It’s that time of the year again! Cold fingers, rosy nose and cheeks, and snow! Some may hate it, but for others, there’s one thing that makes it worth it, Ski season!
With so many properties in areas with awesome mountains, it could be hard deciding where to go. Here are some of our favorite mountains by our properties in Utah and Colorado!
Utah
Utah claims to have “The Greatest Snow on Earth,” with having many slopes open over 115 days a year you’ll definitely have an amazing adventure!
Park City Mountain
Park City Mountain is owned by Vail Resorts and is one of the largest ski resorts in the United States and only 20 minutes from out property!
Strap on your skis and boards with the largest ski resort in the United States! Park City Mountain. Park City, Utah is ranked as North Americas most accessible mountain destination due to its proximity to the International airport, so you can hit the slope before you even checked in or right before you left if you wanted! Park City is the largest ski area in the United States. With over 7,300 acres, 300+ trails, 38 lifts, seven terrain parks, 14 bowls, six natural half pipes, one super pipe and one mini pipe. Park City also has some awesome accommodation options, along with the most luxury ski-in/ski-out accommodations of any North American resort town. One of my favorite parts about skiing here is it has the world’s only ski-in whiskey gastro-distillery, High West Distillery. A nice way to warm up if you ask me!
Deer Valley Resort
For those who just want to be surrounded by skiers, Deer Valley Resort, was ranked number 1 by the readers of SKI Magazine as the Best in the West 2018 and number 2 in Best Ski Destinations in the USA by U.S. News & World Report! Afraid skiing here isn’t for beginners? At Deer Valley Resort you can have private one on one ski lessons to help give you the maximum experience. If someone in your family isn’t a skier or snowboarder, you can explore the mountains on some amazing dog sled trails or take a horse drawn sleigh ride.
Deer Valley was a venue site during 2002 Winter Olympics, hosting the freestyle moguls, aerial, and alpine slalom events. Deer Valley is one of three remaining American ski resorts that prohibit snowboarders
Brighton Ski Resort
Brighton Ski Resort is a little over an hour from Heber City, but Utah Family Magazine ranks Brighton #1 for family affordability and terrain.
Day tickets are affordable, and kids ten and under always ski/ride free, so families love Brighton. Brighton truly gets “The Greatest Snow on Earth” averaging 500+ inches annually, but it topped 700 inches last season.
With five-star grooming as well as chutes and trees, it’s great for those who like white knuckle terrain. All trails can be reached by high-speed quads. Families ride together, take different trails, and meet at the bottom. Brighton has three awesome terrain parks witch link the top of the mountain to the base.
Colorado
Boasting itself as the number one ski destination in all of North America, Colorado and its many ski towns have over 25 major ski areas and resorts. Our properties in Winter Park, Frisco and Breckenridge are all very close to a number of trails for you to ski, snowboard or even snowtube! Breckenridge Ski Resort, Winter Park Resort and Copper Mountain are just a few of the amazing ski slopes near our accommodations in the Centennial State. [Beaver Creek, CO]
Breckenridge Ski Resort
Breckenridge Ski Resort, owned by Vail Resorts, is an alpine ski resort ranked number 1 in Best Ski Destinations in the USA by U.S. News & World Report and 15th by SKI Magazine as the Best in the West 2018! Vail Resorts own multiple mountain, so don’t be surprised if they keep getting mentioned. It’s easy to see why it is one of the western hemisphere’s most-visited ski resorts annually, especially with 187 trails for skiers and snowboarders to take advantage of. It also has a mountain that rises 3,998 feet from its base! “Breck” has been in operation since 1961, and has been advancing the sport of skiing ever since and was actually the first in the state of Colorado to allow snowboarding, in 1984. Breck now has 34 ski lifts in operation and 2,908 acres of terrain to ski and ride on.
Vail Mountain
Vail is the 3rd largest ski resorts in the world with over 5,289 acres, 31 lifts, three terrain parks, and does an extensive amount of grooming; which is great for beginner and intermediate level skiers. Vail Mountain has three sections: The Front-Side, Blue Sky Basin, and the Back Bowls.
The Front-Side of the mountain is ideal for beginner and intermediate skiers looking to cruise. At its core, Vail is an intermediate to advanced intermediate skier’s paradise from the famed Back Bowls wide-open, groomed runs to the many run offs of the Mountaintop Express lift with long, sustained cruiser trails like Simba and Born Free. Blue Sky Basin so for expert skiers, and includes cornice drops, seven bowls, leg-burning mogul runs, trees and open powder fields. Skiers and snowboarders looking for incredible views will be thrilled with the scenic vistas of Vail’s Gore Range. Vail was also voted number 7 in Best Ski Destinations in the USA by U.S. News & World Report
Aspen Snowmass
Aspen Snowmass was voted number 6 in Best Ski Destinations in the USA by U.S. News & World Report! It’s also a combination of four ski areas around the town of Aspen and Snowmass Village. The four hills together, which consist of Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk, cover a massive amount of terrain, rivaling Vail in sheer size.
