Deer Valley and Telluride

[Bankingguy]

My family has been skiing Deer Valley for the last number of years over New Years. I began skiing late in life and like taking it pretty easy. At DV, I stick to the greens and easier blues. On the blues, I end up on Last Chance, Dew Drop, Little Stick, Bluebell, etc. We also skied Breck one spring break and I did more blues off of Peak 9- the runs are so much wider, it was easier to control my speed.

My kids are better skiers - oldest daughter skied one of the double black bowls at Breck and skies most everything at DV. Youngest daughter likes all of the blues at DV.

We'd like to try a different location (that's hopefully not quite as busy) and we thought about Telluride. I always hear it is difficult but see it has a good number of green and double green runs. My question is this: do you think the Telluride green and double greens are more much difficult that the easier blues at DV???

Also, how will the crowds compare to DV? DV is so narrow in places that its simply wall to wall people.

Thanks!!

 

[jmeb]

I don't think there's a huge difference in difficulty. But Telluride doesn't seem like the idea location for a family that has lots of blue-green focused skiers.

Could Big Sky be an option? It's long blue groomers are incredible.

 

[Bankingguy]

Thanks for the reply. I'm the worst of the skiers and think everyone else would be ok. Just wanted to make sure there isn't a big difference in Telluride difficulty for similarly rated trails. And I don't mind having limited terrain - just want to have something that I can get down agreeably.

I have considered Big Sky - and its still a possibility. Unfortunately, lodging availability at Big Sky is a lot more limited than Telluride.

And we also enjoy having an old mining downtown - downtown Telluride looks like a smaller Park City.

 

[KingGrump]

If you like DV, then the vibe at Telluride will probably be a better fit than Big Sky.

Weather wise, Telluride is closer to DV than Big Sky. Visibilty can be challenging at Big Sky.

DV generally get a bit more snow than Telluride. All thing being equal. Telluride is probably better than DV when it comes to snow condition on groomers. Way too much traffic on DV groomers.

 

[Seldomski]

We'd like to try a different location (that's hopefully not quite as busy)

New Years

These two conflict somewhat. You will want to go somewhere harder to get to and/or more expensive to get less busy during a holiday like New Years.

Telluride, Sun Valley, and Aspen might be suitable. I stayed at Snowmass last season for the week after New Years. There is a lot of wide, mellow groomer terrain there and it sucks up the crowds. Lift lines were short. Runs are very long. I have not been to Telluride or Sun Valley. If I go back to Aspen, I would stay somewhere in town, not at Snowmass. We had a good deal on lodging there. If your kids are younger, Snowmass may be better.

 

[Nathanvg]

Don't go to sun valley, the greens are more like DV blues. Sun valley is a great place solid intermediates and above who like groomers.

Telluride is a great fit. The town is great and lifts and runs go right into town. The runs above town are mostly black but you can ride a gondola to get from town to/from the village where lots of green and easy blues are.

Aspen would work well for you too. The blues at snowmass and buttermilk all tend to be on the easier side. Aspen mountain has a handful of easy runs too.

All areas will be a little crowded over new years. Aspen and Telluride are remote and less crowded. Other areas you might consider:

• steamboat: cool town, easier blues but more crowded, still less crowded than DV
• Banff: cool towns, best scenery, and good easier blues and greens at sunshine village. Can be colder but usually not. Travel easy once you get to Calgary.
• Fernie, Kimberly, big white or sun peaks. These areas are not close to each other but all are less crowded and have the types or runs you're looking for. None are easy to get to, all are in Canada. Fernie is a cool town.

 

[AmyPJ]

Agreed that someone who likes to cruise greens and blues will be a bit overwhelmed by Sun Valley. Their greens on Seattle Ridge alone are like steep blues everywhere else I've skied. Forget about going over to Frenchman's other parts of the mountain.

 

[Bankingguy]

These two conflict somewhat. You will want to go somewhere harder to get to and/or more expensive to get less busy during a holiday like New Years.

Telluride, Sun Valley, and Aspen might be suitable. I stayed at Snowmass last season for the week after New Years. There is a lot of wide, mellow groomer terrain there and it sucks up the crowds. Lift lines were short. Runs are very long. I have not been to Telluride or Sun Valley. If I go back to Aspen, I would stay somewhere in town, not at Snowmass. We had a good deal on lodging there. If your kids are younger, Snowmass may be better.

