After a cold day in the mountains take your pick – soak in the indoor hot tub or take a steam shower – you might forget you’re in Silverton, Colorado. At 9,300 feet in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, it’s one of the most rugged hamlets in the United States.
A popular guide service and bar and then a distillery, the 2000-square-foot former Explorer’s Club building is now a high tech, two story alpine lodge that comfortably sleeps 10.
And while the rest of town is cloaked in the Victorian west, the owner, a former backcountry mountain guide, said he has something different to offer his skiing clientèle.
“Every other vacation rental in Silverton looks like your great-grandmother’s house,” said owner Michael Constantine. “I’ve got it all wired in with DirecTV and every possible entertainment you could want.”
He’s not kidding. The great room has a Wi-Fi 55-inch 4K Ultra high definition television voice operated by an Xbox One; the infamous back room has a 5-person hot tub and a 46-inch HDTV, and the master bedroom has a 32-inch HDTV and Xbox 360, and the entire Wi-Fi, bluetooth building is loaded with stereo surround sound. Even the two person 16 nozzle steam shower has bluetooth audio. Jam out while waxing your boards on the indoor tuning bench.
There is an upper level balcony and enclosed ground level private patio with a wood burning pot belly stove.
Dining, nightlife and a dispensary are a few steps away. So are the mountains. Silverton is crowned by 13,000 foot peaks, and Silverton Mountain, North America’s only single-lift accessed extreme ski area, and the main attraction for X-Club guests, is seven miles out of town. With 1,800 skiable acres (22,000 via helicopter), 400 inches of snow every winter and about 80 skiers per day, there’s room to shred. And, yes, Constantine guided there too. You can catch a chair to 12,300 feet, hike to 13,500 or catch the heli to the line of your dreams, then head back to the lodge and crush your friends at Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.
Constantine said he likes to be available for his guests.
“I can provide any kind of outdoor adventure advice,” he said. “To me it’s a big part of the business.”
And in this rugged mountain town, he’s just a phone call away.
$240/night for six. $15 for each additional guest.