Colorado Ski Guide

[KustyTheKlown]

some of the local subreddits are alright. r/skiing is hit or miss.

 

[jimk]

Does anyone know if there is a similar forum site like this(alpinezone) in Colorado? I am skiing out there in December and then in January. Ever since Epicski went down you can't find much info for forums in those areas?

A lot of posters migrated from Epic Ski to Pug Ski dot com, including many CO locals.

 

[pauldotcom]

Abasin and Loveland are fantastic. I recommend Loveland on the drive from the airport. They sell cheap 4 hour tickets. There is some pretty steep stuff that will pucker you up!

A couple of CRAZY GOOD resorts not mentioned often - Copper & Winterpark. Lodging is usually pretty cheap; last time we stayed in a condo with a mountain view at both - and I'm pretty frugal!

Copper has lots a good, steep terrain everywhere. Easy to find some good stuff. Winterpark, on the other hand, isn't super steep but the Mary Jane section is spectacular. Great glades and bumps! There is also a pretty sick bowl in the back that you can access via groomer wagon. I guess that's what it's called..

Anyone has questions about either of these resorts, I'd be happy to discuss. I'm also a huge fan of Breck/Vail. I know, pretty popular spots, but Breck has some fantastic, steep, open bowls up top.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

yes, copper and winterpark are not mentioned often. the two major colorado unlimited season pass options on ikon. nothing to see here. ::facepalm::

and your analysis is ass backwards. copper is flat and boring. winter park (mary jane) is steep and fun.

 

[pauldotcom]

And you are a dick.

 

[gregnye]

and your analysis is ass backwards. copper is flat and boring. winter park (mary jane) is steep and fun.

This comes up everytime Copper is mentioned and I disagree every time. Copper has the better steep alpine skiing (so above treeline/bowls). Mary Jane is steep, but it's not above tree line (which is why most people go west).

So for me Copper>Winter Park

Luckily now you can use IKON for A-Basin, so you don't have to choose between just two

 

[BenedictGomez]

copper is flat and boring

How many days have you skied there?

I've skied there a grand total of 1 day in my entire life, and I know that isnt true. Boring? Really?

Seems like a weird flex, especially from an east coaster.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

the above treeline terrain at copper gets manky and skied out very quickly, and none of it has sustained vertical more than ~500-800 feet. they did add a chair on tucker this year, which improves access, but again, its like 750 vertical. mary jane has far more interesting steep skiing, albeit not above treeline. you are right that a-basin is better than both of them.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

How many days have you skied there?

I've skied there a grand total of 1 day in my entire life, and I know that isnt true. Boring? Really?

Seems like a weird flex, especially from an east coaster.

maybe 20 days lifetime, including 10+ over the past 3 years. its no flex, its just probably my least favorite skiing in colorado (comparing to winter park, a-basin, vail, breck, keystone, silverton, beaver creek, steamboat - i think thats everywhere ive skied in co). i'd actually put copper above steamboat bc steamboat is really really intermediate. a-basin and silverton are tops for me. i'm sure crested butte and telluride have what i am after, i just havent been.

yes, that map looks like there are a lot of cool above treeline hits. but as i said right above, its all short and gets skied out fast. no sustained vertical on steep and above treeline terrain there. and union meadows is literally flat. the enchanted forest stuff is fun, but again, super short vertical before you hit the run out.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I just cant bring myself to criticize virtually any major west coast property when I'm skiing Plattekill, Smuggs, and Jay Peak most days in a ski season.

It's like when people say, "Park City / Canyons BLOWS man!!!!!" ---- uhhhh, yeah, I'd DREAM to be able to ski PC/Canyons 25 days a season.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

lol. i mean yea, its all obviously relative. but if i had the option to ski any of those summit/grand/eagle county places, copper would probably be my last choice (i only say probably bc vail is pretty damn tame too). i am copper'd out after the past few years. you really should check out a-basin if you havent. the new terrain (beavers and steep gullies) made the best even better.

and park city/canyons does blow! again, relatively. it's better than windham, but it sure as shit isnt even close to alta/snowbird

 

[BenedictGomez]

you really should check out a-basin if you havent. the new terrain (beavers and steep gullies) made the best even better.

