mmarshall776

I'm in the same boat. East coast rider on my first trip out west at the end of February. We booked our tickets not knowing it was the same week as Vail is hosting the Burton US Open.

I work with someone who has been out there and he advised me to skip Breck and Keystone(unless we're gonna take the cats) and just go to Vail and BC. He also said I-70 gets a ton of traffic in the morning and we should leave extremely early if we're coming from right outside Denver (we'll be in Aspen Park).

I saw a previous post on here about free parking, do you have to pay for parking at some of the Vail Resorts mountains!?

neednsnow

You have to pay for parking at the bigger Vail Spots.....ie Breck and Vail. Breck has shuttle parking, but it is retardedly far away. Others may have better suggestions, but I've been there a few times and found nothing.

__________________
Neednsnow.com:
Traveling the States and Taking Pictures

Zcev5454

Use the free shuttles around Breck, you can get anywhere in the town in under 10 mins. It also can get you from peak to peak at the base.

mmarshall776

Anyone willing to offer a plan of attack as to which mountains to hit on which days?

We planned on getting a 6 out of 7 day pass from Vail (so we could go to any of their mountains) with the first day being Saturday and the last being Friday.

I was thinking BC Saturday, Key Sunday, Vail Monday (maybe Key at night), Day off Tuesday, Breck Wednesday, Vail Thursday, Breck Friday.

Would a second day at Breck be a waste? I have read the lift lines can be an hour plus at times. Would it be better spent as a third day at Vail or a second day at BC or Keystone?

Suggestions?

Zcev5454

On our trip, vail had the worst lift lines, an hour and a half, because of how there's only like 2 lifts(born free, gondola) in that small village.

neednsnow

Two days at Breck is completely understandable, and probably necessary. There is a lot of friggin terrain to cover! Personally, I like Breck better than Beaver Creek, but that is assuming there is snow. Without snow, it doesn't matter which Mtn you hit. The snow gods need to awaken ASAP, please!

Breck and Vail are busiest, obviously, on the weekends. Lift lines can be crazy at the get-go, but once you get up from the access lines, you should be a lot better. Get away from the pack and the lines will be much smaller.

__________________
Neednsnow.com:
Traveling the States and Taking Pictures

s1mple

I have a similar trip planned towards the beginning of Feb. We bought a 4 of 6 day pass.

I'm curious if I could ride breck during the day, and goto keystone for night session without using my next day. Does anyone know if this is possible?? I'm staying in a ski-in/out at breck, and want to ride as much as I can so I'm willing to drive to keystone for night sessions. As you can see from my location, New Orleans, WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO RIDE AT ALL!!

BurtonAvenger

You need to go to Beaver Creek with me next time you're in town. It will change your perspective of it.

__________________
Angry Snowboarder Because someone has to call it how they see it!

w3iiipu

I'm gonna be in colorado too 8-11 feb with couple friends. Where can i find these passes? the ones from snow.com are all sold out for the season.

Tarzanman

I'm in Atlanta, which is probably almost as bad as being in NOLA in terms of snowboarding (though I can get a fix by driving 3.5 hours if I don't mind riding down the bunny hill at Cataloochee).

A night session after an all day session is pretty tough. Even if you manage to not collapse and go home early during the night session, you'll end up the worse for it the following day.

IMO, you'll be doing ok if you can stay disciplined enough to wake up, get first chair every morning and stick around till the lifts close each of those 4 days.

Important: If you have never been to Breckenridge, then prepare to have your ass whooped by the altitude difference (ESPECIALLY coming from NOLA).

Take it very easy your first 12-24 hours after you land. Hydrate yourself more than normal. Take it easy on the alcohol (might be better not to booze at all until the 2nd night or so), and if you do ride that first night in, don't push yourself too hard. Even if you don't get headaches or short of breath, you will probably feel off... almost as if you were slightly depressed.

I hope the snow gets better for your trip. I haven't been to Breck in many years, but you can actually get a reasonably priced lunch at Imperial burger, and the the mango/pork burrito at Mi Casa is the yummiest meal I had there.

__________________
Read on another forum: "If someone held a gun to my head and said, "You have to move to Salida tomorrow", I'd probably do it. If they told me I had to go to Breckenridge instead, I think I'd just let them pull the trigger."