Colorado, Telluride: Ski Town in a Mountain Corner

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The town of Telluride was a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. It too was a federally designated National Historic District, receiving the same accolades that Silverton and Ouray have both received. It was fitting, then, that we followed the San Juan Skyway loop around from Ouray to Telluride during our fantastic drive through southwestern Colorado's most beautiful mountains.

Leaving the "Switzerland of America", also known as Ouray, Colorado, we continued our drive along the scenic highway, admiring the rugged mountains alongside the road and off in the distance. We had the best weather of the day during this part of the drive; most of the clouds had cleared away and a lot of bright blue sky was visible whenever we looked up, which was most of the time.

The only thing that dampened our mood during the entire day's drive happened a little while after we left Ouray. We turned onto a small deserted country highway and, as we turned a sharp corner, hit a small bird. We were mortified when we saw the poor thing strike the windshield of our rental SUV in front of Kyle's face, but even more horrified by the loud THUD that was made when the creature hit the glass. The bird bounced off to the side of the car as we drove past, trying to fly with what was probably an extremely broken set of wings by that point. Luckily, the small bird was the only thing we hit, barring possibly a couple of lizards and mice when we were out of the mountains and in the southwestern US desert.

Telluride, population 2,220 and altitude 8,750 feet, sat in a box canyon with steep forested mountains and cliffs surrounding it. Numerous weathered ruins of old mining operations dotted the hillsides and a free gondola connected the town with its companion town Mountain Village, Colorado, on the other side of the ridge. One thing that set Telluride apart from Silverton and Ouray was its notable effect on pop culture. We learned that it has served as the backdrop for several television commercials, was home to an international film festival, and has been the subject of songs from Glenn Frey and Tim McGraw.

With three ways in and only two ways out, Telluride sat in a very isolated part of Colorado. From the west, Colorado Route 145 was the most common way into Telluride and the way we drove to get there. We avoided the two passes that were in place for the more adventurous types, not because we weren't feeling daring, but because our rental SUV was not a sufficient 4x4 vehicle for us to navigate our way through one of Colorado's most dangerous mountain passes, Black Bear Pass. Perhaps we will both return one day with our mums and a proper 4x4, letting them each take a hold of the wheel as they live out the Extreme Adventure fantasy that we both know they would like to fulfil.

There were a couple of interesting, albeit geeky, things that we learned about Telluride. One was about Generator House, which sat at the top of Bridal Veil Falls on the eastern side of town; that house provides about 25 percent of Telluride with its electricity and is the second-oldest operating AC power generator in the United States. The second point of interest was that the airport in Telluride is the highest commercial airport in the United States, providing a challenge to pilots because of frequent adverse weather conditions, high altitude, and the extremely rugged mountain terrain that surrounds the airport on nearly all sides.

The first gold was discovered in 1858 and the Ute Indians moved out of their land so that miners could move in, similar to what happened in Silverton and Ouray, as well as several other areas in that region within the United States. The town was eventually founded in 1878, originally named Columbia; however, due to confusion with the town of the same name in California, the name was changed by the post office in 1887 after the chemical element Tellurium.

Tellurium, a metalloid element associated with rich deposits of gold and some silver, was never actually found in the mountains of Telluride; Telluride's mines were rich in zinc, iron, lead, copper, silver and, of course, gold. An alternate theory for the naming of Telluride was that it was a contraction of "to hell you ride", a theory that we liked much better than the boring chemical element one. Even without having to decide which theory you like the best, they will both be great facts for any of you appearing in an upcoming TV trivia quiz show.

A very famous incident occurred in Telluride in June 1889. Butch Cassidy and his gang, "The Wild Bunch", robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank, his first major recorded crime, and he got away with an enormous sum of money for that time - $24,580! With regards to mining, there were very serious labour disputes around the turn of the 20th century, where the Colorado National Guard was called out; there were deaths on both sides. Unions were then formed and big changes were brought about with regards to the miners' wages and boarding compensation.

Even with some of the changes that were implemented, work conditions remained treacherous, with mines placed at over 12,000 feet altitude and a severe lack of safety measures, not to mention bitter weather during the winter months; even the boarding houses were precariously placed on the mountainsides. This led to more and more accusations, animosity, gunplay and expulsions, which were one part of an ongoing struggle throughout Colorado's mining communities that came to be called the "Colorado Labor Wars".

Advancements in mineral processing during the 1970s revolutionised mining, and that made underground gold and silver mines obsolete. When the mines finally closed for good, the snow which once tormented Telluride's miners had become the town's new gold, in the form of skiing and tourism, which remains strong to this day. During the 1980s, Telluride developed a reputation for being "Colorado's best kept secret," which paradoxically made it one of the more well known resort communities, despite a short period of having a problem with drugs in the area. By the mid 1990s, Telluride had shed both its mining personality and drug image to establish itself as a premier resort town balancing modern culture with fascinating western history.

We had arrived in Telluride at the end of the afternoon, so we quickly drove to the main street in town and started snapping photographs from the window of our SUV. We circled the town, amazed at the fact that the mountains blocked passage out of the town on the opposite side that we had entered from, and also soaking in the comfortable vibe given off from the town's residents and its layout. Of the three towns we visited on the San Juan Skyway, Telluride exhibited the most evidence for being a large ski resort town; we could see this in the style of buildings in town and shops lining the main street, but it also helped that the gondola to Mountain Village was up and running. After half an hour in Telluride, we made our way back to the scenic highway, heading back to Durango.