fmpden

Obviously I have been following this discussion closely. You have received a wide range of opinions based on experience as no option is perfect. Now I want to ask an even more basic question, "What is the purpose of the trip to Breck?" Or what is your objective?

For the moment I am assuming it is primarily for the ski instruction or exposure to skiing. Second, you are trying to be as economical as possible. Third, the parents don't ski because of the questions asked. And finally, the ski experience at that time will not be as positive as it would be at another time especially for beginners. Break works hard but the crowds are huge. So, assuming the first point I would proposed a whole different approach.

Go to Loveland. It is a great little ski area with very good instruction. In fact, I learn to ski there in 62 as a junior from an Iowa univ over spring break. You do the math. And many, many Denver area skiers have learned at Loveland. And Loveland Valley (lower of the two areas) is an excellent learning mountain. The advantages --

1. Less than an hour drive from Bloomfield and you do not go through the tunnel.

2. Crowds are reasonable even at that time of year since it is not a resort area with overnight lodging. All locals with a few tourists.

3. Very easy to get to - less than an hour from Bloomfield. You could continue to stay in Bloomfield or an inexpensive hotel in Idaho Springs which is only 30 mins away and save those early morning hours.

4. Fairly inexpensive. A whole day package of lesson, lift, skis, AND lunch is about a $100 compared to Breck of nearly $150. And I personally believe that the lesson experience at that time would be better than Breckenridge. Just do not have the crowds.

5. Drawback - not very fancy. Nothing to brag about when you get home. Throwback to the early days of skiing in Colorado. Nothing for the parents to do at the ski area. Could go back to Georgetown which is very pretty at that time of year or go through the tunnel to the discount shopping mall in Silverthorne if that appeals to you.

6. Save some money for the next trip when the boys might be able to enjoy the whole Breck ski area which is massive.

7. My concern is that you are not going to get the value you want from Breck at that time. Whether it is one day, two day, or half days, there is no substitute for practice, practice, practice. Lessons get you started but it time on skis that really counts. With only two days totals I doubt if much will be retained when you return next year or the year after.

Now you have too much to think about. Good luck.

fmpden

O' for an edit button. Got stuck on Bloom instead of Broom.

Tomsd

Great idea/advice. At Regis College in west Denver - in the mid 60's - guys would come from the dorms into the cafeteria in the morning in their ski clothes, have breakfast, go to Loveland to ski and be back by dinner.

It sounds like the perfect place for your boys to get some time on snow under their belts.

Julie1958

Frank....you are right about this thread adding more and more info with each response!
1. purpose of this trip is to give our boys a chance to ski in the mountains.

2. Yes, trying to be economical but realizing there is some expense to skiing, especially in late December, which is the only time we could coordinate schedules.

3. My sister and I have skied. She skis infrequently in Midwest. I haven't skied in 20 years. I had a few skiing adventures at Lk Tahoe about 25 yrs ago - funny stories since I was quite a novice and never advance much beyond novice (carried skis down part of the hill/have no idea what color hills I was on/I did live to tell about it!).

4. As for Loveland, we heard about Loveland, but the boys really want the Colorado mountain experience so we opted for Breck. We have reservations already for lessons, lift and rentals so it's too late to change that. Lessons are at Village. (We are staying at Village Hotel). We have a one day lesson booked at this point. The 2nd day is open - perhaps a half day lesson on day 2 would be a good idea to get them started? The boys do have helmets (thank you for thinking of their safety!)

5. The Novice 4 I mentioned came from the Vail website: http://www.vail.com/ski-and-snowboar...el.aspx#24#Top
I realize though that the hills are much different that the blue or green hills in Michigan/Illinois/Wisconsin. They are both fine with getting on/off chairlifts

6. Gretchen, re warm enough clothing. I'm thinking that freezing winters in the midwest would give me a good idea about what kind of clothing to bring, but being up in the mountains could present colder/different temps. Any specific suggestions?

