Snowboarding trip to Colorado! NEED HELP!
 

Me and a few friends are going on our first snowboarding trip in the middle of December coming From Texas. We've already rented out a mountain cabin. We are all pretty young ages 21-23. We love good food, and great bars. which resort is probably best for our trip? Were staying in Woodland park, we understand that we may be having to drive a couple hours but thats ok!
We would like to go to a great resort, and also one more question. Will we be going at a good time? -December 15th 2011 ?? would we be getting a lot of snow?

I don't know where Woodland Park is, but we've skied Vail and Summitt County at that time of year, and the conditions can vary. Generally, areas with only natural snow aren't completely open yet.

WOW. The Woodland Park I know about is near Colorado Springs.
I hope you'll be back in WP before you start hitting the bars. I guess Keystone, Winter Park, Breckenridge will be closest of the big areas.

Wow, Woodland Park is really out of it. It must be free 'cause there is no other reason to be in Woodland Park. There is little to no action in Woodland Park. Your closest and easiest resort will be Breckenridge followed by either or both Copper Mt and Keystone. Winter Park is out of the question - just too far and Vail adds another mountain pass and nearly an hour. If the weather is good, it is a solid two hour drive over two lane roads to Breckenridge over Hoosier pass. You really should consider another location.

Can you cancel your WP cabin and get somewhere closer to the ski resorts? It will be worth it, even if you lose a deposit. Two hours of winter driving is a CONSERVATIVE estimate of the time it will take you to get to Loveland or Breckenridge (by backtracking through Colorado Springs to I25, then taking I70 during rush hour), or to Vail (via 24 through Leadville), or by 24 up through Fairplay to Breckenridge. If you take a look at a map you will see that as far as ski vacations go, Woodland Park is not a good option.
Getting up at 6 to get there, leaving by 4 p.m., not able to stay and party after closing the mountain? Not fun.

p.s. If you are resigned to driving (with a designated driver each evening), Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail are all resorts with lots of restaurants and bars.
If you want an interesting boarder-friendly ski area, Monarch is ~2 hours southwest (from Colorado Springs).

Backtracking through Colorado Springs and then through Denver (C-470,I-70) makes no sense at all. Even with good traffic that would take three hours and more with any traffic problems.

But the dinosaur museum in WP is super!!

Thanks for all the answers, unfortunately I cannot cancel as I will be out of $200, but the cabin looks gorgeous, which is why I got it to begin with. I'm really liking keystone. but coming to think of it, it will be a drag everyday waking up 2 hours earlier. which is the closest resort? Thanks guys again

Sorry missed a response, breckenridge is the closest.

Breckenridge is also 2 hours from Woodland Park!

Is keystone in range from there? How far from woodland?

Farther than Breckenridge, according to Googlemaps. I think you should consider eating the $200 deposit and start over with a place (maybe not so gorgeous :-) ) closer to a ski area!

REALLY, really, really, you and your friends should split the deposit loss, or even beg for a partial refund, or something; accommodations are plentiful in the ski areas, and you could ski several of them while you are there if you are already in the general locale. If the weather is bad, you are STUCK in Woodland Park, but if you are near an area, you are enjoying powder.

At $4 a gallon for gas [or maybe more by then], that $200 will get eaten up pretty fast if you have to drive that far to get to decent snow areas. Cut your losses and learn a lesson; research and ask questions first, then put down deposit.

As I posted earlier, Breckenridge is the closest via Hoosier pass from the south. Keystone and Copper Mountain are both another 19 miles beyond Breckenridge -- one to the east and one to the west. Keystone would be a little closer using Swan Road. Did you not look at a map when booking the cabin. Early Dec in and near the resorts is the time for heavy discounts. Snow is always a little iffy so the out of town traffic is very low until Christmas week. Should be able to find plenty of good deals. What are you paying for the current cabin?

Please eat it. As is pointed out, the cost of gas will be prohibitive to drive to WP. It is just NOT in the ski area.
Look in Frisco. VRBO. Anyone agree with that?

I did look In the map, another reason picked was because it's close to fort Carson, I have a close friend there, and ide like to see him throughout my trip and he said the drive isn't too bad, plus the girls REALLY wanted the cabin experience...I'll look for closer cabins. The cabins we got were from Coloradomountaincabins.com and went for 160 a night with our military discount.

Perhaps you should have paid attention on their site as to the ones they labeled "Ski Cabins", because those two are the only ones within a reasonable distance to any ski resorts. Their other cabins are all too far away.

And the site says there is only a $100 non-refundable "handling fee", not $200, BTW.

I believe that there is an astonishing consensus here!

Summit County Resort Group, reservation service:

800 944 9601

Peter at this place saved DD's trip when they found her a last minute place to stay the night in Dillon, instead of trying to drive to Denver in a blizzard. The tunnel was closed. (This was a couple of years ago.)

The weather is changeable in Colorado, any time of year, even December. Counting on being able to travel to and from a ski area from miles away is foolish IMHO.

Find another cabin!

