At 9,078 feet above sea level, the Telluride Regional Airport is the highest commercial service aiport in the United States.  The following file details the work necessary to meet Federal Aviation Administration standards for a D-III aiport category classification.

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With 44" of new snow in the past week, the Telluride ski resort opened all lifts today in anticipation of the holiday weeks ahead.  I have checked out nearly every nook and cranny on the mountain and it is definitely ready for prime time.  With a 60" base at the top of the mountain, Telluride is boasting some of the finest conditions in December ever.

What a tumultuous year for our national and global economies!  Although many in Telluride have considered our community an island, relatively unaffected by outside influence, there is no doubt that volatile paper markets have negatively affected our real estate economy.  Through the end of November, gross dollar sales are down 54% and incidents of sales down 47%.  The Historic Town of Telluride has experienced sales of $87.2M as compared to $164.3M a year ago and the TellurideMountainVillage sales of $151.9M vs. $309.9M in 2007. 

There is a silver lining to our market’s sluggishness: Price levels have not noticeably declined during the past year, with the percentage of settlement price vs. asking price at 91.1% relative to a year ago at 92%.  The average sold price per square foot for a single family home in Historic Telluride has risen 12% and in the Telluride Mountain Village 1% YTD.  We have experienced many economic downturns in Telluride (although none as volatile as the present) and our marketplace is responding as it has previously - - slower sales with stable pricing.  There are several reasons why Telluride has become a “safe haven” for capital:

-          A vast majority of Telluride owners have not leveraged their ownership and are under no pressure to sell.

-          Telluride is an upscale, non-speculative marketplace.

-          Investment is made in the Telluride lifestyle as much, if not more, than the bottom line.

-          Supply is severely limited and quality tightly controlled.

-          Diverse demand for property emanates from local, regional, national and international markets.


Another characteristic of our market is its ability to rebound in advance of a full recovery of the national and global markets.  There are winners in every downturn and those winners will seek the stable and proven havens for capital and lifestyle in the Rocky Mountain West.  Those who have experienced “paper losses” will also gravitate to mountain resorts at the first sign of a positive economic recovery.  

Other factors point to a positive marketplace in the medium term:

-          The RockyMountain region is the fastest growing area in the country for persons between the ages of 40 – 60...the baby boomer generation.

-          With this migration, it is just not secondary homes being purchased, but primary homes for retirement, as well.  

-          Key factors for this relocation include attractiveness of an abundance of public lands, controlled growth with sensitivity for the environment, a lack of vehicular traffic and low crime rates.

There are isolated buy opportunities which investors are focused upon, but in general, what has been said about the Aspen market is also true related to the Telluride market -  “Today’s price may have been last year’s record, but in a flat, stagnant market, that price is still today’s record… and historically, it will be tomorrow’s discount”.  For those seeking the bottom of the market, they will have found it only when price levels rise again which will be too late for “perfect timing”. 

The Telluride ski area held a ribbon cutting yesterday afternoon, opening Chair 15 and the new Revelation Bowl terrain for the first time ever.  I was a couple of hours late, and the bowl had been crushed by hundreds of skiers before I got there, but the snow was still soft and plentiful.  Revelation offers a lot more terrain than I had originally thought.  It is a wide open bowl with countless lines to get get you to the bottom.  Being in Revelation felt like I was in a whole new resort - so cool to be skiing on the Bear Creek side with its views of town and the imposing cliffs looming on the east side of the valley.  The top of Chair 15 deposits you about 500 vertical feet above Chair 14, affording view corridors and perspectives that you would have previously had to hike 30+ minutes to enjoy.  The resort clonstructed a deck at the bottom of the bowl (pictured above), right at the precipice of the 1,000' cliffs that historically kept people from venturing into Revelation.  Plans are to groom the center of the bowl so non-expert skiers will be able to enjoy the new terrain.  Telluride is the premier ski experience in North America - we have the mountain.  See you in Telluride this winter!

Conde Nast Traveler ranked the Telluride ski resort 2nd in their latest Readers' Poll.  Criteria for the overall score included: Terrain & Conditions, Lifts & Lines, Apres-ski Activities, Local Dining and Local Ambience.  With regards to Terrain & Conditions, no resort received a higher score than Telluride.  And at the end of the day that's what it's all about anyway, right?  Come ski Telluride and find out why visitors love it so much.

A Telluride filmmaker, T.M Haversham, shot a short film inspired by Chair 9 at the Telluride Ski Resort.  Chair 9 is a very slow triple chair, taking approximately 16 minutes to get riders to the top.  A long time, yes, but what a payoff - Chair 9 serves some of the best terrain in the entire state.  Pick your poison, all with a vertical drop of 2,200 feet: groomed black diamond runs, steep bumps from top to bottom, gladed tree runs with countless options each time you are there.  Click on the following link to see the short film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUEQG8ixY-I