Yeah, everyone is busy New Years but I was hoping something harder to get to wouldn’t be as busy as Deer Valley and Park City - they’re just so close to the airport, which is why we’ve been going. DV groomed runs can literally be shoulder to shoulder especially the narrower runs. Hoping to get a little more elbow room.

 

[Bankingguy]

Don't go to sun valley, the greens are more like DV blues. Sun valley is a great place solid intermediates and above who like groomers.

Telluride is a great fit. The town is great and lifts and runs go right into town. The runs above town are mostly black but you can ride a gondola to get from town to/from the village where lots of green and easy blues are.

Aspen would work well for you too. The blues at snowmass and buttermilk all tend to be on the easier side. Aspen mountain has a handful of easy runs too.

All areas will be a little crowded over new years. Aspen and Telluride are remote and less crowded. Other areas you might consider:

• steamboat: cool town, easier blues but more crowded, still less crowded than DV
• Banff: cool towns, best scenery, and good easier blues and greens at sunshine village. Can be colder but usually not. Travel easy once you get to Calgary.
• Fernie, Kimberly, big white or sun peaks. These areas are not close to each other but all are less crowded and have the types or runs you're looking for. None are easy to get to, all are in Canada. Fernie is a cool town.

Thanks so much. I considered Sun Valley so I’m appreciate the feedback.

I should probably look at Steamboat and Banff.

There are still pretty good losing available at Telluride. Need to pull the trigger soon!!

 

[New2]

Telluride's a great choice: lots of gentle greens even starting pretty high up the mountain. And the single-blue-square runs will generally be good for you, too--comparable in pitch to the Bald Eagle Mountain runs you mentioned at DV, but less crowded (although, of course, that's relative--and New Year's is among the busiest times). The only single-blue-square runs I'd steer you away from are Telluride Trail and its branches on the Telluride Face side... you'd probably be fine, but it's a lot of switchbacks with a few steep sections; much longer than anything you're accustomed to; and can tend to get a lot of traffic, particularly at the end of the day when your legs might not be at their best.
And Telluride has plenty to offer your daughters for sure.
Aspen, Banff, and Big Sky are also likely good picks from what I know. Powder Mountain in Utah would be a good choice if either daughter is interested in powder (they've got great green and easy blue groomers all over the huge mountain, but steep groomers are limited). Red Mountain Resort would be another good choice, and they're opening a brand new chairlift and terrain pod this year--but they don't have any high-speed lifts, which means more time sitting on the chair.

 

[Bankingguy]

Thanks for everyone thoughts. I really appreciate it. We’ve been going to DV for so long, we’re looking forward to a new place.

I’m leaning towards giving Telluride a try. Have definitely ruled out sun valley. But will look at several of the areas you all highlighted.

Thanks all!!!

 

[Jim Kenney]

This report has some photos and discussion about Telluride. Have fun wherever you go.
https://www.pugski.com/threads/closing-week-at-telluride-and-crested-butte-april-2019.15144/

 

[Bankingguy]

Telluride's a great choice: lots of gentle greens even starting pretty high up the mountain. And the single-blue-square runs will generally be good for you, too--comparable in pitch to the Bald Eagle Mountain runs you mentioned at DV, but less crowded (although, of course, that's relative--and New Year's is among the busiest times). The only single-blue-square runs I'd steer you away from are Telluride Trail and its branches on the Telluride Face side... you'd probably be fine, but it's a lot of switchbacks with a few steep sections; much longer than anything you're accustomed to; and can tend to get a lot of traffic, particularly at the end of the day when your legs might not be at their best.
And Telluride has plenty to offer your daughters for sure.
Aspen, Banff, and Big Sky are also likely good picks from what I know. Powder Mountain in Utah would be a good choice if either daughter is interested in powder (they've got great green and easy blue groomers all over the huge mountain, but steep groomers are limited). Red Mountain Resort would be another good choice, and they're opening a brand new chairlift and terrain pod this year--but they don't have any high-speed lifts, which means more time sitting on the chair.

Thanks so much for the detailed info. Good to have the direct comparison from DV to Telluride. Makes me feel more comfortable!

 

[scott43]

Just want to add..Telluride the town is beautiful and cool. We loved staying there, period.

 

[Bankingguy]

Just want to add..Telluride the town is beautiful and cool. We loved staying there, period.

Out of curiosity, did you stay in town? Or Mountain Village?

