Telluride, CO - 12/25/05

[ChrisC]

Sunny skies, temps in the 40s and no wind made skiing quite good today. The snow was on the 'packed' side of packed powder and nice to carve.

Telluride's snow conditions are highly correlated to elevation at this point. Usually this phenomenon is not as observable to this extent.

Suprisingly, Gold Hill and the hike-to terrain in Prospect Bowl have pretty good coverage (there are some rocks on Gold, but very avoidable - winds have been favorable I guess. They also did not open Gold Hill until a few days ago to preserve coverage for Christmas). Chair 6 runs, Chair 5 and the top of 9 are good too.

However, the lower part of the mountain does not have the coverage the topd does. Therefore, the chair 7, bottom of chair 9 and 4 areas are only good on snowmaking. Some runs are accordingly closed on the lower half.

I'll post some photos later in the week.

Looks like snow is in the forecast. If a foot falls, Telluride should be skiing quite well for Christmas break.

 

[Tony Crocker]

What percentage of terrain is skiable at Telluride? With season to date snowfall of only 44 inches of Colorado light and dry, I find it hard to believe it would be anywhere near the 81% claimed.

 

[ChrisC]

To be honest, I'm not sure what % what is quite open. It's definitely 70%+, but Christmas was mellow so I did not get everywhere on the mountain. I mostly skied 9, 5. 6. 14. 12 the other day...and very little is closed. I did not ski 10,1, 7 and 4.

Things are not deep, but skiable. I'll take some pics with names and let you decide. I'll tell you with trail names what's going on. I'll be out tomorrow.

Telluride's season does not really start until Dec 26/27 and trail openings/snow-presevation proceeds accordingly. It's a true destination resort with maybe 200,000 within a 4 hr drive. Save the snow until the people who pay are here.

((((In fact, the new owner (who I do not like - and has little ski industry experience) proposed making Telluride into a private club like the Yellostone Resort near Big Sky -- with homeowners, a few locals, and lodging guests allowed -- but no one else. The owner wanted to decrease skier days by 1/3 and make it a super high-end resort.

Well, the retailers and the last/most of Telluride liberals said NO to that idea quickly...before it gained momentum. Also, our new owner -- who is no longer allowed in many town eateries for public drunkeness -- and physically fighting with a previous owner - Allred at his namesake restaurant Allred's on mountain.

If you are a Hoolywood screen-TV-starved writer..........If you wanted a small-town real world ski communty where some people have too much money/others are broke, the owners actually get into almost physical confrontations (as well as others running SONY on the side), and my brother's message therapist friends make a great living...hang out in Telluride.

On the good hand, Telluride is also the most liberal place in Colorado, has free boxes in the middle of town to help anyone in need, the locals take care of one another with cheap food and drinks and great backcountry. Telluride also has approval for 3 great lifts into its great Alpine terrain that few to no other resort has in place. Telluride (and maybe Aspen) has one of the best Western towns with multiple lifts seving the entire mountain. Never rule it out))))

Back to the point...

My brother has said not one storm has left more than 4" in town. However, things are much better on top. I'll find out where everything is measured. I should know by now.

I would characterize the season as average so far. I have seen worse 99/00 and 00/01.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Telluride snowfall so far is 2/3 of normal. When my son Adam was there in 2004, his first reaction was to stare up at the magnificent San Juan alpine and ask, "Why are we skiing down here instead of up there?" So the prospects of 3 lifts "up there" is good news indeed.

Could be worse. Could be Taos with its 28 inches season snow. I'll bet the 22% open claimed there is generous. Funny we haven't been hearing from jfslenes this season .

 

[Mike Bernstein]

Telluride also has approval for 3 great lifts into its great Alpine terrain that few to no other resort has in place. Telluride (and maybe Aspen) has one of the best Western towns with multiple lifts seving the entire mountain. Never rule it out))))

Interesting. Any idea where those approved lifts are to be located?

 

[ChrisC]

Along with the Gold Hill/Prospect Bowl approvals in the early 2000s, Telluride also got approval for other lifts.

It requires an owner with vision, deep pockets and a love of the sport (Morita of SONY - Telluride's last owner had many of these things to various degrees. He did the Prospect Bowl/Gold Hill expansion).

Here is the Prospect Basin part of Telluride's trail map. I drew approved lifts -sloppy- in red.

1.) San Jouquin Bowl. This is on the backside of Gold Hill. A nice treeless bowl with less than 1000 vert. I have heard that the ski patrol is highly concerned about the 1 out of 100 years avalanche happening -- and taking the lift and people off the cliffs into Bear Creek. Not sure.

2.) Palmyra Bowl. Between Gold Hill and Prospect Bowl -- under Palmyra Peak. This is all above the tree line terrain (alpine) with a few steep faces among intermediate gullies in slpendid scenery. Frankly, I think this is killer terrain! Again, studies and worries about avalanches into this area.

There were plans for a trail from the top of San Jouquin into the Palmyra pod.

3.) Another lift near chair 10 serving intermediate terrain.


This is winning terrain -- unique in the US (esp Colorado) for its scenery, lack of trees and relative steepness. With very good snow.

It's unfortunate Intrawest did not buy Telluride 2 years ago - they had the vision to make Blackcomb. I think under their leadership, Telluride would firmly become a unique/top 10 US resort.

Instead, our new owner (a medical center developer from San Diego) is developing real estate.

I doubt he has the financial resources or desire for a long-term investment in Telluride.

 

[ChrisC]

What percentage of terrain is skiable at Telluride? With season to date snowfall of only 44 inches of Colorado light and dry, I find it hard to believe it would be anywhere near the 81% claimed.

I would say almost 90% of the mountain is open. Most of that snow fell after Thanksgiving, so it's still around. Telluride also has a lot of snowmaking and uses it to build bases in traffic areas no matter what the year.

I posted a map showing what's closed in yellow.

The parts closed are: the lowest 1/3 of the steep runs into town (Jaws, Milk Run, Lower Coonskin). A few runs off chair 4 that face SW (Hermit, Smuggler, Terrain Park). And the SW facing Apex Glade off chair 6.

Things are a little hard on the snowmaking runs and there are a few rocks around, but overall it's solid skiing.

 

[ChrisC]

Back to the point...

My brother has said not one storm has left more than 4" in town. However, things are much better on top. I'll find out where everything is measured. I should know by now.

Where we meausre in T-ride:

TOP = Chair 9/6 @ lower than Gold and Prospect

MID = Chair 7/Gondola San Sophia