High Time for Skiers and Cowboys in Telluride
By Cheryl Blackerby
The Palm Beach Daily News (Feb. 8, 2014)
TELLURIDE, Colo. —The heavy wood door of the cafe swung open and two cowboys brushed snow from sheepskin coats and kicked icy mud from worn cowboy boots before they stepped inside. They took off leather gloves and placed black Stetsons on the pegs by the door.
They were the real deal from their wool vests and silver belt buckles to the “Yes, ma’ams” they spoke to the young waitress — as western as the 19th-century false-front brick buildings that lined Colorado Avenue outside, the main street of Telluride.
Obviously regular customers, they warmed their hands over steaming coffee and greeted other diners at the cafe by name, commenting on an approaching snowstorm. Through the cafe windows, I could barely see the 14,000-foot mountains surrounding the small town through the swirling snow.
Two customers dressed in high-tech ski pants, jackets and knit caps joined them. It turned out that the skiers were cowboys in the summer, ski instructors in the winter.
That’s Telluride in a nutshell. Almost 9,000 feet high in the San Juan Mountains, the famed ski town — respected for its expert slopes and extreme “hike-to” terrain beyond the ski lifts — is surrounded by cattle ranches. On the drive in, I had seen cowboys, hunched in saddles against the cold, trailing cattle in the snow.
But I was still surprised at the genuine western character of the town and people. This is, after all, a place of extreme real estate — the average listing price for Telluride homes was $2.8 million in 2011, according to Forbes. Jerry Seinfeld’s 11-bedroom estate went on the market that year for $18.3 million.
And it’s hard to miss Ralph Lauren’s 17,000-acre Double RL Ranch near town. His Telluride neighbor, Oprah, interviewed him at his ranch for her show.
Tellluride Ski Resort is respected for its expert slopes and extreme “hike-to” terrain beyond the ski lifts. Photo Colorado Tourism Office.
At least some of the celebrities who have become homeowners were introduced to the area at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival held every Labor Day. Last year on the festival’s 40th anniversary, Brad Pitt, Robert Redford, Joel and Ethan Coen, and Ralph Fiennes all stayed in town to support their films.
Isolated in southwest Colorado, Telluride is a long way, in more ways than one, from the glamorous ski towns of Vail and Aspen. Celebrities here tend to eschew designer furs and limos in favor of Carhartt coats and four-wheel-drive trucks.
Telluride’s appeal seems to be that western authenticity. Hundreds of historic Victorian and Gothic Revival buildings from the gold rush days make up the town, such as the red-brick New Sheridan Hotel, which was built in 1895, and the ornate Sheridan Opera House, which opened in 1913 and is the premier spot for movie debuts during the film festival.
Shops sell ski gear but also lots of western wear. The Appaloosa Trading Co. on Colorado Avenue offers sterling-silver belt buckles and leather fringed jackets. They also can satisfy any need for gun racks. The Black Bear Trading Co. farther down the street has silver jewelry, and other shops sell Native American blankets and rugs.
The town’s Wild West reputation has only enhanced its appeal. Butch Cassidy robbed the town’s San Miguel Valley Bank in 1889, making off with $24,580. During the gold-and-silver boom, saloons outnumbered all other businesses, and a red-light district attracted outlaws.
The town lived up to its bad-boy reputation as late as the 1980s, when it was notorious as a haven for drug dealers. Glenn Frey sang about the lure of easy money in Smuggler’s Blues: “They move it through Miami, sell it in L.A. They hide it up in Telluride … ”
Many people still think the town’s name is a shortened version of To Hell You Ride. But, in fact, it was named for the gold telluride minerals found in other parts of Colorado but not here. Locals tend to call the town T-Ride.
Telluride, which is surrounded by cattle ranches, has genuine Western character. Photo Colorado Tourism Office.
A lot of its charm is its size, only 2,300 people, down from 5,000 during the gold boom. The population fell to 512 in 1930 after the miners departed, which left only the cowboys. Telluride Ski Resort opened in 1972 with five lifts; and the steep slopes and snow that had tormented miners became the town’s new gold rush.
Telluride still has cozy bars and down-home cafes, but also gourmet restaurants and luxury hotels in Telluride and the resort complex of Mountain Village, connected by a free gondola. Last year, Condé Nast Traveler’s Reader Choice Survey ranked Telluride Ski Resort the No. 1 ski area in the United States and Canada for the second year in a row. And three Telluride hotels were named to the Top 20 ski destination hotels: the Fairmont Heritage Place/Franz Klammer Lodge; Lumierè Telluride; and the Inn at Lost Creek.
Telluride’s popularity is surprising considering the effort and courage it takes to get here. At an elevation of 9,078 feet, Telluride Regional Airport is the highest-altitude commercial airport in the United States with scheduled passenger flights. Twenty percent of scheduled commuter flights end up diverting to other airports because of abruptly adverse landing conditions.
I chose a seven-hour occasionally harrowing and often spectacular drive over the mountains from Denver. But the destination, a true western town deep in the splendor of the Rocky Mountains, was worth the trip.
Source: http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/travel/high-time-for-telluride/g4UV7pDsZHsti8W5Id71oM/
Details:
New Sheridan Hotel: Rooms are comfortable not luxurious, but this is the place to experience the real Telluride. Winter room rates start at about $250 depending on dates.
For information: Call (800) 200-1891; newsheridan.com