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#1
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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 |
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#2
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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 |
#3
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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. |
#4
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(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/ |
#5
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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 $50 is easy. 4. We get icy conditions here in Midwest and that is what I am trying to get away from. Where can I find good conditions? Anywhere in Colorado will generally be soft, powder and packed powder. Late season or if its been warm icy days can occur but they are the exception and not the norm. The higher the elevation of the resort the softer the snow will usually be. |
#6
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miles wrote in message news:Xrtrd.164350$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. |
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