Colorado Questions??

[skigirl]

Hi All,
I am in the process of planning a trip to Colorado and I have few questions I hope you can help me with. I have found a great deal on a hotel in Frisco. I have looked at the lift ticket deals and the multi day lift ticket through Vail seems like a good deal. It includes skiing at Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge, and A-Basin.

Trip plans: We will fly into Denver on a Sunday morning. We will get a rental car in Denver.

Questions. What is the traffic like on a Sunday morning in Denver?
What is Frisco like??
Where are the best places to eat??
How far are we going to be driving between the resorts??
Which resorts do you like best?? We love steep and groomed.
Which resort is the best choice on the weekend? Small crowds.
If we do get powder days where can I rent high end powder skis??
Anything else you would like to add please do. This is our first trip to Colorado. We have been to Park City 7 times and decided it was time for a change. Great deals in Colorado helped a lot. :cheer:

Thank You very much,
skigirl

 

[Little Lightning]

When are you coming?

Frisco is a nice little mtn town. It is off I-70 and is centrally located from the ski areas. East of the Frisco exit is the town of Dillion and Silverthorne. There is an outlet mall at Silverthorne. All 3 three towns have good restaurants. Lisa Marie can fill you in at to what the locals recommend.

Of the areas you mentioned Keystone and Breck are the closest, Vail and Beaver Creek are the farthest.

I'd ski Beaver Creek on the weekend and avoid Vail on weekends. If it's a weekend with lots of powder all areas will be crowded.

Radio stations give snow reports in the morning so we listen and pick our area based on who has the most snow. If there's no fresh snow we go to Copper.

Also, unless there's a big dump most areas get skied out early and unless you know where the powder stashes are don't be concerned about powder skis. I skied 63 days last year and had less than 10 days with deep powder. There are ski shops at all the areas that do demos. Our friends rent from Virgin Island in Dillion. Besides, Keystone and Breck groom their runs so much its hard to find powder, locals know where the stashes are, unless it's actually snowing while your skiing.

What time is your arrival on Sunday? Generally, the traffic isn't to bad, even to the mtns. Do not plan a Sat. or Sun evening return as the traffic is attrocious.

I rarely ski Breck, my friends love it. I love Copper, then Keystone, Beaver Creek, Vail.

Kathi

 

[Little Lightning]

On a good day the bus to Breck takes 1/2 hr with stops. Copper is 6 miles (interstate), Vail is about 20 minutes from Copper and Beaver Creek is 20 minutes beyond Vail.

There is a good transit system between Keystone, Breck and Copper from Frisco.

If conditions are good the Outback at Keystone has awesome runs, powder, trees, etc. There is also an off-piste area that you can climb to ski. The area gets lots of sun and is often icy. Typically, we ski the front side until it gets busy then head to North Peak and the Outback. At Vail I like Blue Sky basin if the conditions are good.

Keystone and Beaver Creek have free parking lots, Vail and Breck do not.

 

[skigirl]

Thanks

Hi,
The plan right now is to fly out on Sunday the 27th of Jan. and stay 9 or 10 days. So we would leave on a Tues. or Wed. morning. We would arrive in Denver at 10:30am if I get the flight that I am looking at now.

I'm not to worried about powder skis on this trip because my new skis have been great in powder so far. I just wanted to be prepared in case there was a big dump.

What do lift tickets at Coooper run? I can get the multi day lift ticket from Vail for any number of days so I could plan on a day at Cooper too.

We also plan to check out of our hotel on our last day of skiing and then head for Denver that evening and get a hotel near the airport so we are not trying to drive there in the morning.

Thank you very much for all the information. I am waiting to talk to my potential house sitters now before I can book anything.

skigirl

 

[Native Vail Gal]

Keystone and Beaver Creek have free parking lots, Vail and Breck do not.

You CAN park for free in Vail if you get there early enough. You can park on the frontage road right next to the Parking Structure in the Village. Everyone does it all the time. No further from the lifts than you sould be in the parking garage (which is lofty!)

Also, you can park for free anywhere in the Vail valley that is on the FREE Shuttle route! The Green line goes all over the valley, and there are other routes that go from the East area (near the golf course) and take you right to the parking structure! That's all free! :D

 

[Native Vail Gal]

Hi,
The plan right now is to fly out on Sunday the 27th of Jan. and stay 9 or 10 days. So we would leave on a Tues. or Wed. morning. We would arrive in Denver at 10:30am if I get the flight that I am looking at now.

