What’s the best CO spot for park and pow?

jupiterhenry

jupiterhenry

Member
OK, this year I’m FINALLY gonna ski some Colorado shit. Tahoe has been my spot for over 15 years, and since it’s like 4 hours away from me, it’s hard for me to justify a ski trip out of state - but this season I gotta do it.

I’m looking to ski park, somewhere with good flow and lots of features, but also some good chances at backcountry fresh lines, if we get pow. And overall I’d prefer somewhere with a cool local vibe, not overrun with gapers and tourists and shit. That extends to the accommodations and local bars and shit too. I’m bringing my girl and she will prob ski like one day, she’s beginner-status. If there’s one area where we would have better chances of getting an affordable airbnb with a hot tub, that’s a huge factor. I’m not trying to ski all day and come home exhausted to a pissed off girlfriend.

I have pass days at Breck, Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek, and Crested Butte.

What up CO?
 
>cali dude coming to CO

>Not wanting a spot filled with gapers and tourists

I'm not trying to be a dick, but I'm suprised you california folk don't have a network of transplanfs you can ask this question to.
 
Ha ha that’s fair. But Boulder sends us a ton of hippies too.

Like I said tho, I’m used to Tahoe, which has as many tourists and gapers as you could ask for. I’m happy to share my handful of tips/tricks to avoid those if you come out this way too. But I don’t know shit about CO skiing except that people have been telling me to go for years and I finally have $ saved up. Any info is appreciated.
 
All the places I can think of with good parks have heavy tourism. Breck, Vail, Copper, Aspen, Winter Park, Steamboat, and Keystone. Crested Butte might be a little better, and they have some all time terrain, especially with good coverage. But the park is only mediocre.

If you just want some good pow, go to Telluride or Wolf Creek. Or even better, go Backcountry but make sure to do heavy research. If you get crap luck with snow, Breck, Keystone, and Copper have the best parks

**This post was edited on Jul 10th 2019 at 6:37:12pm
 
I'll let you do your own research on 'park and pow' but for the love of god be safe about it. Co snowpack is a fickle bitch and claimed a bunch of lives this year inbounds and out. CB has the best local vibe of your list, but don't be suprised if some grungy old timer who's never traveled scrawls 'go back' in the dirt on your car if you have CA plates. Breck/key for the parks and the comroderie from fellow bro's from cali.
 
Aspen Snowmass, full of gapers/jerries but that's an advantage. Park's sick and when you want to take it to the pow side, nobody is there to compete with you. There's also plenty of off-hill activities for your gf to indulge in so you won't be the only one not bored. Only downside is that the mtn is relatively flat so there's only a few spots with steep runs and cliff drops, just gotta explore.

**This post was edited on Jul 11th 2019 at 12:21:31pm
 
Thanks yall. The irony of traveling out of state and asking how to avoid tourists is not lost on me. Sounds like CB might be my jam so far, or maybe Keystone.
 
14043914:Biffbarf said:
>cali dude coming to CO

>Not wanting a spot filled with gapers and tourists

I'm not trying to be a dick, but I'm suprised you california folk don't have a network of transplanfs you can ask this question to.
Click to expand...

I mean, a bunch of people from CO move to CA. Or is that what you were saying? CO is full of too many people who act like it's some hidden gem. Better yet are the people that have been there 2 months doing it.

People moving between CO and Utah etc.
 
14043922:TRVP_ANGEL said:
Aspen Snowmass, full of gapers/jerries but that's an advantage. Park's sick and when you want to take it to the pow side, nobody is there to compete with you. There's also plenty of off-hill activities for your gf to indulge in so you won't be the only one bored. Only downside is that the mtn is relatively flat so there's only a few spots with steep runs and cliff drops, just gotta explore.

**This post was edited on Jul 10th 2019 at 6:45:10pm
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Snowmass is the only park worth hitting, unless bmilk is stepping up. Snowmass has some steep stuff but I didn't ride non park enough to know how much. Idk.

That said if you want good terrain Highlands is awesome, and Ajax is sick as well.

