 Poster: A snowHead
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At last I have written a report of our Colorado trip, which was from 5 -12 February 2024. It's quite long but will hopefully be of interest. A few photos are attached at the end.
We had BA flights and flew at 8am from Newcastle to Heathrow. All went well and the 3.5 hours between flights at LHR passed quite quickly - then it was off to Denver. The Transatlantic flight was only about 60% full (Monday syndrome?) so we had more or less the pick of the seats - Mrs B even had a 3 person row to herself and managed some horizontal sleep.
After a very pleasant 9.5 hour flight, with a couple of films watched, we landed at Denver at 3.20pm local time. On previous trips (when we flew on a weekend) we always had to queue for ages to get through US immigration, but on this occasion we waltzed straight to the immigration desk and 2 minutes later, after the obligatory fingerprinting, we were in the baggage hall nervously awaiting the delivery of our double ski bag. Being veterans of lost/delayed luggage (over 20 times  ) we always anticipate waiting an eternity for luggage and learning that our skis are still at Heathrow, but, astonishingly and most pleasantly on this occasion, we were reunited with our planks after only a 10 minute wait! We had booked a hire car and took a shuttle bus, for what seemed like 10 miles across a vast Colorado prairie, to the car rental offices (which are located off-site for all rental companies) from where we were on our way after another very short wait. And they even threw in a free upgrade to a Mondeo-size vehicle. Happy days!
It was dusk as we left the airport and the drive was reasonably quiet & straightforward - snow-free dual carriageway and motorway all the way to our motel at Georgetown, with Mrs B on navigation duties on her phone (on offline google maps, with live navigation still possible without using roaming data).
It was only a 75 minute drive to Georgetown and we arrived just after 6pm, needing feeding. There was a lovely restaurant/bar opposite our motel so we headed there and enjoyed a lovely burger & fries, with a very nice draught beer for me at an unbelievable $3 a pint! We were seriously flagging after the meal, with it being after 2am body time, so crashed out for an early (in USA-time at least) night.
I felt like I had slept well, and awoke excited and raring to go skiing. However, when I looked at the clock it was only 3am! After 90 minutes on the internet I managed more sleep and awoke again at 6am. We had an early motel breakfast and were on the road to Vail for 6.45.
Our 6 day ski passes were free, with our 3 Valleys season passes, but we were limited to a maximum of 2 days in any one ski resort. As 2 of the resorts (Vail and Beaver Creek) were at the wrong (ie far) side of Vail Pass (which can occasionally become treacherous - or blocked by snow in the worst case scenario - despite it being motorway) we decided to head over the pass while the weather was good and the road clear.
Our 3 Valleys season passes give us 6 consecutive days skiing in any of the Vail ski resorts and those in striking distance of Denver are Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone.
We arrived at Vail before 8am, after a beautiful 1 hour (55 miles) drive over the pass, and found a space at the free parking (versus the $30 per day resort parking) which required a free shuttle bus to the town (10 minutes away). We took the bus to Lionshead and walked 5 minutes to the ticket office there, to find a big queue. We waited 15 minutes and then when we got to the front the lad on the desk knew nothing about the reciprocal arrangement with the 3 Valleys so had to speak to his supervisor about it. He then came back and told us that we were entitled to a 2 day ticket for Vail, which is not what the Vail website says. We showed him the website and requested the 6 day pass specified on their website, as we had had on our 3 previous trips when using our 3Vs passes.... However, he said that that wasn't possible - and said we had to request a new pass at each resort visited and therefore queue again at each. After telling him we didn't wish to do that, and guiding him, word for word, through the terms on the Vail website he went back to speak to his supervisor.... and almost 45 minutes after we entered the ticket office we emerged with 6-day ski passes. Phew!
It was interesting to note that Vail were charging a bargain $299 for a day ticket (bought on the day) - and only $1300 for a day's private ski lesson  . It made our freebie seem too good to be true! 
