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Question: Vegas trip mid December

alison wong

Angel Diva
I may go to a conference in Las Vegas Dec. 8-12 this year, considering a side trip for skiing after the conference Dec. 9-11.

I have an Ikon Pass and came up with the options below:
Option A - Stay in Vegas: ski Lee Canyon, Brian Head, Bear mtn. (the later 2 are far, ~200 miles one way)
Option B - Fly to Denver: ski Copper, Eldora or Winter Park.
Option C - Fly to SLC: ski Deer Valley, Alta/Bird, or Brighton.

I prefer to fly SouthWest and stay on Ikon destinations. But these are not must be's, just my preference.

I'd like to hear your inputs, as well as lodging recommendations. Thanks in advance.
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
I think options B or C would be the way to go - and flying Southwest suggests that the Colorado resorts would be most convenient from a layover perspective. Of course, it’s too hard to know what conditions will be like! Bear Mountain is unlikely to be good this early in the season.
 

nopoleskier

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Or Fly to Mammoth CA or
Aspen/Snowmass.? But I-70 can be a parking lot, make your return from Copper etc NOT On Sunday afternoon! We were stuck in traffic for 2.5hrs trying to get home copper-dillon!
We stayed at a great VRBO on the Dillon reservoir, shopping at end of st, bus stop across the st
for days when I70 was a mess.. I would guess Co and Ut will offer best chance for snow vs Mts. by Vegas?
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
@ilovepugs - I am leaning towards option B or C myself. SW also has flights from Vegas to SLC.
Problem w/ CO is, it'd be a longer drive from the airport (90 miles one way from DIA to Copper or Eldora). SLC seems to be closer, driving distance wise.

SLC - I'd like to visit Snowbird again. Not interested in Brighton even though it is on Ikon.

Denver - I'd like to visit Copper and stay in Frisco as I heard some nice things about the mtn and the town. I have not heard much about Eldora, can someone comment?
The driving distance b/w Copper and Eldora is quite far, not sure if i can do a safari type trip having only 3 days.

@nopoleskier: thanks for the tip on I 70 parking lot. Did not know about that. I plan to return on Sunday, prefer to catch late afternoon flight so I can ski the morning. But with the traffic, I need to reconsider. Aspen / Snowmass and Mammoth are not on SW route. Probably I will have to pass this time.

Option wise, don't think I can go wrong w/ either Denver or SLC for early season trip.
Hard to make up my mind because SLC I have the convenience, can do a ski safari type trip to hit 3 places (DV, Alta, Bird). But then I really want to check out Copper +/- Eldora/Winter Park, but the drive is a bit longer, ski safari is not possible.
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
You may want to return to the airport by driving through breckenridge and hitting route 285. Longer trip but more reliable trip time. We drove on a Sunday afternoon in early March this year when the avalanche on I-70 occurred and very luckily chose to drive through 285. No issues or real traffic there.
 

Ski Sine Fine

Angel Diva
I might actually be in CO about the same time. I plan to do Copper, Breck, & Keystone. My home base is usually Breck and take the summit buses to get around. But I might try to find a place in Frisco for a more direct route to Copper. I travel leisurely so tend to take Peak 1 shuttle round trip from Denver airport to Breck and forego a rental car. It goes to Frisco too.
 

mustski

Angel Diva
Big Bear Mountain resorts ( 2 mountains actually) is definitely not worth the trip if you are traveling from somewhere else in the country. In my opinion SLC would be your best option with the Ikon because you can choose between - Solitude, Alta, Snowbird, and Deer Valley depending on the conditions. Left out Brighton since you said that one doesn't interest you.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
From the 2018-19 Opening Dates thread, here are the opening dates as of early October 2018. From the standpoint of considering potential snow coverage only, flying to Denver may make more sense if want to make a decision sooner rather than later.

Mammoth: November 8, 2018

Squaw: November 16, 2018
Heavenly: November 16, 2018

Snowmass: November 23, 2018
Copper Mountain: November 10, 2018
Breckenridge: November 10, 2018
Keystone: November 10, 2018
Winter Park: November 15, 2018
Steamboat Springs: November 23, 2018

Alta: November 23, 2018
Snowbird: November 30, 2018
Deer Valley: December 8, 2018
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Option B - Fly to Denver: ski Copper, Eldora or Winter Park.

Eldora has about the same acreage as Sunlight but less vertical. It's a ski area for locals. Copper and Winter Park are also popular with locals but are set up for travelers doing 1-week ski vacations. Even though the drive is longer, my suggestion would be to check out Copper or Winter Park. While you could run into a snowstorm, a little less likely to be a blizzard in early December. Might get a good enough deal on resort lodging that not renting a car and taking a shuttle from the airport would be an option.

