 Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@mr. mike, Just a shame T'ride moved all the drop out Hippies out and replaced  them with LA & NYC Rich Pseudo Hippies.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| mr. mike wrote: |
| @Steilhang, Just one day there after a visit to Silverton. Fantastic place to ski when it has snow. Sometimes the San Juans can be a bit dry though depending on weather patterns. T'ride is one of my favorite towns in North America too--did a longer trip there one summer for fishing and hiking and spent a night there many, many years ago on the front end of a week long T'ride to Moab mountain bike trip. |
Yep. Really nice place. Some locals told me they are now working on doing a Whistler style MTB buildout. That the same team who did Whistler originally wanted to do this in Telluride but got rejected and hence went and did it in Whistler. Having seen the success of it in Whistler, Telluride has fetched them back...
We were there for a wedding on on the mountain, which was good fun. Had some fantastic food up on there at Allred's Restaurant, which is a spectacular setting. Best meal I've ever had in USA I think!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Steilhang wrote: |
| mr. mike wrote: |
| @Steilhang, Just one day there after a visit to Silverton. Fantastic place to ski when it has snow. Sometimes the San Juans can be a bit dry though depending on weather patterns. T'ride is one of my favorite towns in North America too--did a longer trip there one summer for fishing and hiking and spent a night there many, many years ago on the front end of a week long T'ride to Moab mountain bike trip. |
Yep. Really nice place. Some locals told me they are now working on doing a Whistler style MTB buildout. That the same team who did Whistler originally wanted to do this in Telluride but got rejected and hence went and did it in Whistler. Having seen the success of it in Whistler, Telluride has fetched them back...
We were there for a wedding on on the mountain, which was good fun. Had some fantastic food up on there at Allred's Restaurant, which is a spectacular setting. Best meal I've ever had in USA I think! |
Well that corner of Colorado is pretty close to being the de facto MTB capital of the world (if you ignore North Shore etc). Durango has held world championships and is the home town of Ned Overend and others. Plus not that far a drive from Moab etc.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Dave of the Marmottes, I do a lot of MTB, but have never considered anywhere to be the MTB capital of the world. That's really the great thing about it, you can do MTB just about anywhere that has a few hills and trails. We don't do too badly here in Bavaria, and even in Munich you have the Isar trails which offer almost endless possibilities along the river as far south as Bad Tölz...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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IMHO Crested Butte is WAY better than Monarch or Powderhorn.
But make sure you understand the parking problems/options before you head up.
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@Steilhang, but there are places that are known as hubs for it - North Shore, Whistler, PdS, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Moab etc. Anything that stops people from Yorkshire claiming it as their own 
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Never really get the appeal of Whistler as a "MTB capital". About the only thing it stand out is the shear steepness of the trails. That, I'll give it to Northshore and Whistler. Why? The weather there is wet as hell. So the tree line is high. As such, soil erosion is a lessor problem than California or southwest US. Hence you can build really steep trails without it eroding away. And the big verticals.
Me, I much prefer the southwest US. Utah, Colorado. The scenery is better. Much more "wild", where I can ride for hours or even days without having to yield to another biker or even hikers.
I guess not too into lift-served mtn biking, I'm not the kind to think much of Whistler (I do ride lift-served downhill. Just not too often)
Where I live, the northeast of US of A. We have tons of trails with roots and rocks to go over, branches to duck under, and deer that jump out in front of your bike. I consider that to be the best of mtn biking. I'm pretty sure there're many other regions in the world that has plenty of THAT! I'll be happy in any of those places too.
(if someone were to say Whistler is the DOWNHILL mountain bike capital, perhaps they have a point? I'm not one who's able to judge)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Booked flights today to Denver as Norwegian having a day sale £398 return and during French Feb Half Term, so getting out of Dodge !!!
Could get it cheaper absolute no frills £279 no luggage, no food, no seats allocation etc
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Weathercam,
Excellent! Where are you heading to ski? 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Bergmeister, Winter Park and SteamBoat
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Berg............. V. good itinerary and I hope all is well throughout from door - to - door. Make certain your rental car is top flight and well suited - well prepped for potential DIFFICULT winter driving...................
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Weathercam,
Excellent! We love Winter Park (and have been 3 times)  . We haven't visited Steamboat, however.
Have a great trip & let us know how you get on.
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You know it makes sense.
