Looking for tips about where to stay, where to eat, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Paul.
Are you set on Winter Park?
42yrs ago…
It looks likely.
It is either this or Copper (Max Pass has these two resorts). I’ve skied Copper, but not WP. Crested Butte is on the pass, but looks like not much terrain for intermediate/low advanced daughter.
Going with 13 year old daughter. (I’m going to Big Sky, Steamboat and spending some time in SLC later by myself and with some friends)
Thoughts?
Winter Park is sort of day skier’s area. There are hotels and restaurants, but they are not the greatest. The area is really just an hour plus west of Denver so it attracts someone just wanting to get out for the day.
I would rather go a little further and stay in Crested Butte. Much nicer town. The mountain isn’t as big as Winter Park, but overall I think it is a better experience. Just my 2 cents.
Copper and Winter Park on weekends are tourist and front range heavy if the snow is good. If during the week not a bid deal. Crested Butte is a much prettier and more fun place . But much harder to get to and more advanced terrain. I am not sure how you are getting to either location. WP has a “real” mountain pass to cover if coming from Denver.
It has been a few years since I skied at WP but it was a pretty old school place. Fairly decent well priced places which are ski/in ski out on the mary jane side. You won’t want to ski there (Mary Jane) as it is mainly black diamond terrain but there is a green trail there as I recall. Copper really does have a large and more varied mountain. Better “tourist” town as well.
I’ve never stayed overnight so do not know about specific lodging etc.
I can ski most anything, but my daughter will balk at truly hard stuff. Do you think CB has enough terrain for her?
I do hear the town is great.
Renting a vehicle. Not concerned with driving in snow. Have you driven from DIA to Crested?
I remember the whole front side of the mountain being blues and greens and I think a lot of the greens have their own little area. The blacks/double blacks are up high. The mountain isn’t that big, but it also doesn’t get crowded.
There are two “Crested Buttes”. There is Mt Crested Butte which is the ski base and it is sort of stuck in the '80’s. Lots of concrete buildings and such. Then about 3 miles away (via free shuttle) is the original old town that is also stuck in the '80’s, but the 1880’s. Lots of little bars/restaurants, fun shops. It reminds me of what Aspen probably was like in the 1960’s.
Both areas would offer something for both of you. Winter Park as a town isn’t near as fun as CB in my opinion. When we lived in Denver WP was our go to just so we didn’t have near as much I-70 time. As far as drive time from DIA, CB is 4.5-5 hours depending on Denver traffic and mtn weather conditions. If someone hasn’t visited Colorado much I think hwys 285 & 50 are a great drive once you get out of the city through the central Rockies. The WP drive is maybe 2 hours at the most from the airport. Where to stay; since the town of WP is lacking we have always used VRBO and stayed at a few of the new condo buildings (Founders Pointe, Fraser Crossing, Zephyr Mtn Lodge) at the base of the ski area, as the town of WP is 2 miles up the road. For CB we have actually done the opposite, stayed in town and driven or rode the bus a few miles to the ski area. The main reason for this is that we may have a beer or two at the base of the ski area, but then once we get to town and park the vehicle we can walk around town and eat and drink without the worries of driving home. We have used VRBO for a variety of accommodations in the downtown area. If it’s just you and a kid and you weren’t going to be overly partaking, staying at a ski in ski out place at the base area may appeal to you, and then you could visit town. I have quite a bit of experience at both if you have any specific questions.
Paul,
As an FYI…if Crested Butte seems more appealing from the overall experience perspective, maybe hire an instructor for some lessons/mountain familiarization for your daughter.
My family and I skied at Jackson Hole this past March. My two daughters 14 & 12 are both good skiers and pretty fearless. My wife is a solid skier but fear really holds her back. When she gets through the fear she skis some pretty awesome stuff. That said, I had heard that JH was hardcore (it is) so I hired an instructor to ski with us for the first day. He both taught and guided us around the mountain. It wasn’t cheap, but it was well worth the money spent. It gave my crew a lot of confidence in navigating the mountain and it pushed us to try stuff that we might not have done on our own.
Thanks, guys. I’m going to have a conversation with my daughter.
I really would like to see CB. Issue with that is that I get into DIA at 9 pm and not thrilled about driving to CB at that time.
Maybe a loop. Maybe go to WP initially, ski a couple of days, then take a sightseeing chill/travel day and go to CB for rest of time, then head back to DIA?
Does that sound doable?
Oh, and by the way, thank you, gents!
I was going to suggest that. The way to CB from WP also would take you past Copper if you wanted to ski there too.
Oh, didn’t think of that. Hmm. Since I don’t have to by lift tix, we could do a morning ski at Copper and be in CB for dinner.
Any lodging suggestions in either place? Since it is short term, probably prefer hotel over VRBO.
Hey Paul, Sounds like you have time so definitely do the tour approach with CB as a destination. Could just hit Copper for a couple days then head to CB. You’ll backtrack coming from WP and while Berthoud pass is cool (on way to WP) you’ll drive through plenty of great terrain en route to CB from Copper (Leadville, Gunnison etc).
Check TripAdvisor for Crested Butte. I tend to agree with most of their suggestions, both for lodging and food.
Thanks, guys. I’ll let you know what I do!
Anyone skied Big Sky?