Warining: I'm sleep deprived. If I don't make sense or you see many grammatical or spelling errors please forgive.

DH had business in Denver so I flew out after he was finished on Friday and we spent several lovely days in Summit County before heading to Denver to see my brother & his family. DH flew on to his next meeting in Houston and I headed back to reality in Indiana.

Normally, I wouldn't comment on the flight BUT, holy sh*t...you gotta see the guy I sat by on the plane... hope this link takes you there.
http://www.cockdiesel.net/whco.html
Scroll down to see the pic on the left. Its the hunk, not the geek.

Anyway, he is a computer guy but has this little clothing business on the side. When I first spotted him in the airport and he was wearing a tacky t-shirt and he was beyond the h.s.or college age I dismissed him as cute and stupid. He ended up sitting across the aisle from me and we talked the whole way to Denver so the time flew. Not stupid afterall. Very cute!

DH & I stayed in the East Village at Copper and I'm so glad we stayed right at the resort due to traffic on the main road getting into Copper on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

I don't remember how I found the condo originally but it was only $165/nt + tax and less than 200 yds to the Super Bee Lift.
http://www.carbonate-property-manage...e\eastvill.htm We stayed in a studio condo (G4) in the Peregrine complex. It has obviously never been updated but it was clean and the housecleaning crew was very efficient. We often left for breakfast and came back an 1 1/2 later to new towels and lots of them.

My brother bought lots and lots of Copper Four Passes in the fall which are good for 4 days at $99. Its a little hard to get them if you aren't a Colorado resident as you have to buy them by a certain date and have them activated between certain dates. They also have some blackout dates throughout the season.

Next up..... eating at the Butterhorn...

Trips to Summit County are not complete without breakfast at the Butterhorn Bakery & Cafe on Main St. in Frisco.

Eggs Butterhorn is the first dish on the menu... a freshly baked flaky croissant topped with ham, sliced avocado, two poacked eggs and a red pepper sauce (think red pepper Hollandaise).

Another favorite for my family is Eggy bread- French toast made with a fruit bread. You can get it topped with "Fruit & Nuts" which includes fresh strawberries, banana, blueberries, and pecans. Yum!

So that I didn't feel like I would have to be rolled down the mountain later I ordered the oatmeal (they also add flax seed to it to make it more grainy) with Fruit & Nuts one morning. My very favorite dish this trip was the awesome granola & yogurt topped with...yep... fruit & nuts. Delish!

The bakery counter is drool worthy- huge cookies, pastries, fruit topped tarts, Napoleons. Food-gasm Central.

When you go make sure you sign your name in at the unattended hostess stand. If you go on a weekend be prepared for at least a little wait.

The service is very good. The wait staff literally runs from table to table so they are very good at getting folks in and out so you can be on the mountain and skiing to burn off all the very worthwhile calories.

I found Samplings, a tapas restaurant in Frisco, online at www.opentable.com. Opentable is my favorite way to make reservations when traveling and the fact that I get $ certificates for reserving online is a bonus.

Samplings http://www.samplingswine.com/
turned out to be the highlight of our trip. Some of the best food I've had in my life. Run, don't walk to get there.

Because the menu consists of small plates designed for sharing you can literally sample a number of dishes without getting overstuffed or tired of one entree.

The soup and salad portions are about half what you might get at another restaurant and the entrees have 2-3 ounces of meat with generous accompaniments. The menu changes monthly so I'm sure the chef uses the best ingredients for each season.

I started with the butternut squash soup with apples and pumpkin seeds and finished with a swirl of pumpkin oil. OHMIGOD!!!

For my entree I chose seared duck breast atop black barley and wild mushroom risotto. The duck was tender and flavorful and the risotto was killer. I am still thinking about it days later.

DH had Tasmanian Wild Salmon which he enjoyed but I was so wrapped up in my duck that I don't remember much about the salmon other than it was flaky.

Dessert was a trio or creme brulee- vanilla bean, cassis, and ginger. Totally yuck on the cassis- I thought it tasted like prunes but the other two were very good.

Service was efficient and the ambience and decor of the place was truly wonderful. Huge weathered grey timber columns throughout, rustic hardwood floors, a copper fireplace... Several people at the bar enjoying themselves. Very cozy.

Samplings also offers a prix fixe menu with wine ($65/person) or without wine ($55/person) but asks that all members of the party chose the tasting menu. Most things on the tasting menu are available ala carte on the regular menu but the fact that you don't have to think and they pair wines with the food makes it worth trying if the various courses sound good to you.

Samplings also offers several inexpensive wine flights to pair with meals. I enjoyed both a sparkling flight and a red flight.

