INSPIRING PEOPLE

Welcome to the winter 202324 Official Guide to Telluride & Mountain Village. As you turn the pages of this magazine, we hope you find everything you need to make your time here truly unforgettable.

As I reflect on this issue, I can’t help but think about the exceptional people who are featured on its pages. Our cover story, for instance, takes a look behind the scenes at Telluride Ski Resort. Reading it, I was both entertained and filled with gratitude for the hardworking, dedicated staff whose anecdotes and reminiscences shine a light on some of what makes our resort special.

The theme of inspiring people doesn’t stop there, though. In fact, it is woven throughout the Guide with folks like Claire Beard of Telluride Chamber Music (p. 38), J.D. Wise of the Town of Mountain Village (p. 55) and Emma Gerona of EcoAction Partners (p. 59) who work to make our community even better. In our history feature (p. 36), we look at women whose contributions have shaped the area’s past, as well as its present. And there are entire families featured in this issue who have impacted the region in wonderful ways, like the Gordons (p. 46) and the Aldasoro sisters (p. 56).

The emphasis on people in this issue has reminded me of the importance of treating all of our community members — locals, part-timers and visitors, workers both on the mountain and off of it and, well, everyone — with kindness and respect. From there, it’s not hard to remember to apply that kindness and respect to our incredible, but delicate, natural environment. After all it’s the people and Mother Nature that make this spectacular corner of southwest Colorado so unique.

Please enjoy the Guide, and do not hesitate to reach out to our team if there’s anything you need for your visit. We look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you soon.

KIERA SKINNER Executive Director Telluride Tourism Board

YEAR-ROUND FLIGHTS

Denver DEN to Telluride TEX

Denver Air/United/daily

Phoenix PHX to Telluride TEX

Denver Air/United, daily

Denver DEN to Montrose MTJ

United Airlines/daily

Denver DEN to Montrose MTJ

Southwest Airlines/daily

Dallas DFW to Montrose MTJ

American Airlines/daily

WINTER 2023-24 FLIGHTS

Atlanta ATL to Montrose MTJ

Delta/daily

Chicago ORD to Montrose MTJ

United Airlines/daily

Houston IAH to Montrose MTJ

United Airlines/daily

New York/Newark EWR to Montrose MTJ

United/daily

Austin AUS to Montrose MTJ

Southwest/weekly (March only)

Dallas/Love Field DAL to Montrose MTJ

Southwest/daily

Los Angeles LAX to Montrose MTJ

United/2x weekly

San Francisco SFO to Montrose MTJ

United/2-3x weekly (daily for the holidays)

Flying High

Winter highlights include service from 11 major hubs to your favorite ski resort

This winter, fly high to one of the two airports that serve Telluride, Mountain Village and the Telluride Ski Resort: the newly expanded Telluride Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ), which is a scenic and traffic-free 65-minute drive, and Telluride Regional Airport (TEX), just minutes from the slopes. In particular, travelers to MTJ can now enjoy one of the finest airports in the Rockies after a recent $37 million expansion that has nearly doubled the size and services at the Montrose facility.

According to Colorado Flights Alliance CEO Matt Skinner, this season’s air service includes some changes across the network, although capacity overall remains steady. Skinner notes that the winter 2023-24 schedule features 13 nonstop flights from 11 major hubs on five different carriers.

Skinner points to increases in flights from two major markets in particular. American Airlines is increasing its service from Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) to two 737 mainline jets (from a smaller aircraft) daily, and Southwest Airlines is expanding service from Dallas Love Field (DAL) to daily.

In addition, while American will not operate its handful of Saturday flights from New York’s LaGuardia Airport this winter, United Airlines is ramping up its flights to the Montrose airport from New York/Newark International Airport (EWR) to daily all season long, resulting in a 25 percent increase from the New York market. Other routes continue to connect to familiar markets. From Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX), daily flights to the Telluride airport continue on Denver Air, with both American and United network connectivity. Denver Air — again with that American and United connectivity — also flies daily from Denver airport to TEX. To the Montrose airport, United continues to fly from Denver International Airport (DEN), Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Houston George H.W. Bush Airport (IAH) daily, as well as provide a weekly service from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

Southwest Airlines has its daily, year-round service from Denver, as well as a treat for spring breakers: a weekly service from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) from March 2-March 30. Both are to Montrose. And, after a strong performance last winter, Delta Airlines is extending daily service from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL) through April 7, the closing date of the 2023-24 season.

With excitement at the Telluride Ski Resort at fever pitch, especially after last winter’s abundant snowfall and a revamped Lift 9, now is the time to fly high to your favorite ski resort.