Although Buttermilk may have relatively small terrain, it has frequently hosted the Winter X-games! It also has a high ratio of beginner and intermediate runs. Aspen Mountain, by contrast, has no beginner runs, and Aspen Highlands is known for its advanced and expert runs, although it does have beginner and intermediate skiing. Snowmass, with more than 3,000 acres of terrain, dominates the other areas in terms of size. It is largely a family oriented section with great intermediate skiing. The base elevation is just over 8,100 feet, and the top elevation is just over 12,500 feet.
Winter Park Resort
Winter Park is Colorado’s longest continually operated ski resort and averages over 320 inches of annual snowfall and 300 days of sunshine, paired with 3,081 acres of award-winning terrain including groomers, terrain parks, deeps, steeps, trees and most definitely world-famous bumps on Mary Jane.
Skiing Magazine ranks Mary Jane No. 1 in mogul skiing in North America. The U.S. Freestyle Mogul Team knows all about Mary Jane and her phenomenal bumps and has trained here the 1998, 2002, and 2006 Olympics as well as pre-season for the past 14 years.
Winter Park is also a favorite of families, featuring a variety of terrain, the state’s best Ski and Ride School.
Steamboat Ski Resort
Steamboat was voted number 4 in Best Ski Destinations in the USA by U.S. News & World Report and is located just outside of Steamboat Springs and is around two hours from Winter Park. It’s famous for its Champagne Powder®. Champagne Powder is when the snow n the ground is moved around by wind. The term originates from the ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains, which often have these snow conditions. Steamboat Springs actually holds he trademark for Champagne Powder®!
The resort overlooks the Yampa Valley and is situated across seven mountain peaks within the Park Range.
Steamboat Springs has been dubbed Ski Town, U.S.A. due to the fact that more Olympians call Steamboat home than any other ski resort. In 2017 Steamboat Ski Resort was purchased by Aspen Skiing Company.
Arapahoe Basin Ski Area
Arapahoe Basin is located high along Loveland Pass and has been in operation since 1946! A-basin has some of the highest skier and rider accessible terrain in North America. Half of the mountain sits above the timberline which leads to skiing and snowboarding through late spring and early summer. This mountain has 109 trails and eight chairlifts. The terrain options offer high-alpine bowls, tree glades, chutes, wide-open groomers and amazing off-piste options!
A cool fact about Arapahoe is that the A-Frame lodge located at the base area was once used as a missile testing facility.
Copper Mountain
Copper Mountain is always among Colorado’s first ski resorts to open in November! The base at Copper Mountain is at 9,712 ft. with a summit elevation of 12,312 ft. Copper Mountain is also an excellent family destination with has youth and adult seasonal ski and ride school programs
A cool thing about Cooper is that Cat skiing is free and definitely worth checking out. The two cats service Tucker Mountain and Copper Bowl and provide an interesting change of pace from riding the lifts.
If you’re not sure what cat skiing is, it’s when a Snowcat transport is an alternative to heli-skiing and provides a comparable quality of skiing by using a snowcat to transport guests to deep powder areas.
Keystone Resort
Keystone Resort consist of 3,148 skiable acres, three distinct mountain peaks, 20 lifts and two gondolas. With a terrain park, five mountain bowls and Colorado’s most expansive night skiing operation it’s hard not to find something you like. It also has cat skiing options to suit the full skier/snowboarder spectrum.
The ski resort’s three mountains are Dercum, North Peak and The Outback. Dercum Mountain has long green and blue runs that are perfectly groomed and a great place for beginners and intermediates to explore. North peak is home to long mogul trails, intermediate groomers and some expert terrain. The Outback is Keystone’s tallest peak and provides advanced and expert skiers and riders with a plethora of terrain possibilities. Be sure to check out Keystone Adventure Tours to access some of the ski area’s best terrain via the comfort of a heated snow cat.
No matter where you go, you’ll have awesome mountains for both skiers and snowboarders!
Check out our Colorado and Utah properties.
For more articles on winter and skiing, check out some of these:
Winter Vacation Packing List- How to Pack for a Ski Trip
How to Ski- 5 Tips for Beginners
Ski Season? Already!?
Ski Vacations: Whistler vs. Colorado
Things to Do in Colorado
Things to Do in Heber City, Utah
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