Greetings. I'm new to the board. I was looking for advice on where to ski on the upcoming MLK weekend in CO. We are locked in to arriving at DEN on Friday, Jan 16, for 3 nights, w/2 days to ski (Sat/Sun). I haven't thought about liftlines in a while when we venture west, as we've been going to Taos for several years now, and even on a holiday weekend, lines are non-existent there. So, we don't want to be more than about 3 hours from DEN airport, and even though I know things will be busy, I'd like to avoid someplace with REALLY long lines. Was first considering Summit Co., maybe Breckenridge. From poking around I get the feeling that could be really crowded. The only CO mtn. I've been to was Loveland years ago. Great skiing; no crowds. My wife, however, will require something of a ski town when we visit; shops, restaurants, etc. Sorry to ramble - I think you all get the picture. BTW, we are about 50, and are pretty average skiers. Any advice on the above would be much appreciated!
Colorado, MLK weekend 2009
- Thread starter dpkaiser
- Start date
Welcome.
Trust some of the Front Range folks like EMSC more than me, but I'd think that Loveland, A-Basin, etc. would be better choices on the immediate Front Range that weekend than places like Breck. They're day visits from Summit County, so you could always stay in a town like Breck to keep your wife happy and ski the lesser-known places. It's small and gentle, but there's also Ski Cooper outside of Leadville that I'm sure will be fairly deserted. What about Monarch? That would be about a 3-hour drive from DEN.
Trust some of the Front Range folks like EMSC more than me, but I'd think that Loveland, A-Basin, etc. would be better choices on the immediate Front Range that weekend than places like Breck. They're day visits from Summit County, so you could always stay in a town like Breck to keep your wife happy and ski the lesser-known places. It's small and gentle, but there's also Ski Cooper outside of Leadville that I'm sure will be fairly deserted. What about Monarch? That would be about a 3-hour drive from DEN.
Of the big places that are a reasonable drive from Summit County, Beaver Creek is likely the best bet. With only 2 ski days I'd suggest that first, followed by Loveland or A-Basin on the way back to Denver.
Breckenridge is probably the most sensitive to crowd issues, followed by Keystone. Crowd issues are often a function of mountain layout, as well as how many people are actually there. Thus a knowledgeable person who shows up very early at Vail and spends most of the time in the remote reaches of the area would probably do OK. But I wouldn't recommend that on a peak holiday to someone who has never been there before, unless they have local guidance.
Breckenridge is probably the most sensitive to crowd issues, followed by Keystone. Crowd issues are often a function of mountain layout, as well as how many people are actually there. Thus a knowledgeable person who shows up very early at Vail and spends most of the time in the remote reaches of the area would probably do OK. But I wouldn't recommend that on a peak holiday to someone who has never been there before, unless they have local guidance.
EMSC
Well-known member
Tony is correct. Breck & Keystone will be the worst big areas for crowding followed by Copper and Winter Park. All of those get hit with tons of front range pass holders. Least crowded big area in your range will be Beaver Creek. Lovelend and A-Basin (esp backside) would be fairly good mid-sized options though with a bit of driving each morning if you are staying in Breck. Both of those can be brutally cold in January if it is windy due to their high altitudes. If you know where you are going, Vail is manageable crowding in a number of areas. Ski Cooper is small and rather flat, but likely very uncrowded (only gets crowded there when they are holding races). You'd have to drive out of Vail though to meet your town criteria (Leadville is closer but not a lot there). Monarch is relatively uncrowded as well, but no ski town. You could stay in Boulder and ski Eldora, but that also requires a drive to ski - though the shopping & food options are a bit more and unique relative to a 'std' ski vacation...
Basically there are a number of options depending on the feel of the trip you want as well as how much you want to spend on lodging, how much driving is acceptable to get to the slopes, etc... Let me know what way you might be leaning.
Basically there are a number of options depending on the feel of the trip you want as well as how much you want to spend on lodging, how much driving is acceptable to get to the slopes, etc... Let me know what way you might be leaning.
johnnash
New member
We don't have as much experience in Summit as others in this thread, but we're slaves of the school schedule, so our visits have usually been at peak periods. We went to A-basin once and loved it, partly for its nice terrain, and partly because there were NO lift lines on the upper part of the mountain. It's also close to Keystone, which seems to me to have the best bang for buck for ski in- ski out condos at any of the resorts. Someone once told me that was because it's "overbuilt", ie, too many condos relative to the skiing base, so the laws of supply and demand work in the renter's favor. Keystone has big crowds on holiday weekends on Dercum mountain, but if you go to their other 2 mountains (which are easier to access than at Vail), the liftlines are much shorter, sometimes none at all. (They also put in a bigger gondola to move skiers out of the base area on Dercum this year, so maybe that has helped.) Keystone has a small "village" on the property, and is close to a lot of other shopping in Dillon. The situation at Vail seems similar -- back bowls and Blue Sky Basin are relatively uncrowded and very nice, but you'd better get there early, or you'll get stuck in long lines on the way to get to those. In our 2 trips to Copper, we haven't seen much in the way of lift lines, even at the base. Also, you can get "super-B" tickets that give you priority access, at a price. If you're planning to ski Copper or A-basin, shop for discount coupons from the Gold C coupon book on Ebay or Denver Craig's list. Copper and Keystone are both around a 1 3/4-hour drive from the Denver airport, but watch out if you're returning at the same time as Denver skiers after a long weekend -- I-70 can really bog down.