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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“The only drawback to skiing at Telluride is that it spoils you for skiing anywhere else.” |
Telluride is picture postcard perfect in almost any weather. When we first arrived the last big dump of snow had been about 12 days ago and it was sunny and warm. There was plenty of snow on the mountains for skiing but not much in the town of Telluride, which is at the foot of the mountains. The streets of pretty painted weatherboard houses, shops and restaurants in Victorian style also set this town apart from other ski resorts.
Despite the lack of snow in town, the skiing was fantastic. Michael and Taylor, our two keenest skiers, were in their element and we all enjoyed the great long runs. Galloping Goose, a 4.6 mile long, advanced green run was such a treat for those of us accustomed to the short runs on Australian mountains.
One of the reasons we chose to come to Telluride was the mix of grades on the mountain. There is plenty here to suit any standard of skier and the quantity of accommodation, high prices of lift tickets and the relative inaccessibility of Telluride mean there is no lift queues!!! Heaven!!!
Our hotel - the New Sheridan - is a historic hotel in this heritage protected mining town and was a great base for our week. The breakfasts in the hotel were excellent, we stopped by for our tea/coffee and freshly baked cookies after skiing and loved having our own kitchen again for yummy, satisfying meals at night. It was also good value compared to many of the other options in town and the staff were really friendly and helpful.
On about day three of our stay we awoke to find the entire town had been blanketed in snow during the night. It then snowed pretty consistently for the next 24 hours and we decided to make that our rest day off the slopes. When we returned to the mountains the following day, the conditions were fantastic and the boys loved getting bogged in the powder.
It is very easy to get to the slopes from Telluride town. There is a free gondola that takes skiiers and sightseers to Mountain Village and from there there are many chair lifts all over the mountain. Being terrified of T Bars, I really appreciated that there were only chairs here. We parked our skis and boots in the lockers at the hotel and then had to walk onnly 2 blocks to get to the gondola. Not quite ski in/ski out (which you can do if you stay at Mountain Village) but pretty close.
The only drawback to skiing at Telluride is that it spoils you for skiing anywhere else. We met lots of people from all over who have been coming here every year for many years, even from areas with their own skiing nearby. There are also about 5000 year round residents of the town and the sense of commnity they engender also provides a great atmosphere.
We left Telluride feeling very pleased to have made her acquaintance and keen to return some time...maybe even in summer!
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floyd says:
Great to read your article on Telluride! I totally agree and am one of the lucky guys who gets to live 37 miles away in Ridgway. The skiing only got better after you left. If you didn't make it Ridgway stop in on your next trip. Check out the blog @ www.lifeinridgway.com Write on!