# Gaper is back!



## fet123 (Aug 27, 2006)

After a good experience in Colorado we have decided to go again this season, I bought the tickets for the 1rst of January to the 6, leaving at midnight, so this time we have much more time 6 almost full days(much more than last time). This time we have decided to take sometime of the slopes and actually drive around to get to know the area. Any advice on places to visit near Frisco? I am staying in the same hotel, as it was pretty good and economical. We are even considering to drive one day to Aspen and maybe ski there and walk around. As far as the resorts goes, I will probably decide there, I know for a fact I will go to Cooper Mountain, and A-basin but the other days are still open for decision. We are looking forward for a great season. 

Winter is around the corner.


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## WhiteLightning (Apr 21, 2004)

You could hit the hot springs pool in Glenwood on the way to Aspen.


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## Waterwindpowderrock (Oct 11, 2003)

fet123 said:


> After a good experience in Colorado we have decided to go again this season, I bought the tickets for the 1rst of January to the 6, leaving at midnight, so this time we have much more time 6 almost full days(much more than last time). This time we have decided to take sometime of the slopes and actually drive around to get to know the area. Any advice on places to visit near Frisco? I am staying in the same hotel, as it was pretty good and economical. We are even considering to drive one day to Aspen and maybe ski there and walk around. As far as the resorts goes, I will probably decide there, I know for a fact I will go to Cooper Mountain, and A-basin but the other days are still open for decision. We are looking forward for a great season.
> 
> Winter is around the corner.


I just got a hot local "tip"

I hear there's a resort that almost no one knows about, you should check it out, it's called "Breckenridge" or somethin along those lines, I hear it's sweet & there's never any lift lines!!


Just f'in with ya, How is cooper? I've always wanted to check it out, but I stopped riding the resorts a couple years ago (especially in summit), but cooper seems like it'd be a cool place.

If you want the "full experience" check out steamboat, It's one of the only big resorts worth going to anymore, strawberry hot springs is GREAT (and interesting after dark!), the town is more laid back & less congested than the denver of the weekend-summit county. It's growing like mad, so it'll suck ass also in a few years, but go before it does.

going riding tomorrow aft, WINTER IS HERE, WHOO HOO!!!!


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Kaleb?! Are you really recommending Flatboat? I would have expected better from someone like you . Steamboat is a neat area with good atmosphere and decent terrain but is a little lacking in gradient (I'm talking about in bounds; I realize that if you go off-piste, there is some sick terrain in the area). Ski Cooper is cool little old-school homestyle ski area with a great little cozy ambiance. You will find powder on marked runs three days after it snowed but, alas, the steepest black they have is comparable to most blues at A-Basin. Worth checking out for a day but not much more (in my humble opinion). Great place to take the family.

D


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## danger (Oct 13, 2003)

kaleb's from minnesota and doesn't know better. and he want's you to go to breck to keep you off of keystone(ed), his home hill. he has the inside scoop of the elusive front side stashes and the super secret joe keck stash that's right under the main chair.


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Aahh. That explains a lot about Kaleb. Have fun fruitbootin' on Schoolmarm (but don't let Joe catch you goin' too fast).


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## Waterwindpowderrock (Oct 11, 2003)

it's Wisconsin damit!

Derk, normally I'm with you, but maybe you've become desensitized to the congestion in scummit, that place sucks, maybe you could exclude A & Cooper, but at least up in boat it's not full of denver douchebags, it's full of texas & arkansas douchebags.

As far as terrain goes, you just know the scummit resorts & know the good stashes, there's tons of sweet terrain in boat, you just got to know how to find it, just like in summit. 

btw, come playin my world this winter, no panzy, inbounds, congested, liftline waiting, fur wearing gapers, tracked up snow riding for me bud!!!

cause I ride skistoned, where the pow is!?


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## brendodendo (Jul 18, 2004)

For the love of god ... don't go to A$$pen (or snowma$$, HIGHlands, or butt3rm!lk) they have to many prada wearing, snowboard h8ting, fuzzy boot cougers in That town. Besides, it's way to far of a drive from Frisco and costs more that $80 a day. J/K 



shh... don't tell anyone, but it's a great place to ride from LARGE park, to hidden back bowls. Lots of terrain. Only 2 problems... it's Expensive for a day ticket, and your gonna need more than a day.



