Telluride crowds?

[hitek79]

Based on my research, Telluride isn't a busy mountain, but I'm trying to get an idea on what that means. I've been riding Monarch for the last 3 years, where you can hike Mirkwood for 3 days and still have good snow. Can you hit fresh tracks all day in Telluride off the lifts, or do you have to start hiking early to get the best snow throughout the day?

[liv2ski]

If I lived by and skied at a place that had snow around for two to three days after a storm, I certainly would not be advertising it on a forum. Just sayin...........

[AlpiNord]

Based on my research, Telluride isn't a busy mountain, but I'm trying to get an idea on what that means. I've been riding Monarch for the last 3 years, where you can hike Mirkwood for 3 days and still have good snow. Can you hit fresh tracks all day in Telluride off the lifts, or do you have to start hiking early to get the best snow throughout the day?

People come out of the woodwork on powder days. It can be mayhem on a powder day (along with the entitled pricks who feel they can cut ahead of others in line like anywhere else), but you can sniff out powder all day if you know where to look. Sometimes timing is everything.....and patience.

The hike to stuff probably won't be open right away and may take a few days to open.

Blog post from one day:

It was nuts after a drought a few years ago, there was a power outage in town and the lifts were slow to get going after a 2' dump. The Coon Skin (Lift 7) line wrapped around the base area until it got going. The upper mountain wasn't open, nor was Lift 9. After the hordes ate up the powder on the town side, the rumor went around that it would open mid morning.

A line formed at the closure to the Telluride trail waiting in anticipation. There is a little pitch above the TT coming over from the Mountin Village side, off See For Ever where others lined up. When the rope dropped for the Le Mans start, the skiers and boards from above dropped in while everyone on the trail started elbowing and pushing through. The ones from above tried blasting through the line. People were run over, poles bent. When the mass made it to Lookout from the cat track to Lookout and dropped in, people were falling and nearly getting run over. If you slowed down or stopped you were toast. We got a few freshy lines off nine and started poking around the trees and edges.

After a late lunch and a break, I went to rendezvous with my sister and discovered that Gold Hill was due to open at 2pm. We were among the first to hit Dynamo and Electra for dolphin skiing in the bumps. Some of the best freshies ever with not too many around for the afternoon. Everyone else was more spent.

The next day, it had snowed a little more and was sunny. No one around and there was great skiing the runs and with fresh snow over soft crud and lots of fresh lines in the trees.

Side note, 'The Hateful Eight' was filmed that year and they had a lot of down time waiting for it to snow for the movie. The actors and crew participated in a ski burning party prior to the big storm. Saw Samuel L Jackson at Lift 9 on the big powder day and he was smiling ear to ear, too.

[brutah]

telluride will be busier than monarch that's for sure, but less busy than I-70 ski resorts.

I don't think too many tourists choose Monarch as a ski vacation destination.......

[Danno]

telluride will be busier than monarch that's for sure.

On a powder day, yes. As a general proposition? Not sure that is true. And during spring break, definitely not true. At least based on my experience, which is a few years old.

[skier666]

I only really ski there on President's week so I'm there at the peak of the crowds. Only real line on a non-powder day is on Chair 4 in the AM and a little bit on Chair 5 for groomer laps right thereafter. This is the busiest area and can get crowded but its totally doable.

From my experience...on powder days, they do rolling terrain openings similar to other resorts once cleared by patrol for avalanche control. You'll have to pick a side of the mountain and roll the dice. If you're staying in Mountain Village a good tip is to head up Chair 10 so you are closer to Prospect Basin so you can hike up to Mountain Quail and Dihedral zone...I've had some epic runs in there. If there's a terrain hold, you can sometimes bang out a powder lap/hike up Bald Mountain or do a lap or two in Rockslide off Ute Park.

Your best bet on a decent dump is to head straight to Lift 9 (like mentioned above) and/or Lift 6 for best pitch. My tip is to see what was run was groomed off of 9 'before it snowed' this way you b-line to the pow run without moguls underneath. After that, they usually open Gold Hill/Prospect Basin etc around the same time. Revelation Bowl may be next but the run is pretty short. You can totally find untracked snow after the storm but you'll have to work for it. Its a pretty significant hike (for an in-bounds area) to the top of Palmyra Peak. Ideally, you want to be waiting at the top of Prospect Lift and be talking to patrol. They open Black Iron Bowl first, then up to Mountain Quail, then finally Palmyra. Palmyra is pretty damn fun in my humble opinion.

