# another where to ?... first time in CO.



## Guest (Sep 19, 2009)

i choose colorado because tickets to Denver are cheap for us. And have never been.

dates: 2-7-2010 --->2-12-2010

i am looking for advice, a resort that has:
-shorter lift lines.
-a good to great night life. 
-moderately priced
-a good all around mountain . (people range from low intermediate to advanced)


advice and direction would be appreciated. 
thanks


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2009)

please i know people have some thoughts on this


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Here's the deal. Most resorts are not cheap. Even the mom and pop area, Loveland, is going to be over $60 a day. Places like Keystone, Breck, Winterpark, and Copper are pushing $90 a day. Summit County is where most of those (not Winterpark) resorts are near too. You can find some decent lodging deals in Summit and there is decent night life there. More so in Breckenridge. Vail would be another spot with a good night scene, once again the tickets are expensive, so package deals are the way to go. 

One thing about Summit county is that if you have a car, it's a short drive to Loveland, and as mentioned it's more affordable. You can also find lift ticket deals at the local grocery stores. Better to buy in Denver if at all possible.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Any mountain in Summit or Vail will have the type of terrain you are looking for and plenty of it.


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

Clear Creek has a great night life if you are a local  I have a fucking blast in Idaho Springs.


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2009)

i started to veer from copper because i found out the night life wasn't that great. 
i heard Breck can get really crowded at the lift lines. 
i wish there was a happy medium of good night life and shorter lift lines.
we spend our time 80% mountain 15% park 5% eating haha


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

smoothrider said:


> i started to veer from copper because i found out the night life wasn't that great.
> i heard Breck can get really crowded at the lift lines.
> i wish there was a happy medium of good night life and shorter lift lines.
> we spend our time 80% mountain 15% park 5% eating haha


It sucks bro. Not sure about other places but around here Good night life = more people = longer lines and crowds. It just kind of all goes hand in hand. If you wanted to do a little driving you could stay in Dillon/Silverthorne where there is a decent nightlife and drive over the pass/through the tunnel and hit Loveland or A-Basin for less crowds. Even A-Basin can be a shit show on the the wrong day. Usually during the week it isn't too bad though.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2009)

How about steamboat?


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

smoothrider said:


> How about steamboat?


Can't help you there, I've never been to Steamboat unless it was on a mountain bike :dunno:


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2009)

smoothrider said:


> How about steamboat?


Best snow in CO. For some reason it dumps up there. From what I hear, it's growing. Night life is chilled and laid back, but I'm sure the tourists keep it bumping.

I guess you're not riding hard enough if you still have energy for night life. I know I'm wiped out after a good full day of hard riding, but not many people ride like I do...


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2009)

oh we def ride hard. we usually nap for an hour or 2 then wake up get ready and get BOMBED.


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## arsenic0 (Nov 11, 2008)

Never understood getting bombed and then going snowboarding...

Its hard enough waking up at the asscrack of dawn to get to the lift for first chairs...i cant imagine doing it staying up all night and waking up with a hangover...


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## Guest (Sep 24, 2009)

i can explain this very easily. when you don't drink during the year, and your looking for a vacation and your with your buddies... we are going to drink. all of us are working professionals, and when you do it right its no prob jumping up and getting 1st chair ... been doing it like this for almost 8-10 years. .... 

so honestly.
is there any other suggestions? i figured i would get a lot more suggestions... even if it wasn't outside denver... maybe other parts of CO...


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## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

there are better places to go boozing than a ski hill.


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## Guest (Sep 24, 2009)

arsenic0 said:


> Never understood getting bombed and then going snowboarding...
> 
> Its hard enough waking up at the asscrack of dawn to get to the lift for first chairs...i cant imagine doing it staying up all night and waking up with a hangover...


agreed - the one time I went with a wicked hangover I was pretty much still drunk from the night before. I almost passed out on the lift, I was trying to figure out how to tie myself to the chair incase I passed out 50ft in the air and fell to my demise, guy next to me kept saying "smells like whiskey up here". - never again....never say never


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

> so honestly.
> is there any other suggestions? i figured i would get a lot more suggestions... even if it wasn't outside denver... maybe other parts of CO...



If you stay in Summit County, say Dillon or Silverthorne. You will be pretty limited to what resorts you can ride. There's Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin, Loveland, and Copper. Everything listed is within a half hour, most of them mere minutes from each other...


