Going out to Summit county in March. Will ski Coppper Mountain and A-Basin for 3 days (good ticket deals on liftopia). Thinking about splurging for just one day at either one of these places. I'm an good intermediate skier that avoids moguls. Either one will be expensive. Which would you pick? Never been to either one.

Only skied Vail

Old marketing line "Most groomed terrain in the planet" tells the story.

Front side is mostly groomed with some intermittent bumps, but usually with a "sneak" around some way.

They also groom a little in the back bowls, but when I have been there they have been cut up but not really bumped up anywhere.

The intermediate runs at Blue Sky are also groomed--hence the oxymoron-groomed backcountry Still worth the trip back there.

Hint: If it is snowing hard, get a grooming report to see what they have groomed in the last few days to see what is under the pow.

PS: Western bumps are different than eastern bumps IMHO

Maybe it's just me but I think Breckenridge, from parking to getting around the mountain, is much easier to navigate than Vail. It would also be easier to get to for a day if you are staying in Summit County. Sounds like fun, i've never skied Copper but fell in love with Abasin.

follow the snow :-)

i think you would will find more terrain for your level at vail, but getting in and out of there is more of a hassle. prepare to pay for parking. at breck you will want to start at peak 7, first stop from the parking lot gondi. go down to peak 8 once, up to the top of chair 6, all the way around the back and down to peak 9 and 10. at the end of the day take the lift up imperial and ski all the way down to the parking lot. a spring break weekend would be crowded.

really, you want to ski at loveland and go to breck at night. you would love the terrain at loveland.

you know, for really new experience with fewer crowds, you might want to try beaver creek.

I vote Breckenridge - I love the walking no-cars part and also it was one of the first places I ever powder and steep skied so I am sort of biased to it ;-)

I also vote Breckenridge. Vail is a PITA to navigate between powder stashes, including very long cat tracks and quite a few you-have-to-get-it-just-right-or-you-get-stuck-doing-the-same-run lift line waits.

Breck gets very good pow up high, especially from south-arriving storms that hug the front range and the above-treeline skiing is FANTASTIC even for low intermediates.

The critical factor (I suggest you base your decision on this) is how well your body copes with altitude. Breck is higher up than Vail, and this is more noticeable than the numbers would make you believe. If you are an intermediate who likes highly energetic, bouncy fall-line or windshield-wiper type turns, don't go to Breck. If you are having headaches, trouble sleeping, trouble inflating your lungs on the lift, don't go to Breck. A 'yes' to any of the above would tend to keep you from some of the most fun terrain there.

EDIT: BRING FULL FACE PRO if you're going to ski A-basin, Breck or Loveland in high wind or storm conditions. And use the hardest wax you have.

Two excellent pieces of advice in my opinion. Really it would be hard to go wrong. I'd tend toward Vail for the iconic back bowls. However I think the iconicness of the the above treeline terrain and sweep of the Continental Divide at Loveland trumps either one of them. At any of them there will be plenty of blue terrain.

If this is your first trip to the high altitude west take heed of advice on altitude. I am lucky to have the right genes, or something, to handle it without problems.

Agree with Pags that Loveland would give you bargain skiing right up your skill level alley with a hassle-free parking situation.
If you have any shoppers or hoity toity types with you, and I mean that affectionately, you might want to try Vail and take them strolling through the village apres-ski.
I've never skied Breck, but drove through town a few years ago. You can stroll there too.

You've gotten some good advice so far on this thread. You can't go wrong with Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge or Loveland Pass.

If you can handle ungroomed (though not necessarily moguled) terrain, the back bowls of Vail are distinctive, with plenty of intermediate accessible terrain. Depending upon crowds and conditions, you may like the back bowls better than Blue Sky Basin in Vail.

I'm guessing you are staying in Summit County. To get from there to Vail (or Beaver Creek), you have to travel over Vail pass. It is about the most troublesome (can be closed) and treacherous bits of driving in that general area. You may not want to do it when it's snowing.

