Beginner Skiing out West

If they have no money issues and want the disneyland of skiing experience, Vail is actually pretty good for beginner terrain. I was out there last winter for a day with my wife is a high end beginner snowboarder. (well we dropped her in a lesson, money well spent). What was nice is that the beginner terrain is actually mid mountain, so they still get the "high alpine" type feel. Only part she complained about was the catwalks, but loved the wide open trails, no ice etc... She just took the gondola back down at the end of the day to avoid all the catwalks to the base area. She found out she is a much better snowboarder than she previously thought, just had to get away from the eastern ice to build confidence.

That being said, after visiting all the epic pass resorts, Vail might be my least favorite (too fake feeling) and I would love to get the chance to visit Cooper.

soposkier said:

If they have no money issues and want the disneyland of skiing experience, Vail is actually pretty good for beginner terrain. I was out there last winter for a day with my wife is a high end beginner snowboarder. (well we dropped her in a lesson, money well spent). What was nice is that the beginner terrain is actually mid mountain, so they still get the "high alpine" type feel. Only part she complained about was the catwalks, but loved the wide open trails, no ice etc... She just took the gondola back down at the end of the day to avoid all the catwalks to the base area. She found out she is a much better snowboarder than she previously thought, just had to get away from the eastern ice to build confidence.

That being said, after visiting all the epic pass resorts, Vail might be my least favorite (too fake feeling) and I would love to get the chance to visit Cooper.

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Cooper is the total opposite, nice old school feel and when we skied there it was on a Monday and we felt like we had the place to ourselves.

The front side of Dercum Mountain at Keystone has nice terrain for Beginners. Long runs and you can lap the gondola if you like. However, while some of their blue runs are skiable for beginners on the front side, there are steeper blue runs on the otherside of Dercum that might be intimidating for a beginner. Most of the trails are pretty wide and it feels more New England like but bigger since you do not have wide open bowls (unless you hike or cat ski). You also have a Disney like village there too! One final point, your day lift ticket lets you ski until 8 PM so you can get some night skiing in or you can buy a night skiing only lift ticket as well.

BushMogulMaster for the win! You could pay big bucks for a tour of the mtn most places. They could get overnight accoms in historic Leadville, CO. It would be easy for visiting newbs to hit a place like Copper for a taste of a bigger mtn on the way to/from Denver airport. BTW, Dallas to Leadville is about a 13 hour drive. Piece of cake

jimk said:

BushMogulMaster for the win! You would pay big bucks for a tour of the mtn most places. They could get overnight accoms in historic Leadville, CO. It would be easy for visiting newbs to hit a place like Copper for a taste of a bigger mtn on the way to/from Denver airport. BTW, Dallas to Leadville is about a 13 hour drive. Piece of cake

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13 hour drive is doable and it solves the rental issue but the flight is not long so leaving early, you have a chance of hitting the slopes on the same day if staying at a resort. Or even catching some night skiing!

Thank you all! I have given her all of this information - I think they are leaning towards Cooper!

ski&soccermom said:

Thank you all! I have given her all of this information - I think they are leaning towards Cooper!

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Good Choice!

One thing I would be very careful of is the risk of avalanches. Quite often these massive slides take out the beginner trails with little or no notice.One time in Colorado I was skiing on an expert trail with my family and boom(!) -- didn't even see it coming -- a slide took out a whole group of beginners on the novice trail next to my trail. I think it made the papers

cps27 said:

One thing I would be very careful of is the risk of avalanches. Quite often these massive slides take out the beginner trails with little or no notice.One time in Colorado I was skiing on an expert trail with my family and boom(!) -- didn't even see it coming -- a slide took out a whole group of beginners on the novice trail next to my trail. I think it made the papers

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I would like to see that story! What was the ski area? The slope angle is low generally so a whole lot of other terrain would have to be in the way first. Coopers terrain does not seem like that is even feasible.

I read about a couple but they were on expert terrain in hike to areas.

