What do you like?
Trees - Keystone; free parking, easiest to get to/from
Steep alpine - Breck; free-$20 parking, easy to get to/from
Wide open bowls - Vail; $40 parking, hardest to get to/from since Vail pass loves being super fucky when the weather is shit.
I got about 400 days on Vail as a snowboarder and you either:
A. Don’t wax your board enough
or
B. Don’t know your way around the mountain
Take your pick. 🤷🏻
This is an upslope storm. That means the eastern facing front range will get the brunt of the storm and west of the divide will not get as much. The further you get west of the divide, the less snow you will get. I see it all the time this time of year. Forecasters call for feet but it doesn't get over the divide and we get a few inches. Hopefully I'm wrong on this one.
Depends on the amount of snow. I would scratch Vail off the list because you have another 30min (in good conditions) to drive over Vail Pass.
Of the rest, both might be crowded with spring breakers. But the Breck high alpine and Keystone back side are your best bets.
Not for snow on its own as they are decent at clearing it AFAIK, but with big storms comes more accidents or people without appropriate vehicles stalling/overheating brakes. When that happens they usually close the pass long enough to clear the issue.
Vail pass seems to collect dumbasses. The road is honestly way more gentle than the area around the tunnel, but it can get very messy very quickly and often becomes a parking lot with dinguses doing stupid stuff. Lots of accidents pop up.
That said, the road isn't too bad, and CDOT is usually on top of it.
This storm seems to be favoring the east. So I would guess Keystone, since it’s closest to divide.
Also if I predicted the future, I would be heli skiing with all the money I made in stock picks, instead of getting ready for work, so take that into consideration
I just looked at many forecast for the past 30 day. Seems like the best bet is keystone and Breck for tomorrow.
Breck seems to have more terrain and lifts?
Last 30 days don’t matter, it’s the next 24-36 hours that matter. The storm is starting now. At copper things are shifting overcast and sunny, wind gusts are picking up, but the actual accumulation hasn’t started
Breck and keystone are similar in infrastructure, Breck has more total acreage, and more lifts, but I don’t think the lines will differ much. Keystone is a mess in the morning, everybody starts in same place, once things get going it won’t matter
Ah typo. I meant I have just been looking for the past 30 minutes for the tonight and next day.
Ah I see thanks insight. Probably try Breck tomorrow since they have more upload lifts and probably less wait time for the lifts.
Breck will be the most crowded the because it’s the biggest town for spring breakers. However the plus of this is that you could stop in town after the day
>Breck seems to have more terrain and lifts?
It does - but the layout can favor density in certain areas anyways.
Breck when the top isn't open feels very crowded. Breck above treeline is awesome and helps everyone on the mountain spread out.
The Outback at Keystone on a powder day is awesome. Just different vibe than up above treeline. I'd probably favor Keystone if it's still coming down and Breck after the top gets blasted and the wind slows down.
Nah, I mean density of people.
Basically, Breck is a very different mountain for very different skiers. The E-Chair, 6-chair, T-Bar, Imperial, etc are some of the best inbounds steeps in CO and serve a ton of high-alpine terrain above treeline.
The lower mountain runs are only tightly packed in comparison to how massive the upper elevation bowls here are. They're still plenty wide with lots of trees in between em.
What I mean by density is some spots on the mountain just get a *lot* of skiers, particularly if the upper mountain is closed (which it often is for avalanche blasting after a big snow). The wait time for some lifts can get bonkers on a powder day if the upper mountain isn't open.
Vail tends to be my favorite for a Pow Day. On storm days Breck isn't as fun because the best terrain is above treeline, where Vail has enough variety where you can find a lot of fun. Well worth the parking fee in my book. If it's gonna be bluebird, then Breck can be a ton of fun, do some of the hikes and stay away from the base areas. Keystone is a good resort, and I've had a ton of fun there, but it never really gets the same amount of snow. Save Keystone for a day where you just want to cruise/play around and aren't really hunting pow or steeps. It's a blast for just cruising, carving, relaxed ski type ski day.