I've been (not with the new terrain though), but I preferred Loveland of the 2 right in that area.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i haven't skied loveland, but basin is dreamy. palli reminds me of wildcat at alta and the single chair at mad - these may be my three favorite lifts in the world. zuma has great open steep cornicey slopes. east wall has the big mountain hikeables. and now with beavers and gullies there is just tons of new chutey skiing and endless trees.

 

[abc]

Keystone better than Copper? Yeah, right!

For intermediate groomer skiers, that is.

 

[Zand]

Count me in to the Winter Park >>> Copper crew.

Thats not to say I didnt have fun at Copper. But you need to hit the above treeline stuff right after a snowfall or it gets manked out because it all faces south. Theres some good stuff off Super Bee but a lot of east coast icy groomers as well. The entire lookers right 2/3rds of the resort is Stratton west, including Union Meadows.

Winter Park almost has a Smuggs like quality to it. Sure it kind of has an east coast feel to it being mostly below treeline but it really is like Smuggs and Jay on steroids.

Looking forward to finally getting to A-Basin this year, as well as checking out the new back bowl lift at Copper and returning to Winter Park.

 

[abc]

Winter Park, Copper, Breck, Keystone... those are all "2nd tire" mountains of the west. Even by Colorado standards, they aren't quite at the same league as Aspen, AB, Vail (yes, Vail!), Beaver Creek.

Sure, on a powder day, all of them are freaking fantastic. And being in Colorado, chance of happening upon powder days are quite good. (that being the main reason for traveling to Colorado over the rest of the west)

But during any lure between storms. They don't have the heart stopping steep of AB, Aspen Highland. Or the wide open space of Vail/Beaver Creek to roam around.

Sure, each mountain has its niches. So which is "better" than the other are entirely personal preference. It's like arguing which brand of frozen fish taste better when you live in the desert.

Being mostly tourist destinations, all of them have their groomers scraped off more than usual. I dislike Keystone the most in that regard. Despite having often untouched trees, its groomers are often in the worst shape, uncharacteristic for mountain of the west. But guess what? I ski there too. And had fun too.

 

[jimk]

This is a fun discussion. I've been a fan of CO ski areas ever since I made a solo drive out there from VA in 1976 when I was a college senior on spring break. That spring I skied Vail, Aspen and Winter Park including opening season for Mary Jane. I like them all and have skied just about every major ski destination in CO except Purgatory, Wolf Creek and Silverton. In fact, I've never met a ski area I didn't like - East or West. Just some I like more than others:razz: I can and have skied a good small (1000' vert) eastern mountain for three weeks straight and had a blast.

If I were to rank all the CO mtns I've been to, I'd probably have to put the four Aspen mtns at the top as a destination. Just can't go wrong with the skiing and apres-skiing all there in close proximity. Next maybe Breckenridge. I have about ten days at Breck since 2015 during all times of the winter and never really had a bad day despite big crowds at times. Just go high, wide and steep, and stay up there all day. The hike-to alpine bowls at Breck are just as big as Vail's back bowls, but with better snow, steeper fall lines, and way fewer people. A-Basin might be number three. Great scenery, great steeps, great skiers, and a less touristy vibe.

I could go on about all the others. They all can be great with a little patience and exploration. The CO places I might rank lower are only because I don't have as many days there to figure them out.:smile:

 

[KustyTheKlown]

ah, you reminded me, i've been to ajax highlands and snowmass, but left them off my list. i'd rank those highlands over snowmass over ajax, and in general i'd put all 3 above everything in summit/eagle/grand counties, except for a-basin.

 

[abc]

We've also left out Telluride, Crested Butte, Silverton.

I've not fully explore any of them. I suspect some of them may potentially upset the "ranking"...

But then again, they maybe more on the niche-y side, albeit more expert oriented.

 

[bdfreetuna]

Only skied Telluride in Colorado but I was more impressed with the scenery and the actual town than the skiing. I didn't do any extreme stuff though just whatever was near the lifts. You know your trip out west probably wasn't worth the time and energy when locals ask you where you're from and you start talking up places like Jay Peak and Sugarloaf out east (and they couldn't give a shit)

Next time I ski Colorado it will probably be Steamboat or Crested Butte. That said will probably get to Oregon(Bachelor) or Montana before returning to CO.

Enjoyed the skiing in Tahoe > Telluride. I'm not a "big mountain skier" though. I like trees and narrow stuff. And not the kind of trees at Telluride where they are very widely spaced out tall pine trees.