What about Steamboat? I enjoyed a short ski trip there when I was an intermediate. Lower elevation is a plus for me when skiing in Colorado.
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
@ilovepugs : thanks for the tip. How is Route 285 compare to I-70? Is it hilly, twisty, windy? I've driven on I-70 last March, from Aspen back to DIA. It was uneventful. Although I can see potential problem when driving through the Vail pass in snow storm.

@Ski Sine Fine : thanks for the info on Peak 1 shuttle. I checked out their schedule. If I had choice, I'd much prefer let someone else does the driving. The problem w/ taking shuttle back to the airport is, I'd have to stop early to catch the shuttle. Logistically, it can be tricky. If I catch the shuttle at Copper, do I haul my luggage to the mountain? Or do I stop early to get back to hotel and wait for shuttle? When I am on a ski trip, I try to push my time on the slope as long as I can. My 1-week Aspen trip last year, I took the last CME shuttle from DIA to Aspen at night, got a one-way car rental back to DIA, I was able to ski until the last chair.... that's how I roll.... :becky:

If I do end up going to Copper, I will have to look at my transportation options. I don't think I can do what I did w/ my Aspen trip, i.e. one way shuttle + one way rental. Probably it will either be rental or shuttle.

@mustski : I don't think Solitude is on Ikon? Solitude is one of the mtns in SLC I wanted to check out and was disappointed it is not on Ikon I do like ski safari trip, checking out different places each day. Going to SLC will allow me to do that....

@marzNC : I thought about Steamboat but it is too far and not on SW route. As for Winter Park, from another online ski forum, one person thinks WP is more like different mtns "pasted" together and called it a resort..... so I am not sure what to make of WP. Thanks for the info on Eldora, I won't consider it if it is the size of Sunlight.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I don't think Solitude is on Ikon? Solitude is one of the mtns in SLC I wanted to check out and was disappointed it is not on Ikon I do like ski safari trip, checking out different places each day. Going to SLC will allow me to do that....
Solitude is on Ikon. In fact, the days are unlimited even for Ikon Base. May have contributed to the traffic jams in BCC this season, although the big snowstorms are probably the bigger factor. Solitude was bought by Alterra so is one of the places with unlimited access for Full Ikon. Had been bought by Deer Valley a few years before, so the buyout was not much of a surprise although it came pretty late in 2018.

I thought about Steamboat but it is too far and not on SW route. As for Winter Park, from another online ski forum, one person thinks WP is more like different mtns "pasted" together and called it a resort..... so I am not sure what to make of WP.
If you are basing your opinion about WP on one person's review . . . it should be someone you've skied enough to know if their terrain preferences are the same as yours. As with all destination resorts, some people love it and some people don't think it's worth a return trip. I've read plenty of trip reports by people who who really enjoyed a vacation week at WP, although I can't say that it comes up that often in early season planning discussions. Fair to say that the people who ski WP regularly probably don't post much on ski forums in general. It pulls in a fair number of locals as I understand it because of how close it is to the Denver metro area. Has to be a reason that the ski train from downtown Denver could be successfully revived.

Copper and Winter Park are about the same size overall. But the question is what terrain is likely to be open during early season that you would enjoy for a few days. WP will have a new 6-pack lift, replacing an old triple.

Have you looked at Tony Crocker's analysis of destination resorts that are good for early or late season family trips? A little dated but the average snow coverage hasn't changed too much. However, snowmaking coverage has improved in many resorts in recent years. That's an important factor before mid-December in almost any region.

https://www.bestsnow.net/fam_ski.htm
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
Solitude is on Ikon
You and @mustski are right, I check ikon website again, Solitude is on Ikon. It is under the list of unlimited days (with blackouts).
If you are basing your opinion about WP on one person's review . . . it should be someone you've skied enough to know if their terrain preferences are the same as yours.
That's a good point. I don't know that person, just read his "reviews".
Have you looked at Tony Crocker's analysis of destination resorts that are good for early or late season family trips?
I sure have ! I checked his website before posting this thread. According to him, for Dec, Snowbird and Alta are good possibilities.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I sure have ! I checked his website before posting this thread. According to him, for Dec, Snowbird and Alta are good possibilities.
Worth keeping in mind that Tony doesn't ski Colorado that often and he prefers advanced/expert terrain. Not sure he's kept up with all the snowmaking improvements at the resorts that open in November, which can make a big difference in terms of what terrain is open during early season.

I don't know Tony accept by reputation and his public posts in various ski forums, but have read many of his trip reports. I read a trip report he did recently about a late season trip to Taos. He hadn't been there for quite a while. Had no idea that the old Lift 1 had been replaced by a detachable quad. On the other hand, he's quite aware of when the Kachina lift was installed.
 

ilovepugs

Angel Diva
285 is twisty and windy. Oh.... yeah, from our previous discussions, you may not enjoy driving it.
 

vickie

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I live in the Littleton area, south of Denver. Copper, Winter Park, and Eldora are all day trips for me. If you have 3 ski days, you could hit all 3. In that case, you might consider skiing Eldora on the last day since you'll have a flight to catch. Eldora is in the vicinity of Boulder, so you could probably take the I-70 Sunday ski traffic out of the equation altogether. @RachelV may be able to advise on traffic and routes in the Boulder area.

