Many cities across the country showcase a large Christmas tree in the center of town over the holidays. Telluride follows this tradition but does it in a slightly different fashion. Telluride’s Christmas tree in the heart of town is not of the Evergreen variety; it is constructed of skis.

The Ski Tree came to life in 2013 when a group of local merchants wanted to bolster our existing holiday decorations with something festive, fun and reflective of Telluride’s ski town roots. Thus, the Ski Tree was born. A call was put out to the local community to donate old skis for the project. Skis poured in and local artist and metalworker extraordinaire, Anton Viditz Ward, constructed the Ski Tree with all the donated skis (and of course the star on top is made of ski poles). Each ski on the tree tells the tale of many epic days on the mountain. If this Tree could talk…

The Ski Tree was assembled a week ago and lit last night during Noel Night, a fun and festive evening of shopping.  Noel Night kicks off Holiday Prelude, two weeks of festive events in Telluride and Mountain Village, that will get you excited for the holidays.