This was our big adventurous weekend. Carrie's send off after a 2 month hiatus in Colorado. The plan was to check out Silverton Mountain and wrap it up in Telluride Colorado. Two BIG items on my to-do list. Telluride ... most people understand ... but Silverton Mountain????
Welcome to Silverton Mountain, Colorado. Here you will find amazing lines in every direction and one chairlift perfectly located to deliver you to the goods.
Silverton Mountain "Lodge"
Carrie checking in and evidently they recommend balls.
Heli Drop = $159/drop + lift ticket/$139
There's one lift that ascends about 2,000 vertical feet and you must ski with a guide. YUCK. I mean, I understand it because of the avalanche potential is sooooo incredibly high
... but DAMN - don't tell me to ski 3 feet from the guide marked turns on the left. Carrie did even worse following orders.
Hiking to terrain sounds so sexy. Hiking to terrain is so not sexy :) It's brutal at 13,000+ feet with skis strapped to your back ... toting a shovel, probe and beacon ... plus a liter of water. Not only do you have to hike TO terrain ... you have to hike OUT of terrain. I have been toying with the idea of doing backcountry skiing only. Earning my turns. I'm in the process of re-thinking that crazy idea ;)
There's no audio here... but imagine lots of heavy breathing and ugly words. Not happy after a 30 minute hike to terrain. Of course, I have to mention the fact that I'm in the early stages of severe bronchitis and should not have even been outside ... much less toting all my equipment up a mountain. God bless chair lifts (and Sherpas)!
The views were amazing.
They really "farm" the powder at Silverton. Each guide is assigned certain areas to ski and they are very strict about the whole thing. That way they can provide fresh turns days after a snow storm. That's good in theory and all, but something happens to snow that has been baked and frozen in cycles. It happens to SUCK. I'm a snow snob. The snow MUST be light and powdery ... and MUST make that soft whisper of ski sliding through white softness. Yes. That is right.
Adorable Silverton.
SO, I can understand why SOME people enjoy Silverton Mountain. They are same people that sleep on the big walls on a 3 day rock climb route. I prefer to ride to the top and ski to the bottom. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 20,000' of vertical later. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.
Back to Ouray.
On to Telluride ... Beautiful Sweet Telluride Colorado.
There are a couple of legendary stories of the origin of Telluride. Ask any native to the town and you’ll usually get a combination of these two stories.
1. This is a town that got its beginning in the gold rush era. And it was actually more successful in silver mining. But due to it’s location, in a box canyon with jagged peaks on 3 sides, travel by horseback was dangerous. The legend says that postmaster who delivered mail on horseback would tell those going to the town, “to hell you ride!!” because of the dangerous travel.
2. The other idea is because it was a mining town, it had it’s shares of bars and brothels. When payday hit, the miners would go to town to blow their money. “To hell you ride” was often yelled at them as they made their way down to town.
This is my new favorite Colorado town. It doesn't feel like a resort town. It's hard to explain ... but it is charming and leaves a dint on your heart - for sure.
The San Juans are majestical.
The terrain can be sketchy.
Ski In/Ski Out
Powder coming to town.
Pow in the woods ... 9" of sweetness.
Shreddin' GNAR ;)
Powder Day!
Carrie
After skiing Silverton, Carrie and I were having mandatory celebration beverages at a bar in Ouray. I started chatting with the old men that sit at that bar probably every night of the week. We told them we were heading out the next day to Telluride. They said "TELLURIDE? Why are you going to Telluride? Telluride sucks! Go to Crested Butte. Crested Butte rocks. They have steep and deep!" We said, "Trees ... we love trees." They said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah ... okay ... then go to Telluride. You want Telluride. They have the trees." Confirmed.
I love Telluride ... due to it’s location, in a box canyon with jagged peaks on 3 sides.
The great Gift of the Ski is that it relaxes the brain,
freeing it to float to its true home
in the boundless and the inexhaustible -
the sublime state we call Ski Mind.
