Telluride
A Mountain That Continues to Reveal Itself
San Juan Mountains from the Dallas Divide, Outside of Telluride.
Photo by Wendy Stieg
The drive from Montrose to Telluride is one of the most stunning in Colorado, and that’s saying something. Colorado’s mountains are rugged and jagged in a way that never quite loses its impact. On a clear winter afternoon, the drive itself feels like a reward.
Colorado State Highway 62, between Telluride and Ridgway.
Photo by Wendy Stieg
Paul and I have been skiing together for thirteen years. Over that time, we’ve lived in Dillon, Leadville, and Gypsum. These are places shaped by skiing, but not always sustained by it economically. Our lives together have been guided by curiosity and movement, and by a long relationship with mountain towns that ask a lot of the people who live in them.
Today, we live in Cortez. We moved here as part of a longer plan. One that included easing toward retirement, exploring life outside the ski-town grind, and eventually buying property in Portugal. Like many plans, it made sense on paper.
Carhenge, one of the last free parking lots in Colorado's major ski areas.
Photo by Wendy Stieg
This morning, we decided to go skiing at Telluride. That’s about an hour and twenty minutes' drive from our house. The skiing was the first part of what has quietly become a reconnaissance trip toward Montrose County. What we’ve learned since moving to Cortez is that Montezuma County has high unemployment and very few jobs. The plan had assumed we would work for a while as we built alternate income streams. Paul has started a sports podcast. I’ve built a travel blog. Neither of us expected how difficult it would be to find steady work here.
Paul’s job ended. The house in Portugal fell through. None of this is abstract anymore.
There’s a saying I’ve always liked: people don’t fail, plans do. If that’s true, then today was about adjusting a plan. There was only one thing to do first. Go skiing.
Fresh corduroy, from The Plunge, front side of Telluride
Photo by Wendy Stieg
Colorado is in a snow drought this winter, but Telluride was still an incredible place to ski. We spent the morning on The Plunge, normally a mogul run, but groomed today. The snow was chalky and mostly grippy, with far less hardpack than I expected for this largely snowless February in the San Juan Mountains. Skiing has always been one of the most reliable ways for me to reset my perspective, and today was no exception.
Telluride town street. The Grateful Dead played here in August 1987. The Stealie still watches from the stop sign today.
Photo by Wendy Stieg
When I was a ski instructor, people used to say, “You have such an amazing job.” And they were right. Teaching skiing was a gift. I was lucky to live in Summit County at a time when it was still affordable, to pick up extra shifts bartending, and to make a life that worked, although it never made anyone rich. But we lived that life, and it was glorious.
That’s the part that matters.
I raised my kids in ski towns. I never made a dime from skiing itself. I didn’t buy property early, didn’t cash out, didn’t benefit from the explosion of wealth that followed. And yet, here I am, skiing Telluride on a clear February Saturday.
Almost Twilight, Colorado Highway 62
Photo by Wendy Stieg
The ski industry has done its best to turn beauty into a commodity. Corporate bottom lines have priced out access for most, have tried to hollow out towns, and to make places like this feel increasingly unattainable. And yet, Telluride hasn’t fully given in to that narrative. There are still ways in. Still free parking. Still locals. Still space for people who arrive early, know where to stand, and don’t expect everything to be handed to them.
Colorado Highway 145, Between Rico and Dolores at Dusk
Photo by Wendy Stieg
Telluride continues to reveal itself to me. When the people who make the mountain safe were pushed too far, the town pushed back. That gives me hope that Telluride hasn’t forgotten who it’s for.
If you’re drawn to travel, contemplation, and adventure, you’ll find more like this on bestofbothworlds.blog.
