What the hell to do

A buddy and i are flying into Denver in early March and have about 3 days to fill before we have to be in Vegas. I have noticed there is Breck, Vail and Aspen on our route but have no idea where to invest the time.

We are both about a high intermediate boarding level.

Would apreiciate your thoughts

First, there are several airports much closer to Vegas than Denver...

Aspen is way off the highway and may not be worth the time it takes to get there if you have only 3 days. My recommendation would be to get a room at a cheap motel in Frisco, CO. Frisco is centrally located and less than 20 minutes by car from Copper, Breck, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin, then about 30 minutes from Vail. Take your pick based on the breakfast ski report. Of these, Breck and Keystone are among my favorites. Also, there are a couple pretty good bars on the main drag in Frisco, including one or two with occasional live music.

In view of the limited time, maybe consider staying in Breckenridge,and skiing there and Keystone. A-Basin has one of my favourite runs.

I feel for you Piranha!
Nightmare.
:oops:

There's skiing not far from Vegas as well if you have the time or the inclination!

I've driven from Vegas to Denver in the summer - it took five days, four nights. Although we were obviously not pushing it. I doubt you could comfortably drive it in less than three days. You have to cross some pretty barren landscape and I don't know what it's like in winter. Remember that the Continental Divide is between you and LV.

So my advice is to go out to one of the freeway resorts like Vail and then come back to Denver and fly to LV

Vail is about 2-1/2 hours out of Denver and right by the main freeway. I've also been on a 1-day trip to another of the local resorts but by the time we'd driven from the freeway to the resort, we could have got to Vail. I think there's one even nearer to Denver - Copper Mtn?

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msej449 wrote:I've driven from Vegas to Denver in the summer - it took five days, four nights. Although we were obviously not pushing it. I doubt you could comfortably drive it in less than three days. You have to cross some pretty barren landscape and I don't know what it's like in winter. Remember that the Continental Divide is between you and LV.


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Ahhhh, five days??? It's 11 hrs, easy, in decent weather. I-70 to I-15.

(I've driven Aspen to Miami in 2 days. San Diego to Miami in 2 1/2 days.)

Now, back to the skiing. On the I-70 corridor there are a ton of areas, many already mentioned. Keystone, Breck, A Basin, Winter Park, MaryJane, etc etc, then on to Copper, Vail (puke), Beaver Creek. (Steamboat is 1 1/2 - 2 hrs north of highway opposite Vail, so may be a bit far off track) .Then a small gap before the turn off to Aspen/Snowmass at Glenwood Springs (again a bit off track to the south).
Pick something you like and go for it. The previous post about using Frisco as a base is good. Gives easy access to many popular spots. But be forewarned, skiing in Co is $$$ these days. I used to live there and don't even go anymore. (Go Utah instead, but that's to far for your trip)
Vail pass,( high point between copper and Vail) is your last major mtn pass, as long as you have good weather for that, your pretty much home free. You drop down past Glenwood Springs toward Grand Junction, your out of the main ski corridor then, just put the hammer down and be in Vegas in 8-9 hrs.