Western ski choice for Intermediate Couple
 

We're wanting to take a 3-4 day ski trip to somewhere new Rockies or further west this winter. What sounds perfect for:

Couple in our 40s, no children.
One Low-Mid Intermediate and one Advanced Intermediate.
Want long winding trails with pretty scenery.
Enough runs in area to be entertained for 3 days.
Base lodging for at least 2 days--will drive/shuttle for 1 day.
Limited lines or at least polite crowd.
No need for nightlife or dining out.
Price is a consideration.

We've been to Winter Park (like it but tired of it), Keystone (OK), Breckenridge (too crowded and pushy, most runs we tried seemed straight and boring), Squaw Valley (beautiful), and Kirkwood (OK).

Thanks for your help.

We also like Winter Park and Squaw Valley.

One place I'd recommend is Steamboat Springs. It's got great runs and scenery, friendly people, not any glitz.

Another place we like is Heavenly Valley in South Lake Tahoe; I think it's the most beautiful place we've ever skied. Of course it's got lots of nightlife, but we just ignore that. We're in our mid 50s, and ski from 9AM to 4PM, so our idea of nightlife is staying awake through dinner.

Why not base yourself in Truckee and go to Northstar, Alpine Meadows, Squaw and Sugar Bowl? Check their web sites for special ticket deals.

Thanks for such quick advice. Steamboat is a possibility if we can get a decent airfare.

My husband doesn't want to drive everyday and is tired of riding shuttle buses. The one time we stayed at a base village has spoiled him, I guess!

Go for Steamboat! I'm partial to the place, very down to earth, especially compared to some of the other Rockies resorts. I'll be there next month at this time!

How about Big Mountain in Montana? Opened Thanksgiving and going strong. For more info.
www.bigmtn.com

Big Sky is a good bet. We go every year, and while we are expert skiiers, we can still enjoy LONG runs with the 5 year old on some wonderful blues and easy blacks. Big Sky has wonderful terrain, a GREAT hotel at the base - The Summit, no lift lines (really) and incredible views. The Summit is pricey, but The Huntley Loge is also at the base and more affordable. We like Big Sky MUCH more than any Colorado resorts, including Steamboat. Fly into Bozeman, Mt and take the shuttle to the resort or rent a 4X4. 45 minutes and you're there. Not much night life, but great skiing - even for intermediates!! BIGSKYRESORT.COM

Snowbird, Utah - They now offer a combined Snowbird/Alta pass that gives you twice the runs and we've already received lots of great snow.

I wouldn't do Big Sky without a car. Although we're not much interested in night life, the restaurant selection around the base is extremely limited.

We took the resort shuttle to one restaurant and the restaurant shuttle to another. Both restaurants were over-priced, a 20-30 minute drive away, and we took our life in our hands on those shuttles. One time, we really thought the bus was going to end up on it's side in a ditch.

The skiing was great, but we prefer Steamboat.

Yes, Big Sky is a skiiers destination. Dining is limited to about 9 restaurants at the base and nightlife is prettty non-existant. We are there to ski and relax and it fits the bill. Snowbird and Alta are incredible - in fact we're headed there for a week mid Feb, but it is, truth be told, an advanced and expert's playground. I wouldn't venture there if you were true Int's, it might prove very frustrating. Park City and The Canyons are better resorts for Int skiiers - although they get crowded and receive considerably less snow than Snowbird/Alta.

I would suggest Park City. There are 3 resorts in the area so lots of trails to choose from. Quick ride from the airport (Salt Lake) in. You can stay at the base or on an easy shuttle ride away from either Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Mountain or the Canyons. Lots of groomed blues -- good choices for intermediates.

Although you say it isn't a consideration, Park City also has a nice little town with some shopping, many restaurant and bar choices.

Thanks again. Park City was one of my husband's questions. Everyone mentions the three resorts in one area, then tend to talk about actually skiing at DV and PC, not the Canyons, but you do, Mellyz. Anyone know why? They offer dated but relatively cheaper onsite lodging, but not a big consideration if you shuttle to PC or DV everyday anyway.

The Canyons offers dated lodging?? That's hard to imagine since it's a relatively new resort. I would say that's probably why people don't talk much about skiing there -- it's pretty new and up until a few years ago they didn't have a lot of trails open. Most of the lodging is base lodging and there are a couple of restaurants there. The rest of the area's offerings will be at PC.

I can't tell you what it's like from personal experience. Our group (which is a mixed group of skiiers from double-blacks to me on the high green/low blue scale) went there one day to ski, but I didn't ski at all. The weather conditions weren't very good, so I don't think our group enjoyed themselves that much. They said it was more difficult than PC or DV, but that there are lots of blues, if that helps.

The Westgate at the Canyons is a new all condo resort and supposedly EXTREMELY nice. The upside to Canyons is that it's got alot of terrain and doesn't have the crowds of DV and PC. PC can be a zoo and DV is a very toney resort. You may consider Tahoe too - they gets tons of snow and it's gorgeous there.

We love the Park City area. the Canyons used to be Park West, then Wolf Mountain. it's very pretty and woodsy, and there are lots of blue runs. About 15 years ago, we stayed about 1/4 mile from there in a place called Red Pine, that was very nice and very reasonable.

Park City can get crowded, and many of the runs are on the shorter side. The on-mountain food is overpriced for how mediocre it is.

