The partner resorts on Epic

[Mum skier]

I know this is a question about non North East ski area, but it is linked to choice of pass for this year which is obviously a big question right now. So hopefully I won’t get flamed for asking.

With the price reduction for Epic I am almost wondering about the full Epic vs local. Pre COVID seasons we had used our local pass to make trips to Keystone, Whistler and Heavenly which pays for the local pass within the week. However on the local pass a western trip over the Christmas period (kids in school so can only travel Christmas or Presidents week) limits us to Keystone and Breckenridge where we have been before. The full Epic would allow anywhere anytime, but is a lot extra for 4 people based on likely only one western trip. And all Vail resorts are still going to be busy at holiday periods.

So the big attraction I can see is the access to the partner resorts. What do people think of Telluride and the BC resorts. Is somewhere like Fernie a week long destination place? Is Telluride remote enough and/or expensive enough to keep crowds down. Likely early season (Christmas) snow sure.? Or thous on the other additional resort.

For Eastern skiing the only limitation with the local pass is a few restrictions at Stowe so no eastern advantage for us as we don’t go to Stowe much. But many more options for a trip west.

Though kids won’t be vaccinated by next year either so maybe the trip west is a mute point anyway Will Canada let us visit next year

Interested in peoples opinion of these extra resorts.

 

[snoseek]

I wouldn't put my money on Telluride being fully open around Xmas. It is a beautiful place, maybe one of my favorites anywhere but thats a lot of work to get somewhere that may or may not be in full swing.

 

[thebigo]

Don't ever think you will be flamed for asking a serious question. The people that get flamed are the ones that offer stupid advice, not ask good questions. How old are your kids and are they good skiers?

 

[KustyTheKlown]

i love fernie. super underrated. great mountain, great terrain, great town. prob most reliable for snow in december of the options. kimberley is close enough to fernie to do some days there. kimberley is more 'eastern style' in that it is below treeline and has lots of trails and glades, no high alpine. kicking horse can also be combined with fernie, tho you'd end up in a differnet lodging for kicking horse. kicking horse is gnar as fuck tho and may not be what you/family are looking for.

this is a great trip. one i have done twice and cannot wait to do again. the roads are easy. the flights are easy. the canadaian peso is great. the weed is legal. this route takes you thru banff, so you can ski sunshine and louise a la carte. it also goes thru panorama between kimberley and kicking horse. revelstoke would be another few hours west from kicking horse.

epic pass is horseshit generally and especially sucks in the east, but i love the canada partners




but will canada even be open to americans in dec 2021...

 

[kendo]

Telluride (and Crested Butte) are great destination resorts. We've skied both on Epic the past few years.

I prefer Telluride. Awesome old Town and newer modern resort town (Mountain Village) up top connected by a free gondola. It's super easy to get back and forth. I prefer staying in Telluride (old town) as the elevation is lower and there's more dining & nightlife easily walkable.

Skiing is great for all levels and interests. Telluride pushes for a resort wide opening by Christmas. This past year they had 16/17 lifts open Christmas week.

Love skiing the 3765 vertical ft run at the end of the day from the top of Revelation Bowl down into town! Epic 360 degree views of 14K peaks up top with your choice of groomed, bumps or trees all the way down. My avi is a pic from the top of this run.

Best conditions will be in March with all hike to access open. Don't let that dissuade you as lift served skiing in Dec - April will more than satisfy. Crowds are manageable as you can avoid high use lifts depending on time of day. Most visitors are destination visitors as it's too far for a Denver based daytrip.

Direct flights from Newark, Chicago, Dallas and others to Montrose and a 1hr private shuttle to Telluride is very convenient. No rental car needed.

We're already planning a return for next year!

 

[thetrailboss]

I know this is a question about non North East ski area, but it is linked to choice of pass for this year which is obviously a big question right now. So hopefully I won’t get flamed for asking.

With the price reduction for Epic I am almost wondering about the full Epic vs local. Pre COVID seasons we had used our local pass to make trips to Keystone, Whistler and Heavenly which pays for the local pass within the week. However on the local pass a western trip over the Christmas period (kids in school so can only travel Christmas or Presidents week) limits us to Keystone and Breckenridge where we have been before. The full Epic would allow anywhere anytime, but is a lot extra for 4 people based on likely only one western trip. And all Vail resorts are still going to be busy at holiday periods.

So the big attraction I can see is the access to the partner resorts. What do people think of Telluride and the BC resorts. Is somewhere like Fernie a week long destination place? Is Telluride remote enough and/or expensive enough to keep crowds down. Likely early season (Christmas) snow sure.? Or thous on the other additional resort.

For Eastern skiing the only limitation with the local pass is a few restrictions at Stowe so no eastern advantage for us as we don’t go to Stowe much. But many more options for a trip west.

Though kids won’t be vaccinated by next year either so maybe the trip west is a mute point anyway Will Canada let us visit next year

Interested in peoples opinion of these extra resorts.

Agreed with the comments about coverage (or lack thereof) for Telluride. More often than not it seems they get missed by the snow. We’ve had some pretty bad droughts recently. Also, while the other Vail resorts are all relatively close to Denver and I70 Telluride is in the middle of nowhere. And I mean nowhere. It’s pretty isolated and relatively limited in terms of places to stay and things to do. As a result, it can also be expensive. That said, if you have the opportunity to check it out certainly do. I got to check it out in the fall of 2017 and really liked the town. As said the town is really authentic and has a neat vibe. I also agree with staying in town and riding the gondola up.And if you can go up to Silverton if it’s open.

