Colorado Recommended resorts for New Year’s trip—Rockies?

[ejj]

Cheers gang, we typically drive to Big Sky every spring, but this year we plan to do something different over the New Year period. I’m looking for suggestions That will typically ski well at this time, I.e. decent snow cover and not too cold. We would drive to the front range from MN. Or we could fly to Utah? Drive to Jackson even? Thoughts?

I’m an advanced skier, but my wife and daughters (12, 14) prefer fast groomers. Thanks for your insights!

 

[Bad Bob]

Sun Valley. Even in a low cover year the groomers will have most of the mountain open. The town is far enough from the beaten path to not be too crowded, by another resorts standards. Great environment.

Bring your groomer skis.

 

[Tricia]

The trick is finding a place that has good snow by the end of December and be "not too cold"

typically ski well at this time, I.e. decent snow cover and not too cold.

That being said, the further north you go, the colder it will be, obviously.
Do you specifically want to hit the Rockies?
Do you have either an IKON or Epic pass?

 

[markojp]

Whitefish.... take the train.

 

[jmeb]

Train to whitefish from MN sounds like an awesome vacation. Less stress than driving or flying. Easy to take plenty of gear. Whitefish should be about as calm as you can find at that time of year.

 

[Jim Kenney]

If you drive, then Steamboat might be a nice choice from MN for that time of year. It has a lot of moderate angle terrain that holds snow and usually skis well in early season. Most of the other major CO ski areas will also be reasonably good at that time too. Pretty enjoyable town too.

 

[ejj]

The trick is finding a place that has good snow by the end of December and be "not too cold"

That being said, the further north you go, the colder it will be, obviously.
Do you specifically want to hit the Rockies?
Do you have either an IKON or Epic pass?

No pass.

Steamboat is currently at the top of the list.

Whitefish is a good suggestion. I’ll look into it.

Sun Valley looks great, but getting there gets expensive. Great idea though.

 

[Sibhusky]

Unfortunately SlowObstacle isn't on Pugski, but he's been taking the train here every year for a while now. Sometimes it's on time, even. I'm guessing he's come at least six times that way, so it must be pretty fun.

 

[sbooker]

For reliable snow and low crowds at that time of year look at flying into SLC and heading north to Grand Targhee. Have a day or two over the hill at Jackson too.
Can be a bit chilly though I guess.

 

[pete]

If you drive, then Steamboat might be a nice choice from MN for that time of year. It has a lot of moderate angle terrain that holds snow and usually skis well in early season. Most of the other major CO ski areas will also be reasonably good at that time too. Pretty enjoyable town too.

Is this pre and post New Years travel or more on one of the sides more? Too, by cold you mean Minnesota cold which is wet? Being from Iowa we've found the drier mountain air at same temp way more comfy .. almost balmy by some respects

I love Steamboat and if weather is like last, New Years should have nice coverage, whole mountain was open trail wise. However Steamboat Christmas to NY is can be pretty busy. I recall pondering this several times, went once and lodging was very limited if planning late. I recall once on mountain things didn't seem too bad and they are to have the new gondi up and running which should decrease any wait time at base significantly. Generally speaking I enjoyed it but we hit runs that were less congested.

Haven't done Whitefish so have no insight towards it. If doing Amtrak to Whitefish, then look for specials. Looks to be nearly a 24hr ride, leaves Minneapolis around 10pm and arrives around 9pm. I've taken Amtrak to Winterpark from Iowa, a shorter ride but will say when traveling with spouse and our middle, I opted to get them a sleeper on the return. Long story short, spouse hated coach but loved the sleeper. They get pretty pricey and often hard to find one, does include the meals though.

Cost wise Steamboat lifts are higher than many Utah destinations less you get advance w/lodging, typically one can get 30% off. If your 12 year olds ski free with a 5 day adult lift pass, but I'd double check on age limits at time of skiing. I know ours needed birth date verification of some type years back.

Not sure if you wish to fly but you have some direct flights to Boseman (Big Sky) and to Kalispell (Whitefish), price wise in comparison to Amtrak .. maybe not greatly different. I don't mind flying if direct. Course then, lots of other options with direct flights ...

 

[James]

Take the train from Minneapolis to Whitefish. How cool is that?

 

[Lofcaudio]

I'm planning a trip to Aspen in early January, with Utah as a fall-back option if Aspen does not have enough snow that early.

 

[Sibhusky]

Whitefish should be about as calm as you can find at that time of year.

