Wed, January 17th, Telluride.

High Temp is 27 deg F. A veritable heat wave moves through. A bit worn out from five consecutive days of skiing and driving all over tarnation, Stefan and I decide to take the lifts at Telluride for our 6^th day. Our Hotel, the Ridgeway Inn, provides serious discount vouchers for Telluride. We utilized these to get tickets for a mountain that seemed deserted at times. We never once waited in a lift line. We skied a number of runs in bounds and down thousands of moguls. Usually a good time, but there were certainly was thin coverage in a lot of spots. Our favorite run was called Genevieve. Stefan was not able to master her, but it was fun watching him try! He seemed to choose the most rock-laden path down. He tumbled and stumbled, but luckily did not rumble down the rocks.

A few more runs later it was 2pm, we were nearly spent, then we saw that there was a hike available! We decided to hike because we wanted to get some powder skiing in. We agreed this would be our final run. When we got to the top we were greeted with a 360 degree view of the San Juan Range. Visibility was almost far enough to see the curvature of the earth...if it hadn’t been for all those mountains in the way. Called the girls, then dropped out of bounds of Telluride. The snow got better and better with each turn. We laid turns down open bowls, large gullies, through new growth trees, and some billy goat’n through rock bands. Spectacular. A well packed hiking trail served us to down town and directly to the Smuggler Brewery. The beer was good, especially the Ingram IPA, the Two Planker Porter, and the Rocky Mountain Rye. Two tired soldiers make their way to Denver for a day off before Arapahoe Basin with Zaleski.

Photos from Red Mountain and Telluride are available here:
StormChasing II - Southern Colorado