There are so many ski options near Denver, Colorado. Recently, I took a trip to see for myself how some of these resorts compare, and what may be the best choice for you.
Winter Park Resort is about 1.5 hours from Denver airport. Winter Park is a great option for families that enjoy different types of winter activities. You can enjoy tubing, snowmobiling, sleigh ride, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoe touring, etc. At the Village you can ride the lift (to enjoy the scenery), go to the shops, restaurants, playgrounds, etc. Best part about Winter Park is you can ride the Amtrak ski train to get there. But make sure you check out the train schedule before you book your airfare!
Beaver Creek Resort is an UPSCALE family ski resort that is a little over 2 hours from Denver airport. You will pass Vail Resort on the way so it’s easy to visit both. You can also buy lift tickets that would work at both resorts which makes the travel easier to plan. Beaver Creek offers a complimentary 2-hour tour as well as a Women’s Social Tour of the mountain. Just make sure you are a seasoned skier before taking the tour. Beaver Creek Resort is LARGE, and the village is very nice. Beaver Creek has the most amount of beginner runs than any other resort in Colorado (38% beginner) but it doesn’t have the highly “challenging” runs or “tree” runs that some advanced skiers may be looking for.
Some visitors prefer to stay at Bachelor Gulch or Arrowhead Mountain Lodge. These two areas are less crowded, but easily accessible to Beaver Creek Village by a free shuttle or the mountain lifts.
Vail is a nice resort, no doubt, but it is also the most expensive place to ski in North America. Vail has only 18% green slopes and a whopping 53% advanced slopes, so it is not a great place for beginners. Overall, Vail is the place to go if you have grown tired of the small, short slopes and want something that’s bigger, better, and snowier. If you are such a skier, I recommend you to checkout the EpicMix app to keep up with all your accomplishments, lift passes and for easy social media sharing. Like Beaver Creek, Vail also offers a complimentary 2 hour tour of the mountain.
The Vail village is modeled after European ski towns, with cobblestones and neutral color tones. There are no cars allowed and the streets are HEATED so there’s no icy slush.
Breckenridge is a great option if you care about the “local scene” as much as the slopes. Breckenridge has a very walkable and quaint downtown with great shops and restaurants, most offer discounts during Happy Hour. Breckenridge is also easy to visit without a car as the public transportation options are abundant and cheap, including the trip to and from the airport (Denver). Breckenridge ski slopes are fairly evenly distributed for the different difficulties (14% beginner, 31% intermediate, 19% advanced, and 36% expert). There’s also a free gondola that takes you from downtown directly to the slopes (and back).
There are a couple of things that make Copper Mountain unique from the rest of the ski resorts mentioned on this page. First, Copper Mountain is naturally divided – meaning the Green slopes are on one side of the mountain and the black runs are on the other. Most of which are served by their own lifts. This means the beginners aren’t intimidated by the experts and the advanced skiers aren’t held up by the slow-pokes. Next, despite its proximity to all the Epic Pass resorts, Copper Mountain isn’t part of the Epic program. That means you have to buy a separate lift ticket but it also means it’s less crowded. Copper Mountain also seems to run better promotions. There’s a Free Tucker Mountain Snowcats promotion that has been around for a long time. Currently they are also running a promotion of Free Weekday Warrior Activity Pass if you spend $30 at Copper. A Warrior Activity Pass is good for the Woodward Copper WreckTangle, Rocky Mountain Coaster, rock climbing, go-karts, bumper boats, hydrobikes, and mini golf.
Ski Cooper, which is often referred to as Cooper, or Cooper Mountain, is a smaller ski resort that may be the “best kept secret” in Colorado. Lift passes, food, and ski rentals are all SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the big name ski resorts. Best of all, there’s almost never any lines at the lifts and often you won’t even see another person on the slopes. Ski Cooper is very beginner and family friendly.
Keystone Ski Resort is the newest major ski resort in Colorado and perhaps the most family friendly resort in the area. Keystone is the only resort in the area that has an entire playground dedicated to kids, called KidTopia. Keystone even has an annual chocolate village built with 7000 pounds of chocolate. But Keystone isn’t just for kids – Keystone was made with everyone in mind. Since the resort is more modern, the lifts are more advanced and faster, with lots of different options to traverse the mountain – depending on your ski level and what you are looking for. Different level skiers can ride the same lift together up the mountain, and meet at the bottom after going down drastically different runs.
Crested Butte is a very nice ski resort that doesn’t see as much traffic as some others due to its distance from Denver airport (roughly 5 hour drive). However, Vail Resorts (Epic pass) has just purchased Crested Butte so it’s possible that it will turn into the next “Breckenridge”. Crested Butte is best for people who are looking for more extreme, “steep” skiing, and don’t mind the journey to get there. You may see some famous skiers at Crested Butte, as several of them are known to frequent the area.
What is your favorite ski resort in Colorado? Write your comment below!