Umm. Define "over the New Year period". Is this the week AFTER Christmas week? Specifically from the 6th onwards? Because our normal peak day for the season is usually the 29th or 30th of December. So I'd want dates before saying it'll be calm. And, although maybe headcount here will be a drop in the bucket compared to headcount in Colorado, it has been known to happen that 100% of the terrain is not open at Christmas. It's also been known to happen that it is 100% open. So that headcount may or may not be spread in a livable fashion.

Also, "not too cold" could come into play very much here. I have yet to figure out when it is most likely to be brutal here -- it ranges from December through February. But last year, for instance, the bulk of the season (maybe six weeks) we had regular lift closures due to cold. Normally it's ten days to two weeks, varying timewise across those months. Personally, I love the cold. We get diamond dust in the air and spectacular views and the crowds are low. And it's always possible to add clothes. But if you've got fashion conscious types who are worried about what they will look like they're going to be inside. THIS IS NOT COLORADO, we are well North.

But the train ride could be more "adventure" for the family. For the same number of days, you'd lose some skiing, but it might add to the interest factor.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Aspen is a pretty decent bet for moderate crowds even during the Holidays, although you'll pay a premium.

 

[Sibhusky]

Last season:

"Aspen Skiing Co. topped a 21-year-old record for skier and snowboarder visits, according to Jeff Hanle, vice president of communications. Skico topped 1.55 million visits at Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk."

Now, I don't know what their top day was, but their combined acreage is only 5000+ acres.

Our highest season was 350,000 on 3000 acres. So I can't imagine how your version of "moderate" crowds would line up with mine. But, yeah, go to Aspen.

 

[ejj]

So I bought flights to Whitefish. We are skiing the 31st to the 4th. Train sounded fun, and costs more than a nonstop flight.

Whitefish looks like a good town, and the lift tix are affordable. No doubt it might be more crowded and colder than many weeks, this was the only time that worked for us. Thanks for the help and suggestions gang.

 

[pete]

So I bought flights to Whitefish. We are skiing the 31st to the 4th. Train sounded fun, and costs more than a nonstop flight.

Whitefish looks like a good town, and the lift tix are affordable. No doubt it might be more crowded and colder than many weeks, this was the only time that worked for us. Thanks for the help and suggestions gang.

good for you! Being from Minnesota you stand a good chance of having either warmer or least drier weather in Whitefish. Typical show 28F to 16F, Minneapolis is 24F to 11F and they track pretty well if cold from the north. Not surprised on flight cost verses train ... train is great if you can find a deal but you likely have a direct flight which is one nice advantage of being in a hub zone.


have a great time, post pics!



should you get crazy and do another trip ... and hit Steamboat.

Note too, if you're kids are both 9yr olds .. that's 4th grade? hoping you have a great time and need to ski .. 5th and 6th grade free passes are likely available in the future.

Did this with my middle child, 5th and 6th grade in Colorado. loved it. 3 days at many resorts .. for "free" .. in 5th, $100 in 6th:


https://www.coloradoski.com/passport
https://www.skiutah.com/passes/passports
https://www.skiidaho.us/5th-grade-ski-or-ride-free-passport

other info:

https://www.familyvacationcritic.com/9-states-where-your-kids-can-ski-free-this-winter/art/

 

[Slim]

The trick is finding a place that has good snow by the end of December and be "not too cold"

That being said, the further north you go, the colder it will be, obviously.

@Tricia , @ejj is coming from Minnesota, they won’t be complaining about the cold ;-)

 

[Slim]

Yeah, I love the idea of the train, but with a family it seldom works out well for time and money.

I have taken that train (Empire builder) from Glacier to Seattle and St Paul, MN to western ND. It is beautiful and sipping a drink in the lounge car while watching the view is great.
But, that route is heavily used by freight trains, including the oil trains from the shale oil fields out in western ND/eastern MT. They take precedence over the passenger trains, which means huge delays are likely.

Last summer I checked out Minnesota to Seattle for my family with 2 kids: plane $750, Amtrak $3000! Both one way for the 4 of us.
I have also taken Amtrak to western ND. At the end of our bike trip, we reached Medora by 10:00 am. If we had driven home from there, we would have been home in a Duluth that evening, instead, we didn’t reach Duluth until 12:00 the next day, since the train was delayed 8 hours before we got on, and then more delays while on it.

 

[Slim]

And for future reference (as well as others with similar thoughts):

http://bestsnow.net/fam_ski.htm

Note that that table still has Whitefish called Big Mountain(it’s previous name)