Flying into Telluride
 

Hi all -- I have heard that flying into Telluride, CO (esp during ski season) is not for the faint of heart and that there are often delays and other problems due to the airport's high elevation and the fact that the area is in a "box canyon" configuration in the mountains.
Can anyone give me the scoop on this? Which airlines serving Telluride have the biggest planes? Thank you in advance

The Telluride Regional Airport is North America's highest commercial airport at 9078 feet above sea level. Scheduled service and fares are provided by United, America West, Frontier, and Great Lakes Airlines.

Can't tell you about flying in or out as I never did, but since it's done daily, I imagine it's not too bad.
Few years back we flew AA to Eagle/Vail, Colorado, and it was interesting during landing/take-off, but I would not say it was hair raising. Quicker drop and steeper lift-off, that's about it.

I was able to find this info for you:

The Telluride Regional Airport is located in the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains. The Airport is open 365 days a year. The airport is closed for routine snow removal prior to 7:30 AM in the winter. During regular airport hours, if the visibility falls below two miles and the cloud ceiling falls below 2,000 feet above ground leve, then an aircraft may be diverted.

So yes, weather delays are possible, but in winter they're possible just about anywhere, except the deep south.

thank you so much, AAFrequentflyer.

several years ago we had tickets on United Express to fly from Denver into Telluride. when we arrived in Denver it was a beautiful day in June and the flight to Telluride was cancelled with no explanation. initially the plan was to put all of us who were booked on that flight on a bus, but some outspoken members of this group said "no way", so we ended up flying into Montrose instead (about an hour from Telluride if i remember correctly). a van took us to Telluride and we got our luggage the next day. when it was time to leave Telluride (another beautiful June morning) i called the airport and was told that it was open. by the time we got there (25 minutes later) it has closed with no explanation. again, we had to go by van to Montrose and wait to see what was available to get us to Denver.
it was only a after this trip that i learned that the Telluride airport is at such a high elevation that it's often closed for one reason or another: conditions have to be absolutely perfect. i learned this the hard way! when my husband went to Telluride this summer he simply booked his flights to Montrose and then rented a car.

Wow, Stellaluna, that's exactly what I was afraid of. And that happened to you on sunny June days! Good gosh, I can't believe they tried to put you all on a bus. It sounds safer just to book flights to Montrose in the first place. Thanks for the heads up.

Strange that this thread popped up. I'd just been looking at pics, etc on Telluride yesterday. Someone had a picture of the runway approach. Can see why it might be tricky.

http://www.bollar.org/travel/essays/.../telluride.jpg

yes, i would book into Montrose just to play it safe!! definitely! the scenery on the road between Montrose and Telluride is gorgeous, by the way.
have a great trip!