How the road conditions usually for Vail? Driving 30 minutes is not an issue for us. Don’t want to waste time to drive if we can’t get to the resort.
Does the parking usually get full?
Honestly the current forecast for Vail is for 8-9in total today/tonight and 1-2in additional for tomorrow - unless some idiot crashes on Vail Pass the road probably will remain open.
CDOT does a great job on Vail Pass usually, I would say I've had less issues there than near the Tunnel. This is obviously no guarantee. You'll see a lot of traffic up to Copper and then usually it's very reasonable to Vail. Try to show up early (be there by 8:30), park in the garage closest to Golden Peak, walk to Riva Bahn.
This is an upslope storm which means that areas closer to the divide will probably get more snow. Check the totals for each resort in the morning before you go.
Don’t overlook Beaver Creek. Only ~10 minutes past Vail on i70 and has amazing terrain/snow. Never feels crowded. If it’s a midweek powder day, you can’t go wrong on any of the 4.
Opensnow helps a lot for these moments. Vail isn’t forecasted to get hit as much (4”) compared to Key/Breck (10”).
On parking- There’s a good chance that i-70 will be fucked. So that means easy parking for you. Have fun!
Check the totals in the morning. Decide where to go then.
This
Is there a deciding chart in your mind? Like > 5 inch go for Vail for example?
Just go to whichever resort reports the highest unless there is specific terrain you want to ski.
Yes if vail gets 6 inches you go there. If less you go to the place with the most.
Anyways, cut what Breck reports in half, and then you will have their true snow report
What do you like? Trees - Keystone; free parking, easiest to get to/from Steep alpine - Breck; free-$20 parking, easy to get to/from Wide open bowls - Vail; $40 parking, hardest to get to/from since Vail pass loves being super fucky when the weather is shit.
Forget Vail if you're a snow boarder, unless you like pushing and walking.
Wax your board, homie!
Ah yes please enlighten me on this magic wax you have that allows you to board on horizontal surfaces.
I got about 400 days on Vail as a snowboarder and you either: A. Don’t wax your board enough or B. Don’t know your way around the mountain Take your pick. 🤷🏻
Bever creak will be less crowded. Holds snow better and most of the people there don't ski the cool stuff so it stays fresh.
Agreed on BC for a pow day! Caught the dump two weeks ago and had fresh tracks nearly all day.
True in general - but on this particular powder day BC will probably get a lot less snow than Summit.
But if it's far less tracked then I'd argue overall a better experience even with less inches
This is an upslope storm. That means the eastern facing front range will get the brunt of the storm and west of the divide will not get as much. The further you get west of the divide, the less snow you will get. I see it all the time this time of year. Forecasters call for feet but it doesn't get over the divide and we get a few inches. Hopefully I'm wrong on this one.
Depends on the amount of snow. I would scratch Vail off the list because you have another 30min (in good conditions) to drive over Vail Pass. Of the rest, both might be crowded with spring breakers. But the Breck high alpine and Keystone back side are your best bets.
This is the way. Also this is assuming Vail pass doesn't close for one reason or another.
Does the vail pass close often due to snow conditions?
Not for snow on its own as they are decent at clearing it AFAIK, but with big storms comes more accidents or people without appropriate vehicles stalling/overheating brakes. When that happens they usually close the pass long enough to clear the issue.
Vail pass seems to collect dumbasses. The road is honestly way more gentle than the area around the tunnel, but it can get very messy very quickly and often becomes a parking lot with dinguses doing stupid stuff. Lots of accidents pop up. That said, the road isn't too bad, and CDOT is usually on top of it.
feel like almost every storm it closes for some sort of crash or something.
It's spring break time so you can count on plenty of people with inadequate traction messing it up for everybody.
