Colorado Skiing – Breckenridge, Vail
Table of Contents:
Try Colorado Skiing
Do you love skiing? Then
you should try Colorado skiing.
Colorado has some of the best ski resorts in the United States
including:
- Vail
- Breckenridge
- Keystone
- Arapahoe Basin (A-Basin)
- Beaver Creek
- Copper Mountain
For a list of the top rated ski resorts in Colorado click here. I had the great fortune to ski Colorado - both Vail and
Breckenridge this February (2022) with a good friend of mine from college. What an excellent and fun experience we had
skiing.
From Denver - the Vail, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain area is
about a 1.5-to-2-hour drive. The drive is very scenic and you get to drive through a couple of mountain tunnels.
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| Scenic Drive |
The whole experience was so fun and exhilarating– skiing, the
resort shops, and the towns we visited and dined at. The people are very welcoming at the resorts
and in the towns. We had such a
wonderful and fun time skiing and just being present.
Here is more about each resort we skied.
Ski Colorado - Vail
Vail is an impressive and expansive resort. The resort is upscale with many shops,
condos, restaurants and offers a great ski experience for skiers of all abilities. The runs at Vail can be quite long so I would
recommend taking some short breaks to reserve your energy.
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| Ski Colorado - Vail Ski Resort 2022 |
If you are an advanced skier, then the back bowls at Vail will
likely be well suited for you. They offer
challenging terrain, fun skiing or snowboarding, and provide a variety of trails. The back bowls provide great scenic views and
wide-open areas.
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| Vail - Mountain Top Express Lift |
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| Vail - Ski Resort 2022 |
Vail’s website in 2022 provides the following information on
its website:
MOUNTAIN INFO
Total Skiable Terrain: 5,317 Acres (2,141 H)
- Front Side: 1,655 Acres
- Back Bowls: 3,017 Acres
- Blue Sky Basin: 645 Acres
Terrain Profile
- Beginner Terrain: 18%
- Intermediate Terrain: 29%
- Advanced/Expert Terrain: 53%
Trails: 195
Lifts: 31
Longest Run: Riva Ridge - 4 miles (6.4 KM)
Average Annual Snowfall: 354 inches (899 CM)
Elevation
- Base Elevation: 8,120 Feet (2,454 M)
- Mid-Elevation: 10,250 Feet (3,125 M)
- Peak Elevation: 11,570 Feet (3,527 M)
- Vertical Rise: 3,450 Feet (1,052 M)
At Vail we skied the back bowls and mainly stayed in the
area of Northwoods Express Lift and the Mountain Top Express Lift – skiing Ramshorn,
Christmas, Northwoods, Flapjack, and other runs in that area.
Ski Colorado - Breckenridge
The town of Breckenridge is fun. It is a quaint town with shopping, stores,
coffee shops, and restaurants. Breckenridge
is located 17 miles from the town of Frisco, CO.
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| Town of Breckenridge, Colorado 2022 |
Breckenridge ski resort is owned and operated by Vail Resorts,
Inc. So, if you purchase the Epic pass,
you can ski Breckenridge and any other Vail owned and operated resort.
The Breckenridge website includes the following mountain
information on its website:
Skiable Acres 2,908 Lifts 35
Vertical Drop 3,398
ft Trails 187
Elevation (Summit) 12,998
ft Longest
Trail 4 O'Clock; 3.5 miles
Elevation (Base) 9,600
ft
At Breckenridge we mainly skied peak 6 taking the Kensho
Super Chair up and skiing down Reverie to Barton Breezeway. We also took the Rocky Mountain Super Chair
up toward peak 8 but made our way over to Peak 6 eventually.
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| Breckenridge - Elevation 12,302 feet |
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| View from Peak 6 - Breckenridge Ski Resort |
Breckenridge is a lot of fun, the views are exhilarating,
and the sites are inspiring. This is
truly God’s country.
