally good snow due to elevation over 11,000 ft. The new Gold Hill chair 12 does have sustained steeps, but since it faces west it is hard all morning. Adam, Garry and I took one run there Thursday afternoon, but it was tough going with alternatively crunchy and deep slush moguls.
Telluride is definitely Colorado's most scenic ski area, with the alpine terrain of the San Juan Mountains rising well above the highest lift service of 12,200 feet. Here's Adam at the top of Chair 9. His editorial comment after all his time at Mammoth and Snowbird: why aren't we skiing up there instead of down here?
Garry at right leads the way down See Forever with great views toward Mountain Village (where we were staying), the San Miguel river canyon and the Telluride airport on the mesa to the right of the canyon.
North facing Chair 9 is the place for advanced skiers to be on a warm spring day. 3 of its runs are on a grooming rotation, and here Garry cruises down Plunge with the town of Telluride as backdrop. On Thursday afternoon I did make a somewhat masochistic mogul run down Kant-Mak-M, which has the most sheltered exposure at the top of Chair 9. Snow was a bit crunchy but much better than Gold Hill.
Weather returned to the warm pattern of the early week. Telluride is a bit higher than Aspen, so temps were only in the 50's, the snow froze a bit harder overnight, and I skied in a light sweater instead of a T-shirt. Afternoons were not as slushy as Aspen, and coverage was a bit better due to the 4-foot dump at the end of February.
I started with the new Prospect Bowl. Telluride still has separated terrain pods with topography that does not "flow well" in terms of getting around. But the addition of Prospect and new lifts has greatly mitigated this problem. And it is now easy for advanced skiers to stay on the upper chairs 6, 9 and 12.
Here's Garry skiing La Rosa, a short steep pitch at the top of Prospect's chair 11. Most of Prospect is meandering intermediate runs with generally good snow due to elevation over 11,000 ft. The new Gold Hill chair 12 does have sustained steeps, but since it faces west it is hard all morning. Adam, Garry and I took one run there Thursday afternoon, but it was tough going with alternatively crunchy and deep slush moguls.
Telluride is definitely Colorado's most scenic ski area, with the alpine terrain of the San Juan Mountains rising well above the highest lift service of 12,200 feet. Here's Adam at the top of Chair 9. His editorial comment after all his time at Mammoth and Snowbird: why aren't we skiing up there instead of down here?
Garry at right leads the way down See Forever with great views toward Mountain Village (where we were staying), the San Miguel river canyon and the Telluride airport on the mesa to the right of the canyon.
North facing Chair 9 is the place for advanced skiers to be on a warm spring day. 3 of its runs are on a grooming rotation, and here Garry cruises down Plunge with the town of Telluride as backdrop. On Thursday afternoon I did make a somewhat masochistic mogul run down Kant-Mak-M, which has the most sheltered exposure at the top of Chair 9. Snow was a bit crunchy but much better than Gold Hill.