14043935:snomaster said:
Beaver Creek & Vail

/end thread
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Beaver creek no longer even builds rodeo I thought? And even though Vail has that park lift, it never really did it for me other than some occasional spring laps. That said BC is a pretty sick mountain with a bunch of terrain that nobody is skiing.
 
topic:jupiterhenry said:
OK, this year I’m FINALLY gonna ski some Colorado shit. Tahoe has been my spot for over 15 years, and since it’s like 4 hours away from me, it’s hard for me to justify a ski trip out of state - but this season I gotta do it.

I’m looking to ski park, somewhere with good flow and lots of features, but also some good chances at backcountry fresh lines, if we get pow. And overall I’d prefer somewhere with a cool local vibe, not overrun with gapers and tourists and shit. That extends to the accommodations and local bars and shit too. I’m bringing my girl and she will prob ski like one day, she’s beginner-status. If there’s one area where we would have better chances of getting an affordable airbnb with a hot tub, that’s a huge factor. I’m not trying to ski all day and come home exhausted to a pissed off girlfriend.

I have pass days at Breck, Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek, and Crested Butte.

What up CO?
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Can’t go wrong with crested butte. Not sure about the park. Front range area like copper has a killer park and some good side country terrain for a pow day. Plus you’ll have Loveland pass right there if you want to get some backcountry
 
14043990:theabortionator said:
I mean, a bunch of people from CO move to CA. Or is that what you were saying? CO is full of too many people who act like it's some hidden gem. Better yet are the people that have been there 2 months doing it.

People moving between CO and Utah etc.
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The scale isn't even close. Way more people come to CO from CA than vice versa. There's 1.5x the pop of CO in the bay area ALONE. I won't get into the whole CA pahlitiks whatnots, but CO's population boom in the last 10 years has taken away a lot of really neat things that were available to coloradoans over the years.

Don't get me wrong, the boom is nice and the economy is great, but people are hardwired to reminisce about the old days and change is hard.

I know it's happening everywhere. People need to stop poppin' out crotch goblins so awesome things don't get used up too quick.

Edit: the joke was how a decent chunk of people in/around summit are Californian, so I was insinuating he could just ask them if there was some sorta network

**This post was edited on Jul 11th 2019 at 1:47:16am
 
14044008:Biffbarf said:
The scale isn't even close. Way more people come to CO from CA than vice versa. There's 1.5x the pop of CO in the bay area ALONE. I won't get into the whole CA pahlitiks whatnots, but CO's population boom in the last 10 years has taken away a lot of really neat things that were available to coloradoans over the years.

Don't get me wrong, the boom is nice and the economy is great, but people are hardwired to reminisce about the old days and change is hard.

I know it's happening everywhere. People need to stop poppin' out crotch goblins so awesome things don't get used up too quick.

Edit: the joke was how a decent chunk of people in/around summit are Californian, so I was insinuating he could just ask them if there was some sorta network

**This post was edited on Jul 11th 2019 at 1:47:16am
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People move around, get over it. CO isn't exactly some unkept secret.

As far as too many peoples I agree though. I remember it coming up in a discussion in the last few years. Somebody mentioned how there was plenty of space to fit everyone. "Look at all the open land in ___" insert a bunch of states that aren't overloaded as fuck. I was like, oh no you don't. Gotta leave some of that shit wild.

Idk, I think people get too hung up on movement. There has been a boom in CO for sure, but even 10 years ago it wasn't some tiny state noone heard of. Idk, I just get tired of the "No don't move here it sucks!!!! lolololol" comments on any and every location. "Omg all the people moving here ugh"

CO's nice and all, but it isn't some holy grail. Really just the "ermagerd weed" denver area peeps and people rolling in for growing city and jobs. Idk 10 plus years ago but I would guess summit had been a steadily growing shitshow for quite a while.

Sparknotes: People move all the time. CO is just a state. People play too much into the "us vs them" in these things in imo.
 
People forget how close summit/vail is to the denver area though. The front range fills, the whole state gets used. The population's damn near doubled in the past 20 years.

I'm not hating on moving.

I'll move for the same reasons Californians move here I am sure, and I'll likely be the dude the locals hate.

But you'll never really grasp the impacts of population growth if you never new what it was like before. Also, the pahlitiks coming from California changed the state for better or worse, in a way steady local population increase may not have.

