 Poster: A snowHead
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We have a week booked in Breckenridge for February half term. We have been to Breck a few times before and really love it. However, the EPIC pass also covers Vail, Beaver Creek and Keystone, and we fancy a day out at one of them for a change of scenery.
We are intermediate to relatively advanced family of 4 incl. two teenagers. Looking for a few black or double black runs, maybe some bowls or tree skiing. Not interested in parks or proper steeps. We have a hire car, so ease of parking and size of crowds are factors. Not bothered about the resort shopping or eating as driving back to Breck after the final run, might need to stop at Silverthorne Outlets as one of the party wants to shop.
We know that Feb 17th is a US holiday so will stay at Breck that day.
We are veering towards Vail, just to say we've done it, but happy to be persuaded. Anyone care to make a case for Beaver Creek or Keystone?
Any other advice also gratefully received.
thanks in advance,
LF
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Keystone: nearest to Breck, you can get there on a free bus.
Vail: it’s Vail!!!
Beaver Creek: quietest of the Vail group mountains.
For skiing experience, I would absolutely recommend Beaver. But the cab fare will cost you(unless you have a hired car already) Same goes for Vail.
Keystone is only if you’re counting pennies. It’s busy even in a normal weekend, so will be near madness on a holiday week.
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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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Copper Mountain just round the corner from Breck is great. Been there 3 times (6 weeks) over the past few years and love it.....not entirely sure its still on the same pass though? Very relaxing place and easy to find your way around.
Also been to Keystone for a couple of weeks. Loved there too, great runs, varied terrain etc. Slightly different and much smaller resort but well worth a trip to is A-Basin (Arapahoe Basin). Bit of a quirky hill and definitely not your Vail kind of resort but super fun.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Gyro wrote: |
Copper Mountain just round the corner from Breck is great. … not entirely sure its still on the same pass though? Very relaxing place and easy to find your way around.
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No, it's NOT. Never was.
Nor is A-basin. Not any more.
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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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| abc wrote: |
| Gyro wrote: |
Copper Mountain just round the corner from Breck is great. … not entirely sure its still on the same pass though? Very relaxing place and easy to find your way around.
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No, it's NOT. Never was.
Nor is A-basin. Not any more. |
Ok, no need to SHOUT..
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Go to Keystone anyway on the bus. But for your day out either Vail or teh Beav meet your spec. Vail pass is a bit of a PITA in heavy snowfall (though constantly ploughed) so be flexible on the day you go.
Vail has the back bowls, Beav has some great trees for advanced skiers and some even better bumps. Pro tip - if you go to Vail park in the garage at Cascade and upload there - then into Game Creek and work your way across the back of the mountain rather than tying yourself up in frontside crowds for ever.
For the Beav - Arrowhead or BC landing are the better access points for parking though think they are all pay now. Beav is generally quieter and there will rarely be any queue on Grouse (because the skiing is too tough for the average customer)
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If you can do it on a weekday, especially one other than Friday, I would go to Vail. It's approximately 30 minutes less drive than to Beaver Creek. Parking is easy (non-weekend) in either Vail Village garage or Lionshead garage, but pricey like everything related to skiing in NA. $25 last time I did a couple of years ago. If you are looking at a weekend, probably better to drive a few more miles and hit Beaver Creek. The farther you get from Denver, the shorter your lift lines. Download the Epic app to iphone if you will be using your phone in the States. You can check lift times on there. If you park at Vail Village and it's a somewhat crowded day, walking to Golden Peak, rather than Gondola One, will usually get you up the mountain faster. Walk is only a couple of minutes more from the Transportation Center.
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Ok, looking like Vail is the winner. Will make it a mid-weekday. Thanks to mr. mike for the parking info.
Cheers all.....
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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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Vail.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| abc wrote: |
| Gyro wrote: |
Copper Mountain just round the corner from Breck is great. … not entirely sure its still on the same pass though? Very relaxing place and easy to find your way around.
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No, it's NOT. Never was.
Nor is A-basin. Not any more. |
Copper Mountain WAS covered by our Breck lift passes when we skied there in 1990... 
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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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Vail midweek & get out to the back bowls.
Very good point made above about lift lines. We drove up on a snowy Tuesday from Denver and the queue leaving the interstate for all the Summit County resorts was nearly up to the tunnel!