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## Guest (Sep 25, 2009)

legallyillegal said:


> there are better places to go boozing than a ski hill.


i agree daddy. hahaha. i guess i know how to spend my money for vacations. instead of laying around the lodge like a slug. i am almost 30 and don't need drinking advice. its tried and true. get off the subject. and start helping me with location ideas. 

how do people get to the north western slopes? or even the more western slopes? DRIVE from denver? that would be like 4-5 hours lol


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

smoothrider said:


> i agree daddy. hahaha. i guess i know how to spend my money for vacations. instead of laying around the lodge like a slug. i am almost 30 and don't need drinking advice. its tried and true. get off the subject. and start helping me with location ideas.
> 
> how do people get to the north western slopes? or even the more western slopes? DRIVE from denver? that would be like 4-5 hours lol


If you were going to SW Colorado (Durango, Pagosa, etc.) It might actually be better to fly into New Mexico as I believe it is actually a much shorter drive than heading to Wolf Creek etc. from Denver. 

Don't drink and drive :laugh:


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## Breckenridge (Oct 1, 2009)

Nightlife VS Crowds: I Ride Breck every day (unless keystone gets hammered), and here's the deal: 90% of the time there is zero to small lift lines. The other 10% of the time there are lines (saturdays and holidays). Since most of the people are here when its crowded (obviously?), the reputation for crowds is perpetuated by the crowds.As with any resort, it's also very lift dependent. Summit county is a good choice if you avoid the busiest times. It is also close to Denver allowing the option of a shuttle VS car rental. Of course with a car you can hit up Vail,Beaver Creek, Loveland, Copper,Keystone,A-Basin,Breckenridge. If you want to avoid renting a car, you can stay in breck and take a free bus to Keystone(night riding) or A-Basin. Breckenridge is definitely where the nightlife is in Summit County. You can call Breckenridge's front desk and ask how busy your dates are historically. We love visitors, but if you are gonna leave the bar with your glass, don't break it on the sidewalk. Stick it in the snow so I can add it to my collection !!
Peace


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## Guest (Oct 26, 2009)

Breck might have the nightlife, but I hate going to their mountain and being treated like a criminal. Their ski patrol guys are total nazis and target snowboarders, and once even accused me of snowboarding on a closed run when it wasn't closed (and threatened to take away my pass). 

So for the most part, I go to Copper. I could care less about the Copper nightlife, as I am headed back to Denver most nights. They have cheap $2 beers too. Oh, and FREE snowcat rides to Tucker Mtn in the back bowls (but they take forever to wait on--faster just to hike up there yourself)

If there's anything night worthy, it's going to Keystone and do the night runs. But watch out, it gets cold, and can get crowded on the powder nights.

Beaver Creek is cool, and Vail is cool too--just don't care for caviar, LOL, and watch out for those 50 year old women wearing fur coats!

A-Basin is for the "glacier boarder" experience, but their lifts are slow and wobbly. And Loveland is Loveland, but it might be more exciting than A-Basin (Well, not sure now since A-Basin recently opened up the backside bowl--Montezuma bowl).

Steamboat is OK, just a long drive for me.

Winter Park is OK, and I'm not a big fan of their mountain since it seems less board friendly--their slopes are sometimes sloped sideways, pushing me into the trees half the time.

Crested Butte--it's been awhile, but they might have the nightlife and resort you are looking for. REALLY out of my way though.


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## neednsnow (Nov 30, 2007)

I've been in your shoes, before. As the drinking goes, some people don't get the beauty of finding a balance. If you are looking to drink and ride all in one resort town, hit Breck or Vail. Many of the other resorts are just a way far drive. If you wanted to do Aspen/Snowmass, you could, but you'd have to make the extra drive or fly into Eagle Airport. 

I come out from PA, once a year. Each time I stayed in Breck, rode all day and hit the night scene as often as possible. The worst line I saw at Breck was over Easter Weekend a few years back. 45 minutes at the base lift, but once you get to the more advanced areas (Falcon Super & the Imperial Chair area), the lines were nearly non-existant. Breck is a fun town and the Mtn has some tasty hike-to terrain above the Imperial Chair. If you don't get a package, I'd VRBO.com a condo. 

Personally, I am either hitting Summit or Jackson Hole, this year. If I do Summit this time, however, I will be doing as others have suggested; Staying in Silverthorne and just driving to a couple of different hills. Vail is a good time for one day (not much more needed than that) and Loveland is offering a killer deal 119 for a four-pack of tickets....I'm in! If you definately want a scene, stay in Breck or Vail (you could drive to the other mtns if you want something different). Mid-week you'll be fine with crowd. By saturday, you'll just be riding high from last night's flavor of the week and the crowds won't be any sort of a bother.


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## Guest (Nov 9, 2009)

Ride Mary Janes backsite. Winter Park is sweet. Also A Basin is the bomb biddy! Get cheescake from the lady with the leopard hat!


