TELLURIDE RESORT GUIDE
Telluride Expert Itinerary
Plunge Lift, Apex Lift, Gold Hill Express, Hike to Gold Chutes, Black Iron Bowl, Palmyra Peak
Overview
From Mountain Village – Plunge Lift – The Plunge/Log Pile – Apex Lift – Lunch @ Alpine Vino – Gold Hill Express – Gold Hill Area – Revelation Bowl – Hike to Gold Chutes, Black Iron Bowl and/or Palmyra Peak – Return to Mountain Village
**Depending on the conditions and your interest in hiking, see "Step 5 - Hike-to Terrain" first to best plan your day.
1. 9AM – Take The Plunge!
Starting on the Plunge Chair (9) is a safe bet as much of the other advanced terrain takes time to open, especially after a fresh snowfall. From TOWN, take the Town Lift (8) to the bottom of the Plunge Chair (9). From MOUNTAIN VILLAGE, head up the Village Express (4), unload to your left and stay to the skier's right down the Telluride Trail before merging with Lower Lookout to reach the Plunge Chair (9).
While this old triple chair may be slower, your legs will soon be thanking you for the rest time. THE PLUNGE is home to Telluride’s iconic runs such as The Plunge and Spiral Stairs. On the way up the chair, you will get a pretty good lay of the land. More often than not, you’ll find an abundance of steep bump runs. However, good tree skiing is also abundant. Log Pile is one of our favorites. To get there, exit the Plunge Chair (9) right and d head down See Forever. Log Pile will be on your right as you head down the ridge. Spend a couple of hours on this chair and you’ll soon understand why Telluride has produced so many great skiers.
2. 10:30AM – Tight Trees, Bumps and Even Some Cliffs from the Apex Chair
The natural and easy transition from the Plunge is over to the Apex Lift (6). Take a right at the top of the Plunge Lift (9), ski down See Forever before taking a left down Apex or Sully’s. Both runs will put you at the bottom of the Apex Lift (6). Full of tight tree skiing, cliffs, and you guessed it more bumps you’ll once again have your hands full here. The classics like Zulu Queen and Giant Steps are directly under the chair so make sure to stay on it.
If you do need to give the legs a break you can head past the bottom of the Apex Lift (6) down Stormin’ Norman to the Polar Queen Express (5). Here you’ll find more intermediate terrain including some grooming!
3. 11:30AM – Have an early Lunch @Guiseppe's, Alpino Vino or Bon Vivant
If you are still lapping the Apex or Plunge lift you'll be close to a variety of on mountain options like Alpino Vino, Bon Vivant, and Guiseppe's Restaurants. Check out our on mountain dining guide for all of the details. Don't let lunch turn into Après just yet because there are many good turns still to be made.
4. 12:30PM – Challenging but More Open Terrain in the Gold Hill Area and Revelation Bowl
From any of the above lunch options, you can easily take Woozley’s Way to reach the Gold Hill Express (14). Gold Hill Express (14) services a variety of advanced terrain, though all of it is much more open than the APEX and PLUNGE AREAS. Most of the terrain can be surveyed from the chair on the way up. For some hidden tree skiing, try Buzz’s Glade by heading down See Forever and then taking a left after you pass Alpino Vino.
At the top of the Gold Hill Express (14) you’ll have a full view of REVELATION BOWL and Lift (15). You can easily spend the day lapping the GOLD HILL AREA and REVELATION BOWL. Usually by this point in the day, most of us could use a break from the bumps and these open areas usually can provide one. Don't miss the view from the Bear Creek Overlook at the bottom of Revelation Lift (15).
5. **Time TBD - Subject to Conditions – Hiking to Some of the Best Terrain in the Lower 48 - Gold Hill Chutes, Black Iron Bowl and/or Palmyra Peak
We’ve saved the best for last. Telluride has some of the best hike-to terrain, rivaling any area in the lower 48. However, depending on snow levels, avalanche danger and a variety of other conditions, this terrain may or may not be open. Before your visit, check the conditions and status of these areas. If these areas are open, don’t wait until the end of the day to go ski them as most of the hike to areas close early. The hikes can also take a substantial amount of time and you may want to go back for more. As always be careful and go with friends.
Looking down Gold Hill Chute 10
From the top of Prospect Express, beginning the walk to Black Iron Bowl & Palmyra Peak
A) Gold Hill Chutes 6-10: You access these chutes by taking Revelation Lift (15), hanging a left and hiking up the Gold Hill access road. You can’t go wrong with any of the chutes here and making it up to the Gold Hill Stairs is well worth the hike which usually takes ~20 minutes.
B) Black Iron Bowl: Head up Prospect Express (12) and then left up the Prospect Ridge. You can pick from a number of runs that vary in hiking time from 5- 45 minutes. Pee Wee’s, Dihedral Chute, and Dihedral Face are no joke so be careful in your line choices as there are no shortage of cliffs and rock outcroppings.
C) Palmyra Peak: Not for the faint of heart or the out of shape, the top of Palmyra Peak can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to climb. But runs like Senior’s and Roy-Boy make it worth it for those willing to suffer a little. In the end you’ll summit a 13,320 foot peak and get about 2,000 feet of steep vertical skiing.
For more detailed maps and descriptions of the hike-to terrain, check Telluride's HIKE-TO section here.
Congratulations, you've skied most of Telluride's legendary terrain and done a good bit of hiking too. You've earned this one! Don't miss the Last Dollar Saloon for a traditional Telluride experience.