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Any tips for Vail trip?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
We're looking at two weeks in Vail at the beginning of Feb 2010, plan on skiing Vail/Breckenridge/Beaver Creek but staying on bus route near Vail (probably). I've so far sussed that BA are pretty much the only direct flights and that as there will be four adults probably a private transfer will be as cheap as the bus.

Has anyone been with tips on:

Best private transfer companies from Denver to Vail?
Owner direct type accomodation sites? Or good 2 bed condos you've stayed in? Or best areas of town to consider if we don't mind a short bus ride?
Cheapest way of securing lift passes? (Think this is via the Vail website but want to check!).
Anything else we should know???

Questions, questions - 2nd best time of the year, looking at ski holidays! Best being actually getting there!

Thanks in advance.
Razz
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Colorado Mountain Express run shared transfers, try vrbo for rentals, look into the epic season pass if you're there for 2 weeks.
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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?
Hire a car - the bus service works great at the Breck end - but it was $80 (???) from breck to vail return this winter and around the same to Beaver Creek.
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 You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Transfers - It appears to take about 2 hours to get to Vail from Denver airport. Mountain Express looks like a £110 ish for a return trip on a bus with 10 people. As there are four of us are there not other options cheaper then £440 for a return trip for four adults? I know Vail isn't cheap but reasonably comparable to Whistler in terms of general level of expense and Whistler is a 3+ hr transfer from Vancouver - we've done it cheaper then this!

Accomodation - Anyone know the names of a nice condo complex, under 10 mins walk to a gondola or a very short bus ride, but also within 5 mins walk to some shops and restuarants? I've checked vrbo and a 2 bed 2 bath unit at the end of Jan appears to be from about $300 a night for a 'long' stay like this. I'm a bit stumped about where in Vail to stay though as there is a fair bit of choice. We're all mid 30's so like to be near the nightlife but not right on top of it!

Epic ski pass - what a deal! Anyone know when these are normally available until? Will I still be able to secure one at the end of October for example????

Travelling to other resorts - Thanks for the advice on this, I hadn't realised they were so expensive or difficult to get to. We may just check out Beaver Creek, but otherwise stick to Vail. 5000 acres ought to be enough anyway! Unless anyone has tips on getting to Breckenridge from Vail on a bus???

Getting a bit excited now - I love this planning stage!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Alexandra, blimey that's a bit different from when we were there a few years back - nowhere near that, or else we wouldn't have gone to Beaver for the day. Are you sure that's the public bus price? Poss Vail - Brek I suppose, as that was quite a way iirc. We did Breck from Keystone, in week1, and had TO transfer from Keystone - Vail for week 2 so not an issue.


Farry, When in Vail, its quite expensive to stay close to the lifts, signficantly cheaper further out (relatively speaking, this is Vail we are talking about), with again many local busses to get you in and out of town. We were about 15 mins bus ride from the slopes, but there was a ski hire shop underneath the bus station that rented out ski & boot lockers to save carrying them back and forth, even if you didn't hire your kit from there. I think a number of the other places did that too.

You have to do Blue Sky Basin.
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 You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
Farry, Car rental probably wouldn't be much more for a 2 week trip and would give you some flexibility for trips to Breck/Keystone/A Basin, grocery shopping etc. IIRC Avon is generally the cheapest accomodation in the Vail/BC area. I've heard stories about the daily bus from Breck to Vail which used to be about $5 or $10 return, with people being told it dodn't exist & now I guess Vail Resorts pricing it at a level so it doesn't undercut their owned CME business.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
http://www.econovail.com/
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Short version: Get the EPIC pass, hire a car. End of discussion! Wink

Long version: Use the above as a base price and see if you can beat it by sourcing out your transport and lift pass on a day-by-day basis. I suspect it's come out very very close even with the best kind of "deals" you can find. And you have the maximum flexibility with a car hire and an unlimited pass to multiple resorts.

Don't know of any specific lodging info to offer.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
I would agree about getting a car to get to Vail if theres four of you and this will make it so much easier to ski the other resorts - Breck, Keystone, A Basin, Copper, Beaver Creek. While in Vail tho I would probably use the bus services - last time we were there it was $16 a day to park Shocked Shocked

The Epic Pass is really good value but not sure when its available to Confused I think August31st but not sure Confused Confused

Dont know of any accom. but as mentioned Avon will be cheaper than Vail, easy if you have a car.

Have fun, whatever you decide
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 Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Farry, With regards to the Epic Ski pass, check when you have to buy it by. I remember we had a cut off date in December. You can't buy it when you arrive in jan / Feb
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Thanks - just need the Epic pass to be available by the end of September when I'm able to book!

It's accomodation that seems to be the real killer. Is a two bed two bath condo at $300 per night (plus 10% for tax roughly), too much to ask??

Don't think we'll bother with a car, we're happy to ski in Vail most of the time and might hop over to Beaver Creek a few times if it's not too expensive.
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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.
Vail was $25 to park in the front lot this year!

OK, Breck, A-basin, Keystone are all on the "free bus route" if you're in one of those towns/Dillon/Frisco.

There was also a free bus from Frisco to Copper, but I'm not 100% on that.

Vail from what others said does a free bus, but where it goes I have no idea!

Staying in Vail is very expensive IMO, why not stay in Frisco or Dillon? You'll get a much better deal - try www.vrbo.com

The village (condos) in Vail is set on the side of the valley and when I was there in March it didn't appear to get too much sun - might not be to everyone's taste.
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