Telluride: Gold Hill 6-10 (& Palmyra Peak)

ChrisC

ChrisC

Well-known member
Telluride just decided to open another wall of massive expert terrain.

Gold Hill chutes 6-10...On top of Pamyra Peak...On top of Black Iron Bowl area. Combined with easily some great bumps, solid trees, etc.

I'll be out over the next week to check it out - and hoping more for sunshine than powder. It's more like Euro/semi BC/sidecountry - tough to access (20 min to 1.5 hr hike) where snow will stay for days. So stable weather is more important than fresh.

Anyways, I always thought Crested Butte/Silverton were better expert Colorado choices - but now I think Telluride will be tops. I think Telluride should now be more exclusively compared to Squaw/Snowbird/Jackson/Whistler.

Really, all of SW Colorado has stepped up its game since 2000. Drop me in Durango, CO in March - with sun, warmth, potential snow and 4 hours - i'd rather be at the collection of Crested Butte, Silverton, Telluride and Taos than almost anywhere else.

Some pics to understand what I am blah-blah-blahing about...

Palmyra Peak
I talked about this once, but it us still newly announced within this ski season.
palmyra-bowl.jpg


Gold 6-10
This was opened the first time ever - this week. I have never seen tracks in this area since it has been generally closed

Gold6-10.jpg


I hope to get each of the Gold Hill chutes...since they are only a 20-30m hike. But Palmyra at 1 hr+ at 13k...we'll see.
 
The lifts go up to the good stuff at Squaw/Snowbird/Jackson/Whistler, so you can ski it all day long. Telluride is now like Bridger Bowl or Silverton; you can ski it, but how many runs per day, one or two maybe? And at 13,000 feet there won't be too many touristas doing it.

There is also the matter of the thin/fragile SW Colorado snowpack. I'm sure it's great in a year like this, but there will be many (1999, 2000, 2002, 2006) when that stuff will never get adequately covered.

I'm actually encouraged though. After a few seasons trial, maybe Telluride will start putting lifts into the alpine. I think Telluride is better for snow than CB/Taos, so it will become a better expert destination with just a bit more lift access.
 
Tony, I strongly disagree! Putting lifts to places like that totally kills the experience for me. If you had a lift up there it'd be all tracked out by 10 AM, as opposed to several days later like Chris is saying above.

I do think it would be good for business to put in a lift, but it's not good for the in-shape expert skier and the locals.

As a for instance, I got to Keystone this morning at 9:30 and everything lift served was utterly tracked out. My brother and I hopped a cat (I usually hike it) into Outback's South Bowl and found the Wombat Chutes* gloriously untracked.

Personally, I don't want to see any more lifts built into good terrain. I'd rather keep it for myself and the few others willing to put in the extra effort.

*granted, the wombat chutes are not near as steep as what is discussed above, but this is my first season on sticks...
 
Not to flame but
Squaw overrated skied it all by age 8 (not dropping cliffs that was still not allowaded in the mid 80's)
Jackson lift served what, nuff said. Over rated on shot makes everone get there panties in a bunch.
Wistler talk about snow quality issue, never had good luck iin 2 trips there. Great mountain

Best lift served steeps for up and down Lake Lousie back side and the Bird. Silverton seems to be very good lift served steeps. Don't have to hike far with more then 400" a year average

And who gives an eff about touristas, this is about atheletes.

REally looking forward to seeing this play out.
 
I would be curious how soon after flying into CO from FL TRam can do major hikes comfortably at Telluride or Silverton at 12,000+ feet. Frida Waara, who cross country skied from Greenland to the North Pole, was slower hiking at Silverton in 2004 than I because I had been in Colorado 9 days vs. her 4. Ask any serious alpinist. Athleticism and altitude acclimatization are separate issues. You need both to hike/ski something like Palmyra Peak.

On the original topic IMHO the best planned expert-oriented areas should strike a balance between the easily accessible and the more difficult to reach places.

Squaw is the example of having multiple lifts into the steeps, with the Palisades being the only major area requiring grunt work to reach.

Whistler/Blackcomb and Alta/Snowbird have a good mix IMHO. admin and company don't seem to have much trouble finding stashes a couple of days after storms. Same with Extremely Canadian at W/B. And there are a few places that require more lengthy hikes, like Devil's Castle and Flute Bowl.

