Adventure 4: Telluride

If you have ever fallen in love with the seasonal hues of an evergreen valley, then read on. If you know that eighteen inches of powder is softer and more luxurious than Vail Village fir, then read on. If you’ve tried to watch Finding Nemo through the tinted rear glass of an SUV on I-70, then go ahead and read on.

Telluride is only for people that can really appreciate Colorado’s local mountain culture and natural wonder.  Stop reading immediately if you’re a big time real estate executive that wants to maximize per square foot earnings.  However, if you have ever fallen in love with the seasonal hues of an evergreen valley, then read on.  If you know that eighteen inches of powder is softer and more luxurious than Vail Village fir, then read on.  If you’ve tried to watch Finding Nemo through the tinted rear glass of an SUV on I-70, then go ahead and read on.

I’ve been to T-ride before in the spring and summer.  I’ve wobbled breathless atop nearby tall peaks, and I’ve looked across at the summer green swaths of steep ski runs mentally picturing white cheese graters and corduroy.  This year those daydreams became reality. Kelly and I got away to Telluride for an extended weekend to try out the steepest most beautiful stuff this state has to offer.

Telluride is just plain rugged.  Don’t be surprised if your skis remember your trip as well as you do, but even they’ll know - it’s worth it.  The runs under the Gold Hill lift are the most technical, so I wanted to check them out.  In my estimation, they are as good as in bounds terrain gets if the mountain is sporting a base of 60 inches or better.  The snow wasn’t quite that deep yet, so I mostly got Kelly on that lift to be amused by her exclamations of vertigo as it sped to the narrow yet wide-open expanse atop the ridge.  When finished with Gold Hill, we did a little searching for the best snow and found it at the short hike-to areas flanking Prospect Bowl.  Genevieve and Bald Mountain were filled with soft snow blown in off the ridge, and they were ours alone for run after run until our tele-tired legs staged their end-of-day protests.   For three days we did nothing but explore and reward ourselves with our favorite finds again and again.  As with any really great ski trip, we were blessed with new snow before it was over.

The town itself is more fun than any other place on the planet too.  Several times I’ve felt lucky to catch great music at Fly Me To The Moon Saloon, but now I?m convinced that they always have great music.  Saturday night we did the hillbilly hoedown on the bouncing plank wood floor to bluegrass picking from Head for the Hills.  Mornings were just as fun with breakfast at my usual spot Baked in Telluride (how do you spell that Coloradoan abbreviation for usual?  Uszhe?) .  They must have read the high altitude baking instructions there, because their donuts, bagels, and croissants are perfect.  The whole town is perfect.  The trip was perfect, and I’ll be back again as soon as I can.