When it comes to rugged mountain beauty, few places in America can compare with Telluride, Colorado. It's located along the All-American San Juan Skyway (see, for example, this link.)
Here's my shot at a computer rendering showing the Town and the surrounding San Juan Mountains.
(Click the image for the high res version: ~21 Mb)
This image has a great rendition of the "valley haze" effect, described here and here. Telluride sits in the foreground valley. The Telluride Ski Area lies on the mountainside to the S (right on the image.) Mountain Village is the development on the hillside in the immediate foreground.
Here's hoping for a great ski season this winter!