My girls are 21 and 17 so no issue for us lugging skis and kids around. Town seems good to walk to dinner, shopping, etc. Mountain Village good for easy access to skiing.

If we were staying on mountain, it would be in a house above Mountain Village. Seems like it would be difficult to get to the gondola to get into town.

Thoughts?

 

[scott43]

Out of curiosity, did you stay in town? Or Mountain Village?

My girls are 21 and 17 so no issue for us lugging skis and kids around. Town seems good to walk to dinner, shopping, etc. Mountain Village good for easy access to skiing.

If we were staying on mountain, it would be in a house above Mountain Village. Seems like it would be difficult to get to the gondola to get into town.

Thoughts?

We stayed in town, at the Camels Garden. The Oak St chair and the gondola are right outside the hotel, literally. You can walk to all the cool town stuff from there. For advanced skiers, the Oak St lift gives you access to some of the best long fall-line skiing there I think. But it's advanced, not blues. The easier stuff is better accessed from the mountain village. You could stay near the gondola in town and take it over the ridge to the village and ski from there. It's never busy and it's a fairly quick 10min or so ride to the village. Or you could do the Oak St lift and the Plunge lift back to back and you end up on the top of See Forever, a blue ridge run that can take you into the village as well.

If you're renting a house above the village you'll have to ski or drive to the gondola to get to town. Kids your age, unless you have a family thing going on where you want to spend quality time with the family, cook meals, which I totally get and am not trashing, stay in the town, it's great especially at their age. That's my take, but there are others who have spent a lot of time there, see what they say.

 

[Bankingguy]

We stayed in town, at the Camels Garden. The Oak St chair and the gondola are right outside the hotel, literally. You can walk to all the cool town stuff from there. For advanced skiers, the Oak St lift gives you access to some of the best long fall-line skiing there I think. But it's advanced, not blues. The easier stuff is better accessed from the mountain village. You could stay near the gondola in town and take it over the ridge to the village and ski from there. It's never busy and it's a fairly quick 10min or so ride to the village. Or you could do the Oak St lift and the Plunge lift back to back and you end up on the top of See Forever, a blue ridge run that can take you into the village as well.

If you're renting a house above the village you'll have to ski or drive to the gondola to get to town. Kids your age, unless you have a family thing going on where you want to spend quality time with the family, cook meals, which I totally get and am not trashing, stay in the town, it's great especially at their age. That's my take, but there are others who have spent a lot of time there, see what they say.

Good deal. I think staying in town is the way to go for us - we enjoy walking around and trying different restaurants. I think it would be a pain to drive to Mountain village and then take gondola down. And then all of it again to get back.


Thanks!!

 

[scott43]

This is a google streetmap of the camels garden, the gondola shack (telluride station) and the oak st lift (straight ahead up the mountain). You can go from this to see what's available in the village to rent. It's great. For me, personally, if the conditions are good, I'd go to camels garden every year and ferget the rest of the world.

https://goo.gl/maps/qxWm7cGRiFfNZfs46

 

[Jerez]

Hotel Columbia is right at the base of the gondola. You can stumble into it in the morning. They have hotel rooms and/or 1 bedroom suites with comfy murphy beds if that would work for you. It's not cheap but very, very nice and is the next best thing to ski in/out. https://www.hotelcolumbiatelluride.com/telluride-suites

 

[cosmoliu]

I think every avid skier and ski family should get to Telluride at least once. It's a great mountain and town. I haven't been back in the last 5 years or so, but skied T-Ride regularly in the 90s through the early 00s. Easily 200+ days on the mountain. One of my favorite places for sure. Based on the types of runs you seem to be looking for, I would say that skiing out of the Mountain Village side, Chairs 4 and 5, should be a great fit. And so much less crowded on popular blues compared with Deer Valley, you will wonder if you are engaging in the same sport. DV blues just scare the bejesus out of me. Once you get settled in, each member of the family can find the area(s) of the mountain which is most suited to him/her. And the choices are boundless, from easy greens to as gnarly as anyone would want. Go for sure.

PS: For one of the most memorable blue runs of all time- Start at the top of Chair 9, go down See Forever until you turn right onto Lookout. Get back on Chair 9, Rinse, and Repeat. Take it easy the first couple of times until you scope out the places you will have to slow down for crossing traffic. Once you get the hang of it, you can really let it rip top to bottom. Beats any blue at Deer Valley as far as I'm concerned.