We headed up the Lionshead gondola and when we arrived at the top, and I lay my skis down to step-in, disaster struck. One of the heel pieces from a binding had vanished from a ski and I hadn't noticed!  So while Mrs B enjoyed a lovely descent on groomed corduroy I jumped back in the gondola and headed back down to a rental shop at Lionshead. I was thinking that there couldn't be many more-expensive places to rent skis (and was expecting no change from $70 for a day) so asked if they could do a good deal for me for a day's rental, given the circumstances. They offered me a discount deal at $50, which I was pleasantly surprised at... though the prospect of $300 for 6 days rentsl wasn't getting me too excited. Still, I was keen to get some turns in on day one and sort out the rental issue later (or, alternatively, find the heelpiece which had slid off the rail of the binding....)
The skiing was excellent, with packed powder on all runs and many runs to ourselves. We enjoyed various runs, ranging from lovely groomers to the vertical access to, and steep skiing of, Lovers Leap, which had some fantastic untracked powder. Although the light came and went we enjoyed the quiet expanses of the back bowls on some great snow - with wide open skiing in giant corries, with the place to ourselves. And the afternoon in Blue Sky Basin was brilliant. Despite the exposed, windy chairlift ride to get there we enjoyed some fantastic skiing on packed powder mogul runs in widely-spaced trees. After skiing I was delighted to find the heelpiece of my ski binding in the boot of the hire car. I was less delighted, however, when I took it (together with the ski and a ski boot) to a sports shop and was advised that my new boots (with gripwalk soles) were incompatible with my ski bindings... I had left my new skis in France and took an old pair (on the face of it worn out, with no edges - but who needs edges on piste in Colorado?) to the US. I hadn't skied on them for over 2 years and honestly didn't give the new boots/bindings combo a second thought. Schoolboy error! Luckily the binding fell off, eh?
After skiing we had a pleasant 40 minute drive to Silverthorne, which was to be our hotel base for the next 6 nights, and I managed to hire decent skis there for $150 for 5 days. Not a bad result.
Although Silverthorne is a great base for accessing various ski areas it is not really a town as such. Think more of a hotel on a retail park, with a few restaurants thrown in... Nevertheless it was a great place for us, not least as there was a brew pub (Dam Brewery) opposite the hotel, only 5 minutes walk away. Although there was also a nearby Mexican, plus 2 Chinese restaurants and a grill/diner, we (inadvertently - see later...) ate at the Dam Brewery on 5 nights. You will probably gather that we were very impressed with the food there (not to mention the 20 house-beers on draught - a fantastic selection) and the fact that it was only a 5 minute stagger from our hotel (when we were knackered each night) only added to the temptation. The funny thing is we really did plan to eat elsewhere (honestly your honour...) but one night we went straight to the brewery at 5.30pm for an apres ski drink and snack, before heading back to the hotel for a shower and returning for a late evening meal. We were hungry but decided to share a starter - and so ordered the large nachos ie warm tortilla chips, with melted cheese, tomatoes, onions, sour cream and chillies. However, we were staggered when they were delivered to our table as the size of the serving was beyond ridiculous! Having said that, we managed to finish them (albeit with a struggle). Needless to say, we couldn't face another bite to eat - and the nachos kept us going until breakfast the following day! We hadn't realised it was happy hour, so when the bill arrived we were charged the princely sum of $8 for the nachos; and pints of beer (ie US 16 fluid ounces pints) were a bargain $5 during the said hour. My Dam lager and German pilsner went down a treat. On other nights the brewery's delicacies included Bison Burger and a pulled pork sandwich, with meals being a reasonably priced $18 - $20. We tried to avoid a repeat of the mega-nachos night, so 4 nights later went out for an early (stave off the hunger again) snack and a drink. This time, having learned an earlier belly busting lesson  , we decided to share a small starter - but on this occasion were beaten back by the small nachos (which again filled us until breakfast...) We also ate at the nearby Mexican restaurant in the week, where the shredded beef burritos were gorgeous and where meals cost about $18. The food really was great but it was just as well that we were working hard and skiing it off, as it was difficult to find healthy eating options. (We have however reverted to our usual, more balanced/healthy diet since getting back home ).
Day 2 saw us head back over the Vail Pass (to Vail again) as we were advised that there was heavy snow forecast later in the week and we thought we should get that journey out of the way early in the trip and then ski closer to "home" later in the week when the driving conditions could be worse. It was only a 35/40 minute drive from Silverthorne to Vail, where we had another great day, skiing yet more packed powder on every run. Again it was very quiet, with most runs to ourselves. Even at 3.30 pm we were skiing incredible snow, on piste, back to the town, with not a hint of hardpack, never mind ice.