Time out from food to talk about Copper. I like the resort better than Keystone, less than Breck, and waaay less than my favorite- Aspen. But for $25/day with the Four Pass and the proximity to Denver it was a great choice for a long weekend. Central Village is the largest of the three base villages in terms of restaurants and shopping and East Village has the most parking for day visitors. All three base villages are tiny in comparison to Vail's villages.

Signage isn't that great on the runs and not just because I put back a Bloody Mary at the Butterhorn with breakfast.

Its a little tough to get from lift to lift compared to other resorts and DH missed the one and only sign pointing toward the East Village from the Central Village runs twice in a row at the end of the day so we had to ride the shuttle back to the condo. (I did see the sign both times but since he was skiing ahead of me I chose not to ditch him although the second time I thought about it.) We also ended up at School House lift once, the area where beginner lessons take place. Looks like a great place to learn far removed from more advanced skiers and it was fun to see toddlers strapped in harnesses and followed by their daddies.

East Village (SuperBee lift) has blue and black (and double black) runs while Central Village lifts (American Flyer and American Eagle) largely service green runs. The Timberline Express lift services mostly blue runs and is less crowded than the other two areas but the runs are shorter. http://media.intrawest.com/copper/do...Resolution.jpg

One thing that is nice at Copper is that even beginners can go all the way to the top of the mountain and ski green runs all the way to the base.

More food info. We had a decent dinner at The Blue Spruce Inn http://www.thebluespruce.com/ but if we didn't know anything about the place beforehand we would have liked it more. However, with all the good reviews online, it didn't meet our expectations.

We were seated in the attic- horrible accoustics and very warm. Tables quite close together so you couldn't help hearing conversations at other tables.

DH had Steak Diane, a very nice cut of beef but covered with a salty brown sauce. Seemed a shame- like putting ketchup on steak. I realize Steak Diane is meant to be with a brown sauce but it overwhelmed the steak.

I had a nice Rocky Mountain Rainbow Trout with a cream sauce. All dinners came with overcooked carrots saturated in butter (something from my Grandma's house, not from a well respected restaurant) and red cabbage, very plain and uninventive.

The two children at the table next to us disliked their meals very much and were vocal in thier disgust (chicken fingers and spaghetti, go figure) and their parents picked at their meals.

A man at the table to the other side of us raved to his dinner companions about the good food but when he got his meal absolutely hated it and sent it back and told them not to bother bringing anything else.

The waiter apologized profusely and later we witnessed a strange exchange. The owner came to the table, asked who disliked their meal then without a word handed the guy a piece of paper with a hand written note, shrugged and walked away. It seemed to piss him off and he ripped up the paper.

Even weirder, friends of his who had dined downstairs came up and asked, "Okay which one of you had the bad meal?" Had someone broadcast it through the restaurant? And when asked about HER meal the lady who asked about the bad meal said the sauce on her entree was "vinegar-ey".

At another table close to us was a large group or 8-10 people and one woman sent her meal back and waited at least 10 minutes for a salad to replace her entree. With kids at the table, after several minutes of trying to be polite everyone else dug into their meals while she waited.

Our service was good but overdone to a point. Somewhat intrusive and I laughed when the water boy "refilled" my water although I hadn't taken even a sip. I wondered how full he planned to fill my glass as the night progressed. I also didn't like the hokey way all of the waiters had obviously been trained to say, "Are you finished enjoying your meal?" Not one varied from that exact line.

And yet MORE food.... can you believe I actually teach 6-8 aerobics classes per week? I'm one of those who live to eat.

We enjoyed Samplings so much we decided to visit its sister restaurant, The Cellar in Breckenridge. http://www.thecellarwine.com/

According to our waiter at The Cellar, Samplings opened in April 05 and The Cellar opened in September 05. We visited Samplings on Sunday night and The Cellar on Tuesday night and they were both busy on those evenings.

Same great food and service but totally different decor. At The Cellar the wood floors, fireplaces, and tables are all blonde maple with insets of small blue glass tiles on the fireplace surround upstairs and orange tiles on the downstairs fireplace and bar back in contrast to the rustic feel of Samplings.

The executive chef is the same at both places and about 80% of the menus are the same but we found the preparation and accompaniments differed for many dishes.
I started with a squash soup that was slightly different than the one at Samplings and it was finished with coconut whipped cream. Yum. I loved the duck at Samplings so I decided to do it again at The Cellar. It was accompanied by a white bean dish that was good but couldn't hold a candle to the risotto from two nights before.

DH planned to get the sirloin "baseball" steak but the waiter suggested the Kobe beef pot roast instead. It melted in the mouth, no knofe necessary.

