Skiing & Snowboarding
The adventure started in 1972, when Aspenite and Beverly Hills entrepreneur Joseph Zoline opened the fledgling ski area. With the help of local miner and skier Billy Mahoney Sr. and French ski racer/coach Emile Allais, runs were cut from the top of Lift 6 to the Day Lodge at the present-day bases of Lifts 1 and 10. Of the five lifts constructed, none picked up in Telluride. Instead, a bus drove skiers from town, around the mountain, through the Adams Ranch (now Mountain Village) and dropped them off at the Day Lodge (present-day Big Billies). Lift 1 took you to Lift 3 or 4, and from there you skied to Lift 5, and finally up to Lift 6, which dropped you off at the top of the ski area. If you skied down the wild and ungroomed north face to town, you had to ride the bus back to the Day Lodge to get back on the mountain. The pros, the ski bums, and the hard-core powder hounds could catch five rides in a day. It wasn't until 1975 that Zoline acquired enough mining claims and permission from the Forest Service to put in a lift (#7) from Telluride to the top of Coonskin Ridge, and the legend of Telluride was born.
In 1978, Ron Allred and Jim Wells purchased the ski area from Zoline. They added snowmaking, built Lifts 8, 9 and 10 and cut more runs down the steep north face of the ski area, including the famous Spiral Stairs, Plunge and Kant-Mak-M. In the years to follow, their company welcomed snowboarders, built Gorrono Restaurant, developed the Mountain Village, constructed the free gondola transportation system, created a snow-boarding park and opened Allred's on-mountain restaurant.
The finale of this 30-year saga was the recent purchase of the mountain by Hideo "Joe" Morita, who took the resort to its present glory by adding four lifts and expanding the area by 733 acres into Prospect Bowl.
This prime location, perched in the heart of the San Juan Mountains, afforded one thing no ski area entrepreneur ever had to buy or develop - unrivaled scenery. Telluride has always taken top honors in ski magazine surveys for its 360-degree views and towering mountainscapes.
In 1978, Ron Allred and Jim Wells purchased the ski area from Zoline. They added snowmaking, built Lifts 8, 9 and 10 and cut more runs down the steep north face of the ski area, including the famous Spiral Stairs, Plunge and Kant-Mak-M. In the years to follow, their company welcomed snowboarders, built Gorrono Restaurant, developed the Mountain Village, constructed the free gondola transportation system, created a snow-boarding park and opened Allred's on-mountain restaurant.
The finale of this 30-year saga was the recent purchase of the mountain by Hideo "Joe" Morita, who took the resort to its present glory by adding four lifts and expanding the area by 733 acres into Prospect Bowl.
This prime location, perched in the heart of the San Juan Mountains, afforded one thing no ski area entrepreneur ever had to buy or develop - unrivaled scenery. Telluride has always taken top honors in ski magazine surveys for its 360-degree views and towering mountainscapes.
