Tackling the Transcendent Terrain @ Telluride Ski Resort, CO โ€“ Winter 2019

Casey Cane | | Post Tag for Trip ReportTrip Report

Been to Telluride? No?โ€ฆwell get out here!


Telluride, Colorado โ€“ photo: Casey Cane

Dates: February 16th โ€“ 22nd, 2019



When this ski family descended upon Telluride Ski Resort during the middle of February 2019, we were greeted by an above-normal snowpack, daily fresh snow and ridiculously fun conditions. Almost everyday throughout the week, we received at least a few inches of new snow and combined with cold temperatures it yielded some stellar conditions. The snow continued throughout the season and was one of the best snow years in recent memory!

On this trip we decided to stay down in Town instead of Mountain Village. As the kids get older, and yes โ€“ we have three of them, it gets even easier to get them to the lifts. From town during the mid-winter months, you usually can ski over to Chairs 7, 8 and the Gondola. If you have a kiddo doing ski school for the day, its just one Gondola ride over to Mountain Village. At the end of the day, we just skied right to the back door of our accommodations.

On most days, the plan of attack was simpleโ€ฆhead straight to Chair 9 or Chair 6 and slay some powder turns while refreshing the lift status updates to time an opening of Gold Hill or Revelation Bowl. On one of those days, we were able to time the perfectly time the opening of Revelation Bowl to join the powder-hounds skiing untracked in glorious sunshine.

The rest of the week had a similar routine but adding some hikes up to Mountain Quail, Dihedral Chutes and into Black Iron Bowl. Highlights include great laps down Dihedral Face, Little Rose, Rock Garden, Sullyโ€™s Gully and Powerline to name a few. From hot chocolate breaks at Giuseppeโ€™s to magnificent late-lunch adult beverages and food at Bon Vivant, we sure felt spoiled skiing around the mountain.

As far as terrain openings, due to all the new snow, Palmyra Peak and the Gold Hill chutes did not open during our visit. However, they did open the week following our trip. All in all, our family had a blast running around the mountain. One of the best aspects of Telluride is that almost every chairlift has an easy way down, therefore allowing the entire family to ski what they want off a single chairlift.

The kids did some ski school (mainly so dad could get rowdy) but they mostly skied with us, their parents, with some divide and conquering. Most notably, after getting our 2 year old out on a afternoons on Chair 1, we loathed in the success of managing another week of family skiing in the San Juans. Well, minus dad losing his iPhone on Gold Hill (as usual) but nothing a trip to Montrose canโ€™t fix.

Did I miss a part of the mountain, certain run or area not included in this report? No problem. Check out my reports from 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 & 2014.


Day one began with some signature Chair 9 lapsโ€ฆ

Chair 9 โ€“ Telluride, CO

My oldest is hellbent to knocking off every run on the mountain, so Powerline was next!

Grom descending Powerline โ€“ Chair 9

Just Dad trying his best to catch up to his sonโ€ฆ

Powerline โ€“ Telluride, CO

As a good old triple chair, The Plunge (Chair 9) was perfect for acclimatizationโ€ฆ

Chair 9 โ€“ Telluride, CO

With the kids on the main run, Dad played on the trailโ€™s edgesโ€ฆ

Side stashes of Upper Lookout Runโ€ฆ

After a long day on the slopes, it was time to head downtown for some grubโ€ฆ

Snowy Main Street โ€“ Telluride, CO

On this trip, we stayed downtown, making walking to bars & restaurants an effortless ventureโ€ฆ

Mom and son โ€“ Telluride, CO

The next day, after some perfect planning on my part, we made it to Revelation Bowl right at openingโ€ฆ

Revelation Lift โ€“ Telluride, CO

This IS where you want to be an a sunny powder morningโ€ฆ

Revelation Bowlโ€ฆ

Go fast and follow the contours on an untouched slopeโ€ฆ

Not too shabbyโ€ฆ

Do we come for the skiing or the views? Hmmmmโ€ฆ

Views galore in Revelation Bowl โ€“ Telluride, CO

Powder laps with a view of Bear Creek? Weโ€™ll take it!โ€ฆ

Not too shabbyโ€ฆ

Its really tough not to love this placeโ€ฆ

Scenic Trails โ€“ Telluride, CO

With a rumor of Black Iron Bowl opening soon, I headed over to the Prospect Chairโ€ฆ

