It’s not often that I am lost for words. But when we alight from the Revelation Chairlift at the top of Telluride for the first time, I can’t speak. The friends with me are equally mute, staring wide-eyed at the mountain vista that unwraps around us. The Wilson Range rears up ahead, Bear Creek to the back, the Gold Hill Bowl to the right. Just beautiful. We all snap out of our reverie for a quick photo op to capture this moment. Just wow.
There are two Tellurides, the historic mining town that squeezes into the bottom of a box canyon, and Telluride Mountain Village, which is home to a swag of condos, private homes, lodges and hotels.
Telluride is a designated National Historic District, streets lined with beautiful Victorian era wooden houses painted in an array of pastels. The main street is western chic, with galleries, boutiques, outdoor gear and cafés cosying up to the New Sheridan Hotel, which has a western vibe, an antique bar and a moneyed clientele. It’s quite easy to picture someone like Butch Cassidy moseying in here. He did come to Telluride – he robbed his first bank here and there is a plaque in the spot where it happened.
The Mountain Village sits over the ridge and is the base for the Telluride Ski Resort. The plazas are trimmed by ski gear shops, restaurants and bars; there is even a Starbucks.
So where is it best to stay? Wherever you like - the two towns are linked by a free gondola, which makes it easy to go either up or down to some of the fantastic restaurants and bars. We stay in Telluride at Cimarron Lodge - 30 metres from the Coonskin chairlift - so we can be up and at ‘em quickly in the morning and ski to our door as the sun starts to set behind the San Juans in the afternoons.
Wherever you stay, you will be entranced by this hidden secret, a place that has won the hearts of many a celebrity, including Oprah, who bought a place here last year, Tom Cruise, Darryl Hannah, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Quaid and a whole host more.
White gold
The skiing and snowboarding at Telluride is some of the most spectacular you will ever do. It’s guaranteed that many times during the day you will stop, simply gobsmacked by the ring of peaks circling the Resort.
Telluride Ski Resort has over 2000 acres of skiable terrain and there are 18 lifts carrying riders up to access over 120 trails. The highest lifted point is the Revelation Lift at a heady 3831 metres, but if you want to go higher, hike to Palmyra Peak, which soars to 4059 metres. You can also hike to the Black Iron Bowl and the numerous Gold Hill Chutes – there is even a staircase here to make it easier for hikers. Talk about a stairway to heaven.
Skiers and boarders of all levels shine at Telluride, so don’t be scared of its reputation if you haven’t skied much, or at all, before. The ski and snowboard instructors will have you sliding in no time, with the beginner area large and uncrowded. Beginners needn’t fret about missing the opportunity to see those views from on high, with a green run down from the top of the Prospect Bowl – albeit a long one – the Galloping Goose is the longest run here at a thigh-scorching 7.4 kms. It’s worth doing, as it takes you past many of the beautiful homes that are dotted around the mountainside.
On our first day, we take a free guided tour of the mountain with a Mountain Ambassador and for the next few hours follow him all around the mountain, learning some history about its mining past and working out how to get around the various areas of the mountain. It was well worth it.
We explore far and wide over the next few days. We hoot and holler down Sandia and Magnolia in Prospect Bowl, sweep down Alta and Silvertip off Polar Queen and tackle Majestic and Silver Cloud off Revelation. While here, visit the Bear Creek Overlook near the bottom of the chairlift and take photos of the view - looking across to thousand foot cliffs and down along Bear Creek. Magnificent.
Gold Hill Chairlift is wonderful because it links you up with the Revelation Bowl and also See Forever, a run that lives up to its name following the ridge line. Drop off See Forever down a range of challenging blacks and double blacks, or keep going until you reach Guiseppes Restaurant and choose whether to go back to the Mountain Village or drop down towards the town of Telluride. It is these runs that are my favourite. Zip down The Plunge or Lookout or Bushwacker, and meet up with The Plunge chair or take Bail Out to Telluride. As you ski down, the views over the town far, far below are breathtaking, and many times we stop to take another photo. Later in the day we scoot down Coonskin, Pandora and Milk Run, doing laps up the Coonskin Chairlift until our legs won’t work anymore and we just ski to our door and collapse.
Wine and dine
The on-mountain dining at Telluride is out of this world. Alpino Vino, accessed by the Gold Hill Express, is the highest restaurant in North America with more of those incredible views from the deck, or sit inside the quaint and cosy cabin. Choose from a large selection of wines by the glass and enjoy traditional Italian and alpine dishes. For something really special, it’s open for dinner, with snowcoach transfers.
Bon Vivant, at the top of Polar Queen, is also outstanding, with French cuisine, fine French wine, hand-crafted cocktails and local beers all under a huge retractable umbrella and outdoor heaters. Then there’s Guiseppe’s, with New Orleans-inspired fare such as black bean sauté and crawfish gumbo, and Gorrono Ranch, with its sun-drenched deck chairs, live music and delicious burgers, bbq and chilli.
For apres, stop off at Smak Bar at the Hotel Madeline – terrific food and a firepit. Stay long enough and have a Smak Mary – a Bloody Mary with a mini hamburger attached. Tomboy Tavern is another great spot with plenty of boutique beers.
Allreds is one of the best for apres, with outstanding views over Telluride from its perch on the lip of the ridge, the lights of the town twinkling below like jewels on the sea floor.
For dinner, there are so many excellent places in Telluride. Rustico is traditional Italian and this is the only place you can order steaks from Ralph Lauren’s Double RL ranch which is nearby. Cosmopolitan at the Hotel Columbia is elegant and divine, Honga’s Lotus Petal has a swish interior and serves fresh sushi and traditionally eclectic Eastern fare, and the New Sheridan Chop House is a cut above. The one place everyone kept raving about was a tiny restaurant called ‘there’, which rates its socks off on Yelp and Trip Advisor. We walked past it every night and peered into its uber-trendy interior of cow-patterned bench seats, tractor bar stools and timber tables. It’s cleverly cool. When you phone to beg for a booking, they answer “Hello there”. Sadly, it was too busy and we couldn’t get in. Next time …
Ghost riders
We signed up for a two-hour sunset tour to the Alta ghost town with Telluride Snowmobile Adventures, and after a quick briefing at their base out of town, we are off on our trusty mechanical steeds on the groomed trails. There are hair raising moments, steering around trees, tight corners and over bumps, but the thrill of driving through stands of aspens, snowy glades and open sections with nothing but the mountains, is liberating. We stop off at the Alta mining camp and hear tales of what it was like back in the day, then start back, stopping to watch the sun set on the back side of Palmyra Peak. The jutting peaks, the wrap of snow, and the golden glow of the sun presented another one of those moments. We all watch in awe and can’t really believe we are here, now, in this most beautiful of places. Speechless? Yep. •
