Plan on skiing Colorado
 

My wife and I are considering a trip to Colorado to ski in February. I am an advanced skier and my wife is a novice. We would appreciate any suggestions on what ski areas offer terrain for both types of skiers. We went to Banff last year and the terrain at Lake Louise and Sunshine was a bit steep for my wife to ski well on. Also, we are looking for any nice ski in/out accommodations located close to nightlife. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The word is _ stay in Breckenridge , eat in Keystone and ski Copper .<BR><BR>If you want all inclusive then Breckenridge is probably best .<BR><BR>A word of advice - don't get too hung up on ski in / out. In Breckenridge , I stay at the Breckenridge Mountain Lodge - it's a five minute walk to the hotel - no big deal - but the $200 @ night you are saving pays for all the extras . Rooms weren't great but the price was right.<BR><BR>I have skied Banff a lot and if your wife found the hills too steep and you are now looking at ski in /out ...then maybe she just doesn't like skiing that much ? Maybe it's best just to go to Vail , spend the huge buck , and you can ski your brains out and she can maximize the non ski stuff to her hearts content .<BR><BR>

Vail doesn't really have a ski-in/out hotel. The Vail Cascade says it is but it is not easy to do. My husband and I like skiing in Beaver Creek. There are great beginner and advanced slopes. It is smaller than Vail (what isn't) but there are rarely lift lines and it is very easy to get around. The last time we skied there we stayed at the Inn at Beaver Creek. It was literally 20 feet from a lift and was very easy to return to. It worked for us because after I was done skiing I could go back to the room and my husband kept skiing for a few hours. It is very expensive (over $400/night) but for us it was worth it. There are shuttles to Vail if your wife wants to shop. If you rent a car you can always drive to Vail and park in the evenings. That's what we usually do.<BR><BR>Also, look into Snowmass. It is very large with various terrains. Stay in Snowmass and go to eat/shop in Aspen. I know there are condo's that are ski in/out and there is a free shuttle that runs in the village if your place isn't on the slope.

Whatever you do, look into a condo. They are often cheaper than hotel rooms and such a better deal!

Hi Stan. Vail is a great ski mtn and a great town. Big wide open runs that your wife is sure to enjoy and enough terrain to keep you interested. I do not care for Breck to ski. While may not have true ski in ski out due to the Village layout lots of great places that you can walk to lifts. That said Lions Head area does have some ski in condos. Myself I would stay in the village and walk. Sonnenalp Resort of Vail if no budget worries. A site worth looking at is http://www.vailnet.com/ Sara's suggestion of Beaver Creek is good but little night life. Short drive/shuttle to Vail. <BR><BR>Snowmass has lots of true ski in but little nightlife you would need to go to Aspen at night. But again a great mtn for both of you.

Hi Stan,<BR>We were in Beaver Creek last March. They had all levels of skiing. Also many hotels and condo units are true ski in/ski out. We stayed at the Elkhorn lodge while beautiful the chairlift was a little inconvenient. I would look into the Hyatt or the Kiva codominiums. Check out www.eastwestresorts.com. They had a lot of rental units in Beaver Creek.<BR>Denise<BR>

Hello coskier. You have helped me in the past with Vail, thank you. In this post you mentioned Sonnenalp. We leave this Sunday for Vail for a week and are staying at Sonnenalp. How far of a walk is it from Sonnenalp to the lift's and would you recommend carrying your boots or wearing them? <BR>Thanks a bunch (again!).

Thanks for all of the suggestions. They are very helpful and greatly appreciated.

Hey Gretchen, good timing it is snowing in Vail today! It is a very short walk to the lift from the Sonnenalp. I would wear my boots. You must post a report when you get back!

Thanks coskier!<BR>I will be sure to report when I get back! I'm looking forward to it!. I just skiied Whiteface at Lake Placid and it was not all that great so I'm hoping for better. Whiteface was ok, just a little icy and grainy, certainly not powder!<BR>Thanks again!

Gretchen : There are actually a couple different Sonnenalp Buildings: Bavaria Haus, Swiss Chalet and another that is a time share property. Bavaria is probably about 200 yards but can take a bus a little closer (faster to walk), the Swiss is a little closer. Beautiful hotel. Its been snowing all day - have fun, b

From a local&gt;<BR>Beaver Creek has a wonderful layout for you &amp; your wife. There are beginning/intermeadiate slopes on the TOP with expert slopes right next to them so you can actually ride the chairs together, go in different directions &amp; end up at the lift. If your wife gets tired, she can ride the chairlift DOWN at the end of the day (Ahhhhhhh!)I think that is wonderful!! If you want ski in/out, there is NOTHING like Beaver Creek! Almost ALL condos are because of our horseshoe shaped village!<BR>Try Highlands Lodge, or anything in the Highlands area. The Hyatt hotel is perfect but condos are a better deal (in my opinion!)<BR>Best nightlife only 10 min. away in Vail. Beaver Creek has a bit but is known to be more quiet &amp; intimate.<BR>Over 100 fine to fun restaurants Valley-wide!!!<BR>Have FUN...P.S. Beaver Creek is reknowned for their award-winning ski school&gt; put your wife in lessons&gt;she'll meet fun people &amp; have a BLAST!!!And you can go ski your buns off on the Birds of Prey!!!