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arcsinice,
Thanks. Thats prompted me to recall my Denver car rental experience. We've rented cars a few times from there and, the last twice, (including last year) had the rental company telling me my booked car was unsuitable for winter driving in an attempt to force us to upgrade to a 4x4 (at 3 times the cost).
They gave us a (2 day old) printout to say that I-70 was fully snow covered, and when I asked for the current conditions they said they couldn't access them...
They then gave me a printout regarding the Colorado tyre/chain laws and said that the only cars in their fleet to comply were 4x4s. As the printout said M+S tyres were compliant with the law I asked to check the tyres on my hire car. 2 minutes later I returned to report that the car did in fact have M+S tyres, so I would take it. Incredibly, they persisted in telling me I could be breaking the law if I drove the car in current (no snow!) conditions.
Their final throw of the dice was to tell me that the car I had booked had a very small engine which was unsuitable for high altitude driving, as it could break down.
I'm hoping for a more straightforward rental experience in February. Fingers crossed!
Is is possible to guarantee proper winter tyres (ie with the mountain/snowflake symbol) as opposed to all season M+S?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Bergmeister,
| Quote: |
Is is possible to guarantee proper winter tyres (ie with the mountain/snowflake symbol) as opposed to all season M+S?
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I believe you can, if you call the hire desk direct and book with them - at a considerable premium. The vehicles though are usually only 4x4. In all our years of road tripping we've been fine with a 4x4 and standard M+S tyres - and driven some very poor conditions.
On a side note, got all our details sorted now for this years road trip too.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Bergmeister, SOP for DIA rental shysters. I' ve had the " engine won't work at altitude" BS in the summer too as well as them trying to persuade me that a Fiat 500 is a "compact" car, which really means things like a Focus.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Bones,
Where are you heading on your road trip?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Bergmeister, Start in SLC, for a couple of days ( Cottonwoods ), drop to Moab to see Arches, then down to Durango CO. further down to Taos NM, back to Wolf Creek, onto Monarch, then up to Aspen, from there back to SLC for the remaining time in the Cottonwoods. 18 days total 
Bought to Mountain Collective pass again and trying to make good use - ideally Telluride was going to be in the mix, but dropped off the MC pass 
Arrive in SLC mid Feb, leave March. Planned it last season, during the road trip then - which was probably on of the best we'd done. El Nino pattern is looking good, which helps NM and CO.
Next seasons trip already decided, will just need to sort the details, which is usually fairly easy. We haven't stayed in one place for the last 10 years or so tbh.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Bones,
That sounds great!
Road trips aren't everyone's cup of tea but we've always enjoyed those we've done over the years.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Bergmeister, which rental company did you use that gave you such hard sell?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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abc,
It was Advantage.
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@Bergmeister, never used them yet, although I’ve seen them coming up on top of searches sometime. Now I know what to expect. Thanks for the heads up.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I'm happy to go with M+S tyres and then buy snowchains if I have to.
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I've had the BS variously with Alamo, Dollar,Thrifty. But Advantage are by far the worst and basically worth ignoring the cheap rates because of the hassle of dealing with them - had to reject first car because of near bald tyres and in the end just gave in on them claiming a compact was mid sized as the tyres were decent. Only booked them as I thought the local Europcar affiliate would be ok - they are not.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I've kind of done that flight and coming back is grim! Mate, then had a 6 hour drive back to Cornwall. Not sure how he did it!!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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interesting trip.
I am in Houston for 3 months come the end of January and looking into a few weekend trips, the silverton ones seems great but the long drive might put me off it.
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You know it makes sense.
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scottydonald,
You could fly to Montrose, which is a lot closer to Silverton than Denver is.
That may work for you from Houston. However, for us, flight costs to Montrose from the UK were rather steep ie more than double the cost of flying to Denver; hence our road trip.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
scottydonald,
You could fly to Montrose, which is a lot closer to Silverton than Denver is.
That may work for you from Houston. However, for us, flight costs to Montrose from the UK were rather steep ie more than double the cost of flying to Denver; hence our road trip. |
will look into it. Never even heard of Montrose.
I have my usual Espace Killy for New Years, then hopefully 2/3 trips to West coast America.
Jackson Hole, Usual SLC are on my short list so far. United flies from IAH and Southwest from Hobby so that limits the cheaper flights.
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Poster: A snowHead
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scottydonald,
We once skiied Telluride & flew back from Montrose, about 75 minutes drive from there. And Crested Butte is also close to Montrose - about 1 hour 45 minutes drive.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Bergmeister, Read your first post on the topic and was going to inquire if it was Advantage but decided to read the rest of the thread before posting.
