Where to ski near Denver?

mjburian

mjburian

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Marty
My wife and I and another couple are going to be in Las Vegas this Spring for a Monday-Thursday conference. We're flying through Denver both ways and figured we'd try to ski Friday and Saturday before flying home on Sunday. I'd like to ski mountains and not just foothills, but also avoid driving 8 of the hours we'll have to spend in the area. Given that it's such a short stay, where would you recommend we go?

In case it changes the answer, we'll have one advanced skier, one intermediate, one beginner (has skied before, but only once or twice on the "hills" we have in Wisconsin) and a fourth who won't be skiing, but would like to do some photography (landscape and action shots, I assume). Ideally, we'd be able to find a ski in/out condo to accommodate everyone.

Current frontrunners are Winter Park (none of us has ever been) or the Breckenridge area, but don't have any strong feelings toward any option.

Thanks!
 
I'm no Denver pro, been boarding a few times out thar but I've been to keystone, a-basin, copper mtn, winter park and breck. love me some breck. really any of those are quite awesome, I don't think you'd be disappointed with any of them.

it's weird how my last trip out there was right about the time they legalized mary j. it was a shock to me that we happened to be out there right around that time, I had NO idea when we were planning the trip. weird how that happens.
 
eman1200 said:
I'm no Denver pro, been boarding a few times out thar but I've been to keystone, a-basin, copper mtn, winter park and breck. love me some breck. really any of those are quite awesome, I don't think you'd be disappointed with any of them.

it's weird how my last trip out there was right about the time they legalized mary j. it was a shock to me that we happened to be out there right around that time, I had NO idea when we were planning the trip. weird how that happens.
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My wife and I have been to Breck. As a kid I got out there a few times (Steamboat, Aspen, Copper, etc) but it seemed like some of those places were quite a hike from Denver. I'm looking for something that's one of the shorter drives (due to the shortened nature of the trip), but still MOUNTAIN skiing.
 
Ah, gotcha, sorry. Like I said, not pro enough.
 
Breck, A-Basin, Keystone, Copper, Winter Park, and Loveland are all just an hour to 1.5 hrs. From Denver and all big mountains. What else do you need? I think A-Basin is a bit more challenging than the others, the rest should be good for the less experienced.
 
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Go to Loveland. It's close, it's awesome, it's cheap. I spent every day during the winters for 15 years at Loveland. I've been to every ski resort in Colorado, and Loveland has all the goods, and none of the fluff.
Good beer, good snow, good times.
 
I've always been partial to this:

Breckenridge-Trails-Map_001.jpg
 
do they still run the snow train up from denver?
 
When I lived in Denver and started skiing, I preferred Keystone.

It might especially be good for your beginner and intermediate skiers. If they're truly more on the "beginner" side of things, they might appreciate being able to take the gondola instead of a ski lift.

Also, Keystone has one of the longest green runs around. Schoolmarm runs about 3.5 miles, and I remember it being a great run for me to learn on. And there are plenty of blue runs the beginner and intermediate can take advantage of.

They also have night skiing, at least on part of the mountain. I really liked that, because it enabled me to get more time on the hill. Just note it does get a little icier later in the day, but still fun.

Enjoy, and have fun, no matter where you end up going!
 
For all level of skiers Keystone is your best bet. It's my fave.

If you want to have a good time follow directions here:

Leave your lodgings so you'll be at Keystone at 8:15. Lifts open at 8:30 so be on time. Get your tix and equipment and get on the gondola. Now, when you get to the peak, send the beginner to the right past the lodge and just have them go down Schoolmarm and follow the signs to the Montezuma lift. You can all do one run down that to show them where to go. when you get to the big glade, keep right for the Montezuma lift.

