 Poster: A snowHead
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We need help please. Two gung-ho advanced ladies looking to kill 3 weeks in Colorado. We're planning to fly in to Denver, hire a car and stay where the mood (budget) takes us.
We'd really like to give Breckenridge a whirl, but what else can we find in the area which is seriously challenging?
I'm sure we don't mind driving up to 4/5 hours but neither of us would want to spend an entire day driving to a new area/resort.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Winter Park/Berthoud Pass should be on the list, as should Blue Sky Basin at Vail and Aspen Highlands.
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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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Arapahoe Basin is good for advanced skiers, also Vail's Back Bowls and a second vote for Blue Sky Basin
I've never been but I understand that Telluride has some challenging terrain as well.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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BGA, good call on A-basin - it's on my "to do" list.
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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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Definitely Breckenridge, and I'd totally recommend A-basin, I loved it. Lots of steep and adventurous fun to be had there! And Vail too. What about Steamboat? I've never been but it looks brilliant....
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Get a map, NOW!
So you have an idea where all these suggested places are.
A big loop taking in Winter Park (a day or 2?), Summit County (Breckenridge/Copper/A-Basin/?) for a few days to a week, then Vail/Beaver Creek (few days to a week), onto Aspen for a week(?) and then (maybe) Telluride or Steamboat Springs (I've never been, so don't know about terrain).
There're more resorts in Colorado than you can count with BOTH hands. But the above are clustered close (sort of, by US standards) together that makes for a nice easy loop. None of the drive segment takes more than a few hours so you can easily squeez it in even at the end of a full day of hard skiing.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 24-07-07 18:10; edited 3 times in total
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| firebug wrote: |
| Definitely Breckenridge, and I'd totally recommend A-basin, I loved it. Lots of steep and adventurous fun to be had there! And Vail too. What about Steamboat? I've never been but it looks brilliant.... |
Steamboat is flat, but trees are fun if snow is good. And After skiing there you can drive 6 hours to Jackson Hole and then on to Big Sky, where there are real steeps  . OK - its not Colorado, but ... having a car gives yo ua lot of choice.
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Thanks everyone, you've certainly given us food for thought. The being able to "loop" a lot of resorts would be the real seller as we're somewhat put off by Alberta/BC because of having to double back on ourselves being as the "summer" routes will all be shut. 
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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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| Alexandra wrote: |
| seriously challenging? |
Crested Butte and Silverton are two Colorado resorts which fit this description and haven't been mentioned yet.
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Crested Butte...
I know I'll get tons of "opinions" from Epic... But Martin, what do you think of their re-introduction of the "free lift ticket" in late November? Worth it or just a marketing blah?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I actually have an old VHS with some Crested Butte footage on it - extreme skiing championships (and lunatics on sticks). 
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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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I'd recommend Steamboat - had lots of fun there and wouldn't say it was flat by any means.
If in Steamboat - take a trip to Strawberry Park, natural hot springs. Great fun sitting in hot water when the air temp is freezing
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| Boris wrote: |
I'd recommend Steamboat - had lots of fun there and wouldn't say it was flat by any means.
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it's flat after a few days in Jackson, believe me! I enjoyed the bumps, the snow was good quality and the tree skiing fun, but very little there that could be called vaguely steep.
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You know it makes sense.
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I really would not put Breck on my list. I think it is a poor example of what the US has to offer, and over-promoted over here. I think Copper, Vail, Beaver Creak, Steamboat, and Aspen would be way ahead. If forced to choose I would do a week in each of Vail, Aspen (which has 4 different hills) and Steamboat - with a day trip to Copper from Vail.
If this is the only time you ever plan to go to the US, you have to do JH, otherwise it is a bit complicated.
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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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stoatsbrother, I think Breckenridge does have quite a bit to offer. I agree it's not Jackson Hole but there is some good skiing off the Falcon Chair on Peak 10, the bowls off Peak 8 which are now accessible from the new Imperial chair and also the Peak 7 area. There is also some decent accomodation and a few decent restaurants and bars (Breck Mountain Lodge and the Brewery spring to mind).
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Poster: A snowHead
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While I'm not a huge fan of Breck, BGA is right that it does have something to offer. Maybe not worth going out of the way to get to, but it's right there in Summit county. So a day trip to it is definitely worth it.
A lot of times, it really boils down to one's luck with weather and condition AT THE TIME. So I definitely think it should be on the "hit" list, though not neccessarily the "must" list.
Jackson Hole is not even anywhere NEAR Colorado!!!
Best left for another trip, perhaps in combination with sampling of the cluster of Utah resorts.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Loveland, A-Basin and Copper.
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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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BGA, I agree a day-trip to Breck is about right, but it is promoted pretty heavily by TOs in the uk as a destination resort. I spent my first 2 weeks US skiing there, and only found out its limitations on day trips to Vail. JH is indeed nowhere near Colorado - and I was surprised to see it raised as an option earlier in the thread. But if you are only going to the US once - I would still consider it (IMHO) a must-do resort, in the same way -perhaps - Whistler is for Canada. I am going there for the 6th time this year!
I think it is a shame people automatically think of Colorado - and even just those mountains near Denver, when they go to the US. Telluride is the next place on my must-do US list, and Crested Butte and Utah follow that. Three weeks would allow one to go further afield. Of course some of these resorts (Vail, JH,Telluride etc) have their own little local airports and flying in is a good way to go, a bit like going to Sion for Verbier.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| abc wrote: |
Crested Butte...