To anyone and everyone, NEVER, EVER rent from Advantage in Denver. I have done it twice now, 6-8 years apart (I forgot!), and it has been utterly horrible both times. They rent a bit cheaper than most so will come out at the top on a search engine type search, but don't do it. No way is it worth it. Their entire business model there is based on upselling you at the counter, which results in 10-20 minutes for customer when it should be 3-5, which results in horrendous lines, a miserable experience playing defense when you get to the counter and frequently ultimately spending more $$ when you finally get through than you would have with a more ethical provider.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Bones wrote: |
Bergmeister, Start in SLC, for a couple of days ( Cottonwoods ), drop to Moab to see Arches, then down to Durango CO. further down to Taos NM, back to Wolf Creek, onto Monarch, then up to Aspen, from there back to SLC for the remaining time in the Cottonwoods. 18 days total
Bought to Mountain Collective pass again and trying to make good use - ideally Telluride was going to be in the mix, but dropped off the MC pass
Arrive in SLC mid Feb, leave March. Planned it last season, during the road trip then - which was probably on of the best we'd done. El Nino pattern is looking good, which helps NM and CO.
Next seasons trip already decided, will just need to sort the details, which is usually fairly easy. We haven't stayed in one place for the last 10 years or so tbh. |
Telluride is beautiful. Definitely worth stopping and skiing there for a day even if it isn't on MC
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Berg-O-Meister..................
Just responding now to your query as my furlough from prison is only one day per week...........
I do not rent in the state, I just drive the family hooptie. I do not know if ANY rental (hire) agency puts snow tires on their vehicles which I seriously doubt, instead just M/S. You'll go with that and you'll do O.K. because you're a smart guy. If things do go weather Odyssey, there's always fitted snow chains through a tire store. They're worth the money spent.
Again..., your itinerary is v. intelligent. You'll do well with that, v. well. I trust Mother Nature will abundantly provide.
And please, luftmensh........... Let the man and his have THEIR itinerary. It's well designed.
Don't overlook the possibility of Glenwood Springs and taking the waters, as it were. Realistically, a bit too far from Dillon. But, Sunlight's only a stone's throw away - 15 minutes. And Sunlight is vastly better than Powderhorn. I've clipped a link on Glenwood for your edification........... We hit Glenwood several times each season as it's a solid hour drive from Snowmass where we are. Some late afternoons leading into evenings, it's absolutely great. No doubt you know about it. Perhaps you've been there. But if not............. Down the road by a minute or two is Iron Mountain Springs, also. Small. Nice. We still prefer Glenwood.
https://www.hotspringspool.com/
ps: Great (classy, dignified) showing - remembrance of the Centennial end to WWI in your nation, "Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers." I do not patronize......, it's not within my DNA. But you guys and gals (Brits) SO do it right when the need for same requires. To you English....., do not overlook your inherent greatness and do not let the Ausländer side diminish your aforementioned greatness...., to wit : Illegitimi non Carborundum.......
Have a great trip. Watch your driving in numerous areas as the Polizei in certain rural areas adore (feed off) the visiting Damon Hill's......... Then thar's them thar Colorady drivers for whom nuffin' is rude or insane enuf.........
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Weathercam wrote: |
| @Bergmeister, Winter Park and SteamBoat |
I can give you the number for a guy we use to drive us up to the Colorado resorts from Denver airport if you want?
He only charges us $80 upto Breck/ Vail and Winter Park is even closer. i give him $120 as $80 is far too cheap for what he does.
We just caught the Greyhound upto Steamboat from Winter Park - i'm sure we only paid $15 each and it wasnt a bad ride.
Similarly sign up for Lyft and search for a sign-up bonus, which will knock $20 off your first ride usually
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| Dougy Giro wrote: |
| Weathercam wrote: |
| @Bergmeister, Winter Park and SteamBoat |
He only charges us $80 upto Breck/ Vail and Winter Park is even closer. i give him $120 as $80 is far too cheap for what he does |
A bit like that "Four In A Bed" TV show.... (pay what you think it's worth).
50% tip.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Dougy Giro Any idea if your guy would do a one way Vail to Breck? We're doing a week at each and after a good way to get between the two. Please send me his details if you think so. Other ideas welcome.
Thanks
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Nik,
I think you can book a Greyhound bus to Frisco, then take a local bus.
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FAQ
we're planning to stop in Glenwood springs to 'sample' them 
(Sounds like it could be about a brothel... 