http://www.keystoneresort.com/ski-and-snowboard/trail-map.aspx

Then, the intermediate and advanced get off the Monte lift and aim left for the Outback gondola. Take that to the Outback lodge, and have a cocoa or coffee. Alternately, go down Mozart(careful, it's bumpy) and take the Santiago lift to the Outback lodge. Trust me on this, get to the outback lodge, that will be your base all day. Ski out of Outback lodge to the left and go down Anticipation to outback lift. Ski your heine off in the outback and let the advanced guys go in the trees and down north and south bowl. Plan to meet at the Wayback lift at around 10:45. Take the wayback lift up to the North peak and have the beginner take the Outback gondola over to meet you for lunch. Have lunch at Outback and after lunch the beginner can go back on the Outback gondola, and you can ski North peak a few times until you get your fill, then take the Ruby lift back to the front side, and ski the front runs for a while. Take a late break at the main lodge at the top, then ski through A51 terrain park down to the Mountain House, base of Peru lift at the south base area. If Go Devil is open, definitely ski Go Devil, it's fast. Take a break at the bar, have a snack. Recharge, and rest up, cuz you're not done skiing. By now - most of the people will be getting on the freeway, and clogging it up all the way to Denver. Once you are rested up, take the shuttle bus back over to the River Run, and get ready for -- Night skiing! Bundle up, cuz it's cold, cold, cold at night. Hop on the gondola again, and make some night runs. If you had a lot to drink, you will now break some bone, some extremity. After you freeze your whacker off, then have a few slices of Pizza at the River Run area, and then and only then get on the road back to town and have no traffic problems.

Best full day/night of skiing you can have. Moderate price, but well worth it.
 
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I've always been partial to Steamboat, I always have great conditions, short/no lift lines and the walk/ski in lodging is reasonable. Since it isn't on any of the multi mountain passes, it doesn't see the crowding I guess.
 
SHOT-CAM, Breckenridge!


I left my gopro filming when we stopped in for a refresher. how this helps you, I have no idea, but figured I'd share.
 
mjburian said:
My wife and I and another couple are going to be in Las Vegas this Spring for a Monday-Thursday conference. We're flying through Denver both ways and figured we'd try to ski Friday and Saturday before flying home on Sunday. I'd like to ski mountains and not just foothills, but also avoid driving 8 of the hours we'll have to spend in the area. Given that it's such a short stay, where would you recommend we go?

In case it changes the answer, we'll have one advanced skier, one intermediate, one beginner (has skied before, but only once or twice on the "hills" we have in Wisconsin) and a fourth who won't be skiing, but would like to do some photography (landscape and action shots, I assume). Ideally, we'd be able to find a ski in/out condo to accommodate everyone.

Current frontrunners are Winter Park (none of us has ever been) or the Breckenridge area, but don't have any strong feelings toward any option.
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Loveland Ski, not to be confused with Loveland the city. East side of the tunnel on I70 so you don't have to deal with the Sunday traffic. No place to stay overnight, but thru the tunnel are a number of hotels at the bottom of the hill.

For condos, Copper Mtn is on I70. Keystone just a short jaunt off I70.

Winter Park is great, remember there's a speed trap at the top of hwy 40, and for the advanced skier, Mary Jane is really great.

All areas have a variety of terrain.
 
JHW said:
do they still run the snow train up from denver?
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Nope. Blame the insurance companies and the RR unions. The cars are still parked on sidings in Denver. But you can take Amtrak to Granby and hitchhike to Winter Park.
 
Henning said:
I've always been partial to Steamboat, I always have great conditions, short/no lift lines and the walk/ski in lodging is reasonable. Since it isn't on any of the multi mountain passes, it doesn't see the crowding I guess.
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But Steamboat is 4-6 hour drive from Denver depending on the weather and roads.
 
mjburian said:
My wife and I and another couple are going to be in Las Vegas this Spring for a Monday-Thursday conference. We're flying through Denver both ways and figured we'd try to ski Friday and Saturday before flying home on Sunday. I'd like to ski mountains and not just foothills, but also avoid driving 8 of the hours we'll have to spend in the area. Given that it's such a short stay, where would you recommend we go?
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I would recommend you change your connection to SLC. The slopes (I think 7 resorts?) are only 40 min from the airport.
 
I worked at Keystone for a while. I was the equipment manager for the Golf division. The worst possible place to work.

While I work there the maintenance Manager for the Gondola Maintenance grew told the CEO of the company that the main bearing in the main wheel for the gondola was going bad. The CEO told them to not worry about it. Halfway into the season and the bearing goes out. The gondola goes down, no it did not wreck they took it down. It was out of commission for a month at losing cost of one million dollars a day, according to the CEO. This gondola takes the food to the restaurant at the top of the mountain. If you never ate there you must at least once.

They fired every person on the gondola maintenance grew. In history only twice has the gondola at Keystone ever gone down in service killing people aboard. When it goes down the gondola cars will start coming down and will go hundreds and hundreds of feet before they come to a rest out in the parking lot somewhere. Its happened twice in history at Keystone.

Keystone is part of Vail resorts. I would never in my life send anyone to work for that company.

I told the Gondola maintenance manager if that would have been me, I would have made the CEO sign a paper saying he was the one who wanted to run the gondola with a bad main wheel bearing.