We took extra water, energy bars, and trail mix skiing to stay
hydrated and fueled with energy at both ski resorts.
The ski lifts and gondolas at both Breckenridge and Vail are
well-maintained and fast moving. Even
with lines, the wait times were not bad.
And if one particular area had long wait times we skied to an area less
crowded.
Places to Stay and Things to Do
Lodging and Car
We stayed at the Telemark Lodge at the Copper Mountain ski
resort via Airbnb. The accommodations included
a full eat in kitchen and great views of Copper Mountain. Telemark lodge includes an indoor garage parking
spot, hot tub and scenic views.
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| View from Telemark Lodge Condo |
Our lodging was very nice – with big bathrooms, nice living
room, flat screen television, and breath taking views from the condominium we
rented.
For transportation we rented an all-wheel drive SUV from
Enterprise from the Denver International Airport. The staff at Enterprise were very helpful and
friendly.
Eats and Drinks
Because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic we opted to cook
most meals ourselves and ate in our unit.
Our home cooked meals included steak, pasta, mash potatoes, omelets some mornings, and cheese and crackers. Drinks included wine, beer, water, and coffee.
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| Home Cooked - Ribeye Steaks |
However, during our trip we did eat at 2 restaurants
- Sancho Tacos & Tequilas - 520 S Main St,
Breckenridge, CO 80424
- Ollie's Pub & Grub - 620 Main St, Frisco, CO
80443
Sancho’s has the best Cashew salsa, house margaritas, tacos
and burritos. The steak in my steak burrito
was tasty and plentiful. The chips and salsa were delicious and the atmosphere was fun and lively.
Ollie’s Pub and Grub has great beer on tap, tasty burgers,
and great service.
Both places are reasonably priced, fun, and low-key.
Ski Colorado - Things to do
While skiing and snowboarding are the main activities at the
resorts, there is plenty of shops, coffee houses, and restaurants to keep you busy.
The skiing was exhilarating and fun. Lots of snow, sunshine, and scenery to keep
you busy. The views were breathtaking
and there is something about the outdoors that is re-energizing.
Breckenridge and Vail offer slopes that are groomed,
ungroomed, with moguls, without moguls, skiing through trees, and nice beginner
slopes for the novice skier.
We also saw folks snow shoeing, snow biking, tele-skiing,
and just relaxing at an eatery or bake shop.
Ski Lessons – I would recommend ski lessons while you
are at one of the resorts. The instructors
are well experienced and are great at building your confidence to take on greater
challenges while skiing.
If you are into photography, then Breckenridge, Vail,
and Copper Mountain offer breathtaking views to photograph. You can get action shots of skiers, nature
shots of the mountains, or tranquil shots of lakes, rivers,
and snowcapped cliffs and rocks.
During our trip we met folks from all over the country and
world. Folks from Florida, the East
coast, England, and locals to the Denver and surrounding area were all their to
soak up some sun and get some skiing in.
Past trips to Colorado we skied Copper Mountain, Keystone, and
A-basin. All the ski resorts in Colorado
have great skiing and fantastic sites.
Breckenridge captured my heart this time as it is a quaint and welcoming town, has nice views, and fantastic skiing.
Summary
Colorado Skiing is exhilarating, fun, and scenic. Copper Mountain, Vail, and Breckenridge are
about 1.5 hours from Denver so it is a reasonable drive. It is a destination people
from all over the world travel to for skiing. We met people from different parts of the world (including Texas, Florida, the
East Coast, Arizona, and the United Kingdom) when we skied Colorado. The lifts are well maintained, the resorts
offer a variety of terrain, and the views are breath-taking. You will enjoy the fun and welcoming towns which have a
variety of restaurants, pubs, and shops to eat and visit.
Enjoy and ski Colorado. If you are in Breckenridge visit
Sancho Tacos and Tequilas – ask for the Cashew Salsa – you will be glad you
did.
To find additional travel information go to the Travel page.
(C) 2022-23 jspublishing.blogspot.com
