cmeyer54

Just back from a long weekend at BC. We stayed at the Sheraton Mountain Vista in Avon. It is a cross between an upscale hotel and condo - condo like acommodations but with the amenities of a hotel (towel changes, cleaning, toiletries, etc). They have ski lockers on the first floor which is great - no lugging stuff up and down. There are three hot tubs - an indoor and outdoor on the top floor and a pool with hot tub just across the entry way. The bus stops across the street at the comfort inn and also right behind at the Avon Rec center. there is also a ski shop in the building for fast and easy rentals (I waited over 45 minutes at the mountain for pre-reserved rentals at an off peak time....) Lift tickets are expensive- the highest in the world we were proudly told! The three mountains at BC offer a good variety of skiing for all levels. Being able to ski between them is nice even if the cat walk is long and at times, too flat. We ate dinners out twice - Splendido for great buffalo and free range chicken and Grouse Mountain Grill on Valentine's day for an excellent special prix fixe dinner. The wines are high - probably 25-30% over what you'd pay in a 'flatland' restaurant. Noise levels got high with some large parties and over imbibing. For dinners in that price range, I'd like a quieter atmosphere but that's just my preference. Shopping is OK but that's not the main reason to go to BC. Apres Ski was fine - Zermatt is much better!!! Overall, an fun time was had by all.

amwosu

Try Aspen. I like the atmosphere much better than BeaverCreek which is too manufactured for me. Its like Disney World on snow.

cmeyer54

We've done aspen, snowmass, steamboat, telluride, BC, vail, copper, keystone and breckenridge. this was kind of last minute. prefer europe but not possible for a long weekend if you know what i mean. Whistler is also a favorite but don't like going to the same place more than twice.

amwosu

I have to admit I've only skied Colorado and am always comparing every other ski town to Aspen. We've gotten to the point where even the kids say, "Why didn't we just go to Aspen?" We like the familiarity with the town and with the runs.

We're interested in Whistler and Alta but don't know anyone who has skied there. What do you like about Whistler?

dcespedes

Hi cmeyer54--thanks for your trip report. On a trip to Vail we made a visit to Beaver Creek but not to ski--just to check things out.

amwosu--I actually learned to ski at Alta. We went with friends, who are expert skiers, and what all of us loved about Alta was the variety of terrain. There's no night life, it's all about the skiing. We stayed at a chalet within walking distance to the mountain which was a lot of fun--we had a cook and someone who built a fire for us in the afternoon when we returned. The owner had lockers at the mt. base so skis didn't need to be lugged back and forth. Also, there's a shuttle that runs between Alta and Snowbird.

cmeyer54

Basically everything is walking distance in Whistler. The village is great - plenty to do. Our first trip there was during the 2002 olympics and they had huge tv's set up in the plazas so people could hang out and watch the games. cost is very reasonable, huge mountain to ski. lower elevation so getting acclimatized didnt' take very long. our teenagers loved the glacier skiing. the snow we had was excellent but I know that it can sometimes be a little wetter than the colorado rockies. the main weather pattern brings in storms off the pacific so the moisture content is much higher. renting a place is a snap - go to alluradirect.com and you can search all of the condos by size, price, timeframe, etc. If you figure that the 2010 olympics will be there, the mountain and surroundings must have potential!