All ya h8ters... eye heart u as well


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## Waterwindpowderrock (Oct 11, 2003)

asspen is a great mountain, I just wish we could lose the town!! Of course I think that about most places though!

the only mountains worth a shit are the ones without a lodge & condos at the bottom!!


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## sj (Aug 13, 2004)

Fet123 you know the drill wait till post 137 and the good advice will start coming in. Caleb what part of Wi.? My wife and I went from Breck to Grad School in Bowldar to Chicago. Cheeseland was my salvation for 18 months. Then I moved to Highlands Ranch and everything was cool again. 

Really fet Aspen is worth a look the Mountain is good Town is interesting. The wife and I always stayed at the hot springs in Glennwood and day tripped to Aspen. Do a little apre Ski then an early Dinner and head back to the pools. If your young and studly you can do it as a day trip. sj


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## dashzoo (May 23, 2005)

strawberry hot springs is GREAT (and interesting after dark!)

What's intresting with the hotsprings Kaleb?


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## Waterwindpowderrock (Oct 11, 2003)

sj said:


> Fet123 you know the drill wait till post 137 and the good advice will start coming in. Caleb what part of Wi.? My wife and I went from Breck to Grad School in Bowldar to Chicago. Cheeseland was my salvation for 18 months. Then I moved to Highlands Ranch and everything was cool again. sj


I grew up 5 minutes from Devil's head, Taught snowboarding there & Cascade, competed at Tyrol Basin till I moved here. (now I'm just disgusted with the resorts, so I only ride backcountry)(oh, sorry, I meant Skistoned)

Well Dash, one way of putting it is, if yer proud of yer balls, hit up strawberry after dark!


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## fet123 (Aug 27, 2006)

Well I know for a fact that I doing resorts, but anyhow thanks for the advice. I will probably drive around, fron town to town, I dont mind the driving it is a vacation after all and I am always on the move.

Most problably I will arrive to steamboat, and go from there all the way to aspen, stopping in frisco.

thanks


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## rmpeddie (Apr 8, 2007)

*What about the Jane....*

Yeah the highlands can be pretty fun for inbounds... Snowmass has some good terrain with minimal tourons... Sunlight is the place for pow several days after a storm. I'm no "local" though so take my words with a grain o' salt. 

Scummitt county... c-mon. I'll give you A-basin and will throw in Loveland but thats it. Copper... there's a few good lines there. Brek... um... touron central in my mind... along with most the county.

The boat is OK. Can't stand the town though. I live on the backside and avoid the town. But there are quite a few who like it. I guess when you come from a highly populated area Steamboat doesn't seem that crowded. 

I'd recommend Winter Park but they have sold their soul. The Jane is still a chill place with great lot parties and a fun atmospehre. Hope you like bumps though. Of course there is very killer terrain all around the Jane. From tight chutes to big lines all within a few kicks. Another great thing about the Jane is the lack of tourons.

But if you are really looking for the BC experience and not wanting to spend time on lifts there is Berthoud Pass. All kinds of terrain that's pretty easy to get too. Between Berthoud and Loveland Passes you wouldn't need to buy a lift ticket. Don't overlook Loveland Ski Area. A great affordable place to ride a lift.

Anyway... be safe. Check out Icebox Mountain Sports in Fraser for all your backcountry needs. They may even be willing to show you around Berthoud if you are intereseted.

RP


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## COUNT (Jul 5, 2005)

Waterwindpowderrock said:


> it's Wisconsin damit!
> 
> Derk, normally I'm with you, but maybe you've become desensitized to the congestion in scummit, that place sucks, maybe you could exclude A & Cooper, but at least up in boat it's not full of denver douchebags, it's full of texas & arkansas douchebags.
> 
> ...


Okay, you have a point, Kaleb. I have spent so many years learning how to dodge the crowds, I forget how bad it can be. But when I evaluate the quality of a ski area, I'm typically talking about the quality of terrain. We definitely need to make some turns this winter; I'll start brushing up on the BC skills I lost in the years of training and go find my peeps.

Basic summary of your ski areas from Summit (I know you covered some of these in your last trip but I'll go over 'em all so you don't miss any):

Eldora-Smaller area with some decent terrain but nothing off the hook. It won't be crowded but it will be cold and windy.

Echo Mountain-Tickets are what, like 15 bucks? It's basically one terrain park. Hit it up if you want to huck your steez. Beware of I-70 traffic.

