2018 State of the Telluride Mountain Club
The Telluride Mountain Club (TMtC) has come a long way since its inception in 1986. What started off as a resource for avalanche education in the Telluride region has grown to encompass all human-powered forms of outdoor recreation. Over the last several years, TMtC has been instrumental in promoting educational initiatives, integrating outdoor user groups, and preserving access to public lands for hikers, mountain bikers, climbers, backcountry skiers, ice climbers and more.
2018 marked Telluride Mountain Club’s busiest year yet. Our Board of Directors, staff, and membership were busy with new trail construction, trail maintenance and conservation, via ferrata stewardship, bolt and anchor replacements, and public trail events, just to name a few.
In addition to the various projects and events listed below, TMtC spent 2018 diving deeper into a relatively new project for the club – trails planning. This process officially started in the fall of 2015 when TMtC released a comprehensive trails survey to the public. Nearly 400 locals, second homeowners, and visitors took the time to complete this survey. This formed the basis for the first Trails Proposal we submitted to regional entities in the summer of 2017. You can find the complete trails proposal here. In 2018, TMtC took trails planning a step forward to collaborate with the Town of Mountain Village, San Miguel County, San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), the Telluride Foundation, and the United States Forest Service (USFS) on a Trails Sustainability Plan. This document is almost complete and defines a trails roadmap for the next ten years.
In 2018, TMtC was successful in partnering with four local guiding companies – Mountain Trip, San Juan Outdoor Adventures, Telluride Mountain Guides, and San Juan Mountain Guides – to continue stewardship efforts towards keeping our local via ferrata free and open to the public. Over 400 hours of volunteer labor were contributed to the route during 2018. Additionally, roughly 6,000 individuals registered / signed in near the main event. This project will be a long-term effort for the club.
Here’s a brief recap of TMtC projects and events in 2018.
2018 Projects
- 6/2/18: Wasatch Bridge Trail Work Day
- 6/29/18: Lake Hope Trail Creek Corridor Sustainability Work
- 8/2/18: Society Turn Climbing Area Trail Work Day
- 9/8/18: New Magic Meadows Trail Construction Trail Work Day
- 9/21/18: New Magic Meadows Bridge Materials Trail Work Day
- Summer / Fall 2018: Ongoing Via Ferrata Stewardship Efforts with Partner Guide Services and Volunteers
- Summer / Fall 2018: Bolt and Anchor Replacements at Local Climbing Crags
- Summer / Fall 2018: Trails Sustainability Plan
2018 Events
- 2/9/18: TMtC Annual Winter Fundraising Film Night
- 7/9/18: Public Group Hike, Hawn Mountain Trail
- 7/20/18: Public Group Hike, Sheridan Crosscut
- 7/26/18: TMtC Annual Summer Membership Drive
- 8/16/18: Public Group Hike, Ballard Area
- 10/3/18: Patagonia’s Mountain of Storms Film Event
2018 Event Support for the Peter Inglis Avalanche Education Fund
- 1/24/18: Backcountry Chats, Panel Discussion
- 2/11/18: Backcountry Chats with Doug Krause
- 1/7/18: Backcountry Chats with Dale Atkins
Our outreach and educational resources have been improving each year which has allowed the club to reach more people than ever through our website, social media platforms, and newsletter database.
TMtC has big plans as we head into 2019. We will be wrapping up our Trails Sustainability Plan and shifting from planning to trails execution. We will continue our efforts with the via ferrata, keeping local climbing crags updated and safe, and supporting the Peter Inglis Avalanche Education Fund. We hope to expand our event offerings to provide more educational resources to allow members to get into new human-powered activities in our region. TMtC wouldn’t be where we are today without the help and support of our partners and grantors. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to all our partners, sponsors, donors, members, and grantors.
We hope you will join us on our journey through 2019!
Josh Borof
Telluride Mountain Club President
telluridemountainclub@gmail.com