I know I'll get tons of "opinions" from Epic... But Martin, what do you think of their re-introduction of the "free lift ticket" in late November? Worth it or just a marketing blah? |
In the days of the original free skiing at CB, I used hear that there was skepticism from local business owners because the promotion attracted a lot of skiers who, they reckoned, slept in camper vans, wore clothes held together by duct tape, and "didn't spend a lot of money in the town" There's always going to be a bit of that factor. Nevertheless, it's a great marketing ploy and good on them for re-introducing it.
But one proviso: what makes CB really attractive to experts is terrain like the Headwall and the North Face, and it would be unlikely that much of that would be skiable that early in a normal season.
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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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| stoatsbrother wrote: |
BGA, I agree a day-trip to Breck is about right, but it is promoted pretty heavily by TOs in the uk as a destination resort. I spent my first 2 weeks US skiing there, and only found out its limitations on day trips to Vail.
I think it is a shame people automatically think of Colorado - and even just those mountains near Denver, when they go to the US. |
That's a good observatioon!
Not only "over the pond", even in the US, Colorado does a much better job of promoting itself as THE ski destination than Utah, which has as much terrain and, in my personal view, better snow and more interesting & varied terrain.
I think part of it is because the resorts in Colorado are more "intermediate friendly". So a family going to Colorado will not be disapointed. While in Utah, the more advanced skier may love it, but the beginer might find it limiting...
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Wed 25-07-07 21:05; edited 1 time in total
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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, shut up. Stop talking about UT. 
Remember, everyone, Utah has weird drinking laws - you can't even get a coke without filling out a load of paperwork. Then you are only allowed in to the state if you have at least 3 wives.
As for the snow, it's near a lake - that's water - that means heavy, wet snow.
Colorado has everything a Euro could ask for - lift lines, people who go to be seen, not to ski, expensive souvenirs...
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If you go to Breckenridge then also ski at Keystone - go to The Outback for dinner - wonderful chocolate fondue and night skiing back to base.
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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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Of the four resorts clustering around Summit County, Keystone is the least of my favorates. It's intermediate heaven for cruising but all the runs look & feel just like the next one: boring after a few of them...
They do advertise cat skiing, to something that might be a bit more interesting. But you have to pay extra, IN ADDITION TO the lift pass. I feel it's a bit tacky.
A-basin, Copper, Breck are how I like them, in that order. Keystone would be the last, if at all.
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I've never "got" Keystone either - the night skiing hooning down the frontside is a novelty for Europeans and far more extensive than many a glorified nursery slope but its too far to commute to the better terrain outback. I understand easier access to Lake Chutes etc at Breck has made a world of difference to teh possibilities there too.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Spent a winter at Keystone instructing. Lots of great terrain, but not obvious 'ins' and 'outs'.
Did a series of mini-tours around CO when I was there.
Skied Keystone, A-Basin, Beaver Creek, Vail, Breckenridge, Steamboat, Telluride, Monarch, Sunlight, Copper, SkiCooper, Aspen Snowmass, Winter Park, Crested Butte & Loveland.
Not a bad days skiing at any of them.
Would go back to Telluride, Crested Butte, A-Basin & Steamboat in a heartbeat.
And then there's Wolf Creak, the other Aspen resorts, Silverton, Purgatory 
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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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And A-basin has a significant increase in its size as Montezuma Bowl opens 07/08 season
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"where the mood (budget) takes us" Another option is stopping at a Grocery store or ski shop in the Denver area for discount coupons. You should be able to save enough on lifts for dinner every night.
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You know it makes sense.
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Just a word of warning on Silverton if you're not a genuine expert. Not been there myself, but one local described it to me last year as the closest US equivalent to La Grave. "Limited to 150 lift tickets a day, guided groups only. Morning muster they sort you into two categories...fast skiers here...faster skiers over there!" Not sure how much artistic licence there is in that....but it sounds interesting .
I went to Summit County a while back as a gung-ho intermediate - staying in Breck. Didn't much like the Breck skiing - although as fatbob says opening up access to the Lake Chutes may have changed that. Loved the back side of Keystone (fun tree-skiing), but a day was enough - although I did ski virtually non-stop from 9am to 10pm. They had just opened Blue Sky basin that year, and I much preferred that to the regular Vail back bowls - but again only a day's experience of Vail. Not a huge amount to drag me back there though. The better skiers did seem to mostly be heading to A-basin and Copper.
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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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| Quote: |
The better skiers did seem to mostly be heading to A-basin and Copper.
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It has more to do with less crowd, less money for equally good skiing.
The back bowls of Vail are nonetheless fantastic. I have fond memory of Vail, though not in a hurry to go back due to the expense. In the mean time, I can ski the rest of the Colorado resort (better yet, other states) and get as good snow and terrain for less money.
Unlike Europeans, American skiers are more used to drive to the base instead of staying at the base. So, the appeal of Vail is minimal. The size of Vail is good for someone staying an entire week IN ONE RESORT. The benefit disappears when you're willing to drive around each day. Put together, A-basin and Copper can keep most skiers happy without shelling out the mega-bucks of Vail.
A-basin has gained considerable fame in the past decade due to higher temperatures all over. It's the highest resort in Colorado.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Spent a week in Keystone doing day trips to Breck, A, then a week in Vail, and did Beaver Creek for a day. Blue Sky Basin @ Vail has to be my favourite skiing memory of all time, although not sure how much more developed it has become since we skied it the first winter it was opened.
The new bowl at Keystone (Independence?) inbounds but accessible only by snowcat, looks the business, but have no experience of it. The Outback (mountain 3 at Keystone) is a good set of challenges if you like tree skiing. Bit if you are seriously hard core, you are unlikely to find more than a day or two of stiff stuff at the resort. IMHO of course!
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