Winter Park-Winter Park is renowned for its handicapped training program and the best natural forming bump runs in the state. Winter Park mountain is okay but Mary Jane is where it's at. It's got the pitch and top to bottom zipper-lines. The Jane is sick. Period. WP will be busy but tolerable when you're here.

SolVista-It's a bit of a haul from Frisco but is doable. Neat little area that still has the small-area feel to it and is a good place for a more relaxed day. It's got a few runs with good pitch but is mostly good for highspeed cruising.

Loveland-No frills, great terrain and steeps, will be one of the least crowded options for your trip.

A-Basin-Won't be too crowded an has some of the best terrain you can find, all off of one chairlift ride. Should have great snow. Awesome atmosphere and the coolest people around (obviously, I'm a little biased).

Keystone-Good groomers for cruising on the front and some great terrain out back (it just takes some time to get there and want to know where to go). Keystone will be crowded and the snow conditions are hit or miss for early January. The real reason to go to Keystone is to get in some night skiing after a full day at Vail/Beaver Creek/Breck because you don't have to buy another ticket.

Breck-Will be crazy. By far the worst crowds in the county. Expect to spend a lot of time in lines if you don't know what you're doing. It may be more tolerable if you go at the end of your trip. Breck has some awesome terrain but can be a pain to get around until you figure it out.

Ski Cooper-Small area with some neat tree runs but a lack of gradient makes it difficult to spend too much time there. Good odds of finding powder three days after it snows. 

Monarch-Also a very long drive but still doable. Small area with really cozy atmosphere. Some great terrain sprinkled around the area and it can be truly epic on a powder day.

Copper-Larger area with some great skiing up in the bowls but it will be plagued with crowds. More of the commercialized resort experience.

Vail-Has a lot of sick terrain but it will take you 2 hours to get to the good stuff and make sure your pockets are deep. Totally worth it if the powder is. Again, getting around is a real pain both on and off the mountain. It will be crowded.

Beaver Creek-Some of the world's best grooming, good terrain, and less crowded than Vail. You can actually escape the sold-out resort feel if you head over to Bachelor's Gulch and Arrowhead.

Aspen-It'll cost you three testicles but there is some sick terrain there. You've got the steeps of Walsh's, the chutes and glades around Hyrup's and the bumps of Bell. It's an awesome day of skiing if you are willing to deal with the richy-riches but it's also a _very_ long drive from Frisco.

Aspen Highlands-Will be the least crowded of the four and has amazing terrain on the Steeplechase face. Highlands Bowl. Need I say more?

Snowmass-Big enough to spread out the crowds but still crowded early January. You can haul down the Big Burn all day and not ski all the lines. Head up to the Cirque for some quality steeps.

Buttermilk-My least favorite of the four. It's flat. But it's got lots of groomed and is famous for having the biggest terrain park in North America (host of the X-Games).

Steamboat-It has some good terrain but you'll have hit all the steep runs inbounds in about 6 runs. They have good runs for skiing fast and are usually less crowded than Summit but it will still be very crowded that week. For crowds, it's better than Breck, Keystone, and Copper but only a little. They typically host at least one freestyle event and one racing event that week which is fun for spectating but brings in a lot of competitor traffic into the lift lines.

You could go further (some people do) but I don't think it's worth it for anything less than a weekend: Telluride (sick!), Purgatory, Powderhorn, Wolf Creek, etc.

For all of the places, you will see less crowds and lower prices later in the week (I think January 3 is officially the last day of "Holiday Rates"). Let me know if you have any specific questions.

COUNT


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## rmpeddie (Apr 8, 2007)

*What about silverton????*

Just my 2 cents again but what about a day at Silverton. SICK

I really think spending time between the Jane, Loverland, and A-basin is about as good as it gets in the green state. Silverton is expensive but to share a mountain with less than a dozen other folks is kinda cool. I won't repeat my thoughts on the Boat but I'd wouldn't waste the time.

Rp


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## fet123 (Aug 27, 2006)

thanks for the advice, I will probably decide were to go when Ill get there. I know I will for fact go to A-basin, Cooper and Vail, the rest I will decide there.

Thanks


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## rmpeddie (Apr 8, 2007)

*sweet*

Yeah... 

You should probably stay away from the Jane and winter park. I'll be living around there this winter and we're busy enough. Enjoy your driving. I thank god everyday for vail. I'll never ski there but it keeps the crowds away from where I do. have fun and be safe. Just remember ski fast and take chances. Screw the partol and short skis suck.


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