Colorado Skiing-Snowboarding

Hi,
We are planning to visit Colorado over Chirstmas break '04 for
four-five days. We will be primarily staying in Longmont, CO area. I
have two questions:

1. Which resorts we must try, I am an intermediate snowboarder and my
wife is a beginner-intermediate skier. I have heard a lot about
Colorado skiing but have no clue as to what two resorts to try to get
"Colorado Experience". We will be able to spend only two days on the
slopes.

2. How can one get cheaper lift tickets to the resorts you recommend.
Are the tickets any cheaper to buy from say the airport, grocery
stores etc than from the resorts?

Thanks,
Shoaib

Thanks a lot for very informative email. We are trying to save as
much money as possible on this trip, thats why we are driving our car
from Minneapolis.

I have some more questions:

1. How can one get cheaper lift tickets? to say copper mountain and
vail. these are the two places that my friends have recommended I
should go to.

2. My wife will need to rent skis and boots, is there a way to rent
skis for cheap. I have heard there are many rental shops, which are
not affiliated with a resort. How does one find those rental shops?

3. Will staying in say Frisco and spending close to $200/night be
worth the cost? Do you know of any cheaper Motels etc in that area?

4. We get icy conditions here in Midwest and that is what I am trying
to get away from. Where can I find good conditions?

Thanks,
Shoaib

----- Original Message -----
From: David david
To: shabu49
Subject: Colorado Skiing-Snowboarding
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 10:50:20 +0100


Hi Shoaib,

I'm from Boulder (15 minutes from Longmont) so I can help...

To be honest, I think you need to be aware of a few things so
you are prepared...

1) Longmont is a long way from the slopes

2) The traffic up I-70 to the major resorts is very bad on weekends
an holiday times

3) The resorts within a reasonable driving distance of Denver will
all be very crowded!

There are quite a few excellent ski areas within reach (driving times
from Longmont in ideal conditions).
- Eldora (1h00m)
- Loveland (1h30m)
- Arapahoe Basin (1h45m)
- Winter Park (1h45m)
- Keystone (1h45m)
- Breckenridge (2h00m)
- Copper Mountain (2h00m)
- Vail (2h15m)

All but Eldora require you to drive I-70 from Denver to the mountains.
If you try to day ski from Denver during the holidays, you either need
to leave very early (before 6am), or else plan on adding 30 to 60
minutes to the drive time.

On the return, leave the resort before 3pm or after 7pm or else you
will be stuck in traffic for a long time coming back to Denver.

If conditions are good, you can have a lot of fun at Eldora without
hassling with the traffic. However it can be very cold and windy
there and is often much icier than the other resorts. Also Eldora has
no fast lifts.

As far as which to recommend: I think you would enjoy them all.
Loveland and A-Basin are very high and are to be avoided if the
weather is cold or windy, otherwise they are wonderful (but much
smaller than the major resorts). All the other places are great, but
can be very busy. However they all have a large number of
detachable lifts so they move the crowds well. However it can
be a bit of a mob scene at the base, with the parking, taking a
shuttle to the lifts, etc.

My suggestion, if you can manage it, would be to book a room in
Summit County (Dillon, Silverthorn, or Frisco) for a night or two
and use this as a base to ski the surrounding resorts. You'll save
gas money and avoid a lot of hassle with the traffic!

Let me know if you have more questions...over the years I have skied
all of these resorts many times (and I was a ski patroller at Winter
Park for a few years).

Best regards, David.


Hi,
We are planning to visit Colorado over Chirstmas break '04 for
four-five days. We will be primarily staying in Longmont, CO area. I
have two questions:

1. Which resorts we must try, I am an intermediate snowboarder and my
wife is a beginner-intermediate skier. I have heard a lot about
Colorado skiing but have no clue as to what two resorts to try to get
"Colorado Experience". We will be able to spend only two days on the
slopes.

2. How can one get cheaper lift tickets to the resorts you recommend.
Are the tickets any cheaper to buy from say the airport, grocery
stores etc than from the resorts?

Thanks,
Shoaib

Shoaib wrote:

Thanks a lot for very informative email. We are trying to save as
much money as possible on this trip, thats why we are driving our car
from Minneapolis.

I have some more questions:

1. How can one get cheaper lift tickets? to say copper mountain and
vail. these are the two places that my friends have recommended I
should go to.


Try http://www.skicoupons.com/


2. My wife will need to rent skis and boots, is there a way to rent
skis for cheap. I have heard there are many rental shops, which are
not affiliated with a resort. How does one find those rental shops?