By the way I don't ski never have.

Tony
 
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From Denver, anything along Rt. 70, but remember traffic backs up Sunday night coming back. I prefer ski towns with real town centers, old mining towns, not made up, fabricated ones like Vail. YMMV.
 
Henning said:
I've always been partial to Steamboat, I always have great conditions, short/no lift lines and the walk/ski in lodging is reasonable. Since it isn't on any of the multi mountain passes, it doesn't see the crowding I guess.
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Steamboat is fantastic but much more of a hike than the Summit County ones already mentioned. When I lived in Denver, everything up through Copper (our personal favorite) was good for an easy day trip. Wouldn't even think of driving to Steamboat without overnight accommodations.

(oops, just noticed Murphy's post)

For the casual skier, I'd suggest Loveland, Keystone or Copper, ranked from closest to farthest.
 
Copper Mountain was always our go-to place when I lived in Colorado. Occasionally we'd go to A-basin. All were easy drives up form the city (sitting right on the Continental Divide).
 
1600vw said:
I worked at Keystone for a while. I was the equipment manager for the Golf division. The worst possible place to work.

While I work there the maintenance Manager for the Gondola Maintenance grew told the CEO of the company that the main bearing in the main wheel for the gondola was going bad. The CEO told them to not worry about it. Halfway into the season and the bearing goes out. The gondola goes down, no it did not wreck they took it down. It was out of commission for a month at losing cost of one million dollars a day, according to the CEO. This gondola takes the food to the restaurant at the top of the mountain. If you never ate there you must at least once.

They fired every person on the gondola maintenance grew. In history only twice has the gondola at Keystone ever gone down in service killing people aboard. When it goes down the gondola cars will start coming down and will go hundreds and hundreds of feet before they come to a rest out in the parking lot somewhere. Its happened twice in history at Keystone.

Keystone is part of Vail resorts. I would never in my life send anyone to work for that company.

I told the Gondola maintenance manager if that would have been me, I would have made the CEO sign a paper saying he was the one who wanted to run the gondola with a bad main wheel bearing.

By the way I don't ski never have.

Tony
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Are you talking about taking out the Yan lift back in 86? I don't think there's ever been a derope of the gondola at Keystone, and surely there's never been any fatalities from gondolas crashing down the mountain to the parking lot. The Teller lift failed in mid 80s, and two people died, but after that the gondola was removed and another one was put in. Oh, and thanks for coming and shyting in a thread about a guy who wants to go have a fun ski day.
 
flyingron said:
Copper Mountain was always our go-to place when I lived in Colorado. Occasionally we'd go to A-basin. All were easy drives up form the city (sitting right on the Continental Divide).
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If they were all experts, I'd highly recommend Copper. That or Mary Jane have the best conditions for expert skiers around Denver, although Loveland has some nice back country on the N side of the freeway. However, with a mix of skier types, Keystone is prolly better. Peak 9 and 10 at Breck would be fine too, but OMG the lift lines on wknds are horrid.

<edit; I also recommended Keystone because the non-skier can get a lift pass for cheap and go to the Outback lodge and take some pretty nice shots. The photography from the top of River Run gondola is pretty amazing as well. Most resorts will not sell a non-ski lift pass, Keystone is the exception.>
 
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1600vw said:
I worked at Keystone for a while. I was the equipment manager for the Golf division. The worst possible place to work.
<snip>
They fired every person on the gondola maintenance grew. In history only twice has the gondola at Keystone ever gone down in service killing people aboard. When it goes down the gondola cars will start coming down and will go hundreds and hundreds of feet before they come to a rest out in the parking lot somewhere. Its happened twice in history at Keystone.
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Where did this come from? There are no parking lots remotely close to the gondola at Keystone. Also, the gondola doesn't get close to "hundreds and hundreds of feet" off the ground.

On a more accurate note...For beginners, the front mountain at Keystone is great. For a little bit quicker runs but nothing overly challenging, the runs on North Peak are great. The bottom right of Anticipation has some nice jumps if you get a spotter and are willing to get some speed. Just be ready for a long flat at the bottom. Spillway gives you the same nice run but without as much flat at the bottom.
 
docmirror said:
For all level of skiers Keystone is your best bet. It's my fave.