Colorado was awesome. It still is, but slightly less. One day I'll move somewhere awesome, and unfortunately make it slightly less awesome just by being there.
 
14044011:Biffbarf said:
People forget how close summit/vail is to the denver area though. The front range fills, the whole state gets used. The population's damn near doubled in the past 20 years.

I'm not hating on moving.

I'll move for the same reasons Californians move here I am sure, and I'll likely be the dude the locals hate.

But you'll never really grasp the impacts of population growth if you never new what it was like before. Also, the pahlitiks coming from California changed the state for better or worse, in a way steady local population increase may not have.

Colorado was awesome. It still is, but slightly less. One day I'll move somewhere awesome, and unfortunately make it slightly less awesome just by being there.
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Californians move there because people move. Just like people from CO move to CA. It's smaller towns becoming bigger towns or more clusterfuck towns. I assure you it's everywhere.

There are some places that were awesome, and now maybe aren't do to growth, as well as people that have been around long enough to bitch about it. For the most part people are just being assholes imo. People in CO bitch about the people from denver, people in denver bitch about the people from wherever. People in Tahoe bitch about the people in the bay area, people in the bay area bitch about the people wherever. The states to the north of you are seeing growth in the ski towns as well. There's crusty people there.

Things change, people move, and your state probably isn't as awesome as you want to believe. Take a vacation, or just forever complain about the people from ______ that ruined the world.
 
I think the locals only vibe is kinda important, to an extent. Yes people take it too far. Yes, it is mostly from people who never had the experience of traveling or moving. But people enjoy their way of life and it is their way of digging their heels in to change. Does it work? Prolly not. But it may inform people who just arrived that they're not the only ones in the area who have an opinion on how things are ran
 
Breck is the Disneyland of skiing. Avoid it if you can.

Keystone has A51 which is (in my opinion) the best park in Colorado. Aside from that nothing about it is special.

A basin is where you go to do actual skiing outside of the park. Definitely has the local vibe you’re looking for.
 
14044014:Biffbarf said:
I think the locals only vibe is kinda important, to an extent. Yes people take it too far. Yes, it is mostly from people who never had the experience of traveling or moving. But people enjoy their way of life and it is their way of digging their heels in to change. Does it work? Prolly not. But it may inform people who just arrived that they're not the only ones in the area who have an opinion on how things are ran
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I get it in general and it makes sense in a few instances I guess. Generally locals only vibe people need to get out more and or realize there's a whole world out there. Sure longer lift lines and more $$ rent sucks, but I think it goes more into the us versus them, the local club, the in crowd, than the other elements most times.

It's just kind of lazy/lame to sit around and bitch about how the world changes. Might as well rent a place with a porch and a lawn so you can start shaking your fist and yelling "get off my lawn" from the start. Justified or not, that's all it really is.
 
14044009:theabortionator said:
People move around, get over it. CO isn't exactly some unkept secret.

CO's nice and all, but it isn't some holy grail. Really just the "ermagerd weed" denver area peeps and people rolling in for growing city and jobs.
Click to expand...

I agree. I don't really have too much of a problem with people who want to come here because it's a dope place. But I do hate how our lower income/homeless populations have skyrocketed because of weed. There are 20 states you can move to for legal weed now people! Go there instead
 
14044023:FlorescentBone said:
I agree. I don't really have too much of a problem with people who want to come here because it's a dope place. But I do hate how our lower income/homeless populations have skyrocketed because of weed. There are 20 states you can move to for legal weed now people! Go there instead
Click to expand...

Now that the northeast is starting to legalize weed everyone's moving there.

https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/Weed-Skiing-Mass-Exodus-East

 
topic:jupiterhenry said:
OK, this year I’m FINALLY gonna ski some Colorado shit. Tahoe has been my spot for over 15 years, and since it’s like 4 hours away from me, it’s hard for me to justify a ski trip out of state - but this season I gotta do it.

I’m looking to ski park, somewhere with good flow and lots of features, but also some good chances at backcountry fresh lines, if we get pow. And overall I’d prefer somewhere with a cool local vibe, not overrun with gapers and tourists and shit. That extends to the accommodations and local bars and shit too. I’m bringing my girl and she will prob ski like one day, she’s beginner-status. If there’s one area where we would have better chances of getting an affordable airbnb with a hot tub, that’s a huge factor. I’m not trying to ski all day and come home exhausted to a pissed off girlfriend.

