4 Day Trip to Colorado
 

I'm planning a girls weekend to Denver, Colorado early December and we definitely want to go skiing. Do you know of any good ski places for beginners (close by to Denver) and how we would get there, meaning would we have to rent a car or are there shuttles that can take us from Denver? Thanks!

The closest ski area is Loveland at the entrance to the Johnson/Eisenhower tunnels. Are you looking for lessons or just to go skiing? Assuming that you know a little bit about skiing. Loveland is about an hour and you will have to rent a car. If you want a bigger area then another 30 minutes will take you to the Summit Cty area - Keystone, Breckenridge, and Copper Mountain. All provide ample area for beginners. The best mountain for beginners is Copper.

I will definitely look into those. We're going to need skiing lessons as well, is Copper a good option for lessons?

Copper has a really good beginner ski area and is a beautiful resort also.
A fun shopping area for you ladies is Pearl Street, and in particular I love Five Green Boxes. There are two stores--one with mainly clothes, scarves, handmade jewelry, all very eclectic. The other has fun and still very eclectic gifts. Good restaurants along the street also.

In some ways, it might be easier for you to go directly to the mountains from the airport (rent there) and then return to your hotel in Denver. Frisco would be a good overnight option for that first night, if not the mountain itself.

You indicated that you also needed lessons. Beginning to think that none of the group are skiers at any level. Skip the skiing. You cannot learn to ski in a day. In fact, the first day of lesson is very discouraging because mostly you are leaning how to put your skis on, how to fall and, more importantly, how to get up, and to slide a bit. At the end of the day you will be exhausted and maybe skied ten yards. So if you have only one day, don't do it.

If you really want to learn how to ski, make that the focus of your next trip. However, if you want a day trip to the mountains then do so. Georgetown will be decorated for the season and swing through Breckenridge will add to the holiday feeling. BUT, do not do it on a Sunday as the traffic flow into Denver on a Sunday PM is bumper to bumper at about 20 mph.

What is it that you want to accomplish or do during your visit to Denver? Exactly !!!

Eldora Mountain is closest ski area to Denver. It's about 20 miles from Boulder. Easier drive than to Loveland.

The good news is you don't have to deal with traffic on I-70, and all-day ski passes are about $59. There are green beginner hills, and lots of blue intermediate ones.

http://www.eldora.com/mountain.stats.html

You could take RTD from downtown Denver to Boulder to the ski area:

RTD SKI-N-RIDE
Take the RTD bus to Eldora. It's the only resort with scheduled bus service! RTD bus departs from 14th & Walnut RTD Station in Boulder, stops downtown Nederland, then drops you off right in front of the Main Lodge at Eldora where it leaves to go back at the end of the day.

For further information, visit: www.RTD-Denver.com / call 303-299-6000. CU students ride FREE! Fare for Routes N & B is $5.00 one way. If you need to continue your trip on another route, please ask the driver for a transfer when you board.

Boulder would be a great place to overnight after skiing and the bus does make it easy for going back and forth. Loveland is good for beginners but no place to stay. Copper is another good idea as the mountain is laid out with the west side for beginners, middle area for intermediates and east side for advanced skiers.

I totally agree with everything Fmden said, IF you haven't skied before, even with bunny hills and magic carpet "lifts". Where are you all coming from?

Is staying in Boulder appealing to you? I think you could do it without a car. There's an RTD coach bus from the airport to Boulder.

If they want to come to Denver why would they stay in Boulder?

Because they "definitely want to go skiing" and prefer not to rent a car.

OP, there's plenty to do in Boulder for a weekend.

Sorry, I don't get it. ;O) Boulder would be a fun day trip for sure, and I'm sure there's plenty to do. Also plenty to do in Denver which was the first destination.
If you do go to Boulder, do the Celestial Seasonings tour.

Well, the question is for the OP, anyway, Gretchen. I'm not sure why you "don't get it".

Boulder is better without a car, as it's more compact. And it's easy to ski at Eldora from there.

What do you prefer, OP? If you want to ski, I think you should give it a try.

I agree with Gretchen. I am always amazed how this discussions can spin in an off direction. The OP was asking about a weekend in Denver and skiing. My assumption was a day trip to ski but later thought maybe none had skied which changes the picture in a big way. But without any follow up from the OP, hard to know their real plans.

For them Eldora would be more than adequate but taking a bus from Denver would be a long, slow way to do.