If you want to have a good time follow directions here:

Leave your lodgings so you'll be at Keystone at 8:15. Lifts open at 8:30 so be on time. Get your tix and equipment and get on the gondola. Now, when you get to the peak, send the beginner to the right past the lodge and just have them go down Schoolmarm and follow the signs to the Montezuma lift. You can all do one run down that to show them where to go. when you get to the big glade, keep right for the Montezuma lift.

http://www.keystoneresort.com/ski-and-snowboard/trail-map.aspx

Then, the intermediate and advanced get off the Monte lift and aim left for the Outback gondola. Take that to the Outback lodge, and have a cocoa or coffee. Alternately, go down Mozart(careful, it's bumpy) and take the Santiago lift to the Outback lodge. Trust me on this, get to the outback lodge, that will be your base all day. Ski out of Outback lodge to the left and go down Anticipation to outback lift. Ski your heine off in the outback and let the advanced guys go in the trees and down north and south bowl. Plan to meet at the Wayback lift at around 10:45. Take the wayback lift up to the North peak and have the beginner take the Outback gondola over to meet you for lunch. Have lunch at Outback and after lunch the beginner can go back on the Outback gondola, and you can ski North peak a few times until you get your fill, then take the Ruby lift back to the front side, and ski the front runs for a while. Take a late break at the main lodge at the top, then ski through A51 terrain park down to the Mountain House, base of Peru lift at the south base area. If Go Devil is open, definitely ski Go Devil, it's fast. Take a break at the bar, have a snack. Recharge, and rest up, cuz you're not done skiing. By now - most of the people will be getting on the freeway, and clogging it up all the way to Denver. Once you are rested up, take the shuttle bus back over to the River Run, and get ready for -- Night skiing! Bundle up, cuz it's cold, cold, cold at night. Hop on the gondola again, and make some night runs. If you had a lot to drink, you will now break some bone, some extremity. After you freeze your whacker off, then have a few slices of Pizza at the River Run area, and then and only then get on the road back to town and have no traffic problems.

Best full day/night of skiing you can have. Moderate price, but well worth it.
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This sounds like the winner to me. Thanks so much for the detailed description!
 
mjburian said:
This sounds like the winner to me. Thanks so much for the detailed description!
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Let me know what day, I'll prolly be there too. I can show you some secrets for better time mgmt. The non-skier can get a lift ticket all the way to the Outback lodge. It's at 12k elevation and the views are fantastic. Also, if I'm working the NASTAR downhill track under the gondola you can get there after 11am and I'll give you a free run. I'll give the expert a free run only if he beats my time through. :D
 
docmirror said:
Let me know what day, I'll prolly be there too. I can show you some secrets for better time mgmt. The non-skier can get a lift ticket all the way to the Outback lodge. It's at 12k elevation and the views are fantastic. Also, if I'm working the NASTAR downhill track under the gondola you can get there after 11am and I'll give you a free run. I'll give the expert a free run only if he beats my time through. :D
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I'll keep you posted. Also, I never said we had an "expert" in the group... just one skier who will ski black diamonds (and the occasional double black). The intermediate will ski mostly blues and greens and the beginner will ski all greens and MAYBE an occasional blue.

How do the non-skier lift tickets work? Standard ski rates or some kind of discount since they won't be skiing?
 
Archammer said:
Go to Loveland. It's close, it's awesome, it's cheap. I spent every day during the winters for 15 years at Loveland. I've been to every ski resort in Colorado, and Loveland has all the goods, and none of the fluff.
Good beer, good snow, good times.
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Meant to ask about this. We definitely want ski in/ski out, but I thought I'd read that they don't have those sorts of accommodations at Loveland.
 
mjburian said:
I'll keep you posted. Also, I never said we had an "expert" in the group... just one skier who will ski black diamonds (and the occasional double black). The intermediate will ski mostly blues and greens and the beginner will ski all greens and MAYBE an occasional blue.

How do the non-skier lift tickets work? Standard ski rates or some kind of discount since they won't be skiing?
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mjburian said:
Meant to ask about this. We definitely want ski in/ski out, but I thought I'd read that they don't have those sorts of accommodations at Loveland.
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Non-skier pass is 29 bucks. Gondola up and back down all day/night. You have to ask when you book the tickets, it's not advertised. They can't get on a lift, just the gondola. No lodging at all at Loveland.

If you are going to ski in/out, lodging at Mountain house at base of Peru lift is pretty close without the high cost of actual ski in/out lodging(very short walk past bar/equip shop). River Run ski in/out is $$$$$$. Call the resort, then start looking on Denver CL for condos offered by the night or wknd. The best bet is to negotiate your lodging, and make them throw in the lift tix free, or discounted heavily. You can usually talk your way into half price lift tix, and a free non-skier tix if you whine enough. However, wknds are kinda iffy on that. I can get you tue-thur lodging rates with free lift tix pretty much any winter.

