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2018 Colorado Trip: Need Advice

2K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  BuckarooBanzai 
#1 ·
Hello!

It looks like a group of 4-6 of us have decided to plan a trip to Colorado next January for a week... spending 2-3 days skiing and boarding... and a couple of days driving around to check out various breweries. I would love input from people to help us narrow down a home base.

1. I don't mind driving 2-3 hours from Denver if needed. I think we will all end up flying into Denver.

2. Our on-hill expertise varies. A couple are beginning skiers, I'll be an early/mid intermediate snowboarder and one of us eats double-blacks for breakfast-lunch-and dinner. Thus, we need a mountain that has a larger scale selection of green/blues, but a little of the gnar to keep the one guy in our group happy.

3. Would kind of prefer to ride at one mountain for at least 2 of the days. Would consider a second mountain for a 3rd day if people think we'd be silly not to. Ideally, staying at one mountain would be the most ideal though.

4. Do any mountains have proximity to - or support - a craft beer scene more than others? Something like Stowe in VT? We have ZERO interest in visiting or being in Denver.

I've been thinking maybe Copper, but don't know much... so any input or ideas would be AWESOME.

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
So if your expert dude really eats double blacks for breakfast, Crested Butte would be the mountain I recommend. It'll probably put him in his place quickly and give him plenty to try. Plenty of intermediate and beginners slopes there. That is true of just about any ski area in Colorado with the exception of Silverton Mountain.

That is the mountain in the area though. You are not going to go to other areas. Unless you want to do the 45 minute drive to Monarch Mountain. Which is a small mom and pop area but it does have a lot of bang for your buck.

Craft beer? We have more craft beer in our ski towns than the state of Vermont. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but all the ski towns have breweries in town. There is no shortage of them in the state. The most of the west was ahead of the craft beer scene by 5-10 years versus the east coast counterparts. You'll be fine.

Copper is a pretty decent option for an area near Denver. It has everything you are looking for except the double black part. They do offer it, but it's not nearly as challenging as A-Basin or Crested Butte. It just doesn't tip much past 40 degrees at Copper. Still, it's a fun mountain and was my favorite in Summit. There are at least three breweries in Summit county and probably more than that.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Winter Park has a wide variety of terrain. Less crowds than your built up and more commercialized ski resorts. However, if it is black it has moguls. Great tree skiing. Huge mountain.

As far as craft brews go, they have one that you can't get anywhere else. Mary Jane Ale.

It is about 1 hour and 45 minutes from Denver. It's about the closest bigger resort.

Edit: It does have the cirque which is your double blacks and chutes. But it is open only when wind and weather allows.
 
#4 ·
There are at least three breweries in Winterpark.

Mary Jane Ale is made by New Belgium I believe.

You can join the mug club at Pepperoni's on the Mary Jane side. You then get refills of your 20oz mug for the cost of a pint. Plus $3 pizza slices (or something like that). Reminds me that I need to go down to Pepperoni's after my next Bert session to make sure they pull my mugs out at least once this season.
 
#5 ·
There are at least three breweries in Winterpark.

Mary Jane Ale is made by New Belgium I believe.

You can join the mug club at Pepperoni's on the Mary Jane side. You then get refills of your 20oz mug for the cost of a pint. Plus $3 pizza slices (or something like that). Reminds me that I need to go down to Pepperoni's after my next Bert session to make sure they pull my mugs out at least once this season.
Thanks for reminding me. Lol. You are right. I believe they have "The Peak" "Hideaway Park Brewery" and "Moffat Station Brewery." If the OP wants to tour craft breweries and get a good amount of riding in on a mountain w/ enough terrain for everyone this may be it.
 
#14 ·
The problem is that it's all "pending" and kind of unofficial. Part of me is starting to wonder if they are doing it on purpose while the early-bird window is active. I do think the normal Stowe season pass is very over-priced. I'm honestly kind of shocked they don't offer some sort of New Englander pass for people not living in VT where right now (early-bird) you could get 10 days of skiing for like 600 bucks w/o blackouts. It's basically 50% off, but it's all up-front and would probably lure people to visit more than usual and spend money at the resort.
 
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