Things to Do in Telluride in Winter: A Private Chef's Local Guide

Telluride sits in a box canyon at the end of the road, which is exactly why the people who love it love it. We cook here every ski week from Thanksgiving to closing day, and the question guests ask most often, right after the menu, is what to do with the hours they are not on the mountain. This is the answer we give at the table. Summer gets its own short list at the end.

When to come, and what the calendar looks like

Lifts usually spin from Thanksgiving week into early April. Christmas week and Presidents' Day weekend are the two peaks, with every table in town spoken for. Early December and late January into February are the deep-snow weeks locals like best, and Telluride's lift lines are short even then. December opens with the Holiday Prelude weekend on Colorado Avenue and the Telluride Fire Festival's sculptures and flame art around town. The town's ski season is famously uncrowded and free of attitude, and that holds all winter.

The mountain, and which part is yours

Telluride Ski Resort spans the ridge between the historic town and Mountain Village, and each side skis differently. Beginners and families start on the Mountain Village side, with wide greens off the Village Express and the Meadows area. Intermediates get See Forever, the long ridgeline cruiser with the view that names it. Strong skiers head for Revelation Bowl and the hike-to terrain off Gold Hill and Palmyra Peak, some of the steepest lift-accessed skiing in Colorado. The free gondola links town and Mountain Village in thirteen minutes and runs until midnight, so a house on either side is a ski-in house in practice.

Town sits at 8,750 feet and the lifts top out above 12,000. Take the first day slowly, drink more water than feels necessary, and save the bowls for day two or three.

Beyond the lifts

Nordic and snowshoe. The Telluride Nordic Center grooms track in Town Park and out at Trout Lake, with rentals on site. The Bear Creek trail from the end of Pine Street is the snowshoe walk right out of downtown, and the valley floor trail toward Ilium is flat and pretty for the day the legs are done.

Skating and sledding. Town Park has the outdoor ice rink and the sledding hill everyone under twelve remembers. Bridal Veil Falls freezes into a column of ice at the head of the canyon and is worth the walk up the switchbacks even if you never touch it.

Ouray. An hour north over the pass is the Ouray Ice Park, where guided ice climbing runs all winter for total beginners, and the Ouray Hot Springs pool for the soak afterward. It is the best full day off the mountain in the San Juans.

Colorado Avenue. The main street is a National Historic Landmark District, and on a snowy evening it is the whole point: the New Sheridan's bar, the galleries, and the walk back with the canyon walls lit up. Snowmobile tours and sleigh rides run from the valley for the group that wants a bigger day.

A winter day that works

Gondola up by nine, ski until the legs say stop, and ride back down for a late lunch on Colorado Avenue. Spend the afternoon at the Town Park rink or on the Nordic track. Ride the gondola at dusk even if you have nowhere to be, then be back at the house when the light goes pink on the canyon walls, because that is when dinner should already be underway.

Then let dinner come to you

Telluride's restaurants are excellent and tiny. On peak ski weeks the reservations evaporate, and nobody wants to draw straws for a 9:45 table after a day at 12,000 feet. This is the market where a private chef makes the most obvious sense: your group stays in, the menu is built for you, and the kitchen is clean when you walk away from the table. See private chef services in Telluride for dinners and multi-day residencies at town or Mountain Village properties, and Telluride catering for the bigger house. Christmas week has its own guide: Christmas in Telluride, and the best dates for it go by November 15.

The summer short list

Bluegrass in June and the Film Festival over Labor Day, both booked a year ahead. The hike or four-wheel drive up to Bridal Veil Falls and the powerhouse on top. Jud Wiebe for the morning loop with the town view, and the gondola at dusk, which is a good idea in any season.