Vail Resort’s Epic Pass was advertised around campus throughout the first weeks of school. The most-solicited pass was the Epic College, giving students a discount to ski and ride all winter.
Now that passes have been purchased and the lifts are spinning, it’s time to start planning out the season. There are so many mountains to choose from, but what are the differences in all of them? This will be a guide to making your decisions on what resorts to ski this winter.
Breckenridge: Without I-70 traffic, Breckenridge is a smooth hour and forty minutes from the DU campus. The resort has 187 trails and 34 lifts, so you’ll never get tired of skiing and boarding. These trails are also very long, so the lift lines are worth the wait.
Every level of snowboarder and skier can enjoy their time here with trails ranging from green circles to double black diamonds and unmarked, extreme terrain.
Keystone: Keystone is about an hour and a half away on a good day. The resort caters slightly towards the more-advanced skiers and boarders, with over half the mountain scattered with single and double black diamonds. Along with the various lifts to take you to the tops of the difficult runs, Keystone offers cat skiing in certain areas as well, where you can take a snow-vehicle up the mountain.
Although most of the resort is difficult, Keystone has an entire zone for beginners to learn to ski or snowboard. What’s also nice about the layout of Keystone is that all the terrain parks are located in one area, making it easy for people who stay in the park to bounce around with ease. This mountain will let the more advanced skiers and boarders challenge themselves, but will also cater towards those who simply want to improve.
Arapahoe Basin: A-Basin is a little closer than the previous two resorts, with an average time of an hour and twenty minutes. This resort is known for opening early, which happened on Oct. 17 this year, and also keeping the season going until the late spring months.
This resort has 109 trails and eight lifts. A-Basin is for you if you’re into hiking to get fresh tracks. This is a smaller resort, with more intermediate and advanced trails. Big Mountain terrain is popular here rather than terrain parks, offering only two parks to skiers and boarders. A-Basin will keep you skiing for over half the year, making your Epic Pass definitely worth the money.
Vail: It wouldn’t be an Epic Pass from Vail Resorts without access to Vail. This access comes with restrictions of ten days skiing Vail during the whole year and blackout dates for holidays.
Vail is an upper-class resort, but gives you loads of different terrain to play on. This is a longer drive from campus, averaging about two hours. The drive will be worth it, though, for how much acreage Vail Resort has. The resort is very large, with 31 lifts and 193 runs, all located on almost 3000 acres.
This is a family resort that will allow any level of skier or boarder to have a fun time on the hill. They’ve got family zones, three terrain parks and endless bowls on the backside to satisfy all visitors. There is a little something for everyone at Vail, and with the longer drive and 10 day access, you’ll have to plan ahead to make an epic time at this resort.
Beaver: Last but not least is Beaver Creek. This is right next to Vail, so it still takes about two hours to drive there. Beaver Creek also has the same 10-day restriction as Vail. This is the classiest of mountains on the Epic Pass, giving you reservation-only lodges on the mountain, which are specified on the trail map. The mountain has 25 lifts and 150 trails, which cater mainly to intermediate snowboarders and skiers. It’s about two-thirds the size of Vail, but will still impress you with the extreme terrain and fun groomers. With ten days out of the ski season, you can treat yourself at this high-class resort without breaking the bank account every weekend.
Winter is coming soon and all of these resorts will be open within the next month or so. Arapahoe Basin opened on Oct 17. Keystone will be second to open on Halloween, followed by Breckenridge on Nov 7, Vail on Nov 21 and Beaver Creek on Nov 26. With all of these options, hopefully you brought your skis and snowboards and can get out on the mountains before Fall Quarter ends.
Plus, with an epic pass during Winter break, you’ll have access to mountains like Park City, Canyons, Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood if you’re up for a big trip.