We had been before so knew what to expect on the mountain in all Vail resorts... How about $18 for a sandwich, $20 for a slice of pizza (on a paper plate) or $6 for filter coffee (all plus 9% tax of course...)? Other offerings included chilli fries, or chicken tenders (think McDonald's) and fries - both $20+, or burger & fries for $29... Our approach was to take a picnic (despite loaves of bread costing $7 + tax in supermarkets) and a small (one cup) flask of coffee each. And funnily enough, as cups of hot water are free on the mountain, our sachets of instant coffee came in very handy! (We are certainly not skinflints but it may be worth noting that our 3 coffees per person per day (while skiing) cost us next to nothing, versus what would have been $235 at Vail Resorts prices. Kerching!
We decided to ski at Breckenridge on day 3 and awoke to 8 inches of snow in the hotel car park. Though the roads were snow covered it was a flat drive and it took only 25 minutes to reach the free car park outside the town, which operates a free park and ride bus to the Breck gondola. We were up early again and got there at 8.45 just after the lifts opened. Snow conditions were excellent (some bits of untracked powder but mostly packed powder) but the higher lifts were very wind-exposed and it was minus 15C with the windchill. The variety of terrain was great, including some very steep bump runs, and, while we were warm enough while skiing, we froze on every lift. As fog shrouded the bowls at the top of the mountain we didn't venture to the higher, steeper terrain but nevertheless had a great day. And despite lasting until the lifts closed at 4pm we were happy to call it a day and thaw out.
We drove 15 minutes to Keystone for day 4 and couldn't wait to get to our favourite ski area. In previous years we loved the mogul runs in the trees (in the Outback area) and were looking forward to skiing there again. We got there for 9 and the queues for the River Run gondola (with free parking only 10 mins walk away) were rather long. However, there was a much shorter wait in the Singles queue (Europe, take note... if only) and we waited only about 5 minutes to board the lift as the lift attendants do a great job of ensuring every lift is full when it is busy. We did 3 warm up runs, top to bottom, on the front side of the mountain on deserted (USA blue) runs and it was a case of full speed carving on the most amazing corduroy for a 2000 feet vertical drop. Repeat, then repeat again!
Then it was off to the Outback area for the rest of the day on incredible mogul runs in the trees. Only the 2 of us were there on what felt like an amazing wilderness experience. Fantastic, packed powder, steep runs and relentless medium to large moguls top to bottom for 1500 feet of vertical. The stuff of dreams for us.
As the roads were clear, day 5 saw us drive back over Vail Pass - but this time to Beaver Creek, 10 minutes past Vail but still only about 50 minutes from Silverthorne. We were on the road by 7.15 and enjoyed the leisurely, scenic drive. Parking used to be free there (in Avon, below BC) but they are now charging $13 per day. Still, that's not too bad considering what they charge elsewhere. From the car park we took a free shuttle bus 15 minutes to Beaver Creek, with its heated pavements and escalators to the slopes. It really is another world! We spent most of our morning there on the various (black diamond) bump rums in the Birds of Prey area. Generally, the runs there were steeper than elsewhere and the moguls a lot bigger and more aggressive. Nevertheless, the snow was incredible, with yet more packed powder on every run, and we loved the challenge. We spent the afternoon cruising blue runs on superb, powdery snow and skied down to the outer reaches of the lift system at Arrowhead. All in all, we had another fantastic day.
We saved our favourite until last and drove back to Keystone for day 6, our final ski day. We warmed up again with 3 brilliant top to bottom groomers on the front of the mountain before heading off to the Outback to spend the rest of the day there on our favourite, deserted, bump runs in the trees. Again the snow was fantastic and we finished the trip as we had started it, with packed powder on every run, top to bottom. On ski lifts we spoke to locals who (incredibly) told us that it hadn't been a good season and snow conditions were not good during our week. They really need a reality check! God knows what they would think of Euro hardpack...
