Pilates

Telluride area people know that core strength is at the center of mountain living. It takes muscle to ski powder, rock climb, mountain bike, hike, carry kids around and participates in the other exciting activities that the San Juans offers.

Telluride boasts a few different Pilates training centers for locals and visitors to focus on core strength. Founded by the great Joseph Pilates during the second World War, Pilates is an exercise method that can yield powerful results quickly. Pilates practitioners should engage with instructors who have undergone training and who have been certified in this advanced technique.

Up in the Mountain Village, the Peaks Hotel has a full-service Pilates studio, complete with equipment and experienced trainers. Operated by the Telluride Pilates Studio, this center offers both private and semi-private instruction along with group sessions. The Telluride Pilates Center has a Telluride location as well, on Colorado Ave., and completes private assessments with clients before scheduling instruction.

With a philosophy that includes the idea of connection- “connection to yourself, to others, to family, and to Pilates”, instructors Annette, Judi, Rick Underwood, Wendy Borof, Sam Moore, and Andi Alexander offer diversity in their teaching of Pilates. Local Melanie Hall is another Pilates teacher-favorite of Telluride. Having trained in Seattle, WA under the lineage of the Authentic or Classical Pilates method, Hall brings enthusiasm and much anatomy knowledge to her teaching. With group mat classes as well as private and semi-private classes on her state-of-the-art-equipment, Hall leads a regular following in the Telluride canyon.

Hall’s clients report enjoying her individual attention, memory of their personal injuries and challenges, and her compassion, which she gives freely. Hall also sees youth clients. Hall currently operates out of Studio Telluride, a Pilates studio in the Silverbell Building on Pacific Street. Partnered with Lynda Tueller, the two teach in a hard wood-floor building with natural light, beautiful aesthetics in a space that feels anything but “small town”.

Studio Telluride is the only Classical studio in Telluride and “dedicated to the traditional system of body conditioning that, over the past 80 years, has helped millions of people improve their physical health, their mental and emotional outlook, their energy level and much more”. Local business owner and fitness expert, Becca Tudor teach Pilates in her studio Fuel, as well as at the Telluride Yoga Center. Tudor, whose mission in life is to “influence and motivate people to overcome their fears and struggles thus becoming empowered through confidence in themselves”, teaches mat and equipment-based classes. Fuel is located in the Cimarron building off Mahoney Drive in the town of Telluride.

Locals and visitors are encouraged to try Pilates in Telluride as a compliment and support to the mountain sports they enjoy in the high country.