The BEST Ski Run in North America
Telluride Ski Resort opened access to Palmyra Peak- 13,320ft, on February 12 — providing the BEST lift-served, hike-to, in bounds terrain in North America. It is first time in history that the hike is open, legally, from the resort side.
Telluride now has 4,600 vertical feet of skiing from the top to bottom.
For a lucky few of us who happened to get “the call,” check the Website, or call the snow report, we were able to make the mad dash up to the peak before Patrol closed the hike at 12:30 p.m.
Telluride’s Ski Patrol director Pat Ahern has been trying to open the terrain all season, but with the abundant snowfall, has encountered numerous obstacles in the form of snow safety and labor intensive control work to make it safe for the public.
Last week’s opening served as a trial run on how operations would handle skiers making the trek up to this kind of terrain.
And handle it they did.
The rundown:
From the peak, there are four different exit couloirs, three shoulders/ramps and three different faces to traverse to from those couloirs.
Once off the peak proper, the terrain opens up into two large bowls with further exit gullies and multiple features from which to huck your rad self. Snow gets loaded into this terrain, as the bigger San Juan storm systems usually come from the South and drift in on the North side of the Peak, which is the aspect that is now open.
The hike takes skiers anywhere from 40 to 90 minutes from the lift. The hike is not a walk in the park, and depending on wind effect and snow pack, offers slightly technical maneuvers and some healthy exposure.
Rumor has it that rest of the upper Gold Hill ridge, across from Palmyra, will also be opened westwards into the resort later this February. If that happens this season, there is no other place you want to be for varied incredible extreme skiing.
Lastly, slated for additional opening next year, via direct lift service off the top of the mountain, is Revelation Bowl, which will create up to five more runs for intermediate skiers … so, a little something for everyone.
This is the inside scoop on one of the ski industry’s best expansions in years. Come visit- www.tellurideskiresort.com.
Photos: “Trek” by Chris Carberry and “Ridges” by Telluride Ski & Golf CEO- Dave Riley.
Cloudveil ambassador Kim Havell is the most dedicated Mountain Culture contributor of Cloudveil’s team.
Posted in Adventures, News, Skiing
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Ooooh, nice try baiting all of us with your “BEST” comment. As everybody knows, the BEST lift-served, hike-to, in bounds terrain in North America was the SICKEST it will ever be yesterday, at my special secret super orgasmic stash in a totally hyper rad zone I will never divulge. Dude, it was OFF THE HOOK. Too bad you weren’t there. Everybody else was.
Hard one to debate Mick, if I don’t know where it is. Glad to hear that there is another best out there and that you got some of it.
Kim, you are a badass skier, but you toot your own horn too loud. In the past few weeks your horn is blasting all over the internet about how sick Telluride is, how dope the lines are that you ski, etc. Great, get out there and get after it, but it’s not admirable or commendable to toot away. Shhh…..
Whoever you are- thanks for the note. I am sorry you feel that way..if you had read all my latest blogs, I think I have spoken most recently of quite a few failures, of the Telluride resort new updates, and of other people’s accomplishments. As an athlete for Cloudveil, we are asked to contribute when we can. I really love this sport and this has been a fun forum in which to share new info and journeys. The intent has been far from tooting my own horn but I hear you. I represent from Telluride, and there is a lot of representation from Jackson and elsewhere. I am truly sorry if it is too much for you..I don’t think I have spoken of any sick lines yet but that was coming up in my next post. Not used to this kind of feedback so hopefully I addressed this appropriately. I do wonder what kind of information you would prefer to read in this type of forum? Would welcome the direction..
As one of the forces encouraging athletes to write, I have to say that I’m most thankful for Kim. She is among a small handful of athletes that takes my pleading seriously: she actually thinks about words and writing while outside. I wish all the ambassadors (as well as those un-sponsored enthusiasts, like me) followed her lead.
Chris here from Cloudveil. We encourage dialogue and opinions at The Mountain Culture, but I must say, I stand behind Kim. If you had the chance to get out and ski or climb with her you would know she is definitely not spraying; she’s genuinely excited about her town and the gateway it provides to some incredible terrian, which to me is pretty damn infectious. In fact, this post does not even mention Kim’s conquests, but offers a glimpse into some new expanded terrian at their resort.
And to provide background on Lauren’s statement, we do encourage our Cloudveil family of athletes to post on TMC, BUT we also want to hear from anyone else with a story to share. Leaving a name helps though.
Kim is a very passionate person that likes to share her enthusiasm about the things she loves-Telluride, skiing, mountaineering, outdoor adventure in whatever package it comes in. Her goal is simply to get other people excited to get outside and get after it–not to draw attention to herself or “toot her own horn.”
Kim turned me on to this website recently so that I could share in her backcountry experiences. In her defense, I have to say that she has always placed the emphasis on the adventure rather than herself. Haven’t you had such a great day that you thought nothing could be better? A positive view on ALL life has to give is not deserving of such negative backlash.
I keep looking for the part where you’re tooting your horn on this site. Damn, still can’t find it.
Keep up the great posts Kim, your enthusiasm is infectious!
I find it interesting and humorous that we forget sometimes that we all have opinions, I find that Kim’s opinions on Telluride in her blogging are genuine and passionate! I also enjoy the opinions of those who think that her statements are more like bragging, I wish I knew where their other “Super Orgasmic” stashes were but than again I would have to give up skiing my own “super orgasmic” stashes to ski those stashes. If you know anything about Kim you would know she is the real thing, genuine, but I guess thats just my opinion.
kim called and told me to write something nice here. so here goes. she a rippin’ skier here in telluride. top 10… maybe even top 50 chick skiers on the mtn. you guys leave her alone.
Ski…. great.