southwest

National Geographic has been “inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888”. Needless to say, their magazine has been producing some of the best stories, photos, people & more for decades. This week, they released the ‘World’s 25 Best Ski Towns’… and we are honored to have Telluride in this elite list! 

“Just what makes a classic ski town? It starts, naturally, with skiing and snowboarding so good they attract people like youth-bestowing fountains. Then add an inviting mountain burg steeped in ski heritage, amenities, and culture. These are the 25 best. For insider tips, we asked local luminaries where to stay, play, and party, whether you're on a budget or indulging. 
—Aaron Teasdale” 

The following is National Geographic’s “local scoop” on what to do, where to stay, where to eat/drink/party and more. Our very own, Mountainside Inn, received a shout-out! Thanks National Geographic for this amazing article. We’ll keep reading your amazing magazine… and make sure you keep visiting our beautiful box canyon!

“Best For: Big-lunged skiers and boarders with a taste for fine wine and the mountain high life

Remote and unrelentingly beautiful, Telluride may be the most picturesque ski town in North America, a Victorian-era silver-mining hamlet set deep in a box canyon in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. The steep runs of Telluride Ski Resort spill right into the edge of the town’s National Historic District, where a gondola whisks skiers back up into the area’s almost 4,000 vertical feet of absurdly scenic skiing. Only 12 blocks long and with no stoplights, neon signs, or billboards, this charming town of 2,325 people combines fine wine lists and funky bars with a spirited culture of diehard mountain lovers. The town sits at a gasping 8,793 feet above sea level, and lifts reach to over 12,500 feet, so come prepared to acclimatize.

For a mountain with a well-earned reputation for steeps and bumps, Telluride in fact offers excellent cruisers and beginner terrain—in the kind of high-alpine setting that makes even first-timers feel like heroes—on the slopes around its modern, luxurious Mountain Village. Experts will find bumps, bowls, and chutes in every corner of the resort, and those willing to hike can access some of the most extreme in-bounds terrain in the country in Black Iron Bowl and 13,251-foot Palmyra Peak. Heli-skiing can be hired in the Mountain Village, and the San Juan Hut System offers shelters and multiday routes for backcountry adventurers.

Ask a Local

Travel and adventure writer Rob Story has skied in 13 countries on six continents and at 75 North American resorts. When he left his longtime post as senior editor at Powder magazine in 1998, he knew exactly where he wanted to move—Telluride. He is the author of Telluride Storys. Here are his recommendations.

Best Digs

Budget: There’s not much to Mountainside Inn, but it’s ski-in, ski-out.

Swank: The Peaks Resort has a great après deck and spa.

Best Eats

Cheap: Oak, the barbeque place in town at the base of the gondola

Gourmet: La Marmotte is a great French restaurant in the town's old icehouse.

Best After-Ski Party Spot

The Historic Bar at the Sheridan is the oldest in town.

Best Rest-Day Activity

Walk north up Aspen Street. When it turns to a dirt trailhead, keep going straight up to beautiful Cornet Falls, a 80-foot waterfall in a small red rock canyon.

Telluride’s Classic Ski Run

“Plunge, because on the steep parts you can look through your tips at our tidy, cute, historic town,” notes Story.”

To read the article online, visit: http://on.natgeo.com/xtGRqQ

Each week this month, we’ll be featuring some of our favorite neighboring towns you need to check-off your bucketlist. Southwest Colorado has so much to offer… and some of the most amazing activities, towns, day trips and people in the country! This week we’re featuring Silverton, Colorado. 

Silverton is one of our favorite neighboring towns. Our San Juan sister. Just a short 2 hour drive... you can easily make Telluride your home base and cruise over for a fabulous day on the mountain. Lots of people we speak to will come ski Telluride for a couple days... and then head to Silverton, or vice versa. Good idea. Some of the best skiing, views and snow in all of Colorado. The skiing is out. of. this. world. 