Day 7 was a non-ski day. We had hoped to ski somewhere on the way back to Denver airport, like Loveland, but the $149 lift pass was a bit steep when we had time for only 3 hours skiing. We therefore decided to have a lazy morning, after a week of 6am and 6.30 alarms and full ski days, and a leisurely breakfast with last orders at 9am became the order of the day. After that we drove to Golden, for a coffee and a wander. It was a beautiful drive, through a remote, steep-sided valley, to a town that a couple of locals had recommended as worth a visit on our way back - and we weren't disappointed. It's a lovely town with an old fashioned (late 1800s) front street and is the home of the brewing HQ of Coors. We had a coffee in a lovely coffee shop then went looking for 68 million year old dinosaur footprints on a short walking trail just outside the town. I thought time was getting a bit tight for our flight but the tenacious Mrs B encouraged me/us to spend 20 minutes trying find the dino tracks. So we hurried through the over-boot snow on our hunt and, although the trail was fully snow covered, luckily the prints were situated on vertical walls (which had tilted geologically over the millennia) so we managed to see big triceratops footprints, as well as fossilised prints of ferns and leaves. It really was brilliant.
We made it back to Denver in good time for our 5pm flight and are now reflecting on a fantastic Colorado trip with excellent snow conditions. In recent years we have usually been to the USA for 2 weeks, so (before the trip) I was asking myself whether a one week trip would be less rewarding. No chance! It was brilliant and it felt like we'd been away a lot longer than a week. Highly recommended for those of you thinking about a Colorado trip.
A few photos are included below.
Breckenridge:
Keystone:
Beaver Creek:
Vail:
Golden:
Triceratops Footprints:
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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Good report.
Eastcoast US / Canada skiing is great for technique.
If you can ride the northeast ice, you can ski anywhere in the world.
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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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What a superb report - thanks for taking the time to write this. I really enjoyed reading it.
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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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franga,
Thank you. I originally drafted it on the flight home, to fill some time, but I took a while to sort out the photos & to finish it .
I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
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That really gives a flavour of the trip, @Bergmeister, glad it was such a success.
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Cheers @Bergmeister. Thanks for posting
We're currently enjoying 22-25C heat in Florida (Miami Beach >Everglades > Naples >St Pete Beach > Orlando/Universal >Ft. Lauderdale), so I enjoyed reading about your wintry exploits only a few miles to the north
Colorado skiing is fantastic and, like you, we've found it quite funny (if not a little bemusing) in past years, to ski great snow and see:
- Signs saying 'Marginal snow conditions' and:
- Locals packing in early 'Cos it's kinda icy.'
Yes, they really are so spoilt!
It all sounded brilliant - so I'm guessing that reports that the North American season has all but been written off this winter due to El Nino, are like something coming out of the mouth of that orange presidential candidate bloke? (ie total bo11ock$!  ) It's been amusing, yet strangely disturbing at the same time, to see **'Vote Trump'...'F*** Biden'....and 'America First' propaganda on our Florida travels 
(**Alternative political candidates, and opposing views, are available )
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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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Nice report, cheers. Did you book your motels before hand or just rock up? Also I'm surprised you didn't check your equipment the first night. How was the jet lag for 1 week? We usually do a 2 week trip and like you thought 1 week wouldn't be worth it but after this report its defo on the cards.
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| Gainz wrote: |
| Also I'm surprised you didn't check your equipment the first night. How was the jet lag for 1 week? We usually do a 2 week trip and like you thought 1 week wouldn't be worth it but after this report it’s defo on the cards. |
The two (not checking equipment & jet lag) maybe linked?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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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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Quite a trip! I felt quite exhausted after reading that…  . Judging from the photos, you looked like the only skiers on the mountain. It’s good to know the 3V season “association” passes still delivered too!
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@Bergmeister, thanks defo planning on going Colorado next winter.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Bergmeister, what a brilliant report! Recommend Gems pass/I70 exploring for next time - plus Keystone obviously 
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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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| Bergmeister wrote: |
I'm not sure if you've skied in Colorado but we'd certainly recommend giving it a go - especially as it's free with your 3Vs season pass!
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Free lift pass maybe, $160/night motel aren’t free!
Colorado seems to appeal to family a lot. I think that has to do with most of its terrain catering well to the advance beginner to proficient intermediate, which suits the largest skiing population. With some juicy bits here and there which suits the rest, at least for a while.
The consistent snow record doesn’t hurt either. I used to go to Colorado for my own ski vacation year after year too.