I'm not to worried about powder skis on this trip because my new skis have been great in powder so far. I just wanted to be prepared in case there was a big dump.

What do lift tickets at Coooper run? I can get the multi day lift ticket from Vail for any number of days so I could plan on a day at Cooper too.

We also plan to check out of our hotel on our last day of skiing and then head for Denver that evening and get a hotel near the airport so we are not trying to drive there in the morning.

Thank you very much for all the information. I am waiting to talk to my potential house sitters now before I can book anything.

skigirl

A two day Copper pass is $150.00. However I have Gold C Coupons for Copper Mountain! :D The coupons are good for 1 ticket each for $44.00 Monday through Friday! DEAL! I won't ever use them since I have my ski pass there, so I am more than happy to pass them on to you!

PM me if you are interested, and I'll send you the coupons!

As far as skiing in Vail, I agree that it is best to stay away from there on the Weekend. Try to get up there during the week. If you like a GREAT buffett breakfast (for relatively CHEAP!) there is a fabulous Buffett at the EVERGREEN LODGE in Vail. Not Gourmet, but it is all you can eat, and you can load up and have a late lunch or snack! That's one of our favorite things to do there! (It's in Lionshead, so you can ride the Gondola up for a BEAUTIFUL view of Vail!) Then you'd have to maneuver around to get over to some of the back-bowls, or just start out skiing the Game Creek Bowl (always one of my favorites!)

As far as skiing Beaver Creek.....well....it's another 20-30 minutes from Vail (which is already another 20-30 minutes from Frisco!) You can't drive your car up to the ski area. You have to park at a lower lot and wait for a shuttle! Then....when you get to the mountain....well....to ME there just isn't as much to explore as Vail! It is pretty, but to me, not worth the drive for a 1 week trip! You have FABULOUS opportunities to explore a LOT of different types of terrain in closer areas! (Especially if you go to Copper which is REALLY fun to explore!0

 

[Native Vail Gal]

Questions. What is the traffic like on a Sunday morning in Denver? NIGHTMARE! DRIVE UP REALLY EARLY, or Drive up after 10:00 am and use that as a travel/sight-seeing day instead of a ski day!
What is Frisco like??Wonderful! Fun cozy little Mountain Town on Dillon Lake! Lot's of fun little things to explore. Not on a ski mountain, but within 15 minutes of all of them!
Where are the best places to eat?? I'd have to look into that for you. I'm not super familiar with restaurants in Frisco! (There is a REALLY cool strip of restaurants to explore.....I'll try to find that out for you.)
How far are we going to be driving between the resorts?? 15-20 minutes to Breck, Keystone, A-Basin and 20-30 minutes to Vail. 40-50 minutes to Beaver Creek. 15 minutes to Copper Mountain!
Which resorts do you like best?? Copper is great for Steep and groomed! Vail is great for ALL SKIING TYPES! A-Basin is great for Steep and Groomed and it is high....so drink lots of water! Breck has a nice all around feel to it. My experience with Keystone is more families and beginners, so I'll defer to other Divas on this one!We love steep and groomed.
Which resort is the best choice on the weekend? All of these places are tough on the weekends! They are such a short drive from Denver. I would say A-Basin is pretty Crowded! Copper is further up the mountain....so it may be better, but my coupon is for a week day there. I would say Breckenridge may be one of the best choices for the weekend. A friend of mine goes there EVERY weekend and she swears she never waits in lines longer than 8-10 minutes at it's worst!Small crowds.
If we do get powder days where can I rent high end powder skis?? I have some coupons for cheap ski rentals at high-end ski shops around the Frisco-Copper area.
Anything else you would like to add please do. This is our first trip to Colorado. We have been to Park City 7 times and decided it was time for a change. Great deals in Colorado helped a lot.

 

[Little Lightning]

Breck is the closest ski area to Colorado Springs and last year had more skier days than Vail.

Vail has 160 free parking spots. From what I understand you are only allowed to park on the frontage road once the parking garage is full. Which could mean after 10 am. It's about $18 to park in the garage.

BC has a free lot at Beaver Creek Landing. You do have to shuttle but its a 2 min. ride. This year BC is opening a new gondola from the town of Avon. I expect there will be parking there also. For steeps BC has the Birds of Prey (World Cup racing) and Grouse Mtn.

