Telluride Ski Resort restores lifts and terrain after patrol strike

After a 13-day walkout by the Telluride Professional Ski Patrol Association that closed much of the mountain through the holiday period, Telluride Ski Resort began returning to near-normal operations as weather and snowmaking permitted. Mid-January updates showed Sunshine Express and Ute Park lifts back in service on Jan. 13, followed by Prospect Express and Gold Hill Express, bringing a growing share of terrain back online.

The reopenings came as the mountain picked up additional snowfall in the prior week and pushed snowmaking where needed; some reports noted roughly nine inches of new snow before the mid-January lift changes. Telluride’s lift-status tracker reflected the progress, showing a majority of lifts operating and a steadily increasing number of trails open as of Jan. 13–14, 2026. For skiers and riders planning trips, that meant more laps available on main runs and renewed access to key zones that had been blocked during the patrol action.

The patrol strike’s timing over the high-traffic holiday stretch amplified local impacts. The temporary closure reduced skier capacity for several days, affecting lodging revenue, restaurants, guides, and other businesses that rely on visitor traffic during the season’s busiest window. The resort’s phased re-openings helped restore lift throughput and reopened revenue streams for the mountain economy, though full recovery depended on continued lift reliability, weather, and complete staffing returns.

Operationally, the resort balanced lift restarts with safety checks, terrain grooming, and snowmaking to ensure runs could open responsibly. Equipment and terrain that had been idle were evaluated before returning to service, and the lift-status tracker remained the authoritative source for which lifts and trails were available each day. Verify the tracker before heading up; conditions and openness changed rapidly through Jan. 14 as the mountain adjusted to fresh snow and resumption of patrol coverage.

For locals and visitors, the short-term picture was clear: more access and more laps than during the shutdown, but not quite the full complement of terrain found before the strike. Expect incremental openings as snowmaking continues and crews clear and certify terrain. The community impact now shifts toward recovery—hotels and eateries working to recapture holiday demand, season passholders reclaiming lost days, and mountain operations rebuilding momentum.

What comes next is steady monitoring: check the lift-status tracker and resort updates for the latest openings, plan flexibly for conditions, and watch how the neighborhood economy responds as business returns to the lifts and the runs.