“The incidences of inbound avalanches are extremely rare,” said Ken Kowynia, who heads the winter sports program for the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado

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I mean, in some areas it could MAYBE possibly happen. Still ridiculously incredibly rare though...

Yes, I believe it was pretty severe. Had to be several families taken out just like that. Happens every winter and rarely if ever gets reported so as not to spook the tourists.

Just a friendly warning to beginners to exercise special caution.

hope this helps!

and please please do not get me started on the unreported chairlift decapitations. unbelievable how the resorts hide this news.

cps27 said:

Yes, I believe it was pretty severe. Had to be several families taken out just like that. Happens every winter and rarely if ever gets reported so as not to spook the tourists.

Just a friendly warning to beginners to exercise special caution.

hope this helps!

and please please do not get me started on the unreported chairlift decapitations. unbelievable how the resorts hide this news.

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Having a little trouble taking this seriously!

cps27 said:

Yes, I believe it was pretty severe. Had to be several families taken out just like that. Happens every winter and rarely if ever gets reported so as not to spook the tourists.

Just a friendly warning to beginners to exercise special caution.

hope this helps!

and please please do not get me started on the unreported chairlift decapitations. unbelievable how the resorts hide this news.

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Got it, you're trolling haha

cps27 said:

Yes, I believe it was pretty severe. Had to be several families taken out just like that. Happens every winter and rarely if ever gets reported so as not to spook the tourists.

Just a friendly warning to beginners to exercise special caution.

hope this helps!

and please please do not get me started on the unreported chairlift decapitations. unbelievable how the resorts hide this news.

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This sounds like the incident at Mammoth a few years back when an ancient Native American spirit was conjured up during spring break killing off a bunch of partying teenagers. They tried to keep that one quiet too.

raisingarizona said:

This sounds like the incident at Mammoth a few years back when an ancient Native American spirit was conjured up during spring break killing off a bunch of partying teenagers. They tried to keep that one quiet too.

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Yes, that was it!

Also, if you go to Solitude, UT, watch out for the giant spiders. And Killington is known for terrorists! seriously!

cps27 said:

And Killington is known for terrorists! seriously!

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^ true, they made a movie about it

I will be sure to tell them to bubble their house in Texas and grow their own food so they stay safe and sound!

Cooper is nice, but if they are coming from Texas, they might want to consider going to New Mexico. It is closer and very cost effective. Basically, New Mexico is to a Texan, as southern Vermont is to New Jerseyites.

If they are interested in a great bargain on a quiet place in the mountains, away from every thing and catering to families, beginners and ski bikers, then they should check out Sippapu. They offer great free lodging deals with a day pass purchase. They are in the woods, with no cable, so if they are avid tv watchers, that may not work for them.

https://www.sipapunm.com/home-winter

Next up is Angel Fire. It is not far from Sippapu, so it is easy to ski both if you want to. Angel Fire is more of a resort then Sippapu. They are still in an isolated area, but they have a good size condo/hotel base area. They have TVs. Lots of good beginner terrain there and they also allow ski bikes.

https://www.angelfireresort.com/activities/winter-activities/skiing-and-snowboarding/

If they are looking for a more rounded vacation. They might be interested in Red River. It is a Texan favorite. This ski area runs right down into the middle of the town of Red River. The town has all types of food and lodging from low end to high. It also has plenty of non skiing activities, if they don't wish to ski every day / all day. The new ski area website blows and is hard to navigate, but here it is.

http://www.redriverskiarea.com

The Town website is better.

https://redriver.org


If they are set on going to Colorado, Winter Park might work for them also. It is huge, and has miles and miles of wide boulevard beginner trails.

https://www.winterparkresort.com


Lots of options, depending on the type of experience they are looking for.

8)

FYI.Dont confuse Copper with Cooper.Huge difference and not that far from each other.

SIKSKIER said:

FYI.Dont confuse Copper with Cooper.Huge difference and not that far from each other.

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However, if there was a mistake either would suffice for beginners. Actually, if skiing Cooper, then Copper is still a consideration. They have a fairly significant beginner terrain section with three or four lifts to access the beginner trails.