Month long trip to Colorado......

[Tonyr]

Resort or Ski Area

Colorado

Date

Nov 28, 2020

Snow Conditions

1. Packed Powder

Since 2020 has been so crappy, my work is fully remote now and so is my son's school, we made a family decision to spend the month of December in CO. While the trip is almost done at this point I figured I'd post somewhat of a quick recap of the places we've been and the early season conditions. Rather than doing multiple posts I'll put it all in one thread....here goes....

 

[Tonyr]

Our first stop was Vail over Thanksgiving weekend. Conditions were not bad they felt very much like the east coast. The moguls were icy but fun, there were some limited glade opportunities as well. About 25 runs were open mostly in the Mid-Vail area which was enough to keep us busy for 2 days.

 

[Tonyr]

The next stop for us was 6 days in Keystone. I love Keystone as I think it's such an underrated ski area. The runs are mellow for the most part but very long and the tree skiing is outstanding. Around 25 runs were open here as well the first week of December which was similar to Vail over Thanksgiving but we had a much better time skiing in Keystone. The best runs open on the frontside were the Wild Irishman and the Frenchman with both runs giving you an opportunity to jump into the trees. The North Peak opened 3 or 4 runs the last day that we were there. I was cautiously jumping in and out of trees the whole time that I was at Keystone, it was great!

 

[Tonyr]

Our next stop was Beaver Creek, we changed from Breckenridge at the last minute due to the very limited terrain opened at the time. I can say Beaver Creek on December 9th or 10th wasn't great either. We stayed a week but I only skied one or two days, worked, and let my achey knee rest up for the next stop. 10 to 12 runs were open including Gold Dust which is an outstanding intermediate run but you can only ski that so many times. I have one picture here of the only black diamond run opened at the time named Fools Gold. It was underwhelming!

 

[Tonyr]

From Beaver Creek we moved to Aspen for 4 nights which has been one of the highlights of the trip. We skied Ajax the whole time due to it being close to our hotel and Ajax also had 60% opened at the time. Highlands and Buttermilk were closed and Snowmass had around 20 runs opened in mid December all beginner or intermediate. Ajax on the other hand had parts of Gentleman's ridge open and almost all of Bell Mountain was skiable. If your not familiar with those areas they are full of expert terrain, this was a stark contrast to our recent Beaver Creek experience. While we were in Aspen I was sking in areas within the trees that had waist deep powder. It also snowed everyday day we skied and needless to say all three of us had an unbelievable time!

 

[Tonyr]

From Aspen we made the 4 hour drive down to Telluride. We were in Telluride for 5 days until the 19th of December. They had about 40% of their terrain open but alot of areas off of chair 6 that weren't open could be easily poached. If your not familiar with the resort, chair 6 and chair 14 have all of Telluride's best lift served terrain. Even though only 40% of Telluride was open I got a good feel for their best terrain along the top ridge, it's really good! Telluride also has alot of good intermediate terrain and great expert tree skiing. It really has the full package It's just a pain in the butt to get to.

I will say that I don't think that there is prettier ski area in the country than Telluride. It's absolutely breath taking there, it's a must go if you've never been.

 

[Edd]

Funny, I watched a Telluride video the other day and I think your post just pushed me over the edge.

Awesome trip man! Aspen was one of my best ski trips. I hope dearly to return.

 

[Tonyr]

We moved from Telluride to Crested Butte for 5 days and I can say Crested Butte is very pretty as well. Not quite at the level of Telluride but close. I didn't get a chance to ski any of their extreme terrain as none of it was open nor would you even want to try due to the thin coverage in those areas but we had a fabulous time none the less. Crested Butte was 70% open while we were there and has bump runs and tree skiing all over the place. The East River pod was the highlight of the skiing. I would love to go back there in late February or March when the entire resort is open. It is definitely the most challenging ski resort in Colorado when fully opened.

 

[Tonyr]

From Crested Butte we've made our way back to Beaver Creek. I'll say that the drive was absolutely crazy making your way over the Monarch pass. Thankfully the weather wasn't bad but there were areas of the drive that I definitely held my breath. If you slip up on a number of spots on that pass you'll fly right off the side of the mountain to your death. I was shocked that no guard rails were up on that pass but I digress!

We are in Beaver Creek now and the experience is night and day from what it was in early December. There are 95 runs opened right now and plenty of great skiing. The lower areas of the birds of prey runs are open and it has been a great opportunity for my wife and son to work on harder runs. Beaver Creek gets a bad rap as fancy groomer mountain. Yes they do have lots of great goomers but they also have an overwhelming amount of bump runs. Also the trees here are amazing, not as beautiful as Telluride but much more varied.

