It’s a year of special anniversaries at many of the state’s ski areas. Telluride Mountain Village is celebrating the 10th year that gondolas have connected this town, high in the San Juan Mountains, with Telluride proper, some 3 miles down the peak. The gondola is free and not only takes skiers up to mountain runs, but is the perfect transportation for workers.
A kickoff party is Saturday, with birthday hats and cake and a gondola cabin ice sculpture. The town also will launch a “My Gondola Giveaway,” where one creative person will win a gondola cabin. Just think what you could do with one of those eight-passenger contraptions. Entrants must describe how they would use the gondola, where they would put it and what they would do with it. Best answer wins. For more information, visit myspace.com/mygondola and townofmountainvillage.com and look for the My Gondola Entry Form.
The gondola officially opened Dec. 20, 1996. The ride from Telluride to the village takes about 13 minutes. About 2.5 million people ride the system each year, for a whopping total of more than 26.7 million riders.
Telluride Mountain Village is the home of Telluride Ski Resort, along with fine dining, sleigh rides and lodging. The celebration continues through summer with plenty of events to attract snow bunnies, including Nordic and snowshoe races, fireworks, an ice sculpture competition and extreme snowmobile jumping.
And of course there’s plenty to do in Telluride, where the views and legends compete with the shops and restaurants. For more info, go to VisitTelluride.com.
