Where should we ski?
 

Ok, the Big question: Flying back to Australia from New York in early January and want to stop off somewhere and go skiing for 7 or 8 days. We are family with 1 fifteen year old surly boy. We are all good to very good skiers. We are looking for somewhere that has: reliable snow; good village atmosphere with restaurants, bars etc; ski in/out condos we can rent; plenty of area to ski and hopefully not too far from an airport so we can get a limo service to take us there and back. All suggestions gratefully received. Have skied Sun Valley (loved it), Bozeman Montana (loved it and worked there too), Big Sky ditto. Any suggestions? We were thinking of Alta but the net reports describe it as pretty dismal night life and dismal village? All suggestions gratefully received. Thanks in advance.

Vail/Beaver Creek. Easy access from Denver. Steamboat Springs?

Salt Lake has wonderful airport access and the snow was wonderful one March. I have never been there in January. I think the temps might be a little more benevolent in Utah in January also.

We enjoyed Park City and Deer Valley ( amazing) but you may be more attracted to Alta and Snowbird (more alpine feel).

http://www.utahskiing.org/

Alta certainly has no town with restaurants and bars.

I agree that SLC is the closest airport to ski areas. Instead of staying SI/SO, we stay in town, across the street from the transit center, where it's easy to get a free bus to Park City, Deer Valloey, or the Canyons.

Vail is an easy two hour drive from DEN, has a town, and is the largest ski ares in the US, with Beaver Creek 15 minutes away (although the transportation isn't great).

Vail is fabulous and easy to get to from Denver (or you can fly into Vail), but what it has is a manufactured ski village, not exactly a town. However, their manufactured ski village is better than most towns! Larger, with excellent stores (some very upscale, like Loro Piano, some not quite so high-end) and restaurants and bars. It's pedestrian-only once you're in the village and the ski lifts are in the village as well.

Aspen is a great town, very vibrant, with lots of hotels, condos, restaurants, shopping. Lots of bling, but plenty of "regular" people too. When we ate out at one upscale steak place, customers were dressed in everything from ski clothes (actual ski clothes, as in they'd just come off the mountain) to furs and diamonds. We were wearing jeans and boots and were perfectly comfortable. Aspen is a lot farther from Denver, but also has its own airport. The one ski area in town in Ajax Moutain which is geared to experts. Snowmass is the best area for intermediates -- it's a 20-minute [free] shuttle ride from Aspen.

Park City (35 minutes from SLC Airport) and Breckenridge (about 1-1/2 hours from Denver Airport) are very similar. They both have a main street that's an old mining town, converted to shops and restaurants. Both have "town lifts" from the main street to the ski area. Very nice atmosphere in both. Plenty of good skiing in both (Park City has three ski areas with a shuttle that runs among them and you can get SI/SO at any of them -- Park City, Deer Valley and The Canyons; Breckenridge is technically all one area, but there are different "peaks" within it).

I think you'd be happy with any of these as long as there's snow!

I think I'd vote Park City. Salt Lake City is an easy airport to fly into being a Delta hub. I feel like its gets shut down less for weather than Denver does. If you go to Park City, you have three different resorts to choose to ski Park City, Deer Valley and the Canyons. It's an easy drive from the airport. While Aspen and Vail are great, I've only visited in the summer and have not skied them since I was a child, but I'm under the impression the they can be hard to get to in the winter through the tunnel if something happens.

<<<I was a child, but I'm under the impression the they can be hard to get to in the winter through the tunnel if something happens.>>>

My DH's flights from Aspen have been cancelled on more than one occasion, and he has been known to drive to Denver in a snowstorm in order to fly home from there. So yes, from an accessibility standpoint, Salt Lake City is better!

The only thing we never found in Salt Lake city was the local bar/watering hole for the apres ski drink at the end of the day. There's got to be a local dive bar, but unfortunately, we never found it. Or we never found anything that could compare to the Mangy Moose in Jackson Hole or the Avalanche in Crested Butte.

Oops that should be Park City.

Definitely the Salt Lake City area - Park City, Canyons, Deer Valley, Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude - all within 45 min of airport and each other. Park City, Deer Valley, Canyons all in Park City - cute town, shuttle bus, ski in/out condos, restaurants. Try vrbo or similar for condo rentals.

Utah has some of the best skiing in the US. We know a kid that makes ski dvd's and he loves the canyons. As to the dive bars, I don't think they exist in Utah, outside of Moab. Given your wants, I'd consider Co, Lake tahoe or Whistler/backcomb (canada)

Utah bar options will be FAR less than what is available in any of the Colorado areas. The best way to access the Colorado options is to fly to Denver and drive west. Breckenridge is the closest major area (Winter Park is closer but it won't have the nightlife you're seeking) and it is close to Keystone and Copper Mountain, both of which are good places to ski and far less crowded than Breckenridge, Aspen (which is expensive) or Vail (which is far larger). I wouldn't fly into/out of a Colorado ski town because the flight can easily be canceled due to weather. I like Breckenridge a lot.

That said, the drive to the Colorado ski areas is only "easy" if there's no snow - I drove a rented Altima on I-70 in a driving snowstorm and that wasn't fun. And the dang Denverites had to put their airport on the east side of the city when all the ski areas are west.

Whistler/Blackcomb is an interesting option - those mountains are about 2 hours north of Vancouver and the amount of ski area is enormous. The Whistler/Blackcomb website shows the ski area compared to major resorts in the US and Canada and W/B dwarfs even Vail.

Here's the comparison chart for Whistler viz. various other areas. http://media.intrawest.com/whistler/...p/compare.html

Aspen ski area is small - about 1/3 the size of Breckenridge.

Thanks alot guys - what do you think about Jackson Hole? Or Sun Vallyey

Sadly, we have not skied at JH or SV. Mainly due to the challenge of getting to either area and not loving single resort option.

If "not too far from an airport".. SLC is your very best bet.

Whistler/Blackcomb offers fantastic skiing, lots of variety, and great village atmosphere. But it is about 90 minutes from the Vancouver airport.

Park City, only 30 minutes from SLC airport, and well-served by reliable shuttles, may be your best choice. It is a "real" town, originally a mining town , not a purpose-built resort. Lots of shops and restaurants, and places to get a drink après skinif you buy a bit of food to go with. I believe there are shuttles that will take you over to Snowbird and Alta for skiing, so you can enjoy some of the best skiing anywhere. Not much of a village there, which is why people are not suggesting you stay there.

Check the dates for the Sundance Film Festival, which mostly takes place in Park City, just to be sure you don't overlap. I think it is late January, and you said early January, so you should be OK.