BC does have some extreme terrain, it's no where near Crested Butte, Telluride, or Squaw's level but they do have some really good stuff. For me though the unmarked tree skiing makes up for the lack of extreme terrain. I love the trees here under fully opened conditions!

 

[Tonyr]

Funny, I watched a Telluride video the other day and I think your post just pushed me over the edge.

Awesome trip man! Aspen was one of my best ski trips. I hope dearly to return.

We had a great time in Aspen as well but if you have never made the trip to Telluride yet you need to go there first before you head back to Aspen!

 

[abc]

So you have no trouble handling the reservation business?

 

[Tonyr]

So you have no trouble handling the reservation business?

I have made 27 reservations with Epic so far this year and have not had a single problem with the system yet. I've gotten every day I've wanted so far. I also bought the Mountain Collective pass as well for our 3 days of skiing in Aspen and other planned trips out west later this year. As of now I haven't had a problem there either. To be fair though, we didn't need to make a ski reservation at Aspen but the county is requiring a negative COVID test before you arrive.

 

[Tonyr]

I have made 27 reservations with Epic so far this year and have not had a single problem with the system yet. I've gotten every day I've wanted so far. I also bought the Mountain Collective pass as well for our 3 days of skiing in Aspen and other planned trips out west later this year. As of now I haven't had a problem there either. To be fair though, we didn't need to make a ski reservation at Aspen but the county is requiring a negative COVID test before you arrive.

27 reservations minus 5. I forgot that Telluride didn't require reservations either. (Skied there 5 days)

 

[jimk]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing your experience. There is so much griping about so many resorts this winter, esp regarding covid, reservation, and parking issues. It's great to see someone work the system in a very successful way on a long, ambitious trip. Bravo. Were there any days when you could not ski for some reason that you had hoped to ski, or were there other special covid type factors that were esp inconvenient to overcome?
BTW, I've been to all the places you visited in the last five years. You are doing a best of Colorado tour!

 

[Tonyr]

Great photos! Thanks for sharing your experience. There is so much griping about so many resorts this winter, esp regarding covid, reservation, and parking issues. It's great to see someone work the system in a very successful way on a long, ambitious trip. Bravo. Were there any days when you could not ski for some reason that you had hoped to ski, or were there other special covid type factors that were esp inconvenient to overcome?
BTW, I've been to all the places you visited in the last five years. You are doing a best of Colorado tour!

Thanks Jim! No there hasn't been any issues with skiing the days we wanted to ski except for work getting in the way, It has been pretty seemless. The Vail, BC, Aspen, Crested Butte establishments were fully open, Telluride and Keystone didn't allow indoor dining which really hurt the local restaurants in those areas. The owner of a nice steakhouse in the Keystone village was really upset that they couldn't serve guests indoors but Eagle county could. The restaurants in Telluride seemed to go with the flow regarding the COVID lock down rules. Crested Butte closed down a month before the holiday rush then they went full boar Christmas week. One of the waitress in town told me that this year was the busiest she has ever been. Basically the COVID rules from county to county in CO are VERY inconsistent. One thing that is clear to me though is that CO will not be shutting down ski resorts this year from what I've seen.

On a separate note, we have a 3 week trip planned in February for Big Sky, Jackson, and Park City so we'll continue to "work the system!" We don't have any plans to visit VT this season for the first time in 5 years which is kind of a bummer. I'm a huge fan of skiing the Northeast but have felt unwelcomed up in VT this season.

 

[Tonyr]

Photo of the day from our last run at Beaver Creek in 2020. President Ford's was the run of the day. Off to Arapahoe Basin tomorrow.....

 

[180]

great pictures and writeup!

 

[Tonyr]

great pictures and writeup!

Thanks!

 

[Tonyr]

Skied at Arapahoe Basin for the first time today in between hotel moves and would say that this place feels like the west coast version of Mad River Glen. It's no frills but they have some amazing steep skiing off of the Pallavicini lift that is as good as anywhere I've been. Skied the 3rd and 4th alley off of the Palli ridge and it was some of the best steep tree skiing that I've ever done. 8 inches of snow hit in the early morning so that made it extra good!

The Beavers area is tamer but amazing as well too. Had to wait an hour in line to pick my lift tickets up but other than that this place was great if your into steep skiing. Here are some photos from the day.....

 

[abc]

Had to wait an hour in line to pick my lift tickets up

Holy cow!