Tomsd

FYI - Park City has a number of good "bars" - clubs - and restaurants - and plenty of lodging options. Nearby Deer Valley has been rate #1 for lodging/services many times - sort of like Beaver Creek is to Vail.

Don't get me wrong - I really like the Summitt (especially the quaint B & B - Frisco Lodge) - and have skied at Copper - and spent weeks at Vail and Aspen.

As suggested - much depends on your air connections - but IMO - nothing is better than Park City for a week - and nearby Alta/Snowbird - on average - get 100 more inches of snow a year than Vail/etc (450 inches v 350) - and it's the lightest powder - but have also been in the back bowls of Vail when it was amazing too, just not as often as it is magical at Alta/Snowbird.

Googs

I think I need an Excel spreadsheet for all these wonderful options. Thank you tons!

I was panning on Google satellite getting a feel for the CO towns and it even showed the green (blue and black) ski runs. Good stuff to explore.

fmpden

Currently in Breck for the week. I cannot remember ever seeing better snow conditions. Anyone who comes here this year for the first time will be forever spoiled.

Tabernash2

This truly has been the perfect ski season in CO. Winter Park has been awesome.

fmpden

As a frequent day skier at Breck, I don't often hang around for anything other than a quick hit at a bar. It has been a couple of years since I spent anytime with the restaurant scene in Breckenridge. Wow - has the scene changed. A whole bunch of new upper end restaurant. But not as high end as the old Briar Rose or Hearthstone. Will hit a couple of more before we leave. Will hit the old Whale's Tail tonight. The Twist (new)was very good last night.

A little two much wind later yesterday afternoon took some of the fun out of it and scrubbed the snow from some of the steeper slopes. Crowds are very thin.

Googs

Great update fmpden! Jealous as my MN skiing doesn't come close to the CO experience.

fmpden

Another great day - sunny and warm. Skiers were scarce on the slopes today. Wed is a good day to ski because newcomers who arrived over the weekend are shot by Wednesday and need the rest. At times the lift lines were zero.

abram

At Vail today, the snow was wonderful and the sunshine beautiful.

We noticed lift lines for brief periods of time a couple of places, but never where we were skiing. It always makes us laugh when one side of the line is long and the other has no one--then we just go to the side with no one.

fmpden

Throwing in the towel. The forecast is 9-12" later today. Time to go.

Tabernash2

Reporting in from Winter Park. We drove up around noon yesterday. It was snowing like crazy, and I-70 was backed up all the way to our exit at Empire. We were lucky to get to our exit. Very slow going over the pass, mostly because there were a lot of out-of-state sedans and rental cars which didn't have good traction. Some were stopping, barely out of the lane, and it was dangerous.

We made it, and saw the news of a slide on Berthoud shortly after we went over. Whew. It had snowed over 12". So gorgeous skiing for DH, once we got here.

Now the sky is blue on the new white snow. Doesn't get much prettier than that!

Sideline: there is an amazing little 'restaurant' in Empire. It looks so ramshackle from the outside. It's called Lewis Sweet Shop, which is an unfortunate misnomer because they have wonderful food, too. They BBQ their own beef, chicken and pork, and were taking it off the grill when we were there. It looked and smelled wonderful.

This is a family-owned place, and they are very friendly characters. The Dad pulled out a big plate of chocolate covered bacon (!!) for me, because I was taking a picture of it. They have other insane 'sweets' like Chinese noodles with chocolate, and burgers with peanut butter (???).

We wanted food for the road, and I got their homemade sweet potato-crusted chicken tenders. OMG. Big servings and low prices. Very, very good.

It's a funny place, because the exterior probably causes most people to drive on by. In fact, we didn't give it a thought all these years. DS discovered its BBQ, so we stopped in. They have so many offerings, we wonder how they do it all.

It's really a slice of homegrown Colorado!

Also in Empire is the 'original' Hard Rock Cafe, which also has wonderful homemade food.

RVvagabond

Have you thought about Tahoe Ski Resorts in California/Nevada.
Stay in Reno for casinos and shows, then drive about 60 minutes to fabulous ski areas. This major resort is the closest to Reno
http://www.northstarcalifornia.com/i...d=PPC301337613

It is more challenging than Buck Hill in Bloomington, Mn.
I've skied both

Vaga

PhillyFan

Hi all. I am replying just to tag this very informative thread.

We just got back from skiing in Colorado – it was great!

We are are also partial to copper. It has a great terrain park for my snowboarder son and I like the separation of the slopes. We've been there twice (not on the same trip) and both times there were no lines.

We noticed a marked increase in the cost of lift tickets at Vail and Beavercreek versus when we were in Colorado skiing two years ago. Copper seems like such a bargain in comparison.

historytraveler

Just got back from a couple of days skiing in Summit County. Is there such a thing as too much snow? Probably not.

fmpden

There is when you are trying to get through the tunnels on the way home.

Tomsd

There is another ski mountain that is closer to Reno - called Mt. Rose. In olden days - there was a second ski area there - called Slide Mountain - but now I think it is just one area.

We loved to come off the top chair - to the skier's left - and just tuck and rip it to the bottom. Not many people skied that so you could really scream down the hill without worrying about some beginner being stopped in the middle of the run.

Tabernash2

I don't think Tahoe had much snow this season.

fmpden

Cannot be much of a hill to ski from the chair to the bottom. Reminds me of the big ridges in Michigan that they called ski hills.

Tomsd

fmd - there you go again sounding like a dummy. I would wager I have skied more mountains than you - including double diamond runs - and faster than ye.

It was a medium long run - about half a downhill course - perfect slope for letting them loose - about an 1,800? foot drop or so - and we were young and in great shape.

Tomsd

Looked at the ski map. It was more l like a 1,500 foot drop - and we skied it time after time (from the top of the lift to the chair) when there were no real lines, nor very many people on that run.

Tomsd

Further fyi - this twarn't no hill in Michigan. The lift we took let you off at the summmit - 9,700 feet - and the base of the chair was about 8,200 feet.