Thanks everyone for the posts, i feel like a complete idiot for missing the obvious "Ski resorts" section, I lost $115 but ill be like 20-25 minutes from Breckinridge and not far from Keystone. remember guys I'm from Texas and I'm not used to the snow, i was wondering if i absolutely need a 4X4 truck or can i just rent a regular car? the reason I'm asking is because the management at the cabin said it was highly recommended. might be a stupid question but im not used to the snow at all.

We've never rented a 4x4 on our ski trips and never felt like we needed one.

<i> the management at the cabin said it was highly recommended.</i> Unless they rent cars and are trying to scam you to get a more expensive rental, I would say listen to them. They know the roads, the driveway etc. And if you are from TX and aren't used to snow, be safe rather than sorry and go with a 4x4.

So you forfeited $115 and rented a different cabin that's close to Breckenridge? Good move.

If management says a 4x4 is recommended, is that because the cabin is on an unpaved road? Better take the advice, if so.

No they actually don't offer any rental services, were going with budget, unless anyone knows another trusted rental company, and yes they assured us that our new cabin was a max 25 min drive from breckenridge=D the mountain is up a hill, so I'm guessing 4X4 a must

Meant the cabin is up a hill

It will totally depend on whether there is new heavy snow--AND ask the landlord if the road to the cabin is plowed in the case of snow. The cabin we use (family's) near Silverthorne is up a hill for the "subdivision" and then up a REAL hill to the cabin. The garage is at the road, and you can certainly walk up the hill, but it would not be fun to do carrying groceries or ski equipment. The one year we didn't have a 4WD was OK, but almost ended up against a tree trying to negotiate the last hill.
If you start now for a rental you may be able to get a good price. But the closer you go, the more expensive it will be.
If you don't have snow, and have the 4WD, you'll say "bah". If you have snow, you'll feel very smug.
BUT I would really ask the landlord for the lay of the land--you might even be able to google it.

Shop for your rental on HOtwire and then maybe Priceline--don't just go with one company--in my opinion. The Hotwire quoate will give you all the add ons for the place you are renting so you can tell the final amount.

OP is male, under 25. Going to be $$$. Make sure you have insurance

yeah I'm gonna check all those places out for a car rental, I've decided that insurance is a must! I'm trying to figure out which car rental place and ski rental locations.

You might be setting yourself up for a difficult trip, for the sake of renting a cabin. If this is VRBO, the cabin could be up a serious hill.

I suggest you look at condos for rent. Get one with a fireplace and a view, and I'll bet your friends will be happy. Especially if you can get to and from the hill to snowboard, which is your ultimate goal. What if you went there and got stuck in the cabin and could not get to the mountain? Bummer.

Here's the deal with the 4x4 recommendation - if it's uphill to the house and there's snow AND the road is not plowed (even with just a few inches of accumulation), you may not get enough traction to get up the hill without putting chains on a regular 2WD vehicle. Rental car contracts prohibit you from putting chains on their cars - too much risk of damage. Therefore you probably DO want to rent a 4WD. One year my sister and I rented a ski cabin in Incline Village (Lake Tahoe, CA) and we drove there to discover the road to the house was up a fairly steep incline. It was snowing pretty well at that time and my 2WD Honda just could not get up that road. We had to put on some chains (always fun in the snow & slush) and the darn cable broke halfway up the road. Luckily it did not damage my car, but it was a highly frustrating experience. We rented the same house the next year, but by then I had an AWD Subaru and it managed the road in similar weather conditions without a problem.

Well they said they would assure us that there would be no snow on the hill, but if it were to snow alot while we were there that the 4x4 was a must

The other thing is - are you used to driving in snow?

Even a 4 WD, while better in snow, can;t really handle ice unless you SLOW down - and keep a very long distance from the car ahead of you (you want plenty of time to stop in case that car decides to fishtail and slide down the road sideways and out of control). Also - make sure your car has a good shovel, strong scraper for windshield, windows and lights, and that you have somethng to give you extra traction if necessary. (I always carry several bags of cat litter.)

And the key to driving on ice is do not stop. Keep going, even if only at 5 mph - since once you stop you may not have the traction to start moving again.

Well, just to put the ice driving in true perspective, 4WD has NOTHING to help with starting or stopping on ice. It is what people unused to it forget.

"Well they said they would assure us that there would be no snow on the hill"
Uh, no.

well I've got experience with ice, just not heavy snow, and what i meant with "the assured us no snow on the hill" is that the management said that they will make sure to plow the snow the day of my arrival. idk if thats true or not but I'm staying firm on the 4x4, decided to get a chevy silverado 4wd....

I think that's a truck. How many of you are there? Double cab? Toss your stuff in the back?
A truck is even harder to drive in snow than a 4WD SUV because of the lack of weight in the back, although I am sure a Texan knows how to drive a truck!!

Frankly I think SUVs or trucks are fatal in ice or snow. they are way too high off the ground, tip over at the slightest bump, and give a very false sense of security. I would always go for a CAR with 4 WD - so it won't turn over or slide sideways on the first curve of a mountain road. I've driven a lot in snow/ice in a small car with front wheel drive - and if you use first gear and drive sensibly I think that's safer than some gigantor vehicle with nothing to keep it on the road.