I'd like to fly my wife and another couple out skiing this winter, somewhere in CO probably. Can anyone make a suggestion on where to go, that is, somewhere that is GA friendly and easy to get to, with good runs?
Bonanza,
I've been skiing (boarding) the west for years and all of the comments here have some merit. Some more info:
The most predictable and easiest to handle: Fly into Den (BJC is good), and ski one of the front range hills. Don't have to deal with mountain flying, and the snow is fairly predictable. Weekends will be crowded, so do the weekday. I'm a big fan of Winter Park, very reasonable, one of the best ski schools, and has great woods and advanced stuff, if you know where to find it. I've had passes there for years. Breck, A Basin, and Loveland are also good. Haven't been to Keystone in 20 years because I hate the slow gondola, but still a good hill.
The New Mexico hills can have snow problems, like last year.
Steamboat has a GREAT town. The skiing is OK, but the hill is low, so you get mush sooner than the higher hills. There's great powder skiing on the mt. north of Steamboat with a private company ($300, but worth it once in a while). You can do similar at Aspen (off mountain tours).
Vail is the biggest, tons of terrain, but when they get good snow all of Denver is there and lift lines are horrible.
Aspen is not for skiing, but for looks. A horrible hill for skiiing and boarding and small, however it's neighboring Snowmass is supurb and is probably the best overall hill in Colorado. Terrain for everyone, big, short lift lines (even in the heavy snow), pricy and a four hour drive from Den. You can fly into ASE (or Eagle for that matter) and it's a hoot in good weather Take you wallet with you and if you have propellers on your plane you will feel out of place, but they are friendly. My experience at ASE has been great and when I save up another few years of income, I'll go again.
As for mountain flying, its usually VFR. However, winds are the biggest threat followed by ice. So flexibility is in order, but on a nice day, to die for.
Salt Lake has the best snow in the world, with 500 in per year (vs Colorado 350). A little more challenging to fly to Bo to, but not bad over the CO WY boarder to Rock Springs and into SLC. Or the southern route over the Durango/Moab area, but still hills on both. Salt Lake is cheap with great housing in town and a 30 min run up the hill Even some of the housing at the ski resorts isn't bad, and I really prefer that. Restaurants and night life up the canyons (Little and Big Cottonwood) are minimal. Or you can go over to Park City which is pretty self contained. My favorite is the Brighton Solitude runs.
I don't go further west because the snow gets wet, on the west coast. However, I've discovered McCall ID for a smaller get away place that's still quiet, although getting discovered. There's been mentioned other small uncrowded places like Crested, Wolf Creek, all worth looking at to get away from crowds, but a lot smaller.
Overall, do the Den thing for starters. When you get closer PM me early this fall and I'll give you more info on housing, ski tickets, equipment, routing, etc.