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#1
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Summit County
I will be in Summit County for New Year's week. Primarily
Breckenridge. Any advice for our trip? Should we definitely be planning on a day at A Basin? Never skiied there. I skiied once before at night at Keystone and kinda thought it was gimicky. Couldn't really see well enough to ski aggressively, I thought. And (as I recall) it got cold. (That whole lack of sun thing and all . . .) Beaver Creek looks like a significant drive, but our passes will get us in there a couple days, also. I've been to Vail and don't really need to get back there yet (especially over the holiday), but have never skiied BC. Thoughts? -William |
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#2
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On 2004-12-19, William penned:
I will be in Summit County for New Year's week. Primarily Breckenridge. Any advice for our trip? Maybe ... Should we definitely be planning on a day at A Basin? Never skiied there. Hard to answer without knowing the type of terrain you like. Most of the (in)famous stuff at A-Basin is currently closed. Of course, a lot can happen in two weeks ... A-Basin is really friggin' cold and windy. Because it's so cold, it often has better snow than the sunnier ski areas. Then again, if you like anything resembling the word "resort," don't bother. A-Basin has a cafeteria, a handful of lockers, and that's about it. If you get there early enough, you can park close enough to ski back to your car at the end of the day. If you like fairly aggressive terrain, I would try A-Basin, but I'd check to see what they have open, first. If they don't have a lot of black diamonds open, they don't have a lot of the mountain open. I skiied once before at night at Keystone and kinda thought it was gimicky. Couldn't really see well enough to ski aggressively, I thought. And (as I recall) it got cold. (That whole lack of sun thing and all . . .) I agree; nighttime skiing is gimmicky =P That has nothing to do with Keystone itself. I personally haven't been too impressed by Keystone, but it's probably true that I haven't given it a proper chance. It seemed to me that, no matter how close you park, there's an awful lot of walking from there to the lifts. But maybe I missed something really obvious. Beaver Creek looks like a significant drive, but our passes will get us in there a couple days, also. I've been to Vail and don't really need to get back there yet (especially over the holiday), but have never skiied BC. Thoughts? I like Beaver Creek. I haven't experienced the kinds of crowds at BC that I have at Vail. If you like steep moguls, there's grouse mountain to keep you very happy. In fact, there seem to be a lot of fun mogul runs all over. I was at BC last Tuesday and thoroughly enjoyed myself, but we didn't try Grouse Mountain, which we were told is called "Gravel Mountain" in the early season. But it *is* open. -- monique Longmont, CO |
#3
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As Monique said, the Basin can be cold and windy. I usually don't go
there until the spring. Since Palli and the East Wall are not open yet, there's really no reason to go. If you do decide to go, check the forcast and try to pick the warmest day of your trip. I like Beaver Creek and the drive really isn't so bad. If you do go there, try to plan it on a weekend since the crowds there will be less than Breckenridge. New Years week isn't prime tourist time so things shouldn't be to bad. It's the week between Christmas and New Years that will be the most crowded. If you can go to Vail, I would pick Vail or Beaver Creek for the weekends. Vail gets about the same skier numbers as Breckenridge but has twice the lift capacity and terrian so it will usually be less crowded than Breckenridge for any given weekend. Better yet, use the weekends for other activities like shopping, ice skating, snowmobileing or XC skiing. |
#4
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On 2004-12-20, snoig penned:
As Monique said, the Basin can be cold and windy. I usually don't go there until the spring. Since Palli and the East Wall are not open yet, there's really no reason to go. If you do decide to go, check the forcast and try to pick the warmest day of your trip. Oh, I don't know. I had the Colorado pass (choice of A-Basin, Keystone, Breck, Vail, and BC) last year, and I skied at A-Basin the most. A lot of A-Basin's blues are fun, and pretty challenging as blues goes. The trouble is that the Palli lift and the east wall comprise most of the resort, so if you go when they're closed, you don't have nearly the variety you might have at another resort. Some reasons to like A-Basin: don't have to go through the Eisenhower tunnel (doesn't apply to the OP); earlybirds get awesome parking; old-school, non-commercial feel; cold enough that snow doesn't degrade as quickly as at other resorts, so it is a good pick when it hasn't snowed in a while; typically short lift lines; slow lifts, which limit the number of skiers sharing the slope with you. Now, all that being said, I probably wouldn't take a novice skier to A-Basin. I think you have to be hooked on skiing to see things like cold weather and slow lifts as benefits =P If you can go to Vail, I would pick Vail or Beaver Creek for the weekends. Vail gets about the same skier numbers as Breckenridge but has twice the lift capacity and terrian so it will usually be less crowded than Breckenridge for any given weekend. Better yet, use the weekends for other activities like shopping, ice skating, snowmobileing or XC skiing. Vail's crowds kill me. I've heard there are strategies to avoid the crowds, but I've never managed it. It seems to take me half the day just to get to the areas I want to ski. It is nice and sunny, though, and all the bowls are yummy. If you had to ask me why to ski at various places, I'd say Vail has the bowls, but BC has the moguls. I don't know that I've skied Beaver Creek enough to really say, though. Of course, if I *really* wanted to ski moguls, I'd probably go to Mary Jane at Winter Park ... which is back to having the "old school" feel rather than the "resort" feel. -- monique Longmont, CO |
#5
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I've found that with Vail, if you stay on the front side of the
mountain in the morning you can usually avoid the crowds. I think people tend to flock to the back bowls that have only one or two ways out which cause long lines. I've been there on days when people here on rsam were posting about 45 minute lift lines and I only waited in one longer than 5 minutes (and I timed them). We started at Lions Head which was a 20 minute wait then worked our way over to the Highline area and back. I find this is a pretty good strategy. If you are at the top of Highline around noon, you can check out the back bowls and get where you want to go while everyone is eating lunch. I usually find Sunup and Sundown to be the most crowded areas. snoig |
#6
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"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
... On 2004-12-19, William penned: I will be in Summit County for New Year's week. Primarily Breckenridge. Any advice for our trip? Maybe ... Should we definitely be planning on a day at A Basin? Never skiied there. Hard to answer without knowing the type of terrain you like. Most of the (in)famous stuff at A-Basin is currently closed. Of course, a lot can happen in two weeks ... rocky and thin. We need some snow. ant |
#7
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ant wrote:
[snip] rocky and thin. We need some snow. ant Here! Here! I agree with Monique's advice entirely. Nonetheless, at the moment, I wouldn't go to Summit County (Copper excepted) if I had a choice. If you are coming anyway, bring the old skis. |
#8
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vbenares wrote:
ant wrote: [snip] rocky and thin. We need some snow. ant Here! Here! Where? Where? I agree with Monique's advice entirely. Nonetheless, at the moment, I wouldn't go to Summit County (Copper excepted) if I had a choice. If you are coming anyway, bring the old skis. I hear you! |
#9
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"ant" wrote in
rocky and thin. We need some snow. ant Does that mean you are back here in CO ant? I was there last Friday (A-Basin). While the snow was nice, it did need to be just a tad thicker. Sam "I ski A-Basin too" Seiber |
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