If you've never been or even heard of it for that matter, it's tough to grasp its awesomeness in words. It's one of those places that you just have to visit to truly understand its magical appeal. An anomaly in the ski industry... there's not another town or ski "resort" like it. Located in the middle of nowhere Colorado, sandwiched in between Durango, Ouray & Telluride, it acts as the Bermuda Triangle of the west - freakish weather patterns that give it more white, fluffy stuff than most other Colorado resorts. 

This little town perched at 9,318 feet above sea level is home to 250 year-round residences who can probably ski a lot better than you can. If they can't, then they can definitely drink you under the table. Needless to say... there's not much else going on in the winters. A town frozen in the late 80's with more watering-holes than restaurants, intricate multi-colored Victorian homes, steep & deep terrain and a skiing addiction like no other.

THIS WEEKEND ONLY (Thurs-Sun), Silverton Mountain is doing $50 heli drops! That's right... take a ride in the red limousine and get some of the best turns in Colorado. For more info or to book your trip, visit: http://silvertonmountain.com/page/home

Where to Stay? If you end of spending the night... stay at The Triangle Motel. Nothing fancy... but the perfect spot to get some much needed z's before your epic day of skiing. http://www.trianglemotel.com/

Where to Eat? We ate at Mother Kluckers... and it was delicious. The perfect place to load up on carbs and ice cold beer. 

Silverton is a must-do in the winter or summer if you're visiting Southwest Colorado!!! 

The San Juan Skyway has been checked off the list. It’s been on my bucketlist for a while. I’ve done sections of the drive at separate times… but I’ve never driven the entire 233-mile loop in one weekend. It was spectacular. And we even caught the tail-end of the gorgeous fall foliage. We started in Telluride and headed south towards Cortez, CO… where a stop at the Mesa Verde National Park is another “bucketlist checker off-er”. Ancient Cliff-dwellings dating back to 550-1300 AD built by the Ancestral Puebloan people, sometimes called the Anasazi. It’s an amazing sight…

Onward to Durango, CO. Durango is a great town. Known for its Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway, Micro Breweries, and its mountain biking mecca status. Great place to spend the night to split the trip up and take in all the sights. Eat at a tasty brewery, bike along their River Trail, or go fishing/rafting down the Animas River. We fished the Animas right outside of town… and it was a blast. Lots of Rainbow Trout to be caught!

The next day, we continued along the Skyway towards Coal Bank Pass, Molas Pass, and ended up in the tiny town of Silverton, CO. Silverton is straight out of an old western movie - one main thoroughfare with saloons, shops, great food and a brewery. Not much going on… but a really cool mining town turned into one of the best “ski resorts” in the nation. Silverton converts into an expert, backcountry ski resort in the winter with hike-to terrain, 1 lift, guided and unguided trips, and even an old UPS-like truck to drive you back so you can do it all over again. 5 runs at Silverton Mountain is a GOOD day.

Next, we drove along Red Mountain Pass and the “Million Dollar Highway” connecting Silverton to Ouray, Colorado. This road has to be one of the most ridiculous roads I’ve ever been on. Ridiculous in a good way – amazing views, gorgeous fall foliage, cliffs, valleys, tunnels, mining structures and lots more. I’d never seen anything like it… I actually don’t even know how it was built. It’s exhilarating and one of the prettiest sights in Southwest Colorado but it’s definitely a “white-knuckle” kind of drive.

Next up… I’ve been to Ouray many times. Known for its Hot Springs (clothing optional), jeeping, and the infamous Imogene Pass Run… it’s a cute/quaint little town which claims to be “Switzerland of America”. It’s surrounded on all three sides with mountains… giving it the box canyon feel like Telluride. Great town and nice neighbors! We left Ouray and head back towards Telluride through Ridgway and Placerville. It was great to be home. Telluride is the prettiest… but we’re a little biased!! The San Juan Skyway is something you’ve got to check off your list when you visit the region again. Absolutely amazing!