Best place for late season skiing in the Loveland, Breckenridge area

[cabo79]

I plan to go to Denver the first week in April where in that area is the best snow that time of year? Breck, Loveland area?

[jim-ratliff]

In the Dillon & Silverthorne area (immediately west of the Eisenhower Tunnel) is A-Basin, Keystone and Breckenridge (all Vail resorts).  30 minutes (or a bit less) further west is Copper Mountain.  Another 30-40 minutes farther west is Vail, and another bit west is Beaver Creek (also owned by Vail).  Loveland is back on the other side of the Eisehnower Tunnel (closer to Denver), but most of the places to stay are in the Dillon/Silverthorne area.

Depends a lot on temperatures.  Loveland and A-Basin are the highest, so they keep snow the longest and suffer least from warm weather but are the least "resort like".  Beaver Creek is also pretty high, but they are a drive west from there.  I personally really like Keystone for it's blue slopes, and Breckenridge should be skied one day just to see if you like it or not.  You can buy  multi day passes for the Vail resorts that provide a fair amount of flexibility.  With a 4 day pass, they allow one day at either Vail or Beaver Creek, with 5 days they allow 2 days at Vail/BC.  Of course, any of the days can be used at any combination of A-Basin, Keystone, or Breckenridge and you don't have to ski Vail/BC at all..

[lbergren]

The previous reply was spot on, so I'll just add another plug for Arapahoe Basin (aka A-Basin):

For late season skiing in the Denver area, my husband and I have always found great SNOW at A-Basin. We really enjoy the terrain there, and it's a fun change for us to ski above the treeline. It's pretty rustic -- there are no lodgings, but it's only a 15 minute drive (or bus ride) from Keystone. There is a big old 1960's era building where you can get food, and its balcony provides a perfect place to bask in the sun with a beer and watch other skiers coming down the hill.

Many of A-Basin's ski lifts are a step down from what you'd find at the big resorts, but since the SKIING is terrific and there's rarely a line, we just think that's part of the charm. Frankly, it's refreshing to ski someplace that's NOT loaded with amenities and over-developed condominimum properties as far as the eye can see. (Full disclosure: I'm writing this in front of a roaring fire in a rented condo in Beaver Creek, where we're skiing this week -- we love it here, too, and I'm grateful for over-developed condo properties every time we come to Colorado.)

Much as we love A-Basin, we would probably not plan to ski there for more than a day, but this is only because we pretty much stick to groomed blue or blue/black runs anymore. If you're a backcountry skier, or if you're looking for big bumps and other extreme terrain, you'll find more than enough to keep you happy for several days, especially now that the back bowl area has opened. Unfortunately, my own extreme days are over due to two hip replacements -- my surgeon cleared me to ski again, but only if I promised to stay out of the risky stuff. I'm so happy to be back in my boots at all (without pain, and skiing better than ever after a four year hiatus), that giving up bump runs and powder actually was a very small price to pay.

In early April, Keystone generally still has good snow, especially the higher elevation runs. I would expect that to be particularly true this season, given the record snowfall. SO... if we were in your shoes boots, we'd find a place to stay at Keystone, and split our skiing between there and A-Basin.

Have a great time!

[jbotti]

I skied Loveland and A-basin last year in the first week of April. I love them both. The conditions were superb and on the last two days Loveland got 10-12 inches each day. We skied fresh lines on Loveland almost the whole day.

It's a little known fact that some of the Col rockies biggest dumps come in late March and early April. For me at this tme of year I wouldn't go to any of the other Summit Cty resorts. Loveland and A-basin are empty at this time and it is the terrain is excellent.?