I never rented so can't help you there. I have been to Christie Sporta
which are located in several places between Denver and Vail area. They
always treated me well.


3. Will staying in say Frisco and spending close to $200/night be
worth the cost? Do you know of any cheaper Motels etc in that area?

$200/night? That should get you a pretty nice place. Motels can be
found for under $100. Depending on time of year prices closer to $50 is
easy.


4. We get icy conditions here in Midwest and that is what I am trying
to get away from. Where can I find good conditions?

Anywhere in Colorado will generally be soft, powder and packed powder.
Late season or if its been warm icy days can occur but they are the
exception and not the norm. The higher the elevation of the resort the
softer the snow will usually be.

(Shoaib) wrote:

3. Will staying in say Frisco and spending close to $200/night be
worth the cost? Do you know of any cheaper Motels etc in that area?

Frisco Lodge, much less than $200/night:

http://www.friscolodge.com/

--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://ski.terrymorse.com/

I dont want to spend $200/night. Will I be able to find something
around dec 27 for two people for less than $100/night?

I really liked the suggestion for fresco lodge in the another post to
this thread. Please recommend some more like that.

Shoaib


miles wrote:
Shoaib wrote:

Thanks a lot for very informative email. We are trying to save as
much money as possible on this trip, thats why we are driving our
car
from Minneapolis.

I have some more questions:

1. How can one get cheaper lift tickets? to say copper mountain and

vail. these are the two places that my friends have recommended I
should go to.


Try http://www.skicoupons.com/


2. My wife will need to rent skis and boots, is there a way to rent

skis for cheap. I have heard there are many rental shops, which are

not affiliated with a resort. How does one find those rental shops?

I never rented so can't help you there. I have been to Christie
Sporta
which are located in several places between Denver and Vail area.
They
always treated me well.


3. Will staying in say Frisco and spending close to $200/night be
worth the cost? Do you know of any cheaper Motels etc in that area?

$200/night? That should get you a pretty nice place. Motels can be
found for under $100. Depending on time of year prices closer to $50
is
easy.


4. We get icy conditions here in Midwest and that is what I am
trying
to get away from. Where can I find good conditions?

Anywhere in Colorado will generally be soft, powder and packed
powder.
Late season or if its been warm icy days can occur but they are the
exception and not the norm. The higher the elevation of the resort
the
softer the snow will usually be.

miles wrote in message news:Xrtrd.164350$bk1.143428@fed1read05...
Shoaib wrote:
1. How can one get cheaper lift tickets? to say copper mountain and
vail. these are the two places that my friends have recommended I
should go to.
Try http://www.skicoupons.com/

Many places have discount kiosks that sell lift tickets. There are
probably better discounts out there but you won't have to wait in line
to use the kiosks. Christy Sports has them at their stores and so
does the Starbucks on I-70 in Dumont.


2. My wife will need to rent skis and boots, is there a way to rent
skis for cheap. I have heard there are many rental shops, which are
not affiliated with a resort. How does one find those rental shops?

I never rented so can't help you there. I have been to Christie Sporta
which are located in several places between Denver and Vail area. They
always treated me well.

Google is your friend. Christy Sports is on of the better places.
You can rent online and get a 20% discount at
http://christysports.com. Pay in full online and you will speed up
the process. Rentals are generally more expensive closer to the
mountain. There is a Christy Sports in Dillon right off I-70 that is
convient. They are also at most of the mountain base areas so if you
have problems, they can be quickly solved.

3. Will staying in say Frisco and spending close to $200/night be
worth the cost? Do you know of any cheaper Motels etc in that area?

$200/night? That should get you a pretty nice place. Motels can be
found for under $100. Depending on time of year prices closer to $50 is
easy.

I live here so I don't know about motel prices but both Best Western
and Holiday Inn are right off the highway in Frisco. I've never paid
that much at those chains but it will be holiday time. Book early for
the best rates.

4. We get icy conditions here in Midwest and that is what I am trying
to get away from. Where can I find good conditions?

Anywhere in Colorado will generally be soft, powder and packed powder.
Late season or if its been warm icy days can occur but they are the
exception and not the norm. The higher the elevation of the resort the
softer the snow will usually be.

The best conditions are almost always where it snowed the most last
night. There can be a wide variation between resorts in the
Summit/Eagle county area. If it snows when you are here, get up early
and check the morning reports. You can hit lots of resorts within one
hour of Frisco. Follow the snow.