If it's windy, I'd avoid the top of Breckenridge or Loveland Pass. You'll encounter enough wind at A-Basin. Personally, for an intermediate, I'd also avoid Loveland on a low viz day.

You'll drive pass Loveland Pass on the way to Summit County (right at the Eisenhower towel under the Continental Divide.) You'll get a chance to check it out (provided you haven't bought a ticket in advance for your third area.)

All said, I'd recommend Breckinridge as the best bet if you are buying a ticket in advance. Closer, options for sheltered terrain, nice town, easy parking situation if you get there early and take the town gondola up to the slopes. That would give you two days of more classic trailed terrain (Breck, Copper) and two days of more open terrain (A-Basin.) (To me, Loveland is similar to A-Basin.) Or two a second day at Copper if the price is right. Copper is a great, great mountain and very nice for intermediates.

If you're not staying at Vail, near the slopes, you have to pay $25 to park in a garage. Then walk through the faux Austrian town to a long line at the gondola. Once you get on the mountain, the back bowls are the place to go. But there is plenty of intermediate terrain on the front side.

My favorite ski area nearby is Beaver Creek. You get what you pay for here. On Friday night they groom the Birds of Prey downhill ski course... a blast. Lots of terrain and great grub when you get hungry. I highly recommend the Beav....lots of long cruising terrain for you. Arapahoe Basin has stunning beauty . While it has some gnarly steeps, there is terrain there for everybody. Keystone and Copper Mountain are both nice mountains with less crowds than Breckenridge. Don't go to Breck on a weekend.
Enjoy!

Let me start out by saying that I've got a condo in Breckenridge, so you oould say that I'm pretty familiar with every resort in Summit county. I got in 56 days last year and 63 the year before.

Expect a real zoo in March (if you're in during Texas spring break. Other weeks in March are crowded, but not like Texas spring break ). 30-40 minute lift line. I really would stay away from Breckenridge. The intermediate terrain is always crowded, and frankly the intermediate terrain is not that good. Now if you were limiting yourself to expert terrain, I might say something different because the expert terrain served lifts don't get that crowded. If you go, spend your day on Peak 10 riding the Falcon lift. It shows as a completely black mountain, but many of the groomed trails were blue/black until 2 years ago. If you're a decent intermediate, you won't have any problems.

If I were married to skiing in Summit County during Texas spring break my #1 choice of where to go would be Loveland.
My #2 choice would be Keystone -- with the proviso that I'd be there when the lifts start. I would IMMEDIATERLY head to the Outback, and when the Outback gets crowded at about 10:30- 11:00 I would head back to North Peak and spend the rest of my day riding the Santiago lift (or the Ruby lift on the backside of Dercum mountain). DO NOT go to the frontside or you will regret it. The lift lines will be appalling.

If you really want to head further west, I'd really head over to Beaver Creek. It's got good intermediate terrain and the mountain is pretty easy to navigate. Park in the BEAR parking lot (free) and take a bus to the base. I would start early as it will also get crowded, but probably less than Breck or Keystone.

If you've never been to Vail, I would not go there as it is so large that you will spend a large part of your day figuring out where you are and how to get to where you want to go. There is lots of polling on the frontside of Vail. Free parking is VERY limited and that which is available is pretty inconvenient, so expect to pay $25 for parking.

Hope this helps.

<PS: Western bumps are different than eastern bumps IMHO>

You are right about that. There are no blue ice bumps out west - unlike Blue Knob.

One more thing, remember that 1100 of the 1700 feet of vert at A-Basin are above tree line. It is not like anything you will have skied back east. That 1l00 feet is very much like skiing Europe. It is also the prettiest place to ski since you're skiing right below the peaks that make up the continental divide. As a matter of fact, if you were expert, you could hike one of those peaks almost to the divide and ski North Pole back down.

SKI IT WHEN IT IS SUNNY! Skiing it when you are in flat light conditions is difficult. The poorer the visibility, the more difficult it becomes. Why? Because there are no ground features to help you determine up from down and left from right. Skiing in or next to trees really helps in flat light conditions. No trees on the top 1100 feet of the Basin.

Breckenridge is fine, but Vail by a mile. It's not even close.

