[net.rec.ski] Skiing in Denver

nicholls@drivax.UUCP (Geoff Nicholls) (01/15/85)

I am a Californian planning a week long downhill ski trip to
Denver.  Unfortunately, I've never been skiing there, and don't
know much about the places to ski.  I'm a better than average
skier, but no hot dog.  Does anyone have any favorites, or suggestions
for me?


		On dry ground in California,

		Geoffrey Nicholls



{ihnp4, mot, amdahl, sftig}!drivax!nicholls

woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods) (01/16/85)

> I am a Californian planning a week long downhill ski trip to
> Denver.  Unfortunately, I've never been skiing there, and don't
> know much about the places to ski.  I'm a better than average
> skier, but no hot dog.  Does anyone have any favorites, or suggestions
> for me?

   First of all, I wouldn't recommend skiing in Denver. The dry pavement is
awfully hard on your skis, and you have to do a lot of poling! :-)
   The nearest worthwhile areas to Denver are around 70 miles away, and my
recommendations would be based on your skiing ability and how far you are
willing to drive. My personal favorites would be Keystone for someone who
is a beginner/low intermediate, and Arapahoe Basin or Mary Jane for someone
who is high intermediate/expert. If you are willing to do some driving, I
personally love Steamboat Springs the best of all, but it's about 4 hours 
from Denver. For a lazy day (meaning, relatively close to Denver, minimal
driving) check out Loveland Basin, the closest decent area. It has a fair
mix of intermediate and expert slopes.

Hope this helps.
--Greg
-- 
{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!stcvax | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!stcvax}
       		        !hao!woods
   
     "...sometimes the light's all shining on me;
	 other times I can barely see..."

ed@mtxinu.UUCP (Ed Gould) (01/18/85)

> I am a Californian planning a week long downhill ski trip to
> Denver.

I had a great time at Copper Mountain.  I hear that the
other ski areas near there are good, too.  They're an
acceptable one-day trip from Boulder - I'm not sure
about from Denver, since as I remember "acceptable"
had just about run out when we got back.

-- 
Ed Gould		    mt Xinu, 739 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA  94710  USA
{ucbvax,decvax}!mtxinu!ed   +1 415 644 0146

meyer@waltz.UUCP (01/18/85)

There are lots of great places to ski in Colorado -- you can hardly go wrong.
However, if easy access from Denver means anything to you, I think that the
Breckenridge area has alot to offer.  There are 5 different mountains within
a 15 to 20 minute drive -- with each ski area having its own uniqueness.  They
call this the Summit and is at most a 2 hour drive from Denver.  Four of
the mountains are Breckenridge, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, and Copper Mtn --
I forgot the name of the other one.  Also, Breckenridge is a very small
quaint town with interesting shops and restaurants.  Lift ticket prices and
lodging are reasonable priced (last I heard).  The only thing that
is negative about this area is that due to it's accessibity from Denver,
it can get crowded, especially on weekends.

Another area that is not nearly as accessible, but sounds very nice, is
Steamboat.  An absolutely huge ski area with all the challenges -- wonderful
village -- and there are lots of other things to do out there if you want
to take a break from skiing (hot air ballooning, snowmobiling, horse drawn
sleigh rides, cross country skiing, trips to the Hot Springs that you can
swim in, etc,etc,etc).  I called the Steamboat Springs Chamber of Commerce
and they were very helpful -- and sent me a gob of information about the
place.  It is a touch expensive though with $25 for a lift ticket and it
runs from $75 to $120 a nite for condos.  We found a quiet log cabin that we
will be staying at called "Bear Pole Ranch" -- but it is about 3 miles
from the ski area.  We going out there March 1.

Be sure to some information on some of the other slopes (Angle Fire, Darango,
Winter Park, Snow Bird, etc, etc) cause they all are excellent.

Happy skiing.
==============================================================================
                                                                              
Dane Meyer                                                                   
                                                                 
ARPA:   ==> Meyer%waltz%TI-CSL@CSNET-Relay                       
CSNET:  ==> Meyer@TI-CSL                                                     
USENET: ==> {convex!smu, ut-sally, texsun, rice}!waltz!meyer