 Poster: A snowHead
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Looks like its dumping well and areas opening but wonder when it's looking good enough to commit to booking for mid jan when it can be questionable how good it'll be so early in the season. Guidance welcome.
Looking to stay in the village, location and decent price rather than upmarket. Tips welcome and I guess most hotels will do a decent...lift pass rate..
Thanks folks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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According to their website they have had 15" of snow in the last 48 hours. Although that was probably written by a bloke. If a resort is questionable in mid-January then really you should ski somewhere else.
Sorry I don't know any specifics of the resort.
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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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I went there last January and sorry to say I wasn't that impressed.
Unfortunately the snow wasn't great and it didn't snow all week, if you are an advanced skier it can get boring (unless it snows!) I ended up working on skiing bumps all week just for something to do.
The resort is pretty quiet at night and there isn't a lot to do, down town Winter Park has a few places to eat and shop but once again not great ( you get there by bus 15 mins drive time)
I've been out skiing in the USA now 4/5 times and can honestly say I much prefer the alps, more terrain, better atmosphere and much closer!
THat said, I bet if it snowed a load and there was freshies everyday my opinion would be hugely different.
We went with Crystal holidays on a last minute package room only and it was a pretty good deal. THe resort was empty and there were never queues for lifts.
Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but remember everyone has a different opinion, if i was to go back out to the states I would definitely look to a ski resort with more of a town feel about it so you aren't bored stiff at night.
Any questions gimme a shout.
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paulmags,
I'll be there the week before that. - I've been there 3 times previously, at that time of the year, and always had good conditions. WP is right on the divide, so gets perhaps the most snow of any of the Colorado resorts.
Previously I've stayed at the Winter Park Mountain Lodge - just across from the base area (but you need to catch the shuttle bus to get across the highway!), since they always had very competitive prices (but unfortunately not this January!) and have very friendly staff. This time round I'm staying in the Iron Horse (condo complex).
The Zephyr usually gets good reports, and it's right down at the ski area base, so ski-in/ski-out, but I've not stayed there.
sparkzter has it about right in terms of the lack of night-life, (but that's not so important for me) but in my experience the skiing has always been good (a reasonable amount of freshies each time, so far) and there's a good range of terrain at WP.
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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 had ten days in Winter Park, although we were there at the end of Feb / start of March. Conditions were fantastic, had about 5 days of fresh snow, no massive dumps but around 10cm each night. For me, I loved the ski area, lots of stuff for good skiers - huge moguls, terrific tree skiing, and some reasonably steep bowls, although it is a hike to one of them and the vertical isnt very much (Vasquesz Bowl i think).
We had a 4x4 so also had a couple of days out at nearby resorts - Copper Mountain, A-Basin and Steamboat (not that close!). There is also a really good CAT skiing operation at the village - Powder Addiction. We had a day with them which was worth the $300 and highly recommended.
I agree with the comments that it is quiet - the bars are dead after 6pm at the mountain village, but there are a couple of reasonable bars and places to eat in town.
It depends what is most important to you. If you're after a party scene then stay away. If you're looking for varied terrain with lots to do in a controlled enviorment and not worrying too much (as much) about being killed by an avalanche then give it a go.
With regard to the snow - Colorado can be quite dry in January, but so can everywhere else, its a lottery.
Lift tickets are not cheap - way more expensive than Europe in my experience.
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I wouldn't judge it by last season, it was terrible compared to normal. I believe mid feb is statistically the best time, but you never can really tell unless you have a crystal ball
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Cheers all, great comment as usual. Will still keep an eye on conditions. Will do it when it makes sense, enjoy what's seems a great area, and cope with th nightlife zzzzz!
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