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Utah and Colorado Skiing

CHDeac

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Took the family skiing last year to Park City and had a great time. Went to Canyons which is really perfect for us, lots of intermediate terrain, good resort vibe, ski in/out, great ski school etc. Plus Park City was just a great town.

Want to go out west again late winter, and are debating hitting Park City again or going to Colorado. Unfortunately, RDU no longer has non stops to SLC which was awesome (we flew out in the AM and were skiing at noon).

I know nothing about Colorado skiing. Any experts here? The one bad thing was how expensive Canyons was. Granted, we were right at the resort but was looking to see if there were more affordable option. Have heard good things about Copper and Beaver Creek ($$$?)...
 
Really hard to beat Utah as a family destination. I have been to Colorado and Utah over many seasons, and love what both states have to offer. But for a family vacation, your trip last year is what I would have recommended. There are also a few good article that pop up on the inter web for "best family ski resorts."
 
Beaver Creek was always fun for my family when I was growing up.
 
Done just about all of them. For a family, Park City is the best IMO. Vail would be second, but CO resorts are harder to get to in general and are at least as expensive unless you stay a long walking distance from the lifts which is awful if you have little kids. Copper, Breckenridge, Keystone is a higher area, with altitude sickness much worse.
 
If you aren't married to CO/UT, try Big Sky, Montana. It is fantastic for families and the skiing is amazing. (Yes, I'm aware that the post was asking for advice specific to CO/UT - but I'm hoping you might be open to anything out there if you're going from Raleigh.)
 
My family used to go to Steamboat Springs and loved it. No clue about costs but it was fairly difficult to get there.
 
Telluride is a special place (full disclosure i used to live there), you wont find a more beautiful ski area. You can stay in Mountain village or in the town of Telluride, either place you can walk on to the mtn. In order to get to Telluride most people fly into Montrose and then take a shuttle into town. In the winter time they have directs to montrose from just about every major U.S. city. A true ski town, great food and lots to do. No lift lines, but the mtn might be a little more titled towards more difficult terrain.

Also, steamboat, co is your classic family ski destination. It really caters towards families and the mtn is pretty tame. The town also has tons of family restaurants and things to do. It can also be harder to get too.

Other than that, the i-70 spots are easy to get too, especially with GSO (im assuming you are in NC) having direct flights to denver on Frontier. I think vail is the best mountain skiing wise, Beaver Creek is a great family resort and pretty tame mtn., kinda gives off the country club vibe, definitely caters to high end customers. Breck, is probably my least favorite just because of the lift lines, but the town of breckenridge is the best ski town out of the i-70 resorts.

If you have any more specific questions just let me know.
 
I'm biased, my family has a place at the Canyons, but I think Park City is as good as it gets. If you didn't do Deer Valley last time, I would highly recommend it - it's a very family friendly place (note: no snowboarding there).

If you're not afraid of somewhere that's a little harder to get to, I would highly recommend Grand Targhee, which is right on the Idaho-Wyoming border. The housing on-site is very affordable and it at one point was known for getting the most powder of anywhere in the US. We used to go there every year when I was a kid and I have great memories of the ski school, terrain, experience, etc. To get there, you either fly into Idaho Falls or Jackson Hole and then take a two-hour van ride
 
Pm me as I live in Colorado and have been to most mountains...too lazy to type it all now
 
Hows the airfare to MT?

Montana might be one of my favorite places in the world but it is much harder to get to (from NC, not aware of directs) than Utah or Denver, flight cost more, and then takes some driving, and the locals always talk about brutal cold in the winters. August is my favorite month for Montana. I would go there to ski but not with my kids
 
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Going off your initial post, Breckenridge sounds perfect for you and your family. Tons of intermediate terrain, great ski town (really good brewery, lots of shops), great ski school.
 
To save money you could find a place in Summit County and drive to the resorts each day. CO lift ticket discounts are hard to come by (they rarely pop up on Liftopia) but I've found a lot of places give discounts for purchasing online. This is true of the Vail Resorts passes (good at Breck Vail Keystone and Beaver). Also packing lunches saves $$$ as opposed to eating on the resort. Those are the cost saving tips I utilize.

tjcmd makes a good point about altitude sickness being more of a risk; drink lots of water and take breaks.
 
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If you stick with Utah I think some of the cottonwood canyon mountains (Solitude, Brighton, Alta, Snowbird) are only about a 20 minute drive from the west side of Salt Lake City. You can also probably find a cheapish home or condo on airbnb that's a short drive from those resorts. These options could be a lot cheaper than staying in Park City. I believe these resorts generally have more challenging terrain than Park City though -- particularly Alta and Snowbird. Solitude is generally considered a good intermediate mountain but the slopes were steeper than I expected.
 
Did Park City last year, which was awesome. Going to Breckenridge this year - haven't been there in 20 years. Breckenridge is great, but you can't beat Park City's 40 minutes from airport to slopes.
 
Highly recommend Beaver Creek for families. Not the cheapest place in the world though. Taking my crew to Aspen/Snowmass in a couple weeks. Thank the lawd for Starwood points...
 
So, the Epic run of passes are gone. This means Vail, Breck, Keystone, A Basin and Beaver are way more expensive to go to now. I would recommend checking out this pass TODAY because it goes away tomorrow:

http://www.skicolorado.com/multi-mountain-passes.aspx

The plus gets you access to the following mountains:

Copper
Winter Park
Eldora

And restricted Access:

Steamboat
Crested Butte

The non-plus (cheaper option) only gets you access to Copper and Winter Park


Copper, Winter Park and Steamboat would all be great places to go. Copper takes you to Summit County (Dillon, Silverthorne, Frisco, Breck). Winter Park brings you to Fraser. Steamboat takes you to Steamboat. Copper and Winter Park will be far cheaper than Steamboat and easier to access. If you like skiing bumps, I recommend Winter Park. If you do not I recommend Copper. Also, Copper will probably give you the most options for housing (airbnb, through the mountains booking, etc.).


BIG NOTE IS THAT THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SUPER PASS EXPIRES TOMORROW!!!

Cost with Super Pass for 1 week: $479/adult and $369/teen
Cost without Super Pass for 1 week: $498/adult and teen (no teen rate)
 
By my memory I'd put Park City above just about anything. Vail and Breckenridge next. Steamboat just below them, then a pretty good drop down to Keyston/Copper and the lesser known Colorado spots. Not that any of them can't be an awesome experience.
 
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