But thanks to Vail Corp, it has gotten radically expensive. And during peak period, the crowds are (I’m told) unbearable. (I avoid Colorado during peak time, largely due to unaffordable lodging cost). Still, as long as you avoid the peak period (Christmas, mid-Feb to mid-March), the mountains are reasonably quiet. The snow and terrain of course, are unchanged, enjoyable as always.
So yeah, if you can circumvent its outrageous lift pass cost as Bergmeister did, definitely give it a go.
BTW, on the “exhaustive” front, that I’m afraid is very typical American. Lots of driving for just about everything, everyday. @Perty, I believe you’ve been to the US for skiing? It’s rare to find ski-in/ski-out lodging. Even lodging that aren’t slopeside, if it doesn’t involve a long drive, it adds a significant premium in cost.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@abc, yes, we’ve been a couple of times, both times to see son who was ski instructing, the first was Squaw Valley (as it then was). A long way to go for dreadful conditions in late January (2016,very limited snow and warm temps). We could see it would have been amazing had the snow been half decent, but sadly it wasn’t). The drive to the slopes was fine and I think the parking was free. We decided to check out Heavenly, but at over $100 for the day and only a few lifts open, we didn’t bother.
The second time was a more random destination in Vermont where L was working at The Hermitage Club- a private ski resort for moneyed East Coast business types. We didn’t go there for the skiing but for L’s 21st birthday. Basically we were skiing on a pimple of a hill, in mush. Only $75000 to join plus annual fees. That changed to a requirement to buy a property on the site. A massive ponzi scheme in my opinion, which subsequently went bust, but I see is now back in business. (We skied for free on a couple of days).
Last winter Mr P went to Utah to join a friend and his family on a trip. He had a great time and did get a couple of days’ skiing via his 3V pass.
I’d love to ski in Colorado, and the benefits of the 3V pass would help make that more possible. I can see that if too many people take advantage, the freebies might reduce.
This season I’ve heard far more American accents in the 3V than ever before. Cost (flights and lift passes) seems to be a big driver in getting the yanks over the pond, then your average intermediate skier is blown away by the HUGE ski area plus the very different cultural experience, both the skiing and in terms of the holiday itself.
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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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| Perty wrote: |
| This season I’ve heard far more American accents in the 3V than ever before. Cost (flights and lift passes) seems to be a big driver in getting the yanks over the pond, then your average intermediate skier is blown away by the HUGE ski area plus the very different cultural experience, both the skiing and in terms of the holiday itself. |
3 Valleys is on Epic pass which is probably the main reason. When I hear Americans talk about the places they have been in Europe recently it is 100% resorts on either Epic or Ikon pass.
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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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| Perty wrote: |
I’d love to ski in Colorado, and the benefits of the 3V pass would help make that more possible. I can see that if too many people take advantage, the freebies might reduce.
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I’ve been playing this multi-mountain season pass game for the past 10+ years. At first, it felt too good to be true. I even made the point of take-it-while-it-last, for it may not last. But so far, I haven’t seen them ever taking the benefits away.
What I’m seeing is the increase of prices for the top tier pass that includes those benefits. By not offering those “extra benefits” on the lower tier passes, they’re coercing people to pay for the higher price passes. The European benefits are not on the IKON base pass, only available on the IKON Full Pass. Don’t know if there’re similar setup in the 3V pass line ups.
That said, the partnership between Vail and 3V is just that, partnership. Since Vail doesn’t own 3V, nor the reverse, the partnership can dissolve next season, or any season after. So yeah, take advantage of it when it’s available might be wise.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Great report, more driving than I'd really want to do with the full crew, but would be a cool trip with the Lads.
I cannot stress how disappointing on-mountain food is in North America, just absolutely shocking (well, for anyone who cares about such things; I expect the riposte of "in the US skiing is a sport and food is for fuel" in 3 .. 2 .. 1).
Having had the EPIC pass for a couple of seasons (long story), I confirm you need the all singing pass to get access to the European "partner" resorts, but if you can make it work (sometimes you need to have booked qualifying accommodation, and it's currently limited to 6 days in the 3Vs and 5 in the 4Vs), it really is good value, sometimes even if you can't make it across the Atlantic.
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FAQ
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