Zoom

photo: Courtesy Ben Eng/Telluride Ski Resort

Insider's Luxury Guide to Telluride: The Snow

Popular meteorological mythology would have you believe that the snow in Telluride is lighter because it dries out as it travels over the vast expanses of Southwestern desert. Whether it’s that or just divine providence, the snow here — 309 inches annually, on average — is some of the lightest you’ll find on the planet.

Best Runs
Unless you’re hypoxic, the must-do run at Telluride is See Forever. When you slide off the incredible Gold Hill chair at the 12,515-foot summit, you’ll be significantly higher than at any lift in California, Utah, or Montana. As you drop down this always-groomed intermediate pitch you can see deep into Utah, with the red-rock canyons near Moab and the La Sal mountains emerging from the Great Basin like islands in the sky. Other legendary runs include steep Plunge, which lets you scope out Telluride’s Victorian architecture between your boots, and fluffy Dynamo, a wind-loaded powder field that narrows to a 10-foot-wide chute in the middle, like an hourglass.

Getting Higher
Telluride Helitrax (970/728-8377) is the only heli-ski operation in Colorado. Since 1982 it has whisked customers to the high reaches (to 13,500 feet) of the peaks surrounding town, dropping them into the dry Southwest powder. Expect about six runs a day along with exclusivity: Helitrax flies only 12 people a day. Book early and pray for powder.