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## roremc (Oct 25, 2009)

Breck is the way to go. Sweet night life and lots of hills nearby. As said above its a bit of a gong show on the weekend but where isnt? And as neednsnow said once you are away from the base the lifts further out tend to be pretty sweet. If you are worried about lines on a weekend drink during the day and ride at Keystone at night! ; )


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2009)

My suggestion for staying inexpensively would be to check out vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner), unless you already have a condo. I'm assuming you're driving, so here's the deal for Summit county... The cheaper places to stay will be Dillon, Frisco, Silverthorne. These are all 10 minutes max from Keystone, Breck, Copper, and A-basin. You'll have to drive to the resort everyday, and will need a taxi or DD for getting home if you want to go out, and I would go out in Breck. You can also drive to Vail or the Beav in about 25-30. But if you stay in these places, don't plan on going out at night in Vail, you'll have to drive Vail pass. If you want to be closer to Vail, Avon would be the less expensive place to be, and is where Beaver Creek is too. Nightlife is best in Breck or Vail.

Although it's smaller, and a further drive from Denver, Crested Butte is also a great little town. You can stay there or Mt. Crested Butte (the resort, yes they are two separate towns, it's kind of weird), but I've always had a lot of fun there, and they have some great bars. That being said, CB is a much harder mountain than Breck.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Good point on Crested Butte. They have been getting snow and I it's one of the best mountains anywhere. 

Check out Almont Resort. They generally have a lift ticket and lodging deal for around $60 a night. Almont is about 15 minutes from the resort, halfway between Gunnison and Crested Butte. You are not in town, but you are ridiculously close. Throw in the fact that they have a great restaurant and a bar, you got a nice quiet little winner. I've stayed there several times and have no complaint about the place. You get a lot of bang for your buck.


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## EverBorN (Jul 21, 2007)

I just got back from a vaca at keystone. I stayed in dillon & it was AWESOME! keystone is a great resort. In the morning the gondola got slammed though, we got there at about 8:30am to buy our tickets (it opens at 9am early season) we got two runs in with no line then the 3rd time we came down (about 10:30-11) there was a good 45 min wait at the gondola =/ so we said fuck this and went down the road to A-basin (since our tickets are good for A-basin & breck as well) thats like a 8 minute drive strait down the road we boarded there for an hour then went back to keystone & by then they opened up a few more lifts & there was NO line at all the rest of the day =) So if you just wait out for the line to get plowed through there doesnt seem to b a line the rest of the day. We didnt go to breck because we have a vaca with like 12+ friends in jan and were going to breck so we didnt hit breck up since it was just me & my cuz this time around. I had my GPS on me though to see how long it takes to get to the bottom (for the little amount of runs they had open) I went top speed of 31.5 mph, went 2.8 miles & it took 10 minutes to reach the bottom, 20 minutes including rests, my cuz screwed up his legs in a bike crash so he isnt in great shape and we had to rest.


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## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

I just booked a flight into Denver Jan 6th - 10th. I was thinking we'd stay at Breck, ride there Thur, Friday and than ride Loveland Saturday / Sunday (and still stay at Breck). Is Loveland too far? Dillon a better option?


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## Guest (Dec 3, 2009)

cifex, the difference between the dillon-loveland and breck-loveland drive will be about 10 minutes. maybe 15. googlemaps it (yes, that's a verb). they're all right next door to each other really (but loveland is on the east side of the pass)


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## neednsnow (Nov 30, 2007)

cifex said:


> I just booked a flight into Denver Jan 6th - 10th. I was thinking we'd stay at Breck, ride there Thur, Friday and than ride Loveland Saturday / Sunday (and still stay at Breck). Is Loveland too far? Dillon a better option?


Dillon is right smack in the middle of Loveland/Breck. Often Dillon is the choice du-jour because it is cheaper than Breck. We've stayed in Breck the past few times because you know how my acquaintances enjoy having the going-out option. I don't know what you are looking at for prices, but if you have a good price at Breck, just stay there. If you are looking for something cheaper, VRBO Dillon or Silverthorn.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

cifex said:


> I just booked a flight into Denver Jan 6th - 10th. I was thinking we'd stay at Breck, ride there Thur, Friday and than ride Loveland Saturday / Sunday (and still stay at Breck). Is Loveland too far? Dillon a better option?


Bring your splitboard yo. Bert is a 30-45 minute drive from Breck, Vail Pass is under 30 minutes. I'm sure I can be talked into giving you a tour of one of those spots. Unless things are really weird there should be plenty of powder to be found.


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## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

I'm not going to be bringing the split this time unfortunately since I'm bringing my female (it's her birthday). This weekend will be her first on mountain experience so I think she'll want to stay on piste. I WILL take you up on that at some point!