View of Dihedral and Palmyra aboveโ€ฆ

Hiking up toward Mountain Quail, youโ€™ll encounter great views of Silver Mountainโ€ฆ

Terrain above Alta Lakes โ€“ Telluride Backcountry

A favorite of mine is the Dihedral Zone, where youโ€™ll find classic chutes and steep technical descents to keep the heart healthyโ€ฆ

Dihedral Face โ€“ Telluride, CO

That moment when the sun pops through the gap in the cloudsโ€ฆ

Untracked steeps โ€“ Telluride, CO

Remember, it gets a bit technical as you descend, so make sure you commit to either skiers left or right at the bottom cliffsโ€ฆ

Skiing is fun, right?

The view of the zone and all its line optionsโ€ฆ

Hike to terrain โ€“ Telluride, CO

As you descend into Black Iron Bowl, you can get a better view of Mountain Quail (center) to Dihedral zone (lookerโ€™s right)โ€ฆ

The hike to terrain that leads into Black Iron Bowlโ€ฆ

Donโ€™t forget to stay skierโ€™s right on the way back down to Prospect Lift (12) so you can jump off some featuresโ€ฆ

Old man airingโ€ฆ

And another day is done by skiing back to the yurtโ€ฆ

Mom and son โ€“ Telluride, CO

Time for a morning knocking off runs from the trail mapโ€ฆ

Kant Makโ€™m โ€“ Telluride, CO

Sullyโ€™s Gully held some of the best turns of the tripโ€ฆ

Grom in Sullyโ€™s Gullyโ€ฆ

We then linked up with my daughterโ€ฆhow many kids do I have?

Grom ready to slay โ€“ Telluride, CO

The temps remained rather cool during our stay, so hot chocolate breaks at Gorrono Ranch were mandatoryโ€ฆ

Gorrono Ranch Lodge โ€“ Telluride, CO

Remember, Chair 8 (Oak Street lift) closes early for access to Chair 9, so plan accordinglyโ€ฆ

Chair 8 โ€“ Telluride, CO

The kids went in to warm up, so I went out to hike up to the Dihedral Zoneโ€ฆ

Hiking for the goods โ€“ Telluride, CO

But better yet, I ran into Joe Eppler (mountain man extraordinaire) and we took a few laps in Black Iron Bowl and runs off Gold Hillโ€ฆ

Hey JOE!

After some route finding, I encountered a fun little section off Gold Hillโ€ฆ

A skier descends Tellurideโ€ฆ

Ski with your kids they sayโ€ฆhowever, Iโ€™m not sure who would actually say that.

The hardest part of the tripโ€ฆ

It was time to spend the rest of the day with one of the most demanding skiersโ€ฆ

The 2 year old grom is ready!

Iโ€™m more of a non-leash, figure out gravity, then Iโ€™ll grab you kind of ski coachโ€ฆ

The hardest part of the tripโ€ฆ

That is, until he was tired, so I threw in a few laps in Rockslide at the end of the dayโ€ฆ

Rockslide powder turns โ€“ Telluride, CO

Another morning and this time, the sun actually paid us a visit!

Bald Mountain (hike to terrain) and Chair 5 โ€“ Telluride, CO

Hey kid, where do YOU want to go?โ€ฆ

Young skier ready to slay!

Yes, I made them make turns for this blogโ€ฆ

A grom making a turn around a photographerโ€ฆ

However, his sister is a bit harder to manage on photoshootsโ€ฆ

A grom in the Moment โ€“ Telluride, CO

Bon Vivant is an incredible spot for some French Onion soup and a beerโ€ฆtoo bad the views are horrendous.