This is exhausting and I haven't even arrived at the high altitude yet!!!

You guys are all great - I so appreciate all of your input. And I do wish we had an entire week. I think our boys will be thrilled to be there at all which is why I want to make it the best experience possible, even though short.

Julie

Julie1958

P.S. Dont know if ages ever came up but our boys are 15 and 13. And forgot to answer Frank's question about how much/what kind of midwest skiing. 15 year old has skied 5 or 6 times in last 3 years. Self taught and handles most of the hills at the places he's been. 13 year old skis more regularly, has had some lessons. Their abilities are similar.

Tomsd

Suggest you keep the first day's lessons and then see how it goes after they knock off the "rust". They might be up for heading out on their own the 2nd day - who knows - or take a morning lesson.

Hey - you should get back on skis too.

I well remember my first day on skis at Lake Tahoe. A gal I was dating took me all the way to the top of Squaw Valley (she said that's what her friends did to her in back in New Hampshire or some place) - and it was not only going down intermediate slopes from there - but it was also a very icy/windy day.

Good skiers were having a hard time getting down (trying to side slip down the ice - but usually in the West - people don't have sharp edges for that kind of control as we have such great packed powder out here) - and there I was in my scotch-guarded levis/jeans - leaving patches of blue all the way down the hill.

After that - it was easy, eh?

Julie1958

Tomsd, I would love to try skiing again, but my bones are pretty creaky and not in condition! My Lk Tahoe spring skiing trip was the doozy! Took the gondola to the top of Squaw with another novice friend and my experienced cousin. Cousin said, "see ya at the bottom"! After 1st fall, friend lost a ski, it flew over the top of hill where my cousin saw it "fly" overhead! LOL. Ski was located... Snow was so slushy, we had to alternate skiing with walking and carrying our skis!!! Quite a sight! We did make it down the mountain -- cousin was sitting with feet up, drinking a beer waiting for us!!! Still it was a blast!
I have a feeling our boys will have a great experience and plan to keep the 1st day lesson with an option of more lesson on day 2 if they need/want it. If nothing else to skip by the long lines!!!
Thanks!

Tomsd

LOL. Know the feeling. I was at Kirkwood years ago - when I was a beginning intermediate - and there were two lifts next to each other - one going halfway up - intermediate - and the other to the top - advanced/expert.

Since there was a long line in the intermediate chair - my two "buddies" - both better skiers than me (back then anyway) - said - let's take the other chair - you can handle it.

Well, so happens - there were big moguls/bumps that day - so I was lunched on the way down. They would ski ahead and laugh - and I said - if I get close enough to you - I am going to let em run and ski right over your arses, and I was serious.

Since then - we have probably skied together 50 times - but that one day at Kirkwood long ago still makes for good laughs every time we get together.

BTW - Breckinridge is a cute/Victorian themed town - and over a little ways - on the other side of the Freeway - is a darling little town - Frisco - which has a great little main street - and our favorite B & B - the Frisco Lodge. http://www.friscolodge.com/

And BTW 2: The way to beat the long lines is go early - ski hard - break for lunch early - and then get out again while others are having their lunch.

Julie1958

BTW: We plan on checking out Breckenridge while boys are skiing.

BTW 2: Thanks for the tip to beat the long lines...At least the runs are longer here than they are in the midwest so once you get up there, you're skiing for awhile, right?! Other than timing, any other "beat the line" tips? Are there lifts that are more populated than others?

Tomsd

When they ski the first day with the ski instructors - ask them where the best lifts for their level are - with the shortest lines. If you are there on a weekend - normally it will be busy if it's like other ski areas.

If you have a car - you might also drive 20 minutes down the hill/freeway to check out Vail - which has become quite built up.

Tomsd

Actually - reread your original post - and since you are there during Christmas week - that normally is busy. Again, if they ski the 2nd day on their own - go early to try and beat some of the crowds. When they are with the ski instructor - they will have line preference.