We persevered all the way out to Beaver Creek and virtually had the mountain to ourselves. We skied straight onto every lift, one of my best ski days ever, but my friend was a local and knew the resort.
But still, go to Vail.
(And Bergmeister is right about Copper neon on the Summit pass in the early nineties)
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| Bergmeister wrote: |
Copper Mountain WAS covered by our Breck lift passes when we skied there in 1990... |
Those were not “Breck pass”. It was Colorado local pass that includes almost all of the mountains east of Aspen.
Current day Vail Resort only came into existence in late 90’s, after a bankruptcy reorganization.
Breck wasn’t part of Vail till mid (or late?) 90
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You know it makes sense.
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@London_Falcon, only ever been to Breckenridge once, donkeys years ago, me and my mate went for a day trip to keystone as it also had night skiing at the time, to this day it is the only time i have been night skiing!!!
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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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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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It’s not too useful to argue something that was over 20 years ago. For one thing, memories are liable not to be accurate, at least on the details of it.
The 90’s happen to be the decades I skied at Colorado one week a year. So I did not buy season passes. It was not economical for just one week. So if there’s season pass that includes both Breck and Copper, I wouldn’t have known about it.
Instead of season passes, there’re single mountain multi-day passes. And there are also multi day passes that encompass several local mountains which would cost extra. If you were walking up to Breck to buy the lift pass, I suspect it’s these kind of pass, not a season pass.
The OP has a season pass to all the Vail mountains which he had to purchase in advance. It doesn’t cost extra to ski Vail. Nor can he buy a cheaper one just for Breck alone.
Of course, none of that is relevant. His pass is good for Breck, Keystone, Beaver and Vail. That’s it. He can ski any of them for no extra cost. It doesn’t include Copper, no A-basin any more, no Winter Park either.
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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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It is currently $30 to park in Lionshead or Vail Village parking structures - ouch!
There are laces you can park on the road and get the bus.
This might help https://www.vailgov.com/parking
Beaver Creek parking is $10. Bear Lot has regular buses to the lifts.
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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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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I saw that a day's parking is $30. But since we already have the hire car and lift pass, then $30 extra for the 4 of us to have a day out at Vail is not an issue.
Thanks all, decision made.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Good decision.
Watch the weather and highway condition report for Vail pass. You want to ski, not sit on the highway for 3 hrs!
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I know what your pass includes but if you can ignore that...
1. A-Basin
2. A-Basin
3. A-Basin
4. Copper Mountain
5. See 1-3
A-Basin all day long if the weather is good. Oh, and parking is free and there's always a party on "The Beach". Plus the level of skiers is higher than most other resorts so you're less likely to be flooded with tourists. A-Basin is nothing but a great mountain. No frills, no hotels, etc. Have lunch at the restaurant at 12,000ish feet - they have a great charcuterie plate but, trust me on this, don't try to eat the hole thing and then go to the Land of the Giants on a full stomach.
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London_Falcon,
If you get to Vail early enough you can park for free and take the (free) bus into Vail.
We usually park on the road just west of McDonalds, on North Frontage Road West, as mentioned on the link helpfully provided by @runkmc.
You could park for free and put the $30 into the holiday drinks kitty.
And, if you have skied Breck a lot, why not also try Keystone for a day if you've not been before? We actually prefer it there to Breck, for its glade skiing on runs that we inevitably have to ourselves. 
Beaver Creek is also worth a visit. It's a great ski area... if you feel you have time to fit it in.
It sounds however, that you may prefer not to try all areas included on your lift pass - though I would definitely encourage you to give it a go.
We will be in Colorado next month but will be using our 3 Valleys season passes to give us 6 days free skiing. However, our freebie arrangement limits us to a maximum of 2 days in 1 resort, so we have no option other than to ski at least 3 areas. In reality, we will ski all 4 areas as we will spend 3 nights in Vail (to ski Vail and Beaver Creek for 3 days between them), followed by 3 nights in Dillon (from where we will ski 2 days at Keystone and 1 at Breckenridge).
And finally... you MUST ski Blue Sky Basin when you go to Vail; and remember to let us know how you get on there. I'm sure you will love it.
We really like the town, so I would recommend a short wander. If you park and use the free bus you will need to walk through part of the town to/from the lifts, which will give you a flavo(u)r of the place.
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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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On a side note, the 6 chair at Breckenridge is a great spot to spend some time
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FAQ
I'm glad I did it when it was still affordable.