I like Vail's on-mountain food better.

I like Vail's options for 4:30 drinks better.

Vail is larger.

Vail seems to generally have better snow.

I don't have to dodge a zillion park rats in hoodies at Vail like I do at Breck.

Breck always feels more crowded to me.

I love Vail's bowls, and love Blue Sky Basin even more.

Yes, you'll have to pay for parking at Vail. Yes, you then walk through the faux Austrian village (which I kind of like, honestly). Yes, it's a bit of a drive, but I wouldn't worry about it unless conditions are sketchy.

Not sure how much you've skied in Vermont, but I would equate Vail to Stowe, and Breck to Killington. Or, in Utah, Vail to Deer Valley, and Breck to PCMR (although I actually like PCMR better than Deer Valley).

For my 2 cents worth....er....$150 worth, I would go to Vail. My info on Breck is a bit dated, but in my book it does not compare to the variety at Vail, especially for an intermediate. My favorite run is in Blue Sky Basin...a glades that is groomed with a special small groomer. It has considerable length, and is quite wide (200 yds or so).
While I have yet to ski at Beaver Creek, I would imagine you would be real happy there also.
The Colonel

My vote is for Breck based upon personal experience. Last season, made two trips out on the EPIC Pass. Stayed in Breck both times. During January trip, spoke with many skiers who were staying in Beaver Creek and Vail but driving to Breck because of better snow. During March trip, planned to do several days at Vail but disappointed after one day -- conditions sucked compared to Breck. Of course, last season was less than optimal conditions everywhere. Also, would agree with other post that first time to Vail will take a day just to learn the mountain. At Breck, for good intermediate skiing, I'd head to Peak 9 followed by Peak 7. Peak 10 is mostly black -- but including alot of groomed black. Peak 8 may be more crowded.

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I've been to A-Basin, Copper, and Loveland and luckily altitude doesn't bother me. I'm going March 24-28th, so I think I'm avoiding the Texas spring break. I'm staying at a condo in Silverthorne, so Vail isn't really that much further out I-70.

I don't have to decide anytime soon. I'll watch snow conditions as March approaches. Breck does sound to be a little more convenient just since I have only one day.

[quote=itdoesntmatter] I'm going March 24-28th, so I think I'm avoiding the Texas spring break.

You are correct. Almost everyone's spring break is over by then, except a few from Colorado. Crowds will not be that bad. Texas' is the 9th thru the 17th.

The best advice is follow the snow. Late in March and in April, follow the temperature too. It starts getting kind of sloppy that time of year, and remember that Vail and Beaver Creek are both about 2000 feet lower than the Summit County resorts.
If it's warm, there will be better snow conditions in Summit County.

For long entertaining blues Keystone is nice with almost all of them being at least 1600 feet of vert with some at 2300 feet. It's the best intermediates mountain in the county. It's similiar at Beaver Creek. Birds of Prey lift at Beaver Creek gives you about 2250 feet of vert on blues and blacks.

What I said about Breck earlier remains the case even at that time of month. The lifts will be more crowded there, and the blues for the most part are short flat and kinda boring. The longest vert on a single chair is about 1400 feet with most under 1200 feet. Here's why Breck is crowded: IT WAS THE MOST VISITED SKI AREA IN 2010/2011 IN NORTH AMERICA (dont have 11/12 data). It had 100,000 more skiers than Vail -- and Vail is 300% bigger than Breck. If you decide to go the Breck, the best blues are on Peaks 8 and 10 (remember I said earlier that Peak 10 is listed as an all balck mountain -- but some of the groomed blacks were all blue black until 2 years ago - Centennial, Doublejack and Crystal. Cimmaron has always been Black, but it's almost always groomed and if you can ski challenging blues, then you can ski Cimmaron. AS far as blues go. Peak 7 is dreadfully flat, and Peak 9 isn't much better.

Enjoy your trip!

If you're never going back, go to Vail. Every skier needs to ski the back bowls before they die. I've been to both. If I was staying in Summit County I'd ski at Breck because it is so much more convenient.