Julie1958

Thanks! Good idea to check with instructor re best lifts.
It will be an adventure and I will report back!

Lexma90

Couple of comments from a former Midwestern skier who's lived in Colorado for 20 years, who has two teens who can't remember when they couldn't ski!

On the weather, after skiing in the Midwest, the temperatures at Breck shouldn't feel awful. Because it's a lot less humid, the cold doesn't feel as cold. That being said, the slopes at Breck are known for being windy. I'm guessing that whatever cold-weather gear you have will be fine. If they don't have goggles, get or rent those, too.

It will be busy at all the lifts at Breck. Off Peak 9 (which is where your kids' lessons will be), the shorter lines will be at Mercury and Falcon lifts; the bottom of each of those lifts is mid-mountain. Mercury will have a variety of runs that will work for their level; Falcon serves more advanced runs.

You could try to see if the kids could be in the same (adult) lesson - try begging - if they are likely at the same ability level anyway. I have no idea if it will work, but I persuaded the ski school to allow my then 11yo DS into the adult telemark ski lesson by promising I would take tele lessons too. Which I did, but the laid-back but very good instructors could tell that DS was intermediate, and I was a beginner, put him with the intermediates and took off. They didn't seem to mind his age at all (we met up at lunchtimes). Not to say that you'd have the same experience, but you could try, since the 13yo would be with the 15yo.

The problem with a wait-and-see attitude on a second day of lessons is that they may be all booked up at that time of year. See what the cancellation policy is - maybe you could book that second day, then cancel if your kids don't want to take that day's lessons. Also, a half-day lesson is probably only a tiny bit cheaper than a full-day lesson.

In Breckenridge, consider going cross-country skiing, a beautiful way to enjoy the outdoors. Also, as a real, former mining town, there are several walking tours and old home available for visiting, if you like history.

Enjoy!

Tomsd

Great advice Lexma.

Gretchen

I am again going to lobby for them taking the second day lesson. They will actually get more skiing in and will SO benefit from the lesson. It really isn't just "practicing" what you learned the first day--it will be adding TO what you learned--and practicing with someone watching to make suggestions to do it correctly--and then you progress to the next level.

Julie1958

Lexma, question re your lesson suggestion. I'm not quite sure what you mean. The boys are in the same lesson. I had planned to register them for the adult lesson and the guy making the res. at Breck suggested a kid lesson bc it was cheaper. It really wasn't cheaper but at the time his computer gave us a great deal so I took it. Do you think they'd be better off with the adult lesson rather than the kids lesson? Is that why you suggested that? Breck was willing to put them in the adult lesson. I've been told by one of the phone guys (a former instructor) that it really won't matter which one they are in bc they will be assigned based on ability whether adult or child. Also they assured me that the lessons won't have more than about 6 people. IS this accurate?

As for the 2nd day lesson, that's a possibility - will have to work out with the other family and talk to boys. I do see the advantage. Sounds like they will get as much skiing in with a lesson as they would on their own -- possibly more because of avoiding lines?

Julie1958

PS. Lexma, thanks for the clothing comments and the lift suggestions. They do have goggles...I think they are pretty well set except for some water proof snow pants because they outgrow those every year!
And I'm pretty sure the lessons are nonrefundable that time of year.
Thanks again for all the input!

Tomsd

If it's like any other ski school I have seen/taken a lesson from - they are always grouped with regard to their ability - be it "children" or adult class.

Usually - they have them take a little run down the hill and then assign them to a class.

Gretchen

What Tom said.
Also, you might think about getting the snow pants in Broomfield--there will be more selection, and probably sales at Gander Mountain or Sports Authority (old Gart's?). Even Target!!
they definitely will get all the skiing they can handle in a day of lessons.

Tomsd

LOL Gretchen. Left Colordo in Dec '68 after finishing undergrad - and don't think I have heard Gart's until just now on your post.

Yes, some snowpants would be a good idea as beginners tend to kiss the snow a fair amount.