When You Go -- Telluride, CO

Getting There: Telluride is located in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado, 335 miles southwest of Denver. The Montrose Regional Airport is 65 miles from the Telluride Resort and accessible via non-stop jet service from Dallas, Houston and Newark or prop service from Denver and Phoenix. You can fly direct to the Telluride Regional Airport, just six miles from the town of Telluride via daily service from either Denver or Phoenix. American, Continental, and America West Express offer service to Montrose, while United Express and American West Express serve the Telluride airport. Web links are listed in this magazine’s Airlines page.

Shuttle service to and from Telluride, Montrose, and Durango are offered by Telluride Express (888) 221-8294, and Alpine Luxury Limo, (877) 728-8750. Mountain Limo offers service from Telluride and Montrose (970) 728-9606. If you prefer to rent a car, you can find the Web inks and toll free phone numbers in this site’s Autos page.

Staying There: There are a variety of hotels, inns, B&Bs, and condos available in the town of Telluride and at the Mountain Village. Telluride Mountain Lodging (888) 728-1950 and Alpine Lodging, (800) 3769-769 offer wide varieties of accommodations for all budgets. A useful guidebooks which covers Telluride is Rocky Mountain Skiing, by Claire Walter.

Eating There: On-mountain dining includes rustic Gorrono Ranch at mid-mountain features burgers and BBQ on a sunny deck; Guiseppe’s; at the top of Lift 9; Big Billies at the base of Lifts 1 and 10 for family dining with Sothwestern and barbecue foods; The Pizza Chalet in the Mountain Village Core at base of Lift 4 serves pizza, salads and sandwiches and Allred’s Restaurant at the top of the Gondola offers regional American dishes with international overtones.

Fast Facts: Coonskin Base elevation: 8,725 ft. Gold Hill Summit: 12,260 ft. 81 trails, 16 lifts, with 2 high-speed gondolas, 7 high-speed quads, 2 triples, 2 doubles, 1 platter, 1 magic carpet and 1 surface lift. 30-km of Nordic trails. Terrain: 25% beginner, 36% intermediate, 39% advanced.

GorronoRanch.jpg (12502 bytes)
Gorrono Ranch at mid-mountain
(Photo: Rita Furnanz)

Lift Tickets (2002): Adult: $49 to $66 depending on dates. Children: $25 to $38; Senior discounts are available. Children 5 and under ski free. Telluride Cards offer discounts on skiing, ski school, mountain food and beverage, lodging and local business. Price is $150 for adults, and $130 for children. Season: Dec. 1, 2002 to April 2, 2002, dependent on snow conditions.