I have skied at Eldora a couple of times. It is a smaller, locals place. Originally, I thought I would make Eldora my home mountain this season. I like being able to park my car, grab my stuff, and walk to the lodge ... no parking fees, no waiting, no shuttles. I didn't like the back roads that get you to Eldora. It felt a little remote for my steady winter driving diet. But the Boulder-to-Eldora drive was pretty. Eldora is not known for receiving the greatest amount of snow ... this year was exceptional, I was told. I have not yet been to Sunlight, so I can't compare the two.

Winter Park: the only areas I think you could expect to find open will be Winter Park itself and Mary Jane. I don't think Parsenn Bowl or The Cirque were open in early January this year. I had fun on the Winter Park side. Mary Jane is known for its mogul runs, so I had no business over there but went anyway. It did seem a little awkward to get over to Mary Jane ... a long, winding cat track to get to a lift to get to the top. The route back seemed more straightforward, as I recall. If I went back, I'd likely stay on WP the whole day. But if you've been working on skiing bumps, you may enjoy MJ. I understand the feeling behind the "pasted together" comment. The words "disconnected" or "disjointed" are what occured to me.
 

mahgnillig

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Definitely skip option A... Lee Canyon is like a skating rink on a slope, and probably won't be open in early December anyway (I used to live in Vegas and opted to drive to Brian Head instead of skiing at Lee Canyon).

I would definitely wait and see what the snow coverage is like in each of the areas before committing to something that early in the season. Tahoe is also an option in case the snow pack in Colorado or Utah looks dicey.
 

alison wong

Angel Diva
@vickie Thanks for the info., this is exactly what I need to know. Realistically, I may only have 2.5 days (half day on Sunday), Eldora on Sunday makes perfect sense.

Location wise, where would be a good place to stay? i.e. equal distance to all 3? Georgetown seems to be a good spot but then I recall someone asked Georgetown from last season's thread and it was not recommended? (Can't remember the reason why).
 

mustski

Angel Diva
@vickie Location wise, where would be a good place to stay? i.e. equal distance to all 3? Georgetown seems to be a good spot but then I recall someone asked Georgetown from last season's thread and it was not recommended? (Can't remember the reason why).
I was the one asking about Georgetown and the reason was weather. Apparently either of the passes is tricky in a big storm. Considering how this season went in CO (snowmageddon) I am glad I needed that advice.
 

Kimmyt

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Copper and WP and Eldora are all a non-trivial distance from each other, if not mileage wise but more because of having to drive over passes and up single lane roads and through towns. TBH, I'd probably stick to Copper for multiple days or WP for multiple days so you don't have to drive over passes in potentially bad weather. Eldora is great, its my local mtn, but I'm not sure they will have enough terrain open in early December to make it worthwhile not to mention its kind of annoying to get to and from Denver as you have to drive local roads through Boulder and up a canyon and if you are flying out that day there is always traffic on I-25 and 36 or whatever road you would take to get to the airport (470 is usually traffic free but its a hefty toll to take advantage of it).

If i was trying to be efficient with my time on a trip I'd probably just pick Copper because they get a fair bit open early and while you do have to go through the tunnel, the roads are well plowed and not necessarily windy like Berthoud Pass or Boulder Canyon. If you're really set on trying all the mountains, there's not really an ideal central location. Georgetown does put you pretty centric but you're commiting to drive over some distance each day to get to your mountain, probably at least an hour and maybe more depending on traffic. If you're open to non-IKON resorts I might almost recommend doing Copper and then paying for a day pass to Loveland or A basin since they are kind of on the way back toward Denver and not far from the highway so it would just then be a straight shot to the airport instead of navigating local roads.
 

vickie

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thanks, @Kimmyt. I was going to suggest Loveland as a consideration also. They open early, so I'd expect them to be fairly reliable in that regard. I didn't realize that Eldora was your home mountain; I thought Copper was.

@alison wong - It takes me 1:45 to drive from home to Copper's parking lot on a weekday, not during rush hour. It's about the same to Winter Park. Eldora is probably 15+ minutes closer ... I can't be sure since I never seemed to take a very direct route. I add my travel times because, just as @marzNC said about tastes in resorts/terrain, we all have different tolerances and priorities. If I was willing to leave home at 5:30AM on weekends, I could probably hit the same commute time to the mountains. But not during the weekend ski rush hours.

I used to ski with someone who wanted to hit a-mountain-a-day when we traveled to the northeast. That generally meant a choice between more driving every day or changing hotels every day. For me ... Ugh, to both.

@Kimmyt -- When does snow fever hit ... as soon as the mountains open, or later? Between getting a late start this season and skiing mostly weekdays, I wasn't paying attention to weekend traffic reports.
 

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