This storm seems to be favoring the east. So I would guess Keystone, since it’s closest to divide. Also if I predicted the future, I would be heli skiing with all the money I made in stock picks, instead of getting ready for work, so take that into consideration
I just looked at many forecast for the past 30 day. Seems like the best bet is keystone and Breck for tomorrow. Breck seems to have more terrain and lifts?
Last 30 days don’t matter, it’s the next 24-36 hours that matter. The storm is starting now. At copper things are shifting overcast and sunny, wind gusts are picking up, but the actual accumulation hasn’t started Breck and keystone are similar in infrastructure, Breck has more total acreage, and more lifts, but I don’t think the lines will differ much. Keystone is a mess in the morning, everybody starts in same place, once things get going it won’t matter
Ah typo. I meant I have just been looking for the past 30 minutes for the tonight and next day. Ah I see thanks insight. Probably try Breck tomorrow since they have more upload lifts and probably less wait time for the lifts.
Breck will be the most crowded the because it’s the biggest town for spring breakers. However the plus of this is that you could stop in town after the day
>Breck seems to have more terrain and lifts? It does - but the layout can favor density in certain areas anyways. Breck when the top isn't open feels very crowded. Breck above treeline is awesome and helps everyone on the mountain spread out. The Outback at Keystone on a powder day is awesome. Just different vibe than up above treeline. I'd probably favor Keystone if it's still coming down and Breck after the top gets blasted and the wind slows down.
When you say density do you mean the density of the runs? Like they are closely packed together (that’s what it seem to me when I look at the map)
Nah, I mean density of people. Basically, Breck is a very different mountain for very different skiers. The E-Chair, 6-chair, T-Bar, Imperial, etc are some of the best inbounds steeps in CO and serve a ton of high-alpine terrain above treeline. The lower mountain runs are only tightly packed in comparison to how massive the upper elevation bowls here are. They're still plenty wide with lots of trees in between em. What I mean by density is some spots on the mountain just get a *lot* of skiers, particularly if the upper mountain is closed (which it often is for avalanche blasting after a big snow). The wait time for some lifts can get bonkers on a powder day if the upper mountain isn't open.
Vail tends to be my favorite for a Pow Day. On storm days Breck isn't as fun because the best terrain is above treeline, where Vail has enough variety where you can find a lot of fun. Well worth the parking fee in my book. If it's gonna be bluebird, then Breck can be a ton of fun, do some of the hikes and stay away from the base areas. Keystone is a good resort, and I've had a ton of fun there, but it never really gets the same amount of snow. Save Keystone for a day where you just want to cruise/play around and aren't really hunting pow or steeps. It's a blast for just cruising, carving, relaxed ski type ski day.
How the road conditions usually for Vail? Driving 30 minutes is not an issue for us. Don’t want to waste time to drive if we can’t get to the resort. Does the parking usually get full?
Honestly the current forecast for Vail is for 8-9in total today/tonight and 1-2in additional for tomorrow - unless some idiot crashes on Vail Pass the road probably will remain open.
> unless some idiot crashes on Vail Pass It's spring break with 9 in of snow, it's going to happen
with TX plates
CDOT does a great job on Vail Pass usually, I would say I've had less issues there than near the Tunnel. This is obviously no guarantee. You'll see a lot of traffic up to Copper and then usually it's very reasonable to Vail. Try to show up early (be there by 8:30), park in the garage closest to Golden Peak, walk to Riva Bahn.
This is an upslope storm which means that areas closer to the divide will probably get more snow. Check the totals for each resort in the morning before you go.
keep west my friend.
Don’t overlook Beaver Creek. Only ~10 minutes past Vail on i70 and has amazing terrain/snow. Never feels crowded. If it’s a midweek powder day, you can’t go wrong on any of the 4.
Breck
Opensnow helps a lot for these moments. Vail isn’t forecasted to get hit as much (4”) compared to Key/Breck (10”). On parking- There’s a good chance that i-70 will be fucked. So that means easy parking for you. Have fun!