Question: Vail vs Breckenridge or Both? Wknd Dec 10

[White tara]

The skiing Gods are smiling at me. I live in Ohio (which means no snow or montains). I have the opportunity to be in the Denver area the weekend of Dec 10-12. My husband and I thinking of taking a day(could be more than one day we are in discussions right now) trip to either of these places. Which do you guys reccommend? Is there one we could expect to be slightly less crowded than the other? ;) How about conditions? Which one seems in better shape from snow standpoint at this point? Thanks!

 

[Evergreen]

Both are fun to ski but if you are staying in Denver then definitely Breck. Vail is a lot further out. As far as conditions, we've had an amazing start to the season so both will be great. BTW, I-70 can be a nightmare on weekends so just be prepared for that (if you are doing a day trip).

 

[Robyn]

I disagree that Vail is a lot further. In decent weather its only about 20 minutes. Personally I far prefer Vail or Copper over Breckinridge. I believe Vail has more terrain open and they opening Blue Sky this Friday.

 

[marge]

I say Breck or Copper. :D Either way have fun!!! :D

 

[abc]

It depends on what you like to ski though.

I'm not a big fan of Breck. I always left with the impression of a lot of short vertical runs stitch together, wasting a lot of run just "getting there or around". But it does have a lot of easy cruisy runs.

Vail is bigger and tend to have cluster of similar runs together you can stay put for a while without "moving" about in the mountain just for the sake of moving about. Though I admit I always only ski the back side of Vail so can't honestly say what the front side is like. So if you're not into skiing the bowls, I don't know if Vail will suit.

 

[bounceswoosh]

It depends on what you like to ski though.

I'm not a big fan of Breck. I always left with the impression of a lot of short vertical runs stitch together, wasting a lot of run just "getting there or around". But it does have a lot of easy cruisy runs.

Vail is bigger and tend to have cluster of similar runs together you can stay put for a while without "moving" about in the mountain just for the sake of moving about. Though I admit I always only ski the back side of Vail so can't honestly say what the front side is like. So if you're not into skiing the bowls, I don't know if Vail will suit.

Too funny. My experience is the exact opposite. I find tons of black and double black fun at Breck - bowls, chutes, and trees - whereas in my experience, Vail's back bowl terrain is much mellower, and I spend all day on cat tracks poling / skating from one spot to another. Breck does have cruisy stuff - peak 7's rolling blues are a delight when freshly groomed or freshly snowed upon - but that's not where I spend most of my time.

Short version: I suspect that when you invest a lot of time in one resort, you get to know how to move around and where to go, and it feels comfortable to you. For you that's Vail; for me that's Breck.

 

[Robyn]

I agree that a lot of it has to do with what you know about a mountain. I've spent more time proportionately either poling around Breck or waiting in lines there than I have at Vail. But, I know Vail pretty well thanks to following family then a bunch of Epic Bears around the mountain. In time you know which runs to take that provide good fun skiing to get you around the mountain instead of using the cat tracks. And as far as mellow back bowls, there are certainly parts of them that are mellow but if you take the road less traveled and go out to edges and what not you can definitely find steeper, more challenging terrain.

 

[abc]

It also depends on what sort of terrain appeals to one too.

I've followed 'Bears around Breck a few times. There're a quite a bit of good stuff we got to. But it's not at all easy to find on my own afterwards! And you have to admit the bowls at Breck are short compare to Vail.

Vail isn't particularly known for super steep stuff. It's been one of the biggest complain on Epic. But I don't seek out super steep and narrow chutes for my enjoyment. So that "drawback" of Vail doesn't really bother me. For those who really want it though, such terrain do exist. But the "charm" of Vail is, a lot of it are all cluster together! So if you don't know where to look, you might not stumble onto it too easily.

Front side of Vail does have a large number of flat cat tracks that trap those unfamiliar with it. I learn my lesson and now avoid them as best as I can. My disappointment with Breck isn't so much with any cat track per se. It's a lot of the runs are kind of short. So just when I start to have fun, it's about over...

 

[bounceswoosh]

It also depends on what sort of terrain appeals to one too.

I've followed 'Bears around Breck a few times. There're a quite a bit of good stuff we got to. But it's not at all easy to find on my own afterwards! And you have to admit the bowls at Breck are short compare to Vail.

