Is Telluride good for beginners?
No. Telluride is not a good ski resort for beginners as less than 25% of the resort is beginner terrain. Telluride is also the steepest ski resort in Colorado and is considered to be the most challenging.
Telluride Ski Resort Trail Ratings
23% Beginner (green circle)
36% Intermediate (blue square)
41% advanced or expert (black diamond or double diamond)
Telluride, Colorado
Telluride: The Jackson Hole of Colorado
Telluride is known as the ‘Jackson Hole’ of Colorado and is the steepest mountain in the state.
Telluride is located in the rugged San Juan mountain range of southwestern Colorado, which has jagged peaks. While Telluride Ski Resort has focused on creating more intermediate terrain over the years to bring in more tourists, Telluride is still Colorado’s toughest mountain with limited ski runs for beginners.
Telluride Ski Resort
The ski website Peak Rankings challenging factor
Telluride = 9/10
Breckenridge = 8/10
Copper Mountain = 8/10
Vail = 7/10
Loveland Ski Area = 7/10
Park City = 7/10
Keystone = 6/10
Sun Valley = 6/10
Telluride
Telluride: 2nd Hardest Mountain in Colorado
The website Out There Colorado, ranks Telluride as the second most challenging ski area/resort in Colorado, only behind Silverton Mountain.
Silverton Mountain Ski Area has only one chairlift that allows skiers and riders to hike/skin to expert terrain. Telluride is about 10-miles away from Silverton (as the crow flies) and has similar topography.
Trips To Discover.com listed 17 of the world’s best resorts for extreme skiers and snowboarders. Jackson Hole, Verbier in Switzerland, Squaw Valley, Kicking Horse, and Telluride were all on this list.
Telluride
Telluride & Prices
Vail, Breckenridge, Aspen, and Telluride are all famous Colorado ski towns and all are relatively expensive.
As someone who lived in Telluride for over 4 years, it perplexed me as to why a beginner would shell out some serious cash only to slide down the mountain on their butt. If you want to experience the Town of Telluride more so than the ski/snowboard experience and don’t care about money, you will have a great trip. However, if you are serious about getting better and actually getting some meaningful turns on the slopes, Telluride is not a great choice.
The Town of Telluride at night
Telluride As A destination
Telluride and Mountain Village are connected by the only free public transit gondola in the United States. Even if you don’t ski or snowboard, you can still enjoy the amazing views from the free public gondola between these two towns.
Regardless of where you are in Telluride, everything is walkable. Bars, restaurants, lodging, cross-country skiing, ski resort, and stunning mountain views are all available right in town. For beginners that are more interested in the destination than time on the “hill,” Telluride is top-notch.
Jesse is the Director of Pedal Chile and lives in Valdivia. Jesse has a Master of Science in Health and Human Performance and is an avid mountain biker, snowboarder. Hobbies: Reading & researching, tasting good beer, and hot springing. Jesse lived in Colorado ski towns for 8 years.
