Colorado Skiing

Hi All, I'm thinking of a trip to colorado next xmas. i have know idea where to go as I've never skied in the US. Resorts like Telluride or Brecken Ridge look appealing, any recommendations or other feed back would be helpful.

Enjoy the season!

Paul

Hi Paul, I have been several times to Colorado for skiing. On my first trip, I did a huge amount of research on the place where you could ski the maximum amount in a day. (I am far more relaxed now).

The outcome was Breckenridge. This is a really good resort, with two main mountains. The Blackcomb glacier is terrific. The lift pass covers several resorts, and some of these are close. Keystone, Arrapahoe Basin, Beaver Creek and Vail. Not too sure, but the pass may now cover another resort or two.
Breckenridge feels like an old cowboy town. We always booked flights, minivan hire, and accomodation.

Last season we went with Crystals to Vail. This time we had a motive for Vail, because we had developed a strong friendship with a Vail family. What we did not understand was the Crystal pass covering 13 days, (assuming a 2 week visit), and covering only 10 days in Vail, left us vulnerable to the closure of the Vail Pass. During the second week, the pass was closed for 4 days, so we ended up having to buy day passes in Vail, at a collosal price, nominally $150/day per person.

That is all just a note of caution. Vail is fantastic. I got to meet with great Pepi Grammshammer, Austrian racer, and original founder of Vail. In 1948 he had raced in Niederau, against my old head instructor boss, Franz Jochum.

I have skied all over the world, Niederau is always going to be my second home, but all the Colorado areas are terrific, and my favourite run, anywhere in the world, (outside Niederau), is the Palavicini, in Arapahoe Basin. If you manage to ski down, they give you a badge at the lodge!

Dave's observations, as ever, are a treasure-trove of information. He should put them together in a book .....It would be a great read :)

Billip2 wrote:Dave's observations, as ever, are a treasure-trove of information. He should put them together in a book .....It would be a great read :)

I have submitted a photo from the 60s, of a Manchester skier called Colin Whiteside, to a guy who has been co-ordinating "A History of BASI instructors". The proposal is that the picture will be the front page. Colin started instructing in Niederau some 5 years before I did. It is a powerful evocative picture, taken 50 years ago. (Just as I was starting skiing)

Also gave some assistance to Fritz Stroebl aiming to publish his book in the US.

I have given some thought to writing a ski book geared towards children, but we never have enough time! (Now training our ninth Guide Dog!)

Sorry, back to Colorado....

Hi Paul. Great choice going for Colorado. The largest ski area in Colorado is in fact Vail, more acres than Breckenridge. Although worth considering, if you fancy a bit of glitz, is Aspen. Heated pavements in town (1!) and three mountains to ski on but not linked to one another as in Breckenridge or Vail. Vail has a sort of 'tyrolean feel' with the architecture somewhat resembling Austrian villages. Also, as already mentioned Breckenridge has the 'old west' feel about and again a very efficient lift system. Beaver Creek also has plenty of blue/red skiing and a compact town with a skating rink in the middle. Loveland, Arapahoe Basin and Keystone are also in the same area. Last skied Colorado three years ago at which time there was a linked lift pass with Breckenridge, Vail, and Copper Mountain sharing this pass. We found the very best way to get around the Colorado area was to hire a car in Denver with a base, say, in Copper Mountain (e.g. Frisco town) and then 'commute' between the other lift pass share resorts. Incidentally, if you are going for 10 days bear in mind the 9 hour difference and, perhaps, opt for a lift pass 10 out of 13. In other words you can choose any 10 days out of the 13 with an option to add the extra one if you feel like it. I have always found the States a great place to ski so do consider Jackson Hole and also the Utah, Salt Lake City area. The other bonus for my part is the queue system in the States-no European queue jumping here with 'marshals' monitoring queue jumpers and also organising the lifts so that seats and cabins are filled when busy ensuring loads of skiing and not much queing.

Thanks Pole Plant, really good info, I hadnt considered anywhere other than Colarado so I shall take a look at the other areas you mentioned. We like to stay in a village location to enjoy the atmosphere and of course apres.

Cheers

Paul

Pole Plant's observations about the Tyrol feel in Vail are spot on, and have a strong foundation.

An Austrian International racer, Pepi Gramshammer, who was based in Innsbruck, went to Vail, founded a ski school, and built the first major hotel/restaurant in Vail. His solicitor and fund raiser was the husband of a lady, now in her 90s, and who I met last season, is the grandmother of a lovely friend, based in Vail.

Gramshammer hotel was built in Tyrol style, and many hotels followed the lead, and maintained the Tyrolean style.

Pepi and myself in the Gramshammer hotel:

My wife and I did Vail and loved it. I was on business in New York and she flew out from the UK, to Denver. There are resorts nearer to Denver, but I think Vail's worth the extra 1h drive and it's right on the freeway, so very easy to navigate to (if the pass is open, obviously). We hired an apartment at a price comparable to hotel room-only, so had space to eat in and relax, although there was a lot of hotel accommodation on offer. Hotel facilities like the cinemas, pools and dining were still available to non-residents. The ski area is very large and the density of skiers was low. There aren't the same number of double-diamond runs as at some other resorts. I liked the 'bowl' ski areas, which are something of a cross between off-piste and piste. However, it was expensive and of course, a fair trek compared to the Alps. My wife took 3-4 days to really get over jetlag, transfer effort and altitude, so I wouldn't go for just a week. Like Switzerland, you can keep food costs down if you're careful about vetting prices where you're dining.

Having been to Canada in the Summer - Vancouver, Jasper, Lake Louise (where it snowed!) and Calgary - I'd suggest also considering there as another option. I think that if I was to go out from the UK then I might prefer Canada for reasons of immigration alone - it took my wife hours to get through US immigration, and us 10 minutes to get through at Vancouver.