Ultimately, nothing is too hidden there...some secret spots in the trees here and there.

[hitek79]

I only really ski there on President's week so I'm there at the peak of the crowds. Only real line on a non-powder day is on Chair 4 in the AM and a little bit on Chair 5 for groomer laps right thereafter. This is the busiest area and can get crowded but its totally doable.

From my experience...on powder days, they do rolling terrain openings similar to other resorts once cleared by patrol for avalanche control. You'll have to pick a side of the mountain and roll the dice. If you're staying in Mountain Village a good tip is to head up Chair 10 so you are closer to Prospect Basin so you can hike up to Mountain Quail and Dihedral zone...I've had some epic runs in there. If there's a terrain hold, you can sometimes bang out a powder lap/hike up Bald Mountain or do a lap or two in Rockslide off Ute Park.

Your best bet on a decent dump is to head straight to Lift 9 (like mentioned above) and/or Lift 6 for best pitch. My tip is to see what was run was groomed off of 9 'before it snowed' this way you b-line to the pow run without moguls underneath. After that, they usually open Gold Hill/Prospect Basin etc around the same time. Revelation Bowl may be next but the run is pretty short. You can totally find untracked snow after the storm but you'll have to work for it. Its a pretty significant hike (for an in-bounds area) to the top of Palmyra Peak. Ideally, you want to be waiting at the top of Prospect Lift and be talking to patrol. They open Black Iron Bowl first, then up to Mountain Quail, then finally Palmyra. Palmyra is pretty damn fun in my humble opinion.

Ultimately, nothing is too hidden there...some secret spots in the trees here and there.

Great info, thanks! The plan is to move from Salida, to Ridgway, so Telluride would be my home mountain at that point. I've really been spoiled by Monarch with consistent snow and virtually no crowds though.

[skaredshtles]

Great info, thanks! The plan is to move from Salida, to Ridgway, so Telluride would be my home mountain at that point. I've really been spoiled by Monarch with consistent snow and virtually no crowds though.

You're gonna be pleasantly spoiled because Telluride has terrain that is 10,000x better than Monarch. Snow situation can be a bit dicey, though...

[Danno]

Great info, thanks! The plan is to move from Salida, to Ridgway, so Telluride would be my home mountain at that point. I've really been spoiled by Monarch with consistent snow and virtually no crowds though.

Monarch has better snow, clearly, but it can't touch the terrain at Telluride, both in sheer quantity and even more so in quality. Or views. And you won't have issues with crowds. You just upgraded, big time.

[Lindahl]

In my experience, Telluride gets tracked up pretty quick on a powder day. Most of the terrain is pretty obvious and well known. Not many 'secret' spots that hold powder.

[Bronic]

Come on Lindahl, you of all people should know, there's always 'secret' shit you don't know about, until you do...

[Lindahl]

No real secret stashes IN the resort. It all gets skied out pretty quick.

[WTF is dat]

No real secret stashes IN the resort. It all gets skied out pretty quick.

There are a few, but require serious finesse in the trees

Way too tight for me to get any enjoyment out of

[Lindahl]

There are a few, but require serious finesse in the trees

Way too tight for me to get any enjoyment out of

Hence the 'real' part.

[AlpiNord]

Yeah. Truthfully, Telluride sucks on powder days. It only lasts for one run. So tell everyone not to bother.

[snojones]

Seems to me these day most ski areas are shredded very quickly. The bigger the mountain the faster the pow is gone.

The wide spread distribution of fat, skid anywhere skis have given us that. Yes... your runs can go farther before you tire out, but so do everybody's. Even if they never heard of a carved a turn. Ease of access leading to loss of opportunity.

[skier666]

Here's a vid from President's week in 2017...you'll see I found some lurking stashes

[Elkhound Odin]

Excellent video. We need more of this stoke.

[JaytaeMoney]

Here's a vid from President's week in 2017...you'll see I found some lurking stashes

yeah buddy!! nice turns

[Banh Mi]

Great video.


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[The SnowShow]

Here's a vid from President's week in 2017...you'll see I found some lurking stashes

Aw man, awesome vid. What a mountain.

[skier666]

Thanks guys...

Hell, I even got the whole family skiing in that vid haha.

[WTF is dat]

That looks fun !

[Meadow Skipper]

Here's a vid from President's week in 2017...you'll see I found some lurking stashes

Damn, that was really nice.

[TAFKALVS]

video isn't showing for me, can someone post a link?