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Ski Resorts

Where Do We Go.. Where Do We Go Now?

By ⋅ August 1, 2009 ⋅ Email this post Email this post ⋅ Print this post Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Starting to think about snowboarding trips. I think Whistler is out this year, Colorado is in. Steamboat, perhaps? I don’t think we want a Vail or Aspen.

Discussion

  1. I’ve made a trip to Summit County the last two years (and just started planning for this year) and here are my opinions on those resorts in order from Denver.

    Loveland – If you know locals you can get dirt cheap lift tickets (think $29). Slow lifts and the open terrain lends itself to being obscenely windy. There is some crazy steep bumps on the immediate left of the resort. Never got to try the high alpine because of the wind.

    Copper – Heard good things but I have never tried.

    Keystone – This had the worse trail maintenance of the places I’ve tried and the lift system is such that almost everyone besides beginners ride the same set of lifts on the backside. This leads to long lines.

    A-Basin – Definitely want to try this sometime.

    Breckenridge – My personal favorite. Huge place along with a town that is 150+ years old that has real character. Lots to do on rest day. The mountain is spread out quite a bit (with lots of places that are more than one lift away from the base which usually means short lines). Don’t judege it by the trails leading down to Peak 8 and 9 base as that is kinda boring and crowded. The sides and the top are virtually empty and delicious.

    Vail – Enormous. Almost unwieldy. Part of the problem is that it is so wide across one ridge. You definitely need to plan out your skiing ahead of time or be comfortable wayfinding. Be wary of the extreme skiier’s left bowls as they have long cat tracks at the bottom. I really liked the Blue Sky Basin. Had a blast back in there.

    Beaver Creek – Posh. Pampering. Free Cookies and Cocoa. Also great skiing. I was there during a period of not a lot of fresh snow and their steep runs plus there incessant grooming made for some crazy fast skiing. The World Cup downhill course was awesome and the bumps on the neighboring peek were very tough. Also a boarder you won’t appreciate this but at as a skiier I loved that their village featured escalators!

    Posted by Mark Mascolino | August 1, 2009, 11:40 am

  2. Snowmass. Period.

    Posted by NS Rider | August 4, 2009, 7:50 pm

  3. Aw man, I don’t want to miss an epic trip, AGAIN!

    Posted by josh | August 7, 2009, 12:58 am

  4. As a resident of BC, I can tell you Whistler can been sucking fairly consistently lately ;) It is AWESOME if you’re a local and you can rush up there when it dumps snow… but it isn’t very consistent.

    I had a FANTASTIC time at Steamboat in Colorado when I went there… had a blast.

    Jackson Hole is somewhere I have always wanted to go…

    Posted by VancityAllie | August 7, 2009, 4:04 pm

  5. This is all great stuff. Thanks SO MUCH for the feedback! Keep it coming. :)

    –adam

    Posted by Adam | August 12, 2009, 8:55 pm

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