Denver Skiing on a budget?

auser wrote:
I'm planning a snowboarding trip near Denver and I'm looking for the
best deal. I'm short on time and money (one of the reasons I picked
Denver; easy to get too, one flight from where I am, Wash. DC area).

You might want to consider:

Arapahoe Inn in Keystone with an A-Basin only ticket.
$69 pp/day (Sun-Thur) Lifts & Lodging ($89 Fri-Sat)

Check the web sites for deals. http://www.coloradoskicountry.com/

Give yourself a night to adjust to the altitude.

Dean

To my way of thinking, "budget trip" and "rental car" are two opposite
notions. Don't most resorts have van service from DIA?

You don't even need to ride the van. You can take a city bus from
Boulder to Eldora. The last time I was in Boulder, eleven years ago, I
stayed at a non-AYH hostel there. It was a real dump, but you said you
were on a budget. Here's a link to the RTD bus service to Eldora:

http://www.rtd-denver.com/SpecialRides/Ski_n_Ride/

There's an AYH hostel in Glenwood Springs that seems to be able to
conjure up discount tickets. I never stayed at that one, but I saw
flyers for it when I stayed at the Denver AYH. It's probably booked
solid.

http://hostelcolorado.com/

If you Google for "glenwood springs ayh" you'll find hits for other
hostels nearby. They're surely not all AYH hostels.

What airline are you flying? Check the link at DC Ski. Frontier
boarding passes are good for "buy one, get one free" lift tickets.

http://www.dcski.com/bargaintracker/index.php

Frontier Airlines offers Colorado lift ticket special
Winter Park and Copper Mountain, Colorado
(Added December 12, 2004)

Frontier Airlines passengers flying in December 2004, January 2005, and
February 2005 can trade in their boarding-pass receipt for a free lift
ticket at Colorado’s Winter Park and Copper Mountain Resorts,
when purchasing one full-day ticket at the window rate. So if you plan
on flying to Denver on Frontier Airlines, remember that your boarding
pass will let you take advantage of this “two for one”
offer. The deal is valid only on weekdays, excluding December 27-31,
2004 and March 14-25, 2005. For more information contact Winter Park or
Copper Mountain Resorts.

Don't forget to check at the King Sooper or Safeway grocery stores in
and around Denver and Boulder for discount lift tickets. I got a
discount ticket for Eldora at a Boulder Safeway.

Have you posted at DC Ski?

http://www.dcski.com/

Best wishes. I wish I were going too.

I'm planning a snowboarding trip near Denver and I'm looking for the
best deal. I'm short on time and money (one of the reasons I picked
Denver; easy to get too, one flight from where I am, Wash. DC area).

I'm also in the MD/DC area. While I love CO, if you want to do it on a
budget, see the earlier post about Utah. I find it much easier to do
Utah on a budget due to the proximity of airport/city/mountains. More
mountains, cheaper lodging, much less driving, easier to get by w/o a
car if you need to (shorter trips all around).

All the same, I have used hotwire.com to find cheap lodging in Summit
County. Also, you can usually get direct flights between DC and Utah
and you're much more likely to board a half day in Utah than in CO (and
still make your flight). CO is great though. Take the advice and hit
A-Basin for a day. Also give Keystone a call, they usually have good
lodging deals and if you get a multi-day ticket it will take you to
several areas. Shuttles from the Keystone lodging to other resorts as
well.

-todd

Know Denver backwards and forwards !
1 Cheapest YMCA but contact YMCA/DC first.
2 Best and least expensive.....LOVELAND Ski Area just off Rte USA Hwy
70 about an hour's drive from Downtown Denver. See URL below.
3 Great ski/board country.
4 While there.....ride Chair #9 to the top of the Great Continental
Divide Range.......the highest lift-served ski/board run in the world at
13,010' and board on down..
The Loveland Ski Area URL says it all:
Address:http://www.skiloveland.com/ Changed:12:27 PM on Wednesday,
February 16, 2005 Spend a buck ! Take cameras, dig or cam, extra
tape, DVD discs and batteries. The scenery is magnificent !
Have fun.....regards.