DH decided upon the trio of creme brulees again but requested two gingers and no cassis- no problem. I got a trio of yummy gelatos- vanilla, cinnamon, and spumoni. They also offered a trio of fruit sorbets.

The crowd at The Cellar was a mix of locals (8 women enjoying a baby shower were seated as we ate dessert) and tourists (Germans at one table, a French family at another).

If I could only pick one of the two restaurants I would chose to go back to Samplings in Frisco. However, I plan on revisiting both of them many times.

BTW, I read on themenu at The Cellar that the executive chef and the sommelier spent a year in Tuscany in 2003.

At 5:30pm on Wednesday nights The Cellar holds a themed wine tasting (California Reds, Italian Reds, etc...)and Samplings mite have one as well bit I didn't notice. For $19 you get wine, appetizers, and a lesson from the sommelier. You can join their wine club and the tastings bump down to $15.

Thanks am. So glad you enjoyed your trip! Wish we could have hooked up. You've sold me on Samplings. After the crowds dissipate, we'll drive up "over the hill" for dinner.

I'm not surprised by your review of The Blue Spruce. I've not had more than one or two decent meals in Copper- it's the nature of captivity....

Hey JRP- Someday I'll fly to Denver and not be in such a rush to get to a mountain so we can share a beer.

We ate lunch and did apres ski snacks at JJ's Tavern http://www.jjstavern.com/flash_content/home.html in the East Village of Copper. JJ's is directly in front of the Super Bee lift and has both outdoor and inddor seating.

We enjoyed the Buffalo Chicken wings so much that we ordered them several times. The wings were substantial, moist, and well seasoned. Not too hot & spicy, just a good flavor. I had a decent salad and DH had a good sirloin sandwich.

I got into the habit of drinking draught Blue Moon Ale at JJ's. Yum! It is a little thick looking, not clear like pale ales and is served with an orange garnish. Wonderful flavor and no bitter aftertaste.

amw - that is the LONGEST trip report I've ever seen. But you are a good writer so it was enjoyable to read.

As you know from my other post, I'm looking at buying a vacation condo in a ski area. Can you tell me why you enjoy Aspen and Breck more than other areas?

Also, How were the crowds???? The last thing we want is for our place to "get away from it all" end up being covered with hordes of tourists.

Many thanks.

LOL hazel! I guess my report is long for the US boards. You must not hang out on the Europe boards where reports are often longwinded detailing to the "nth" degree.

Anyhoo... any ski resort where you will actually WANT to own, to travel to regularly, at which you want to spend time and which you can actually get to WILL have many tourists. A resort that doesn't have tourists won't be appealing to you either as they either won't have good skiing, restaurants, nice town, shopping, or inaccessible...

That said, all you really have to do is skip skiing on the weekends. Most weekdays at any resort are uncrowded unless you are talking about peak holiday weeks like Christmas and New Years.

Aspen is a great locale because there are four mountains in an 8 mile range that appeal to all levels of skiiers and Aspen is, IMO the very best of ski towns.

Because it is a great distance from any large cities (4 1/2 hrs minimum drive from Denver depending on weather) there are no daytrippers to clog the lift lines. Even during the busiest weeks, there aren't crowds on any of the four mountains.

While Aspen restaurants fill up those weeks, all you have to do is plan ahead and make reservations several weeks (or in the case of Pine Creek Cookhouse and Cache Cache several months) in advance.

Yesterday I read that home prices there are now just under $3M so its a great place to visit (and you can stay relatively inexpensively there) but I don't know many who can afford to own there.

The beauty of Summit County, Colorado is that you can easily ski at Copper, Keystone, Breckenridge, Arapahoe(a "real" skier's mountain with few amenities but skiing waaay into spring and even summer). Even Vail and Beavercreek in eagle Co. aren't so far west that you can't day trip it out there from Summit Co.

The downfall for some (except Denverites) is that Summit Co. is so close to Denver that there are many who drive in for just a day or two to ski multiplying the number of skiers to trip over on the mountain. As I said though, you just do what the locales do and skip weekend skiing.

I really don't know Utah but lots of people swear that the very best of skiing is in Utah. To me Park City (only been there in the fall) is a town that ranks somewhere below Aspen and above Breckenridge as a ski town. There are many ski resorts in the vicinity- Canyons, Park City, Alta, Snowbird...

Thanks for answering my questions. We are leaning toward Steamboat Springs just because of its proximity from Denver. According to Ski magazine, "Saturdays here ski like Wednesday in other resorts".

I, too, have heard that the skiing in Utah is the best. However, we are trying to keep it to within a 2 hour direct flight from our home city.

Steamboat Springs- I haven't been for awhile but it used to be pretty popular with the college spring break crowd. That can be a plus or a minus... Don't know if that still holds true.