The ski resort reported a record December snowfall after a deep, white Christmas gift of 14 inches helped make this month the snowiest December in its history.
This breaks a record set last year.
The Telluride Ski and Golf Company reported a total of 100-plus inches on the hill, breaking last year’s record of 93 inches. It was the deepest December since the ski resort started keeping track in the early 1970s.
Seventy-seven inches fell in town. That’s about three times the month’s average, said weather buff Thom Carnevale.
This was tremendously good news for skiers, who spent the month in thigh-deep snow. And it was tremendously good news for Telski’s head skier, Dave Riley.
“It’s a huge relief,” CEO Riley said. Lots of snow early on helps people pull the trigger on a Telluride vacation.
The week between Christmas and New Years is traditionally the busiest of the ski season, and the streets are always filled with fresh faces. But fresh snow, Riley said, brings more fresh faces. Telluride was on the front page of the Denver newspapers this weekend, and Boulderites Lisa Conover and Michael Mullen said the huge recent snowfall was part of the reason they made the hairy drive over the Continental Divide.
In the midst of an economy dwelling in the basement, the head of Telluride’s tourist bureau, Scott McQuade, has said that bookings — reservations at hotels and condos — were down 20 percent. But Riley believes that reservations won’t drop as much as that, thanks in part to the snow. He said bookings have “really improved over the last two weeks,” and that reservations for ski lessons are “strong.”
Course, December’s snowfest does not bring a total lovefest.
“I hate it,” said painter Buff Hooper. “I don’t ski it. I have to shovel it.” And Chris Gamage is feeling January’s snow fatigue in December.
And as the snow shines in the bluebird air like daytime fireflies and as the whole town looks like a snow globe turned upside down, Ann Mellick sees deep beautiful powder … and part of her cringes.
“This morning I woke up thinking, ‘God I hope people are careful out there,’” said Mellick, the area’s avalanche forecaster for the Colorado Avalanche Information Center. “These are the days I worry about. Calm, warm, beautiful, there’s tons of powder out there, and there’s tons of triggers.”
Every time it dumps, Mellick worries. Thanks in part to the deep snow, this season has been deadlier in Colorado than most. Two snowmobilers died Saturday after their snowmobiles were caught in a slide north of Granby (see story page 4).
“We’re already up to four fatalities, and our average is five to six — and we’re not even to January,” Mellick said. “Things are bad this year.”
Sort of, believes Eric Van Nooten, an employee at the Telluride Outside guiding company. From another perspective, this is a very, very good year. More snow in the winter means more water in the in the spring, which means wilder rafting trips and more hungry fish.
“For fishing, this is just what we need,” Van Nooten said. “From a commercial point of view, this means business. It’s important for my continued employment.”
Others took the super-long view: the ecological perspective.
Town council member Bob Saunders believes the extra water will strengthen the trees and help them ward off the dreaded pine beetle.
And Eileen McGinley — along with thousands of others — sees joy.
“It changes the spirit of people,” she said. “It shows how nature affects our lives, and the ways it makes us happy.”
Email: reilly@telluridedailyplanet.com. Phone: 728-9788 ext. 11.