By the time you get your luggage and rental car you'll be well past the traffic on your drive up.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

Breck is the closest ski area to Colorado Springs and last year had more skier days than Vail.

Vail has 160 free parking spots. From what I understand you are only allowed to park on the frontage road once the parking garage is full. Which could mean after 10 am. It's about $18 to park in the garage.

BC has a free lot at Beaver Creek Landing. You do have to shuttle but its a 2 min. ride. This year BC is opening a new gondola from the town of Avon. I expect there will be parking there also. For steeps BC has the Birds of Prey (World Cup racing) and Grouse Mtn.

By the time you get your luggage and rental car you'll be well past the traffic on your drive up.

Well....there ya' go! Different reports from different people! Sounds like Little Lightning really loves Beaver Creek....so those will be her slants. Of course, I'm a fan of Vail (my slant)....but I also really love Summit County (a-basin, breck, keystone) So you have 2 FABULOUS points of view! LOL

Now to sort through it all!

I didn't remember that your flight was coming in at 10:30 am. You'll be fine on the drive up!

ps....We always park on the frontage road and never have a problem....even prior to the garage being full. Perhaps we've just been lucky!

 

[skigirl]

Thanks

Hi,
Thank you so much for all the information!!

Pay to park at a ski area :jaw: that's a new on me.

I am still waiting to hear from my potential house sitter so I am in a holding pattern right now. Sorry I am so bad at typing, I know it's Copper. The o and p are right next to each other.

Thanks Again,
skigirl

 

[Lisamarie]

Hi! I jusr caught this thread. Since my studio is in Frisco, I should know a few things about the town. First of all, you can get free bus transportation to Copper or breck. There are some awesome consignment shops on Main Street; The Funky Trunk and Rags to Riches. In frisco near the Transfer Center, you can find Cycle/Recycle, which sometimes has great second hand ski clothes. That area of Frisco also has a great Mexican place, I believe it's called Carlos and Louie.

On Main Street, you can eat at The Boardwalk or Silverheels. Silverheels is fabulous, Boardwalk is very good. There is also a Hamlayan Restaurant on Main. Main Street also has this quaint little historic park, with an old schoolhouse and lots of old buildings to explore.

I will be working at Copper on Tuesday and Friday, so I can usually get discount lift tickets on those days.

 

[abc]

Since all the Colorado insider are here, I have a question.

If I HAVE TO ski on a Saturday, of the areas along I-70, where would you suggest that has the least crowd? And assuming no big dump on Friday night, where has better potentially of semi-decent snow?

I've been to all of them at some point in the past. So it's not a matter of checking any of them out. Just getting some good snow time on my way out from Denver to Aspen for the Janurary ESA...

 

[Shellski]

Vail is still and will always be my favourite, but I have a soft spot for Beaver. We often ski there (my family lives in Edwards - right across the valley). It's bigger than you would think it is, with a lot of variety of terrain, the powder stashes stay around longer (while the rich clientele stick on the groomers.

Beaver has some of the finest blue groomers anywhere in the world - Harrier to name one. And steeps don't get much more thrilling than Golden Eagle.

We park at Arrowhead, I love the ski across to Beaver, under the bridges, that's lots of fun.

 

[Little Lightning]

The best snow, not as skied off will be Sunlight (Glenwood Springs) or Ski Cooper at Leadville.

They have slow lifts, fewer skiers so the snow is in better shape. They are smaller areas but fun for 1 day. With a gems card you can get a lift ticket for $35.

At Copper, The Sierra lift, Alpine lift and Resolution lifts usually have good snow, fewer lines but harder skiing. Copper is higher than the other areas so snow conditions are often better. The snow is usually good at Blue Sky basin at Vail but I would avoid Vail on the weekend.

Beaver Creek would be less crowded. One friend says Keystone isn't bad on a Sat. Keep in mind we ski during the week though.

Where are you staying?

I will have a good handle on snow conditions, I ski 3-4 times per week and can keep you updated.

 

[Little Lightning]

Gems card link.

https://www.coloradoski.com/Resorts/Gems/GemsCard/

 

[pinto]

Since all the Colorado insider are here, I have a question.

If I HAVE TO ski on a Saturday, of the areas along I-70, where would you suggest that has the least crowd? And assuming no big dump on Friday night, where has better potentially of semi-decent snow?

I'd say Loveland or Beaver Creek, at the opposite ends of the I-70 ski areas, for both.