Shop here: http://www.keystoneresort.com/plan-a-vacation/lodging/lodging-details.aspx?code=INN-AT_KEYSTONE but DO NOT use the web for booking! Call and talk with them for the best deal. I like the one bdrm with spa rooms. Remember, the price is proportional to the distance to the lift. Further from the lift, prices go down. Also, you get discounts on food and drink if you are staying at a Vail property. I don't because I don't stay there, I head home after skiing. These are nice because you can get to the room after a good day, hop in the spa, refresh for an hour then head out for night skiing pretty warm and loose.
 
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Traket92X said:
Where did this come from? There are no parking lots remotely close to the gondola at Keystone. Also, the gondola doesn't get close to "hundreds and hundreds of feet" off the ground.

On a more accurate note...For beginners, the front mountain at Keystone is great. For a little bit quicker runs but nothing overly challenging, the runs on North Peak are great. The bottom right of Anticipation has some nice jumps if you get a spotter and are willing to get some speed. Just be ready for a long flat at the bottom. Spillway gives you the same nice run but without as much flat at the bottom.
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Not sure you know what you are talking about. These events happened so many years ago in the pics I saw there was nothing around that remotely looks like it does today.

When those cars come down they go hundreds of feet some ended up in the building and some out in the parking lot. Completely destroyed the Gondola Building.

It has nothing to do with height, its the speed that they come down. Its called a runaway. The do not hit the ground as you are thinking. They come down the line and go through the building at such a speed they go hundreds of feet before stopping. Its happened twice in the history of Keystone.

Before getting on the Gondola look at the operating panel. Its has dead switches all over it. This is to stop a runaway. If the person loading people only load one side and do not even out the load, meaning as many people on the down side as on the up side, you can have a runaway. I believe one of the events I speak of was a cause of this. The other was a failure of something, I can not remember what failure but it was a failure.
 
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Either way you can go to the Dam Brewery in Dillon afterwards. I remember back in the 80's there hardly was actually anything in Dillon.
 
Thanks again, guys! The four of us had a short discussion and decided we're definitely going ot Keystone. It'll be a Thursday night-Sunday morning stay (the where is still undecided, see below), but the travel and skiing have been set.

As for where to stay, we've done ski in/ski out at other places before and really liked not needing to take a shuttle or drive to start the day. I haven't found any ski in/out options at Keystone that have our dates available (3/26-3/29), so now we're looking at "short walk" places (even Mountain House is booked). Any suggestions on where (physical location) we should be looking for the shortest walk to a lift? Or any leads on ski in/out options with availability that weekend? We're looking for either two separate 1BRs or a single 2BR.

Also, when we last went to Breck, we rented gear from a store in town at the start of the week and returned it before we left town. Will it be similar here or do they do rentals right there at the ticket counter? I'm just wondering if we'll have our gear with us the whole time or if we'll be picking up/dropping off rental gear each day.

Thanks again for all of the help!
 
Can't help with accommodation, it's peak season an you're late to the game.

Multi-day rentals are no problem. Just tell the shop what you want to do.
 
If you go to Breckenridge, you gotta have breakfast at the Log Cabin Café. We make a special trip every time.
 
I would suggest Copper Mountain. I was there about two years ago and it was a blast, lots of different terrain (normal runs, and some bowls you don't have to pay extra to get into). It seemed to be a local favorite from those I talked to. I was also to Keystone on that same trip, and didn't enjoy it nearly as much.
 
Go here; http://www.keystoneresort.com/plan-a-vacation/lodging/lodging.aspx?intcmp=K000108 click on "check rates and availability" put in your dates, and people and select search. When the results come up, you can sort by distance to lift closest. I found a 1bdrm condo ski in/out for $491/night. Other rooms were walk to lift and were a lot cheaper, like I said.

If you don't find stuff there, try this: http://rockies.craigslist.org/search/hhh?query=Keystone You'll have to call and find out how far they are from the lift, but there should be a lot of properties that you can sort out. Tons of listings right on the slopes here: http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rental...stone?from-date=2015-03-26&to-date=2015-03-29
 
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Thank you all again for your help with this. Trip is booked, as are the condo, lift tickets and rentals. Now to figure out if any of us remember how to ski... ;)
 
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