BC Around Telluride, CO

I am headed down to Telluride to visit MikeC for a few days and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for some day trips in the area. I expect Mike will have some ideas, but the more beta the better.

Thanks,
Robert

If you buy a lift ticket, you can lap Bear Creek off the top of Lift 14.  That'll give you plenty to explore for an entire week.  If you don't want to buy a lift ticket, you can skin up into Bear Creek right out of town.  Lizardhead pass also offers lots of opportunities--its a 20 minute drive from town.  Red Mountain pass also has lots of terrain, but its a further drive, probably 1:15-1:30. 

Depending on conditions there is a nice set of huts available through the San Juan hut system in the Sneffles Range. One March, when I was living out there in Sawpit, we skinned into the Ridgeway hut for a few nights, and spent some time touring around. Have fun!

I had one of my more intriguing tree well adventures above the Ridgeway hut in a winter when there was about 4 feet of depth hoar covered by about a foot or so of fresh powder. We got nice turns in the trees there as well as at the Burn hut (where Yanna burned her hands and clothing on the stovepipe, but that's not the source of the name...). The guys who ran the huts were happy to describe day tours closer in to Telluride for us when we got out - if memory serves there are some south of town up near Lizard Head (??) as well as up the road toward Ophir. If you find the San Juan hut guys in their office, I bet you can pry a few tips out of them.

I've done some really enjoyable skiing in avalanche canyon outside of Ophir. There are some nice lines out there. Definitely brush-up on your snow assessment skills though.

Thanks for all the information. I think we are going to hit Red Mountain Pass and the BC around the resort. The snow is pretty marginal this year, but the ice is fat so we will spend some time in Ouray. The continental snow pack is so different than ours that I am really glad Mike has been there most of the winter watching it develop.