Jackson is sort of like Alta in the old days: low density is enforced by an inefficient lift system. On Jackson's lower faces, which have severe snow preservation issues, the low density is needed IMHO.

At Crested Butte and Taos the issue is usually thin and fragile snowpack; their steeps can't take much traffic. Telluride's snow is a lot closer to CB/Taos than the abundance of the other places. So it makes sense to test it out for awhile and see how it holds up.

Knox Williams, the guru of Colorado snow and avalanche forecasting for 30+ years, does not believe Silverton has a noticeably snowier microclimate than the surrounding mountains. Long term average at nearby Red Mt. Pass is around 300 inches.
 
TOny
I agree with most of your posts. I have found little problem with long hikes coming right of the plane. I race olympic distance triathlon occasionaly and trian with a group that does Ford Ironman (Lake Placid this year). I am sure that if I was racing you up Palmyra you being from altitude would win, just like a racer from a dry climate would hate the heat and humidity of So Fla.
THe point was steep terrian and even with only 300inch of snow at CB or Toas or Silverton that seems to be darn good. AS for the micro climate look at Winter Park(who has steep galded runs BTW) vs Berthousd pass a mere 6 miles from the resorts where 340 compared to 500 inch fall. Buffalo pass compareded to steamboat have a simalar snow difference.
My folks live in Holladay Utah 25 min from the bird and alta. I have become a beliver in that area, solitude and Brighton also. And I do want to go back to Sqauw, when is the best time to go there?
 
TRam":tkagc0jq said:
TOny
I agree with most of your posts. I have found little problem with long hikes coming right of the plane. I race olympic distance triathlon occasionaly and trian with a group that does Ford Ironman (Lake Placid this year). I am sure that if I was racing you up Palmyra you being from altitude would win, just like a racer from a dry climate would hate the heat and humidity of So Fla.
Click to expand...

No, you'd kick his arse...and mine, too. :lol:
 
One thing I would never do is race around up there. I don't have the mountainerring knowledge or equipment. Hiking up baldy is one thing and hiking /moutainerring over exposed traverses is another. BTW delerium dive is open now report said 15cm overnight. Pretty cool inbounds minamal hike area (5min).
 
My point in the other post was that Frida Waara is in far better athletic shape than I will ever be, yet the altitude still slowed her down. Altitude sensitivity is mostly individual physiology, and some people can do well right away at 10,000+.

My friend Al Solish was an ultramarathoner and a decade ago he ran the Inca Trail in 9 hours. Later in that trip he ran another trail in Peru that went up to 17,000. So with that kind of background and prior experience in the mountains, it does not surprise me that TRam thinks the hikes are no big deal. But my advice still applies to more typical visitors to SW Colorado, even those with the appropriate ski skills.

I'm very aware of the small microclimates around Colorado. Kebler Pass at 400+ vs. Crested Butte is another example. But Knox Williams spent a whole career measuring snow all over Colorado, knows the mountains around Silverton/Red Mt. Pass and has not observed such a microclimate there. These high snow microclimates are not subtle, as anyone who has driven over Wolf Creek Pass can attest.

Berthoud and Loveland need the months outside November-April to get up to 400. Buffalo Pass is the only place in Colorado close to 500, and those estimates are based on water content as snowfall is not actually measured there. My Colorado snowfall pages Northern and Central and Southern and Western are all based upon Knox's data.

Squaw Valley, on average, is a core-of-the-season area, best mid-January to mid-March. But with Sierra snow volatility averages mean less than other regions. The key is to have good (that means 6-8 feet IMHO) coverage of all that steep terrain. One of our Snowbird group is from the Bay Area and has a deal on place up there the week before Christmas, but it's usually too early for the skiing you want at Squaw.

The altitude is low for the Sierra and half the mountain faces east (though it's the highest and snowiest part) so spring conditions emerge quickly in warm weather. However on a sunny spring day Squaw still skis well because you can follow the sun around and stay in the best snow. Adam and Molly were there Saturday in those conditions and had no complaints. There were just a few steep north facing shots on KT-22 and Headwall that still had winter snow
 
I'll weigh in on this one.