The reason I was thinking of Breck was because I'm not sure I can rent an SUV.. I'll be 25 this coming March and apparently they have age restrictions for SUVs (no fucking idea why). So I figured if it dumped so bad that whatever POS they give me can't get through the pass, I could just ride Breck. I've never gotten stuck in a Vermont snow storm so bad that I couldn't drive but I don't know what the storms look like there......


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## neednsnow (Nov 30, 2007)

cifex said:


> I'm not going to be bringing the split this time unfortunately since I'm bringing my female (it's her birthday). This weekend will be her first on mountain experience so I think she'll want to stay on piste. I WILL take you up on that at some point!
> 
> The reason I was thinking of Breck was because I'm not sure I can rent an SUV.. I'll be 25 this coming March and apparently they have age restrictions for SUVs (no fucking idea why). So I figured if it dumped so bad that whatever POS they give me can't get through the pass, I could just ride Breck. I've never gotten stuck in a Vermont snow storm so bad that I couldn't drive but I don't know what the storms look like there......


Hey Z, I didn't know you even had a splitty. Do you have other BC gear, too? (Beacon, Probes, Shovel, Bible)


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## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

No. I built it last year. Cut my old Floater in half figuring I'd find an opportunity to use it at Tuckermann's Ravine.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Hey cifex, call around the rental places and make sure you can rent something from them at all. I know a few of the rental places like Enterprise, won't even rent to someone under 25. Regardless of what you want to rent. At least it was that way two years ago. Make sure you can get something. Otherwise you'll need to use CME or something like that. It's not cheap either, but a lot less than a rental for a week anyway. 

If you are able to find a vehicle, a fwd car should be fine. Ask around and see if any of the places give you cars with snow tires. That should be all you need. Snow tires and FWD are better than a SUV without them. If not, make sure they supply cables or chains, just in case. Doubt you'll need 'em but if you do, you'll be glad they are there. I think my first 8 years out here, I just drove a FWD car with regular tires on it. Never needed chains and drove in the crappiest conditions. Of course I slid around more than I would have liked and once I could afford snow tires I realized that was the ticket.


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## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

Enterprise will, but there is a $20/day surcharge. I used them last time (they gave me a canary yellow convertible beetle in Utah). :laugh: 

I'll call around, thanks!


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

That was Utah, they operate a little differently in Colorado evidently. I was in there renting a car while I was having my old one in for insurance repair. There was a couple in there who absolutely could not rent a vehicle because they were under 25. Had the credit cards, license, everything they needed to rent, except their age. I believe they were saying the same thing about renting a car in Utah, and the answer they got was basically "tough". That is why I was giving you the heads up.


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## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

Shit.. Thanks.


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## neednsnow (Nov 30, 2007)

cifex said:


> Shit.. Thanks.


I ran into a similar issue when I first went to Breck about 7 years ago. I reserved a car, but they wouldn't give it to me because I was under 25. They sent me to another company. Unfortunately, i don't remember either company.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

mpdsnowman said:


> Wow I never heard of that...:dunno:


That's cause you were last under the age of 25 in the 19th century...:cheeky4:


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## w3iiipu (Feb 26, 2009)

as far as i know Hertz and Advantage rent to drivers under 25 for a age difference fee of 15 bucks...cheapest out of all other rental company. Tho certain luxury vehicle are restricted to drivers under 25 but if ur looking for regular or intermediate suv, shudnt be a problem.

on my recent trip to CO i was really lucky to be able to rent an Escalade from Hertz, without paying extra age difference fee!!!! and i got a great deal on it; 4 days for 466 (including a full tank of gas). Also the Escalade was brand new with only 3.2 miles on it when we got it!!!!

edit: we are all under 25 drivers
________
WildJasmin live


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## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

The fee didn't apply to horses Carmen.


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## Guest (Dec 14, 2009)

w3iiipu said:


> as far as i know Hertz and Advantage rent to drivers under 25 for a age difference fee of 15 bucks...cheapest out of all other rental company. Tho certain luxury vehicle are restricted to drivers under 25 but if ur looking for regular or intermediate suv, shudnt be a problem.
> 
> on my recent trip to CO i was really lucky to be able to rent an Escalade from Hertz, without paying extra age difference fee!!!! and i got a great deal on it; 4 days for 466 (including a full tank of gas). Also the Escalade was brand new with only 3.2 miles on it when we got it!!!!
> 
> edit: we are all under 25 drivers


Dude rolling in an Escalade nice, all they gave me was a goddamn tahoe and it cost me 50bucks more  oh well i didnt pay for it so its all good.


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