SierraDescents.com

Telluride: Top To Bottom

I'd been thinking about getting this shot ever since I first bought my Contour helmet cam: a continuous clip skiing Telluride from the top of the Revelation chairlift, elevation 12,570', all the way down to the Gondola station in the Town of Telluride, elevation 8,750'.

Getting the footage proved trickier than expected, thanks to the weather and the many quirks of the Contour, but I love the result.

This is probably my favorite in-bounds ski run on the planet. Sure, there's a bit of catwalk travel on the upper parts of See Forever until you pass Chair 9, but the flat sections just contribute to the run's appeal, as they allow you to better enjoy the views of the spectacular San Juan mountains. And there are plenty of steep, groomed sections to let the boards run—culminating in the warp-speed fun of Milk Run or Coonskin. Finally, if I'm skiing this run, it means I'm in Telluride, which is always a good thing. 3800 vertical feet in a relaxing nine minutes. Enjoy!

— March 1, 2010

Andy Lewicky is the author and creator of SierraDescents

Xavier "Telemark-Tubby" McGillicutty March 2, 2010 at 8:14 am

Sweet. Definitely helped take the edge off a day that's shaping up to be rather hectic. Thanks!

P.S. With that helmet-cam, your shadow looks like 'Po', the Teletubby.

Bill March 2, 2010 at 4:51 pm

I just did this last week with my helmet cam :)

Bill March 2, 2010 at 4:58 pm

So you're using the ContourHD and not the ContourHD 1080? What do your settings look like?

Andy March 2, 2010 at 6:56 pm

Bill, I am using the new 1080p ContourHD, but after a week of testing I decided I liked it in the 720 mode better. Too much shutter roll in 1080, plus the narrower angle caused more shake. I tried a variety of camera settings, but no matter what the camera still smashes the highlights. The footage you see here was edited with Sony Vegas Pro using some fairly sophisticated tools to recover detail.

Jim and Lynn Blanchard March 2, 2014 at 2:01 pm

Our son Chris grooms your run almost every night and helped install Stairway to Heaven.

Andy March 3, 2014 at 3:29 pm

He does a fantastic job!

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