Hello, for those of you who have stayed in the Vail/Beaver Creek areas, are you familiar with the Wren in Vail and St. James Place in Beaver Creek? What are your opinions of each? These are condos we are interested in using. Also, is the public transportation free within Vail and Beaver Creek? If not, what does it run? Does it take you to the slopes? Thanks!

Everything posted here is Denver area skiing which is fine. But if you really want a ski a wonderful mountain without the Denver ski crowds, check out Crested Butte. It has the best advanced slopes and fine begginer slopes with reasonable ski/in out accomadations.

Try the Aspen/Snowmass area. There are four ski mountains within half an hour from eachother and great accomodation/shopping/eating. <BR>Snowmass has ski-in and ski-out accomodation all over the place and has great skiing for both you and your wife - tons of beautiful intermediate runs which both of you could enjoy (maybe less challenging for you and more cruising, but still wonderful). There's also some good expert skiing at Snowmass, but a bit further from the beginning/intermediate runs. However, the off-slope life is quieter and more family oriented, but still rustic and cute, though parts are somewhat steep. <BR><BR>Aspen arguably has more nightlife and shopping and Aspen mountain is right in town, though being primarily an intermediate-expert mountain, she might not enjoy it as much as you would. There are some beginning to intermediate slopes on top of Aspen mountain though, and she could always take the gondola down if she didn't want to ski down. <BR><BR>Aspen Highlands is a little bit out of town and has a wide variety of runs from beginning to expert and with the new base lodge has ski-in/ski-out accomodation. If you stayed out there, you would need to make the 10-15 minute trek into town for more dinner options -however, there is a free shuttle bus which runs frequently so you wouldn't have to drive. <BR><BR>Buttermilk mountain, a bit further out of town, is a great beginner mountain, but might not be that interesting for you for more than a day. There are free shuttles from Aspen to all of the different ski mountains. <BR><BR>My first recommendation would be to stay in Aspen and go to Highlands or Snowmass for most of your skiing, with a couple of days on Aspen mountain. <BR><BR>Second recommendation would be to stay in Snowmass which is smaller than Aspen, more family-oriented, but has ski-in ski-out accomodation. <BR><BR>Enjoy!

The Lodge at Vail is ski in/ski out, very nice accomodations, but very pricey. We stayed there a couple of years ago and walked right out of our rooms over to the lifts (only a very short walk). Also, The Lodge has complimentary ski lockers with an attendant literatlly right at the bottom of the main lift so you don't even have to carry your skis over (except for the first day). They have a nice heated outdoor pool and several outdoor hottubs. I think that Vail offers a such a great variety of terrain that your wife will find no problem finding numerous runs she can ski on.

Beaver Creek has a virtually non existent night life. We were bored out of our minds last season there...beautiful resort by day.

Hi - As an advanced skier, I love skiing Vail's back bowls, but other than that, I find the mountain a little boring. Also, although Vail is a nice town, with plenty to do, after a while the highway noise drives me nuts. I prefer Aspen. Nice town, great services, great skiing. Also, at the foot of any of the mountains, they will store your skis and if you have rented them from the mountain, they will transfer them for you to whichever mountain you are skiing at the next day. I can ski there happily for days with my friends or family who are more beginning/intermediate than I am. Check out the Aspen Ski Co website at www.aspensnowmass.com.

I like Aspen in SUMMER. As far as a skiers resort, forget it...lots of posers, not so many skiers and Snowmass is distant -- I have had enough ski busses to last me all my life -- the other mountains won't suit your wife except Buttermilk which would bore you except on a deep powder day when you could play. The restaurants are all crowded with stiff non-skiing New Yorkers wearing black. Not my idea of a ski resort. Snowmass is deadsville and has zero nightlife plus the mountain still has some old fashioned, freezing cold, slow-as-hell, two seater chair lifts. I love Vail and would stay in Lion's Head at the Marriott if I wanted convenience and predictability, indoor and outdoor pools, massages, onsite ski shop, workout rooms, etc. but I wouldn't do any meal there except for breakfast. I would walk or take the free city shuttle into Vail village center and eat ribs at the Red Lion or try any of the other great restaurants at the Sonnenalp, etc. Terrific shopping and very scenic, well-marked mountain, wonderful ski school where I would enroll your wife immediately at least for half-days (mornings) and you could ski together in the afternoon or she could split for the sauna and a massage and shopping. The on-mountain food is good!! We like to fly in from Denver but there is also a van service. Apparently you don't care about the cold if you liked Banff...but Colorado isn't too freezing, not like Canada. For the same price as Vail or Aspen, though, why not go to Austria...we skied Lech last year -- wonderful! All the hotels there come with halfboard and you can get a package including lift tickets and lessons, the hotels are terrific and the on-mountain dining is obscenely good -- we had the best lobster bisque EVER at Oberlech, high above the town! The snow is good at the elevation throughout the winter. I would not recommend neighboring St. Anton though the Hotel Post is wonderful and has great packages, we found it too crowded, too male dominated (wild skiers) and the snow conditions were mushy near town. Lech has excellent ski instructors, hire a private one for the same price as group in Colorado, and the mountain has all levels of skiing. Plus you get to enjoy European dining and service.

P.S. to the above -- Oberlech is totally ski-in, ski-out and has very quick and frequent and non-crowded cable car service down to the village center so you can enjoy happy hour and pop back up to your hotel for a sauna and a swim before dinner. Lech only sells a limited number of lift tickets daily so it is never too crowded. Zuers next door is high altitude skiing and totally connected to Lech.