TWO FOR ONE

 

Two towns in one is what Telluride, Colorado has become. Hidden in a box canyon, surrounded by 14,000 feet peaks of the San Juan Mountains.

The discovery of gold in 1858 put Colorado on the map. By 1880 Telluride became a mining town.

The wealth of the town attracted the likes of Butch Cassidy and his "Wild Bunch".

When silver and gold prices crashed with the first World War, Telluride was not much more than a ghost town.

Then in 1970, Telluride was resurrected by another kind of gold.

SNOW.

Today with a population of 2200 residents, all are skiers and snow boarders.

Telluride is really two towns in one. Located up the mountain about midway is a town called Mountain Village.

A three-stage gondola, provides a fast and free commute, from one town, to the other. Telluride for businesses and Mountain Village for lodging.

The gondola is enclosed and takes passengers between the two areas in 13 minutes. Using this system displaces the need for automobiles between the two towns lessening the traffic problems.

The free ride was nice, it was 795 feet to the Mountain Village.

I didn't understand the three-stage, getting off and on a different car each time. That would get old to me. People had groceries and carry ones to take off and on at each stop.

It is unique, the only transportation system of its kind in  North America.

 

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