I have pass days at Breck, Vail, Keystone, Beaver Creek, and Crested Butte.

What up CO?
Click to expand...

What time of year are you coming? That's going to make a big difference on conditions. Obviously you have an Epic pass of some sort, so sticking to those resorts will save you money. Keystone and Breck will have the best parks. Back country is sketch in CO unless you know what you're doing, I'd recommend staying out of it. Maybe go to A basin, they have lots of in bounds terrain that used to be back country and is plenty gnarly.
 
14044058:LivingDaLife said:
What time of year are you coming? That's going to make a big difference on conditions. Obviously you have an Epic pass of some sort, so sticking to those resorts will save you money. Keystone and Breck will have the best parks. Back country is sketch in CO unless you know what you're doing, I'd recommend staying out of it. Maybe go to A basin, they have lots of in bounds terrain that used to be back country and is plenty gnarly.
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You called it, I'm trying out the epic local pass for tahoe and it gave me the extra 5 days in CO. But part of the reason I went for that pass was that this year I can finally afford to use those CO days. Anyways Keystone and Crested Butte are definitely emerging as winners both in my research and on this thread.

I haven't booked anything yet, but I was leaning toward mid-january, since prices will be relatively low for flights/lodging and the chances of good snow are pretty high, at least as far as I've heard.
 
14044110:jupiterhenry said:
You called it, I'm trying out the epic local pass for tahoe and it gave me the extra 5 days in CO. But part of the reason I went for that pass was that this year I can finally afford to use those CO days. Anyways Keystone and Crested Butte are definitely emerging as winners both in my research and on this thread.

I haven't booked anything yet, but I was leaning toward mid-january, since prices will be relatively low for flights/lodging and the chances of good snow are pretty high, at least as far as I've heard.
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Cool, Keystone probably won't have their big jumps up yet in mid January, but the rest of the park is usually pretty dialed in by then. I've never actually skied Crested Butte, only hit urban there...they're in a different weather pattern than summit county though, so snow conditions will be different there. Probably play that one by ear, I've heard it's pretty sketchy there with low snow due to the amount of rocks. With all the parks in summit, it's not worth driving to CB for their park.
 
14044110:jupiterhenry said:
You called it, I'm trying out the epic local pass for tahoe and it gave me the extra 5 days in CO. But part of the reason I went for that pass was that this year I can finally afford to use those CO days. Anyways Keystone and Crested Butte are definitely emerging as winners both in my research and on this thread.

I haven't booked anything yet, but I was leaning toward mid-january, since prices will be relatively low for flights/lodging and the chances of good snow are pretty high, at least as far as I've heard.
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Spot on with this. Keystone will be fun for park. Also if it's dumping you can head up to Loveland pass from there real easy for backcountry, as someone else said. On your way up there from Keystone you'll pass Abasin which has great terrain if the snow is on and a reasonably priced day pass. You'll be in Summit county which is a real fun area to go out (bars, breweries, etc) and you should be able to find some affordable lodging.

Breck isn't far away from Key either. Their town is bad ass to go out and the park is real good. If you're heading south to Crested Butte from Summit co you'll be going through Buena Vista and Gunnison, two fun mountain towns away from the resorts. Crested Butte has all the goods and normally a shitload of snow. Have fun in CO!
 
A basin and breck were both legit when I went but what do I know I'm just a Californian.

14043916:jupiterhenry said:
Ha ha that’s fair. But Boulder sends us a ton of hippies too.

Like I said tho, I’m used to Tahoe, which has as many tourists and gapers as you could ask for. I’m happy to share my handful of tips/tricks to avoid those if you come out this way too. But I don’t know shit about CO skiing except that people have been telling me to go for years and I finally have $ saved up. Any info is appreciated.
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14044066:HaydenWrong said:
outside of the park the skiing sucks here save your money for Japan or AK/ end thread
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I don't have too many homies still up in AK but I heard this past season was pretty rough for them compared to the goods we've had in the rockies/sierras/cascades
 
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