Planning a trip to Colorado: Q & A

logange

logange

Active member
Hey NS,

So i think im finally gonna be able to afford getting out to colorado this winter ive skied for 10+ years on the east coast and this will be my first time ever getting out there but I have a few questions that I could used some experienced help with.

First of all is a big one, when should I go? I would either go at the beginning of January for 1-2 weeks depending on prices or I would go mid march for 1 week. tell me all the pros and cons you can think of for which time is better to go, so far ive leaned towards mid march just because my brother tells me that in mid winter its hard to travel from mountain to mountain with all the snow. and Im told the snow in march is still incredibly fun.

Also what mountains do you guys think are the best ones to go to? I wanna ski a couple mountains my buddy and I were thinking of staying in a cheap place just outside of breckenridge and skiing breck, vail, copper, and beaver creek but we dont know what kind of mountain deals there are out there but ill probably call around and see what kind of packages are available but any help is appreciated.

pretty much just looking for some advice anyone with experience that has any pointers would be helpful i think me and my buddy are planning on taking a train or driving from NY.

+k for some help!

also i will be posting any other questions i cant think of right now.
 
if you figure it all out soon you could still buy a colorado epic local pass for $520 or something and get breck, key, vail, abasin, and beaver creek, which are all fairly close. I think you have to buy the pass by nov 29 though..
 
which will save you money if you're skiing for more than a week since day tickets are around $100 at each place
 
well are you gonna come here to ski all park? if not, I'd suggest avoiding summit and going down to crested butte or up north to steamboat. Steamboat get's DEEP and the butte has the gnar.
 
im looking for more just resort skiing, wouldnt mind some nice powder, will definately probably hit up breckenridge for their park and probably try other parks at other mountains i go to but i will also just do skiing, probably not doing any back country this time around due to a lack of proper equipment.

Not really looking to spend $520 just to pay for passes for a week but if thats the best deal then i might just end up doing that. I was hoping for like a week long package were i pay like $300 and get to ski at a couple of different mountains including breck and/or vail and a couple others but it doesnt sound like anything like that.

If im not planning on doing any back country would you guys say that going for the spring is probably my best bet to get around easiest and still get to ski good snow and maybe even get to hopefully ski a couple of powder days?
 
im looking for more just resort skiing, wouldnt mind some nice powder, will definately probably hit up breckenridge for their park and probably try other parks at other mountains i go to but i will also just do skiing, probably not doing any back country this time around due to a lack of proper equipment.

Not really looking to spend $520 just to pay for passes for a week but if thats the best deal then i might just end up doing that. I was hoping for like a week long package were i pay like $300 and get to ski at a couple of different mountains including breck and/or vail and a couple others but it doesnt sound like anything like that.

If im not planning on doing any back country would you guys say that going for the spring is probably my best bet to get around easiest and still get to ski good snow and maybe even get to hopefully ski a couple of powder days?
 
don't take the train if you don't gotta! its an incredibly boring ride and lugging your ski gear/other gear to and from the train stations waws a huge hassle, at least for me.
 
The roads can be rough anytime between October and May, but thats just part of being in Colorado in the winter. It all depends on what kind of experience you want to get out of your trip to Colorado. For Massive resorts, good nightlife, and better parks stick to Summit county, Winter Park / Mary Jane, Vail, or Aspen. If your looking for steeps and rowdy terrain, then mabey Crested Butte (my home mountain), Silverton or Telluride. For cheaper lift tickets check out Wolf Creek and Monarch, they are ski areas not ski resorts (which I think is great) so there is no real infrastructure within 20 or so miles of either one. I would recommend March over January, because its a little warmer and that usually when the snowpack is pretty much at its peak in Colorado. All in all it's not gonna be cheap, but lets be realistic resort skiing never is.
 