I think they need to decide if it is a ski weekend or a Denver weekend. Come back and talk to us.

PS. CU students do not ride RTD buses or any bus for free.

"4 Day Trip to COLORADO"-- note the headline.

Stephanie, many posters say they are coming to Denver, meaning flying in and out of Denver. Your headline indicated a wider interest than just Denver.

That's why I advise you spend some time in Boulder, because you "definitely want to go skiing", and you are concerned about renting a car.

You can do both by staying in Boulder one or two nights, taking RTD to Boulder, then RTD to/from Eldora to ski, then RTD back to Denver airport.

You could also take a shuttle from Denver airport to further afield ski areas, which becomes a bit more expensive. But it's an option.

"PS. CU students do not ride RTD buses or any bus for free."
Stephanie, my paste above came directly from the RTD site.

I guess it may be how you want to define free. But every tuition bill I paid for my two sons at CU for the past ten years contained a line item charge for an RTD bus pass. I think it was $45. So, in my opinion, it was not free. Not much different than businesses that buy monthly passes for their employees.

You might ask RTD about that, fmpden. It's possible this applies only to RTD SKI-N-RIDE.

Ask what? Technically no one rides for free except for the declared free days or free periods such as New Years eve, etc. RTD Ski ride is part of the system so I am sure it is include with the pass that every CU students pays for with their tuition. One son took an MBA at the CU/Denver campus, lived within walking distance of the campus, and still paid the semester charge for RTD.

In case you haven't seen a tuition bill from CU, it looks a lot like an airline ticket. Base tuition plus a long list of extra charges ranging from RTD to a fee for the new law school building that adds significantly to the total bill. Not cheap.

Hope we don't scare Stephanie off. And in my opinion she asked IF she needed to rent a car, not that it was a concern. A shuttle (not RTD) to Summit County/Copper for them would be more than a car. Your idea for Eldora is a money saver.
I love Boulder, but a day would be enough, with all the other possibilities in Denver--and if the day of skiing is happening. I'd think they would like to rent a car for the convenience of 4 people getting where they want to go.

Steph_anie, I'd still be curious to know what your priority/priorities for the weekend are. If skiing is the top priority, you can take a Colorado Mountain Express shuttle directly from the Denver Airport to any one of several ski areas. Discounts for a group of 3 or more people.

http://www.coloradomountainexpress.com/

I'm from L.A. and have no experience driving in extreme winter weather conditions, so I wouldn't even consider renting a car in December. But that's me.

The cost of a shuttle round trip for that number will be more than a car rental, I would guess. And once there, you are pretty limited in what you can do.
I also would like to really hear skill level of skiing and more of what you are interested in.
There are great restaurants in Denver, good museums, world class shopping (!!) and a lot of fun stuff nearby also.
Colorado is second to none keeping their roads cleared, IMO>\.\

[pretty sure you guys scared off the OP. Sometimes, you really do need to let go and move on.]

Completely agree. The OP didn't ask if they should go skiing over a weekend her words were "planning a girl's weekend...and definitely plan to go skiing" Then all kinds of assumptions are made and advice that skiing over a weekend for beginners is not a good idea. Many Fodorites ( and even I have been guilty) assume we know best and are presumptuous enough to ignore a posters request. Too make things worse there is a tendency to get absorbed in personal spats that certainly don't add anything to the post or to the forum. Seems the need to prove oneself right or make point is more important than helping someone who has asked a simple question

Personally I hope Steph and her friends have made plans for a weekend skiing. Sure they well have a good time unfortunately without much help from us.

Well, not to put too fine a point on it, Fmpden only warned about traffic on a Sunday afternoon--not a bad thing to do when you are on a limited amount of time.
And if they are total beginners, I joined that it would be a hard day, which I think is also true.
Information can be just that--information. Or opinion based on experience.
I really hope she'll come back and tell us more.

The OP was told to definitely NOT ski.

You win, Whatever.

Do hope this is not your planned weekend for Denver. But you probably will be able to cross country ski down the 16th Street Mall with out having to drive any place.

And to think I made a comment on a different post about sometimes CO not having enough snow before Christmas. Well, this year will not be the case.

Well, sometimes we don't. Headed to Beaver Creek next week. Expectations are high. Need to get the legs in shape for another season. Each years seems a little harder. Trying to decide if I should replace my eight year old skis. When I bought them I thought that would be my last pair.