Bon Vivant โ€“ Telluride, CO

If you save some energy, thereโ€™s more than enough to keep you busy when you make a left off Chair 12โ€ฆ

The hike-to terrain of Prospect Lift

Gold Hill Chutes finally say hello from Prospect Liftโ€ฆ

Golden Views of the Gold Hill Chutesโ€ฆ

My 10 year old had to check off Dihedral Chute, so up we wentโ€ฆ

Not a bad day in Tellurideโ€ฆ

When Palmyra is open, you just keep going up, up and then more upโ€ฆ

Hiking to Dihedral Chute โ€“ Telluride, CO

The terrain above Alta Lakes just beyond the boundariesโ€ฆ

Alta Lakes fun zoneโ€ฆ

You canโ€™t have a Telluride report without a photo of Mt. Wilson and Wilson Peak..

Mt. Wilson and Wilson Peak, CO

Silver Mountain shows us its โ€˜chuteyโ€™ sideโ€ฆ

Silver Mountain โ€“ Telluride, CO

Dihedral Chute just as my cameraโ€™s battery died. Did I mention is was cold? Well, it was chilly indeedโ€ฆ

Dihedral Chute โ€“ Telluride, CO

Forgot to zip a pocket, so thereโ€™s an iPhone in here somewhereโ€ฆ

Aggressive Alpine Skiingโ€ฆ

Some more snow overnight, some breaks in the clouds, so its time to Family Shredโ€ฆ

Chair 9 โ€“ The Plunge

Hey guys, you know you can wait for dad right?

Family in Tellurideโ€ฆ

With the sun out, we decided to play around the โ€˜town sideโ€™ of the mountainโ€ฆ

Grom in North Chute โ€“ Telluride, CO

Consistent pitch down to town is the name of the gameโ€ฆ

North Chute โ€“ Telluride, CO

My wife has been coming to Telluride for over 20 years, so she knows how to navigate the hillโ€ฆ

Bump slayer spotted in Tellurideโ€ฆ

Still checking off the boxes with Cat Paw, Jaws, Bail Out and Mine Shaft on the lower mountainโ€ฆ

Dad, whereโ€™s the green runs?

In Telluride, you can ski right into your favorite local restaurantโ€ฆ

Town views on Bail Outโ€ฆ

The last day started out pretty decentโ€ฆthat is, if you like snow.

Chair 8 powder day!

On days like these, its best to session Chair 9โ€ฆ

Powder day โ€“ Telluride, CO

Bushwacker is a tough one to beat with its consistently steep pitchโ€ฆ

Bushwacker โ€“ Telluride, CO

It also has some fun tree skiing off skierโ€™s rightโ€ฆ

Groms eat up the powder on Bushwackerโ€ฆ

This is where Dad yells to โ€˜be carefulโ€™ near the treesโ€ฆ

The elusive tree gromโ€ฆ

Of course, we HAD to ski down East Drainโ€ฆ

East Drain off Bushwacker trailโ€ฆ

Yup, some hot drinks are in orderโ€ฆ

Giuseppes is THE iconic place to get a snack!

We headed over to the Apex Lift (Chair 6) via Sullyโ€™s and it did not disappointโ€ฆ

Casey Cane in Sullyโ€™s Gully

We lapped all the runs off Chair 6 and admired the sceneryโ€ฆ

Apex lift treesโ€ฆ

โ€˜Where do you want to go next?โ€™โ€ฆ

Mother and daughter on Chair 6 โ€“ Telluride, CO

Iโ€™m sorry, but Iโ€™m kind of forcing my kids to enjoy powder skiingโ€ฆ

Some groms racing down soft snowโ€ฆ

It was time to pack up the gear so we headed back down the Plunge toward townโ€ฆ

People on Chair 9 โ€“ Telluride, CO

โ€˜One more run, please, Iโ€™ll be good, I PROMISE!โ€™

The base of the Gondola and Chair 8โ€ฆ

Until next Winter Telluride! You have a pretty fun mountain as wellโ€ฆ

The Telluride Gondolaโ€ฆ

See you in July Telluride, and yes, Iโ€™m bringing skisโ€ฆ

 

โ€ฆEnd of Blog Transmission

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