Don't be a panzy when it comes to driving unless you've never driven a day in the snow your entire life because they keep the roads pretty clean unless you are traveling over vail pass then it can get sketchy if it's dumping. I would say your best deal is going to be the stay and ski free deals that breck offers, something like $100-150 a night plus skiing and since a pass is $98 it's a good deal. And don't listen to the fool telling you to go to the middle of no-where to crestedbute because all there is in summit is apparently park skiing. Breck is decen't but get's packed on pow days when it's really deep otherwise all the locals useually drive to vail to get away from everyone on pow days and there are plenty of places to go to get freshies there, I can pretty much get fresh lines all day unless it's crazy busy with locals. If vail has stay and ski packages I would do that but otherwise if you get the epic pass or any of ther other passes there are black out dates and you still have to pay through the teeth for lodging so your call. A breck pass is also good at keystone and A-bay so you know and I would say go in early march because the base is deep and it still dumps but january could be good again this year thanks to LA NINA!
 
well if i did drive down to colorado i would have several places to stay in boulder and i would also have a way of getting to the mountains considering id have my car with me. But now i just have to figure out what lift pass I would want to get, whether it be the epic pass, or just buying day passes.

What about the epic local pass? That right now sounds like the best deal if I were to drive from boulder day by day. And I could ski Vail and Breck among others, can i get it if im not a local? and i not what if i have a relative that lives down in colorado?
 
i have the local pass, you dont have to live here to get it, no clue why they switched its name from the CO pas to the local. but here are the details:

unrestricted skiing at a-basin, keystone, and breck.

10 restricted days at beaver creek and vail.

so you want to look at when you are coming out and if there are any days you cant ski at vail or beaver creek.

and the blackout dates are mostly holidays i think so you want to avoid coming then anyway.

i think that is your best bet, you would need to get it before nov. 29 though as that is when they stop selling season passes.
 
yeah id most likely go during march but either time i go there are no blackouts and vail or beavercreek. How strict are they with the epic passes. Because my brother lives down there so i was thinking maybe throw him some money to go buy one and just use it when i come down, we both have long hair so i mean we do look kind of similar
 
just make sure you know all of his personal info.

d.o.b. address, zip they will ask shit like that if your face is completely covered.
 
alright has any of you guys shared a pass or know of people that share a pass that have had success doing this? Id hate to get out to colorado and get denied skiing because of some shmuck, i get all that info remembered no problem.

Also it says you can get varying discount tickets, which would be good for my buddy who wants to come out with me, do you guys know what the discounts are like? also if i use my brothers pass to get discounted tickets am i just asking for trouble?

and thanks again you guys have been very helpful! 10/10 karma for everyone!
 
this sort of made me angry, you know you would be screwing the system right?

and that what you would be doing is illegal?

but about the discount passes, they really arent all they are hyped up to be, i think you save like 5-10 bucks.
 
lol i didnt mean to make you angry

itd just suck to drop $100 to help my bro get the pass, then get out there to get denied and be forced to drop an additional $500 to ski for the week. sure id be screwin the system but the system is mad over priced imo..
 
i mean if you live in colorado its an awesome deal i have to pay $400 to ski at my little east coast mountain, and without my student discount $900! But i mean i have to drop half a grand just to ski a week in colorado? like $100 day passes?! really?! my mountain only charges $65 for saturday passes and cheaper for other days. I realize the mountains are a completely different experience but c'monnnn i wanna ski some big mountains!
 
yeah i sort of have to agree with nyles that i am not a big fan of vail resorts. so that is why i didnt really hop all over you, i agree that the pass prices are ridiculous who the hell would pay 100 bucks a day to ski breck on a holiday with all the texans? fucking gapers.

like said earlier though, a ski and stay deal is the best, at one time when i used to live back east, we would go to breck on vacation and you could ski keystone on the same pass, so you got a room, breck, and key ticket all for around 100 insted of just a ticket.

another option, drop a thousand on avy gear and certification, and ski for free after that.
 
haha yeah getting avy gear and taking the classes are actually something i may look into doing next year. But I may do a sort of deal you were just talking about i cant really find any though, im looking through the breck website and the only one im finding is like $1300 for place to stay and 7 day ski passes
 
alright thats probably what ill do then, i dont think im gonna do that epic pass, too sketchy and id have to get it within the next 4 days so thats unlikely.
 
if you plan on skiing at breck key and a-basin only, and are coming in march then you should look into the summit value pass, for 429 it pays for itself in 5 days.
 
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