If the snow conditions aren't great, go to Deer Valley; they dig down 18 inches to groom the snow. The food is also expensive there, but it's excellent.

When we feel like saving money on lunches, we make sandwiches from a rotisserie chicken, and carry oranges and cookies.

Thanks again! I had read the comment about the dated condos on some board, but we don't care if the lodgings are luxurious, just clean and convenient. Just looking for reasons why Canyons isn't mentioned much. I keep hearing so much about DV I'll look at it more closely too.

Another plus to DV is that they don't allow snowboarders. Keeps the crowds down. The on-mountain food there is also excellent! I look forward to their salad bar every year.

Just make sure you take LOTS of money and expensive ski wear. DV is the most expensive, exclusive (ie:snobby) ski resort in the US next the the ultra private members only Yellowstone Club.

I'd agree with the person who said to check out Big Mountain in Whitefish (fly into Kalispell). It can be foggy, unlike any other area I've ever skied, but otherwise it's got everything you're looking for--not too crowded, nice trails for intermediate skiers, great views into Glacier Park, and base lodging, with more (and with nightlife) not too far away in Whitefish.

Steamboat, definitely. Only a three hour drive from Denver, great snow, beatiful scenery, relatively uncrowded, real western town feel, reasonable prices, plentiful ski in/ski out accomodation options. Fits all your criteria.

I live in Park City and, personally, I don't care for the Canyons. The main reason is their terraine and how hard it is to get from lift to lift. They brag about how many acres they have of skiing, but the problem is, most of their runs are narrow, icy and over skied. Just my opinon.

Deer Valley and Park City are both fun mountains. Food is great a Deer Valley.

More serious skiing is at Snowbird and Alta.

There are some old condos near the Canyons, but their Grand Summit Lodge, and the Sundial Lodge are new and very high end.

I would recommend Beaver Creek Ski Resort. We have skied at most resorts throughout the west and consider Beaver Creek skiing the most enjoyable.

Ok, this might be a little late but I've got to agree with the reply mentioning Heavenly Valley. I can't imagine a resort with better views from the slopes... the views are so amazing it is almost dangerous because you don't want to watch where you are going, you just want to stare at the lake and the mountains. Plus, the place is huge with long, winding runs and there are lots of places to stay. It can be crowded at some of the main lifts but if you can go mid-week you won't have that problem. If you thought Squaw was pretty, Heavenly makes it look plain... Squaw has great skiing but isn't nearly as picturesque.

Thanks for all the help (it's never too late--I can use it for the next trip). We've settled on Steamboat Springs at the end of January for this trip. We've never been there (as opposed to Lake Tahoe) and we were able to get airfare all the way there for <$300 as opposed to Montana which was higher. We know we want to go back to Montana--we went to Yellowstone for the first time in June 2002 and Glacier in August 2003 and loved them both. Delta just refuses to put the direct SLC flights on sale and if we are changing planes we might as use the time and effort to get to a more out of the way place. I'm thinking we'll go to Utah sometime when a weekend or last minute special comes up--we've done that several times to Denver and Winter Park for a Saturday-Tuesday.

Now I just have to settle on lodging, ski rentals, etc. I'll probably wait until after the first of the year as I don't see any outstanding offers at the moment. I'm surprised at how many ads I'm seeing for condos still available for holiday skiing.

Thanks as always for your help. I always come to the Fodor's board with my travel questions. You guys are the best.

We are back from Steamboat and sharing our experience:

The resort did have long winding trails, often with few people and short lines (it was off season).

We got lots of powder, so I had to practice skiing "baby bumps" that remained soft well into the afternoon, but became harder and more challenging late in the day. I stuck to the blues and found quite a range of easy (Tomahawk) to difficult. My husband did a couple of blacks and thought they were no more difficult than the blues except Rolex, which he liked. No double black diamonds for us :-).
In 3 days we covered most all the blues.

I wouldn't want to be a beginner at Steamboat. After learning at the bottom, there weren't alot of green options--seemed half were roads down the mountain. I remember a narrow road being rather scary when trying to make large turns with more advanced boarders cruising past when learning. We helped one fellow find his way down the greens, but he was doing a lot of snowplowing and was probably exhausted by the time he made it to the base. Of course, he could have taken the gondola down, but he said he was there to ski, not ride.

We stayed in Storm Meadows condo. We had to walk down at least 3 staircases and cross a road to reach the snow and ski to Christie lift. Return was ski down the easy way and head down a narrow lane of snow to just below the condo--only one flight of stairs back up. Again, a beginner would wipe out with the dip into the lane to ski-in. We never used the gondola as the base would require more walking or poling to reach from our condo. The condos right on the slopes are definitely worth a little extra over the ones on the other side of the road. But it was OK for us. The condo had very thin walls and we could hear conversations, television, dogs, etc. from the sides and above.

We thought the food in the restaurants in town rather expensive, similar to on the mountain. We hit the grocery for most of our needs.

We rented a car through Hotwire for a good price. The airport shuttle looked fine. I'd check how close the bus stopped to my condo if I were going that route for grocery shopping and getting to the slopes.

Everyone was friendly and helpful. We answered a host's visitor survey and received a Steamboat pin in appreciation.

The scenery was pretty, but I didn't think it was as dramatic as Winter Park and Lake Tahoe.

We didn't have any extra time. If we did, we would have considered the dog sleds--someone told us they enjoyed them because you get to drive? as well as ride.