Skiing in Colorado

Hi -- I am from Boston and will be making a stopover this winter in Denver,
courtesy of United Air Lines. I'll be with two of my kids, and we would like
to do some skiing. We have never skiied in the West before.

The problem is that we will be there in between Christmas and New Years -
unavoidable. Can anyone recommend one or two resorts that are good for
intermediate skiing, within a couple of hours drive of Denver, and might
(perhaps) be a little less than totally jammed at Christmas time?

Thanks a lot

Eric Segal wrote:

Hi -- I am from Boston and will be making a stopover this winter in Denver,
courtesy of United Air Lines. I'll be with two of my kids, and we would like
to do some skiing. We have never skiied in the West before.

The problem is that we will be there in between Christmas and New Years -
unavoidable. Can anyone recommend one or two resorts that are good for
intermediate skiing, within a couple of hours drive of Denver, and might
(perhaps) be a little less than totally jammed at Christmas time?

Thanks a lot

Damn, I would love to answer this one. I fear if I let the cat out of
the bag, than the *one* good place that fits your conditions will be
over run after they read this post. Perhaps if you do a google search
on my name, that may lead to hints. But for the life of me, I just
can't type the answer.

Sam "I ski Loveland" Seiber
;-)

"Eric Segal" wrote in message
...
Hi -- I am from Boston and will be making a stopover this winter in
Denver,
courtesy of United Air Lines. I'll be with two of my kids, and we would
like
to do some skiing. We have never skiied in the West before.

The problem is that we will be there in between Christmas and New Years -
unavoidable. Can anyone recommend one or two resorts that are good for
intermediate skiing, within a couple of hours drive of Denver, and might
(perhaps) be a little less than totally jammed at Christmas time?

Vail. Definitely Vail.

All the serious Colorado skiers will recommend you go to Vail.

Richard Henry wrote:
The problem is that we will be there in between Christmas and New Years -
unavoidable. Can anyone recommend one or two resorts that are good for
intermediate skiing, within a couple of hours drive of Denver, and might
(perhaps) be a little less than totally jammed at Christmas time?

Vail. Definitely Vail.

All the serious Colorado skiers will recommend you go to Vail.

Ahh, nuts Richard. I plumb forgot about Vail. Yeah, Vail,
thats the ticket. Two hour drive from Denver. Fits the
conditions mentioned above.

Sam "I rarely ski Vail" Seiber

Eric Segal wrote:

Hi -- I am from Boston and will be making a stopover this winter in Denver,
courtesy of United Air Lines. I'll be with two of my kids, and we would like
to do some skiing. We have never skiied in the West before.

The problem is that we will be there in between Christmas and New Years -
unavoidable. Can anyone recommend one or two resorts that are good for
intermediate skiing, within a couple of hours drive of Denver, and might
(perhaps) be a little less than totally jammed at Christmas time?

What about Winter Park? The theory would be that it's less of a
destination resort and more of a Denver local area than a real
destination resort like Vail, and thus less likely to get the Christmas
jamming. This is probably offbase; I'm just throwing it out for
Coloradoans to comment on.

The other problem you're going to run into in that time slot is price;
specifically, the price of a hotel room. Understand that this is the
time of MAXIMUM overcharging for a hotel room at ski resorts. You will
not believe the prices you're going to see quoted to you. Prepare to be
amazed.

Dave

Sam Seiber wrote:

Richard Henry wrote:

The problem is that we will be there in between Christmas and New Years -
unavoidable. Can anyone recommend one or two resorts that are good for
intermediate skiing, within a couple of hours drive of Denver, and might
(perhaps) be a little less than totally jammed at Christmas time?

Vail. Definitely Vail.

All the serious Colorado skiers will recommend you go to Vail.


Ahh, nuts Richard. I plumb forgot about Vail. Yeah, Vail,
thats the ticket. Two hour drive from Denver. Fits the
conditions mentioned above.

Definitely the intermediate part.
Cheap, too ...

OK - original poster - dig out a ski Colorado booklet(Colorado spreads
ski booklets all over the country in the fall) - pick some likely
suspects, and ask specific questions; better data will be forthcoming.
Or take Sam's hidden advice; it's actually pretty good.

Dave Stallard wrote:

The other problem you're going to run into in that time slot is price;
specifically, the price of a hotel room. Understand that this is the
time of MAXIMUM overcharging for a hotel room at ski resorts. You will
not believe the prices you're going to see quoted to you. Prepare to be
amazed.

Should be OK if he stays in Motel 6 class digs in Denver, and bombs an
hour or so uphill each day for skiing in a rental car. But, yeah, avoid
the horrifying disneylands at the base of the destination resorts,
whatever you do...

Dave Stallard wrote:
What about Winter Park? The theory would be that it's less of a
destination resort and more of a Denver local area than a real
destination resort like Vail, and thus less likely to get the Christmas
jamming. This is probably offbase; I'm just throwing it out for
Coloradoans to comment on.

Well Dave, I figgr ya'all aint from around here. Interwest is working
on making Winter Park as much a destination resort as any of the other
bigs here in CO. Also, remember, there is a lot of Denver to spread
around the ski areas within a two hour drive. Xmas-NewYears isn't
going to be a fun week to find short lift lines and a little elbow
room on the runs. Winter Park prolly will be just as packed as the
other bigs.


The other problem you're going to run into in that time slot is price;
specifically, the price of a hotel room. Understand that this is the
time of MAXIMUM overcharging for a hotel room at ski resorts. You will
not believe the prices you're going to see quoted to you. Prepare to be
amazed.

Dave

The original poster did mention the two hour drive condition. I took
that to mean that they were lodging in the Denver area. But the
original poster should also realise that a two hour drive during
that week won't get you as far as it does at other times during
the season. On the wrong day, a two hour drive won't even get
you to the closest ski area to Denver. YMMV. Hmm, this might
be the first I have seen the YMMV actually relate to driving.
HTH
HAND

Sam "Thinking of our old friend Mike Speegle" Seiber

Look for lodging in Dillon/Silverthorne and ski at Breck or Copper.
Excellent places to ski and at least a chance of not being totally
nailed on lodging costs.

If impressing your friends is important - and it might be - then Vail or
Beaver Creek. Vail is world class - unless the kids snowboard, in which
case you need to know the mountain very well to avoid long traverses -
but it's a pain in terms of cost, accessibility, and snotiness.
Eric Segal wrote:

Hi -- I am from Boston and will be making a stopover this winter in Denver,
courtesy of United Air Lines. I'll be with two of my kids, and we would like
to do some skiing. We have never skiied in the West before.

The problem is that we will be there in between Christmas and New Years -
unavoidable. Can anyone recommend one or two resorts that are good for
intermediate skiing, within a couple of hours drive of Denver, and might
(perhaps) be a little less than totally jammed at Christmas time?

Thanks a lot

"Eric Segal" wrote in
:

Hi -- I am from Boston and will be making a stopover this winter in
Denver, courtesy of United Air Lines. I'll be with two of my kids, and
we would like to do some skiing. We have never skiied in the West
before.

The problem is that we will be there in between Christmas and New
Years - unavoidable. Can anyone recommend one or two resorts that are
good for intermediate skiing, within a couple of hours drive of
Denver, and might (perhaps) be a little less than totally jammed at
Christmas time?

Thanks a lot


Go somewhere smaller, like Eldora or Ski Cooper. Both acceptable drive
times, and generally less crowded. Xmas is the 2nd worst time to be here,
with the worst time being the month of March (Spring Break people).


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