Telluride Ski Resort
Telluride, Colorado
website »
swap photo »
Telluride will take your breath away -- and that's not just because you're sucking air while adjusting your goggles at 12,255 feet. The remote Colorado resort occupies some of the most stunning sections of the Rockies, with dizzying views of ragged ridgelines and diminutive Old West mining settlements. Meanwhile, the quintessential mountain town thumps with après-ski action; take your pick of sticky margarita bars, bourbon-soaked barbecue joints and the martini-laden Noir Bar. (There's a reason good-time-guy and extreme skier Jonny Moseley is Telluride's ambassador of skiing.) But first, sample some of T-ride's 1,700 acres by bumping down Spiral Stairs, a steep show-off run beneath the Plunge lift near town, and carving S's through Prospect Bowl. Then consider hiring a backcountry guide for more goods off Palmyra Peak or going aloft with Telluride Helitrax, Colorado's chopper service, for 350 square miles of pristine powder. For a further altitude adjustment, slumber at the Tempter House, a for-rent two-bedroom home perched at 12,200 feet.
Ride Lift 12 and hoof it for 10-30 minutes to drop into Black Iron Bowl, eight brand-new runs previously open only to guides and their guests.
Raise your glass to the miners who made Telluride -- and drank here -- at the New Sheridan Bar, a hotel hangout that's been topping off tipplers since 1895.
E-mail this to a friend »
Photos: Courtesy of Telluride
