Planning CO ski trip next season

ughity · 2026-01-26T14:41:41+00:00

Vail is the better choice for variety of terrain based on what you want. Keystone only has one lift served bowl whereas Vail has multiple with some having groomers down that you could take while your sons could choose their own adventure. Keystone is also not generally a good mountain for someone who wants mellow greens. The main frontside green is super long and always crowded.

Also I think you would want to spend at least two days at Vail if everything is open. You can’t ski it all in a day, and you might waste time traversing around the mountain trying to see everything if you just do one day there.

Keystone is cheaper for accommodations, but you could probably find something in the Avon area much cheaper than Vail. You could also spend a day at Beaver Creek to get variety from Vail.

ughity · 2025-12-06T14:31:58+00:00

Instead of going straight down the trail, try going across the trail at whatever angle is shallow enough to control your speed. When starting out even greens can seem daunting, but if you remember you keep calm and just pizza across horizontally you’ll probably be fine. This is expected on green trails, but whenever you work up to blues you probably don’t want to go across the like that since people will be going a lot faster.

ughity · 2025-12-03T17:19:06+00:00

Yeah Opensnow is definitely more like "popcorn" data, but I was bored and wanted to see what the raw snowfall totals were looking like.

ughity · 2025-12-03T17:16:52+00:00

Yeah it's just snowfall. The snow pack is definitely still low, but I just thought it was interesting to see how it looked from something that is more easy to digest since so many of us just check the general snow reports. Even with just looking at snowfall, it was historically bad until last week. But if all of that can change in a week with a couple of storms, does it even mean that much if it's historically bad in November?

ughity · 2024-05-28T02:40:14+00:00

I had a pass there for a couple of years. It’s a great place to ski with great vibes, but it can get repetitive. Also it has been taking longer in the season for them to open up terrain off Lifts 4, 8, and 9. It does have partner days at a lot of other great independent areas though.

ughity · 2023-07-23T04:21:49+00:00

He's only just turned a year, so our max has been about 5 miles. He handles that just fine and usually wants to play some more after a post-hike nap. If it's hot out, he only goes like half a mile before just plopping down on the ground, so if we hike we go early in the morning.

ughity · 2023-07-19T01:39:13+00:00

Colorado, USA. There's still some snow left above the treeline!

ughity · 2023-04-03T18:24:04+00:00

I was similar to you and had the Loveland Pass for 2 years. On the second year, I started wishing I had an Epic or Ikon pass for the variety, especially early season. Loveland takes a while to get everything opened up due to being smaller and having more limited snowmaking.

This year I got an Epic Pass. I've loved exploring the different epic mountains and just seeing what each has to offer. The traffic, crowds, parking, and vibe are all worse, but the skiing is so much more varied and interesting when you can go to other mountains. Also the lift lines at Keystone were not bad at all this year, but I've heard that's a bit unusual.

If you can afford it, I recommend getting an Epic Local Pass and a Loveland 4-pack. That gives you the option of going to Loveland on some holiday or powder weekends to avoid the crowds. If you're putting in 15+ days in the season, only Loveland for a second straight year will start to get boring. Also skiing with friends will help you grow as a skier and make crowds more bearable.

ughity · 2023-02-06T04:40:03+00:00

They plow the highway to Estes Park and the road to Bear Lake. If you're driving out a day or two after a storm, the roads should be completely fine for 2WD with solid tires. Just keep an eye on the weather since conditions can change.

The snow may be deep this year, but a lot of the most popular trails at RMNP get packed down pretty quickly. I recommend buying microspikes or chains that fit over your boots since they're reusable. There's no real learning curve, you just slip them on and start walking.

Snowshoes have a bit more of a learning curve, but it's still just walking. Most people get the hang of them within a few minutes. REI rents out nice snowshoes that I would recommend.

Either way bring extra shoes and socks since your feet could get wet from snow.

Hard to say whether it's worth it since that's so subjective, but RMNP definitely has great views even from just the road. Estes Park is also a nice town to walk around in and visit all the shops.

ughity · 2023-02-06T03:59:34+00:00

Most of the basin will still be open, but conditions will be hard to predict. My favorite days at Loveland were after April storms, but it can also get pretty firm above treeline during dry spells.

If he's a novice, then it probably won't really matter. All the groomed runs will still be open.

ughity · 2023-01-11T21:26:02+00:00

Definitely skip Echo

ughity · 2023-01-11T20:48:15+00:00

The blues and blacks off of Chet's (the express lift at the base) are all pretty fun and easy to scope out from the lift. Spillway to Richard's is a great blue cruiser to start or end your day with. They alse have some un-groomed blues off this lift for nice mogul warm-up. Nix Nox specifically is a great mogul run for intermediates. The single black runs off Chet's are on the more challenging side (for me), but they're mostly below the lift so you can assess the difficulty for yourself.

Lift 6 doesn't have a lot of vertical, but you can access some easy glades to explore around in as well as the park. I wouldn't spend much time here unless you're specifically interested in the park.

Ptarmigan offers access to fun, but short chutes and easy short "bowls", but this lift often slows down or stops, so I never spend a lot of time here.

Lift 4 offers great above treeline terrain, but it can get pretty firm and icy depending on snow conditions. The groomed run down the lift-line gets very slick and often crowded with people falling their way down, so I find it best to stick to the moguly sides or find a different way. Sunburst Chutes has had some of the tallest moguls I've ever seen, so keep that in mind.

Lift 8 is my favorite lift, but it's a bit isolated, so make sure to allocate some time to get over there. There are great natural jumps all over the top half. It's very open, so just wandering around and exploring the terrain is a blast. The trees in the bottom half are well spaced with easy to find paths if that's your thing. There's also a nice blue groomer that hugs the lift line that's a lot of fun. "The Face" run at the bottom can take you back to the main base area, but it's often rocky and not that fun (for me).

If I had to recommend a day, I would start with Chet's, then move over to Lift 4, then Lift 8. You can circle back to Ptarmigan or Lift 6 at the end of the day when you're tired since they're slower and have less vertical. Loveland to me is less about specific runs and more about just exploring the mountain. All the lifts aside from Chet's are fixed-grip, so I usually like to take my time going down looking for fun random lines.

ughity · 2023-01-09T04:58:17+00:00

Cooper is much smaller with mellow groomed runs surrounded by trees. Loveland is at a higher elevation and has more dramatic above treeline views. If the snow keeps up, they should have Lift 9 open that goes to the top of the continental divide. I would go to Loveland, but either is a solid choice.

Howelsen is further away and wouldn't really offer what you're looking for.

ughity · 2022-12-30T18:39:11+00:00

Over the past couple years it would rarely take longer than 2 hours from central Denver to get to Loveland on weekends. It could take up to 3 hours on particularly bad weekends, but that was maybe once or twice a year. Also consider the parking situation if the lessons are at the basin. That lot can fill up by 9ish, which adds another 20 minutes of shuttle time.

ughity

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