Vail isn't particularly known for super steep stuff. It's been one of the biggest complain on Epic. But I don't seek out super steep and narrow chutes for my enjoyment. So that "drawback" of Vail doesn't really bother me. For those who really want it though, such terrain do exist. But the "charm" of Vail is, a lot of it are all cluster together! So if you don't know where to look, you might not stumble onto it too easily.

Front side of Vail does have a large number of flat cat tracks that trap those unfamiliar with it. I learn my lesson and now avoid them as best as I can. My disappointment with Breck isn't so much with any cat track per se. It's a lot of the runs are kind of short. So just when I start to have fun, it's about over...

What are 'Bears?

Maybe short runs suit people like me who are not known for their endurance ;-) Maybe it's even a plus ... I'll have to think about that.

I seem to get caught in Vail's cat tracks no matter where I go ... and when I go, I'm never on the front side till I'm headed back to the car. Maybe I'm going to the wrong places ... I think we usually hit China, Sun Up and Sun Down, Inner Mongolia (now there is a spot with sweet snow and an awful cat track coming and going), and occasionally Blue Sky, but I haven't done a good job finding the good stuff in Blue Sky. I'm going to try to latch on to a friend who knows Blue Sky well this season, so that I can finally see what everyone's raving about.

 

[Robyn]

Bears are what posters on www.epicski.com are called. We're Divas here, they're Bears. We have a lot of Divas that are also Bears.

I'm thinking about my typical route around Vail when I'm not following people and everything is open and can't think of anything where I spend a long time on cat tracks. The worst is probably from the bottom of China Bowl around to Blue Sky but that's about it. Oh, and I guess if I want to go from Game Creek straight over to Mid Vail there's a bit of a cat track that is uphill. I don't count the ones around the top of the bowl (or area) I'm in. I think no matter where you are you have to traverse from a lift to the top of some run in that area for the most part snce not every run can start right from the top of the lift.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Maybe it's like driving - I've noticed that when I drive a certain route regularly, the time I spend driving kind of shrinks for me. A new route may take the same amount of actual time, but feels much longer because I have to pay attention to everything.

Anyway. To address the OP: Obviously we all have our own preferences and opinions. They'll probably both be crowded. Both will have lots of terrain open (Breck opens peak 7 tomorrow; Horseshoe and Contest have been open for weeks.). I don't think you'll go wrong, whichever you choose.

 

[abc]

One problem and two solutions about Vail: the Vail main base really is NOT the best place to start the day. From there, you end up in a bunch of dead end bowls or lift stopping shy of the ridge seperating the front from the back. So a lot of flat or even uphill track on skis. Sucks.

By starting at the other base (what's it call?), one can get to the back with taking gazillion lift or skate uphill.

If you can follow someone who knows the place well, they can also warn you about flat part (like the connection out and back from Blue Sky). By keeping some speed or just taking care not to lose height too early, you can avoid getting stuck like a dead duck on the flat stretches. My revealation about getting around Vail definitely came after skiing with the Epic Bears for a couple of days. I still don't know all the good stuff there. But I do mange not to get bogged down by the traverse.

Oh, I need to put in a disclaimer. I x-c ski quite a bit. So I do tend to breeze through flat tracks reasonably efficiently. Hence, don't take my word for it when I say the flat stretch isn't too bad. It may actually be bad...

 

[Little Lightning]

If both Breck and Vail are 100% open, then Vail would have more lift capacity than Breck. Breck gets more skiers than Vail. It's the closest ski area for Colorado Springs and Pueblo skiers.

If you have to ski on a Saturday (except this coming weekend) Beaver Creek will be the least crowded.

Btw, if you have a choice there is a significent difference crowd wise on Sunday afternoons and Mondays. We were at Copper on Monday and Keystone Tuesday and both areas were pretty deserted.

Breck is higher than Vail but last year Breck opened runs that a host said were not skiable and should not have been opened. I can't speak to the conditions of Vail or Breck but skied Keystone and Copper this week and the conditions there are awesome.

Another storm is coming in this weekend.

 

[White tara]

Thank you!

DH and I decided on Vail. We'll stay thru the wknd and return home on Wednesday! I'm soooooooooo excited. Thanks for all the advice. It is greatly appreciated.