1 day to ski Colorado

volvotom

volvotom

Active member
Driving a car to my sister in Chicago from California. I have 1 day free to ski at either Brek or Keystone or Vail. Which is best?

I am leaning Vail due to history, but Breck always seemed awesome.
 
If you want to ski park only then go to keystone, if you want to ski some park and some all mountain go to breckenridge, and if you want to ski mostly all mountain then go to vail or arapahoe basin. Arapahoe basin is steeper by far but vail has a lot of terrain.
 
Do Vail. Its huge and unique and spread out and is cool. For one day you'll have fun and won't really get frustrated over it being flat and a beginners mountian. Even if the snow isn't great its an experience. If its 1 day too you won't spend a fortune on lodging and can just stay in denver that night.

I got 2-3 days to kill next week (court date in bumfuck Wyoming) and a free season pass to vail on the epic and I am more likely to just hit JH or somewhere in Utah and buy daily lift tickets because Vail is so overpriced for hotels and shit so you'll be in good shape hitting it for a day and avoiding 200+ a night to sleep, park your car, and eat. Fucking rich gapers making Co so expensive...
 
I'd do vail too. When I went to Colorado this year, I skied Breck a few days and on the last day me and my bro went to Vail. We're both huge park rats being from the midwest and I still had an awesome time there, they have great bowls for every skill level and a bunch of open runs to explore. The snow wasn't the greatest but we skied from open to close and had a blast.
 
I really wish I had more time to visit a few resorts. Although I ski all mountain and steeps about the same amount that I ski park, I would feel like skiing park would be a little bit of a waste given my limited time frame.
 
I would totally be up for Crested Butte or Silverton, but both are too far off I-70 and would be a waste of time getting to.
 
If you're looking to ski, then go to Vail. If you want to ski park, go to Breck. Breck has the best park hands down. Keystone doesn't have jumps like Breck's, and Breck has a ton of good rails too. Both Park Lane and Freeway parks are way too fun. BRECK!
 
If you're looking to ski more of the mountain then I would say Vail would be a good choice. The back bowls aren't very technical, but they are big and open and there are some rocks to hit if you look around.

I would also consider A-basin if I were you. It's not the biggest mountain but it's got a great local vibe to it and plenty of terrain to spend a day skiing. It's also much less crowded than breck or vail and has some of the steepest terrain in summit county at the pallavicini chair.

Either way, good luck!
 
Do vail for sure. They have the best snow right now and you can avoid lift lines cause it's massive. Lots if inbounds little cliffs / drops to throw your self off too. Don't waste Ur time elsewhere Crested butte has been getting screwed on snowfall lately
 
So I don't know where you are coming from in California, but I just went on Google Maps and from LA to Chicago, going through the San Juan Mountains (Telluride, Silverton, etc) instead of Summit County only adds 4 hours to your overall trip. If you aren't interested in skiing the park all day Summit County/Vail is possibly the worst place to pick for a day of skiing between LA and Chicago.

 
Alright, so I'd say watch the weather and the world is your oyster. All times are assuming you are coming from southern California.

LA - Chicago direct (I70/Summit County) - 29 hours

via San Juans (Silverton/Telluride, CO) - 34 hours

via Crested Butte, CO - 33 hours

via Taos, NM - 33 hours

via Salt Lake City - 30 hours

Hell, even if you went past SLC to Jackson, WY it's still only 35 hours. Lake Tahoe is also around the 35 hour range.

I'd say you have more options for a day of skiing than Vail/Summit County without adding too much travel time to your trip. I'm not saying... I'm just saying.

 
This. Take it from someone who has been to Vail around 25 times this season, it's bad on the weekends. Yes if you get there early there are lots of stashes and you can probably get 2-3 runs in without waiting in line. But Even though the mountain is huge, the entire state of Colorado has been coming to Vail lately.

I say if you want to ski park, Keystone. If you want to ski big-mountain, A-Bay or Beaver Creek.

 
To clarify a few things:

1. I will be leaving from Southern California

2. This is really more of a convenience stop than anything else. If I had the time I would definitely make a real trip to Silverton or Crested Butte

3. I will be going midweek

4. I don't want to drive hours out of the way. The 36ish hour drive is going to be enough by itself.

5. It is during my spring break and I am on a fairly strict time table to get to Chicago in 4 days so I can enjoy the weekend there before flying home to start school again.

6. weather is also an issue, if there's going to be a large storm through the mountain west I can't risk downdays or speed delays. If that ends up happening I will probably take I40 east through Albuquerque and through OKC to St Louis and North to Chicago.

So far Vail seems like the consensus choice.
 
Loveland if you are looking to ski the actual mountain. Their park isn't great but they have some of the best natural terrain on the I70 corridor. And it will cost 1/2 the price of Vail and MUCH easier to park and get around the mountain. If you only have one day and don't know the area I would highly advise not going to Vail. Unless you like paying for parking, walking through a maze of a village, and paying $108 for a lift ticket. Then by all means, go to Vail.
 
This is turning into one of those threads where I have to ask: If you are so set on Vail, why did you bother making this thread asking for our thoughts? Seams like there was never any doubt in your mind and were going to ski Vail no matter what.

Have fun paying way too much money for mediocre terrain and big crowds.
 
Because if people thought Breck would be better than I would go to Breck.

I really wish I had time to visit both.
 
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