lluride developed a
reputation for being "Colorado's best kept secret", which paradoxically
made it one of the more well-known resort communities. Wealthy skiers flocked
to the world-class mountain all winter, and sightseers kept hotel rooms full
all summer. In the 1980s, Telluride also became notorious in the drug
counterculture for being a drop point for Mexican smugglers and a favorite
place for wealthy importers to enjoy some downtime. The town was even featured
in the hit song by Glenn Frey from Miami
Vice, "Smugglers Blues". For a while the modern Telluride was
living up to its Wild West history. This type of attention, as it turned out,
was just what the town needed to differentiate it from Aspen. The festivals
combined with Telluride's bad-boy town image attracted celebrities like Tom
Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, and Oliver Stone. By the mid-1990s, Telluride had shed
both its mining personality and drug image to establish itself as a premier
resort town balancing modern culture with fascinating western history. In 2003,
Prospect Bowl, an extension to the ski area opened, providing the resort with
many new trails and runs. In 2007-08, the ski area opened some of the most
extreme, in-bound, hike-to terrain in the country. Most lifts in the area are
high-speed quad chairs capable of holding four passengers. The highest lift on
the mountain reaches an altitude of 12,570 feet