 

[ss20]

I would not count on travel to/from Canada by Christmas. I think you'll see tons of countries being super cautious about people getting on planes and travelling the globe, even if the pandemic is out of our daily lives (mostly) by that time.

As far as the skiing I can't speak to it but I'm pretty sure both places are better than here!

 

[dblskifanatic]

Agreed with the comments about coverage (or lack thereof) for Telluride. More often than not it seems they get missed by the snow. We’ve had some pretty bad droughts recently. Also, while the other Vail resorts are all relatively close to Denver and I70 Telluride is in the middle of nowhere. And I mean nowhere. It’s pretty isolated and relatively limited in terms of places to stay and things to do. As a result, it can also be expensive. That said, if you have the opportunity to check it out certainly do. I got to check it out in the fall of 2017 and really liked the town. As said the town is really authentic and has a neat vibe. I also agree with staying in town and riding the gondola up.And if you can go up to Silverton if it’s open.

Not sure of the kids ages but Silverton is not for the timid. Steep return.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

ya, silverton is awesome, but doesn't sound at all appropriate for OP.

 

[thetrailboss]

Not sure of the kids ages but Silverton is not for the timid. Steep return.

Not at all for beginners.

 

[Mum skier]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.
This kids are good skiers and we are not into night life so a town with not much to do is fine for us. And remoteness might keep the crowds away. Plenty to think about,
I can also see Canada still being off limits next year. You could make an awesome trip there with the Epic resorts and a couple of the mountain collectives, but might have to wait for retirement to do that properly. I have wanted to get to some of those resorts for a long time.

 

[dblskifanatic]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.
This kids are good skiers and we are not into night life so a town with not much to do is fine for us. And remoteness might keep the crowds away. Plenty to think about,
I can also see Canada still being off limits next year. You could make an awesome trip there with the Epic resorts and a couple of the mountain collectives, but might have to wait for retirement to do that properly. I have wanted to get to some of those resorts for a long time.

Telluride is a hike from all other Epic resorts. Staying in Silverthorne does allow you bag the core of Vail's Resorts and MC does have A Basin near by as well. Aspen Snowmass is not a day trip from there but you can create a road trip with stops with overnight stays at Aspen Snowmass, Telluride and then Crested Butte Crested Butte. So the Idea of Epic and MC would be fun to do over two weeks.

 

[Mum skier]

Telluride is a hike from all other Epic resorts. Staying in Silverthorne does allow you bag the core of Vail's Resorts and MC does have A Basin near by as well. Aspen Snowmass is not a day trip from there but you can create a road trip with stops with overnight stays at Aspen Snowmass, Telluride and then Crested Butte Crested Butte. So the Idea of Epic and MC would be fun to do over two weeks.

Ah, I meant combining the Epic partner resorts in British Columbia with Mountain Collective ones in the same area. But any big trip is still only a dream for several years yet!

 

[dblskifanatic]

Ah, I meant combining the Epic partner resorts in British Columbia with Mountain Collective ones in the same area. But any big trip is still only a dream for several years yet!

That would great too!

 

[fbrissette]

i love fernie. super underrated. great mountain, great terrain, great town. prob most reliable for snow in december of the options. kimberley is close enough to fernie to do some days there. kimberley is more 'eastern style' in that it is below treeline and has lots of trails and glades, no high alpine. kicking horse can also be combined with fernie, tho you'd end up in a differnet lodging for kicking horse. kicking horse is gnar as fuck tho and may not be what you/family are looking for.

this is a great trip. one i have done twice and cannot wait to do again. the roads are easy. the flights are easy. the canadaian peso is great. the weed is legal. this route takes you thru banff, so you can ski sunshine and louise a la carte. it also goes thru panorama between kimberley and kicking horse. revelstoke would be another few hours west from kicking horse.

epic pass is horseshit generally and especially sucks in the east, but i love the canada partners


but will canada even be open to americans in dec 2021...

This is a good resume of the area although I don't think legal weed will be a strong selling point for this family vacation... You can get from Golden (kicking horse) to Revelstoke in 90 minutes in very good driving conditions. There is a mountain pass in between and in winter this can be anything from 90 minutes to 1 day depending on avy control.

Call me optimistic but I would be suprised if the border is not open by next winter. Barring a new vaccine-resistant strain appearing, most Canadians will be vaccinated by September. As long as enough US citizens get the shot, should be fine.

 

[jimk]

I hit Telluride and Crested Butte in the same week in April 2019. Loved both places: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/closing-week-at-telluride-and-crested-butte-april-2019.15144/

 

[kendo]

I hit Telluride and Crested Butte in the same week in April 2019. Loved both places: https://www.skitalk.com/threads/closing-week-at-telluride-and-crested-butte-april-2019.15144/

Great report. You captured the vibe and terrain at both places perfectly. That was an epic snow year.

We were there two weeks before you. Had 54" in Telluride during our stay and enjoyed the same uncrowded slopes. Simply awesome and why we continue to return.

 

[WinS]

ya, silverton is awesome, but doesn't sound at all appropriate for OP.

Yes, Silverton is awesome. They limit skiers to only 80 per day. One double lift and only expert terrain (35 degrees plus). In addition they also offer heli skiing with drops at 12,000-13,000 feet. They offer single run and 6 run options. Amazing experience but again only for advanced to expert skiers and riders. Town of Silverton has limited dining and lodging options. Durango is an hour drive away. There is also a separate Cat operation near town of Silverton and they do a great job and less challenging but still fun terrain.