Trip Report
Been to Telluride? No?…well get out here!
Dates: February 16th – 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 – 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 simple…head 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, Sully’s Gully and Powerline to name a few. From hot chocolate breaks at Giuseppe’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 can’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 laps…
My oldest is hellbent to knocking off every run on the mountain, so Powerline was next!
Just Dad trying his best to catch up to his son…
As a good old triple chair, The Plunge (Chair 9) was perfect for acclimatization…
With the kids on the main run, Dad played on the trail’s edges…
After a long day on the slopes, it was time to head downtown for some grub…
On this trip, we stayed downtown, making walking to bars & restaurants an effortless venture…
The next day, after some perfect planning on my part, we made it to Revelation Bowl right at opening…
This IS where you want to be an a sunny powder morning…
Go fast and follow the contours on an untouched slope…
Do we come for the skiing or the views? Hmmmm…
Powder laps with a view of Bear Creek? We’ll take it!…
Its really tough not to love this place…
With a rumor of Black Iron Bowl opening soon, I headed over to the Prospect Chair…
Hiking up toward Mountain Quail, you’ll encounter great views of Silver Mountain…
A favorite of mine is the Dihedral Zone, where you’ll find classic chutes and steep technical descents to keep the heart healthy…
That moment when the sun pops through the gap in the clouds…
Remember, it gets a bit technical as you descend, so make sure you commit to either skiers left or right at the bottom cliffs…
The view of the zone and all its line options…
As you descend into Black Iron Bowl, you can get a better view of Mountain Quail (center) to Dihedral zone (looker’s right)…
Don’t forget to stay skier’s right on the way back down to Prospect Lift (12) so you can jump off some features…
And another day is done by skiing back to the yurt…
Time for a morning knocking off runs from the trail map…
Sully’s Gully held some of the best turns of the trip…
We then linked up with my daughter…how many kids do I have?
The temps remained rather cool during our stay, so hot chocolate breaks at Gorrono Ranch were mandatory…
Remember, Chair 8 (Oak Street lift) closes early for access to Chair 9, so plan accordingly…
The kids went in to warm up, so I went out to hike up to the Dihedral Zone…
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 Hill…
After some route finding, I encountered a fun little section off Gold Hill…
Ski with your kids they say…however, I’m not sure who would actually say that.
It was time to spend the rest of the day with one of the most demanding skiers…
I’m more of a non-leash, figure out gravity, then I’ll grab you kind of ski coach…
That is, until he was tired, so I threw in a few laps in Rockslide at the end of the day…
Another morning and this time, the sun actually paid us a visit!
Hey kid, where do YOU want to go?…
Yes, I made them make turns for this blog…
However, his sister is a bit harder to manage on photoshoots…
Bon Vivant is an incredible spot for some French Onion soup and a beer…too bad the views are horrendous.
If you save some energy, there’s more than enough to keep you busy when you make a left off Chair 12…
Gold Hill Chutes finally say hello from Prospect Lift…
My 10 year old had to check off Dihedral Chute, so up we went…
When Palmyra is open, you just keep going up, up and then more up…
The terrain above Alta Lakes just beyond the boundaries…
You can’t have a Telluride report without a photo of Mt. Wilson and Wilson Peak..
Silver Mountain shows us its ‘chutey’ side…
Dihedral Chute just as my camera’s battery died. Did I mention is was cold? Well, it was chilly indeed…
Forgot to zip a pocket, so there’s an iPhone in here somewhere…
Some more snow overnight, some breaks in the clouds, so its time to Family Shred…
Hey guys, you know you can wait for dad right?
With the sun out, we decided to play around the ‘town side’ of the mountain…
Consistent pitch down to town is the name of the game…
My wife has been coming to Telluride for over 20 years, so she knows how to navigate the hill…
Still checking off the boxes with Cat Paw, Jaws, Bail Out and Mine Shaft on the lower mountain…
In Telluride, you can ski right into your favorite local restaurant…
The last day started out pretty decent…that is, if you like snow.
On days like these, its best to session Chair 9…
Bushwacker is a tough one to beat with its consistently steep pitch…
It also has some fun tree skiing off skier’s right…
This is where Dad yells to ‘be careful’ near the trees…
Of course, we HAD to ski down East Drain…
Yup, some hot drinks are in order…
We headed over to the Apex Lift (Chair 6) via Sully’s and it did not disappoint…
We lapped all the runs off Chair 6 and admired the scenery…
‘Where do you want to go next?’…
I’m sorry, but I’m kind of forcing my kids to enjoy powder skiing…
It was time to pack up the gear so we headed back down the Plunge toward town…
‘One more run, please, I’ll be good, I PROMISE!’
Until next Winter Telluride! You have a pretty fun mountain as well…
See you in July Telluride, and yes, I’m bringing skis…