I'm a fan of the hike, I know I'm young and rambunctious, but I think the hike weeds out the ones who shouldn't be there. It keeps snow better long, or indefinitely until a warm up occurs. For instance a few weeks ago I got off a plane in Denver at midnight, and by 9 AM the next morning we we're setting the boot pack up the Eastwall at Abasin and helping National Geographic with a film segment they were doing on the Abasin ski patrol. Sure, I was sucking some wind, but it's not impossible for a sea-leveler to hope off the plane and access that kind of terrain.

I think Tride opening this terrain as hike to only is a good idea. I'd much rather go to a Bridger, or Tride now, that will have to guaranteed goods for long times after the storm. Another for instance, when we were at Alta a few weeks ago, Collins was broken, which meant to get to the normally easily accessible terrain one had to make a circuit from the sugarloaf lift. This ensured great snow all day, and kept the numbers down. Sure we didn't get as many runs, but they were much better quality.
 
The Bridger/Telluride type hikes will weed out 99%, but the typical admin traverse/5-10 minute hike at Alta/Snowbird still weeds out 95%.

I think the idea is to offer a range of experiences. As Patrick and Hamdog point out, Bridger is not that interesting an area without the Ridge. Telluride is better than that, but it will never be in a league with Squaw/Jackson/Snowbird terrain-wise unless they get lifts up into some (not necessarily Palmyra Peak) of the surrounding alpine area.
 
I for one hope that tride does bring some (not all) lift acess to that tuff stuff. As a vaca rider on a time crunch I am looking mostly for lift servered or sub 20 min hiking. I go for max vert when I am there and usallly the quality suffers.
 
I'm with Tony on this topic. A variety of access to steep shots (if the place is big enough to have that option to provide a variety). Some lift served, most have a 5-10 minute hike to ditch 95% of the crowd and maybe one area of long hikes.

If you are selling tickets and avi controlling it, it only makes sense to provide 'reasonable' access to most of it (especially if your ski area rep is for steep lines, ala WB, CB, Squaw, etc...). If you are into the long hikes, I can understand an occasional one inbounds, but primarily that is what backcountry skiing provides for 'free' (always stated in mag's and forums as though all the extra gear doesn't cost anything).

Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy the occasional decent hike, but leaving most or all of the good steeps as long hikes is not logical as an operator nor fun for the vast majority of guests (the users of these forums generally not part of that vast majority).
 
I agree about the hiking. Hence, a new chair coming soon - next or after season..

One ridge - all lift served. One ridge - all foot served, hiking.

See map. The new lift is brown/orange - in the orangish circle....it allows access to the entire Gold Hill ridge with no hiking.

The Palmyra ridge wil only be boot-served. With hikes ranging from 5-60 min.

Re: Snowfall. It's more up there. Think Park City Jupiter.

GoogleEarth_Image2.jpg
 
I sat on my camera at the end of trip.

Hopefully, I get a new one soon to read my card with pics. Otherwise, I will be reduced to words t describe things.
 
Or take the card to any old photo lab and get a CD made from the pics.

Nice pic of Telluride to Red Mt. Pass. Many years ago I heard the idea floated of stringing lifts across that alpine area. Do that and we will have another Squaw/Jackson. Adam had it right in 2004: "Why are we skiing down here instead of up there?"
 
TRam":1s70660e said:
Wistler talk about snow quality issue, never had good luck iin 2 trips there. Great mountain
Click to expand...

were your 2 trips in any month other than april/may?
i've been lucky enough to never have bad conditions at whistler. i spent the month of may 95' there in the back of my truck coming from maine as they were selling a spring fling pass, good for the month of may for 99 cnd or 75 us after exchange rate. at that time of year you may not get much pow up high but, the corn skiing on and off piste is amazing with colorado like sunny days. my other trips have been in early-mid april when pow is great and often in alpine with much better vis than december-march with a better base and low season rates. so out of like 30+ days skiing there i only had maybe 2 days of low vis tree skiing only.

i'll only go to the wasatch now, since living there, in january because of the strength of the sun and it's affects on usually 3 of 4 aspects. as long as the base is there, i'm there.

the east, good all of the time, come on out!

rog
 
It was mid dec of 04 i believe, then late april of 00 very wet. Damn teaser vaca rate they put out on there site. I know it is just bad luck but still makes you bitter.I know I am not the first to complain about wet snow there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top