Trip Report
With now 19 years of annual visits to Telluride under my belt, it still feels just as special as that first decent down Palmyra Peak many moons ago. Flash forward to February 2017 and my wife and I have assembled our own crew to wreak havoc on the mountain. Alright, so the 9 month old did not make any turns but the 5 and 8 year old groms had a blast venturing all over the hill.
With six days of skiing ahead of us, the weather gods granted a few inches of fluff on the first day, That was followed by two days of gorgeous Spring-like weather, a day of wind, followed by around a foot of cold smoke with cool air to finish up the trip. Ultimately, it was the perfect mix of conditions to find some powder, hike in the sun, rail some groomers, teach the kids some powder techniques and have a few nice meals in the sun.
I began each day trying to follow the ideal lighting to capture some POV footage in areas such as Dihedral, Black Iron Bowl, Bald Mountain, Gold Hill, and of course, Palmyra Peak. Coverage in the steeper parts of the hill was a bit less than this time last season but that just made me explore the intricacies of Bald Mountain and the Rockslide zone below Ute Park.
Palymyra Peak also did not disappoint. After a 60 minute uphill walk to 13,300 feet from the top of Chair 12, I was rewarded by fresh tracks and cold north facing snow down Roy Boy into the Palmyra Basin.
Skiing with the family is hard to beat when runs like Bushwacker, The Plunge, Lookout, Silvercloud and See Forever are groomed almost on a daily basis. It also doesn’t hurt that you can enjoy views of Bear Creek and the San Juans while perfecting your GS turns. For the little ones, my daughter and I explored the features of the Enchanted Forest, Ute Park and the incredible long runs off Chair 10. Add some pulled pork at Giuseppe’s and a croque monsiuer at Bon Vivant, add a Tempter IPA and you’ve got a perfect meal after living it up at high altitude.
Closing Day is April 2nd and Telluride is part of the Mountain Collective so get going!
Day One:
Direct flight from SFO to Montrose is a game changer especially when you have a baby monster on your lap…
The first day of skiing greeted us with a few inches of fluff…
Is there any better family sport? Nope, I didn’t think so…
If you leave the runs up to your kids, you’ll ski runs like West Drain first thing in the morning…
The continued snowfall improved conditions on Chair 9…
When they groom Bushwacker, you head straight there…
Bushwacker is long and steep, perfect for an 8 year old…
Giuseppe’s hot chocolate game is strong on days like these …
Toward the end of the day, the clouds broke free and gave us a nice view of Palmyra Peak…
Day Two:
Bluebird skies and new snow? Yup, today should be good…
With Patrol doing snow safety on Palymyra and Black Iron Bowl, I headed straight to Bald Mountain to get some fresh turns and stunning views…
Given its only around a 15 min hike, I would recommend heading up Bald Mountain for the scenery alone…
Untracked open field of fun back down toward Prospect Bowl…
With the sun shining and not enough time to hike to the top of Palmyra, I ventured over toward Mountain Quail of Black Iron Bowl…
Unknown skier getting the goods on Dihedral Face…
In case you want to see what it looks like while skiing down…
As you can see, there are plenty of options…from lines that cliff out to a run of the mill steep chute…
That made me hungry…who’s ready for lunch at Bon Vivant?
Palmyra Peak looking proud from Bon Vivant…
Nothing fancier than a Peanut Butter & Jelly!
After lunch, we decided on a family hike to Bald Mountain…
Summit shots are the best…
And a perfect view of Silver Mountain just beyond the boundaries…
From there we took a long scenic run down See Forever…
After a few laps on Chair 9, it was time for snack at Giueseppe’s…
We headed down to pick up the 5 year old at Ski School and yes, that meant it was time for a crepe…
Then it was the obligatory apres ski hot tub and pool time at the Madeline…
Day Three:
With high pressure in place, it was a no brainer that I would head straight up to Palmyra Peak…
Nice views of the Upper Gold Hill chutes…
I partnered up with a guy who loved to talk…BONUS!
The hike up the ridge is definitely strenous…
After around 60 mins, we made it to 13,320 feet…
My hiking partner headed down Seniors…
With the route around to Upper Roy Boy closed, I followed old mate down Seniors and then stayed hard skiers right…
View of Roy Boy in its cold snow glory…
Upon the descent, I found some soft snow on the protected edges of the chute…
Oh boy, that was pretty darn good…
From there I traversed over to Nice Chute in Black Iron Bowl…
From the top of Gold Hill, I found some great snow and steeper slopes in Happy Thought…
With the sun shining, its hard to pass up a few laps in Revelation Bowl…
When they groom Silvercloud, I suggest you make a few laps…TRUST ME!
Awesome views of Bear Creek and beyond can be found over here…
All that skiing made me thirsty…for chilled Rosé of course!
Next, we met up with some friends and explored the front side of the mountain…
Does a kid deserve a candy after skiing hard all day? I think so…
Day Four:
Welcome to Daddy and Daughter ski day…
No visit to Telluride is complete without a visit to the Talking Trees of Enchanted Forest…
We sessioned the flat rails of Ute Park…
The young groms love skiing through here…wouldn’t you?
The 5 year old ended the day beating mom at NASTAR…
Day Five:
Oh boy! A legit sneaker powder day…
Knowing that Bushwacker was groomed the prior night, we headed straight to Chair 9 from Chair 4…
Upon arrival to Chair 9, it was apparent that it snowed more than a few inches…
The snow was light, cold and fast…
Its been a while since my wife had a legitimate powder day…
I poked around the glades of Bushwacker and found some fluffy fun…
You know its good when you’re getting faceshots down the middle of the run…
We were finding fresh tracks all day long as they opened more terrain…
It was a bitter cold day, so after the rest of the family went in, I ventured over to the Rockslide area off Ute Park…
That last lap definitely did not disappoint…
Day Six:
Upon awakening, the snow continued to fall, so I headed up top Chair 12 to see if the untouched Black Iron Bowl was open to the public…
It looks as if the storm is clearing…I may just get lucky!
AND ITS OPEN! As the 5th hiker, I need to turn on boost mode…
As two dudes next to me discussed their line, I hustled a got a untracked hole-shot with the sun over my shoulders…
Some of you may be thinking…did he ever go into town? Sure did…but mainly for dinner. Its a ski trip remember?
See you in the Summer Telluride!!!!!
2 thoughts on “Box Canyon Bliss in the San Juans @ Telluride”