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Colorado Breck or Winter Park - end of March

Seldomski

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I have a work trip end of March in Denver that I can tack on a ski vacation the following weekend. This is a trip just for me and my wife... long weekend.

I am trying to do a fare assessment of Winter Park work for this trip, mainly because I have not been there in 15+ years and would like to go back. However, everything I recall from prior visits is making it hard to sell the trip vs. Breck to my wife. Mainly this has to do with the difference in accommodations, town, and mountain location vs. the town. She like to sleep at nice places, have walking access to lift, and good food/town. Doesn't matter if we save $$ if she's not happy with those things.

Breck has:
-Walkable town and frequent buses
-Pro: Lots of 'slopeside' accommodations (i.e walk 200 yards or less) with updated furnishings
-Pro: Lots of fancy food/dining
-Pro?: Familiarity (we have been there multiple times in past few years)
-Con: Lots of wind on mountain + lift closures relatively frequent
-Con: Can be extremely crowded
-Con: Expen$ive le$$on$ and lift tickets (no epic pass for us)

What I recall about WP:
-Con: No lodging at base
-Con: More rustic accomodations and ~20 minute bus to slope
-Con: Family friendly town (i.e. dining is not 'high end')
-Weather? Don't remember.
-Pro: Good value for lessons (wife likely to take 1 or 2) and cheaper walk-up lift tickets

Can anyone recommend WP over Breck?
Which has worse crowds?
Which has worse weather?
Which is worse (snow conditions) for spring skiing?
Does WP have slopeside accommodations with shuttles to town?
What is the WP town like now vs. 15 years ago? Same? How does it compare to Breck?

Edit to add - thanks for any advice!
 
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tball

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You are describing the town of Winter Park. There is lodging and a village at the WP base where you can stay right next to the lift:


If there are any tickets to the WP ski train left, I'd suggest you consider that. Stay in Downtown Denver in one of the nice hotels in our around Union Station, take the train up one morning, spend a couple nights at the base of WP, then take the train back after skiing in the afternoon. That would be a super fun and unique experience, and you'd avoid driving and I-70!
 
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Seldomski

Seldomski

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@tball - So there is now a village at the base of WP?
Is it a good plan to rely on that village for bars/food when we are there, or should we plan on going nightly to Fraser?

Thanks for the suggestion about the train. I'll have to look into that.
 

tball

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Intrawest built the village starting around 2000, I believe. See the Base Area Map here:
https://www.winterparkresort.com/the-mountain/mountain-information/maps

I haven't stayed there for years, but I'd think there is plenty for a couple nights. Nothing like Breck, more like smaller versions of Copper or Keystone villages if you've seen them. The scenic train and staying in Downtown Denver would be the real draw, and avoiding I-70 if you can make the train work.

Taking the new gondola up to the Sunspot restaurant would be great. See that and other dining options in the WP village here:
https://www.winterparkresort.com/things-to-do/dining

Skiing should be great at either Breck or WP, but count on weekends in March being crowded at both. Generally Breck is considered the most crowded, but who knows now with the Ikon Pass. What terrain do you like to ski?
 
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Seldomski

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@tball Hmm, so Copper has a bigger village than WP? I couldn't really tell from the map. I'd throw that into the ring too, especially if crowds are smaller and village is nicer vs WP.

What do I like to ski? Anything without people and good snow. Especially like to ski slush moguls. I enjoy skiing at Aspen, Vail, BC, A-basin, and Breck (when the wind is gone and people are hungover in their beds still). Not a fan of Keystone. Wife is into wide groomers, blues and some greens for warm up runs. Also must be slopeside or short walk to slopes from hotel/condo.
 

Wannabeskibum

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@tball Hmm, so Copper has a bigger village than WP? I couldn't really tell from the map. I'd throw that into the ring too, especially if crowds are smaller and village is nicer vs WP.

What do I like to ski? Anything without people and good snow. Especially like to ski slush moguls. I enjoy skiing at Aspen, Vail, BC, A-basin, and Breck (when the wind is gone and people are hungover in their beds still). Not a fan of Keystone. Wife is into wide groomers, blues and some greens for warm up runs. Also must be slopeside or short walk to slopes from hotel/condo.
 

Wannabeskibum

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Your wife will be happy at Breck on Peak 7 and Peak 8. Peak 7 has lots of wide groomers.

By end of March - temps are more moderate at Breck and the higher elevation will generally mean better snow.
 

tball

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@tball Hmm, so Copper has a bigger village than WP? I couldn't really tell from the map. I'd throw that into the ring too, especially if crowds are smaller and village is nicer vs WP.
The WP and Copper villages are tiny compared to Breck. Copper is a bit bigger than WP, but still small. Both are probably too small for your wife, but the train to WP would make up for that, assuming its something she'd enjoy.

If you want nice, go to Beaver Creek. Being furthest day trip resorts from Denver helps with the crowds. You'll be here the same week much of the Front Range is on spring break, so that will to matter. The skiing also matches nicely with what you described. Get something booked soon, as between spring break and our recent snow on the national news your choices could be limited.
 

cosmoliu

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I've only been in the lobby, but the Vintage Hotel at the Winter Park base seems to be high end. Short walk to the Zephyr lift.

Full disclosure: I'm a huge Winter Park fan.
 

tball

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Hey @Seldomski do you have your exact dates? It's crazy how much it matters at the end of March and beginning of April. It goes from spring break high season to low season in about a day come April 1st. If there is any way you can extend into the next week you'll be rewarded with relatively empty slopes as opposed to a zoo the last week of March.
 
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Seldomski

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OK to summarize vs. original question:

Snow condition -- Breck vs. WP even
Crowds -- Breck vs. WP even
"Fancy" -- Breck
Expense -- WP better (cheaper)
Village -- Breck
Weather/wind factor -- ??

Beaver Creek: snow worse than above, crowds smaller, more $$.

@tball Yeah I checked and we are on the 2nd weekend of spring break for Denver public schools. Mar 29-31 ski days, traveling April 1. I love any solution involving skiing more, but I don't think we can extend past that weekend. Maybe pickup just April 1 as a ski day and take late flight home.

We were actually at Beaver Creek first weekend of Denver spring break - skiing there Mar 25, 2018 on Sunday. I recall a lot of young kids in ski school and it being crowded at base at end of day. Wasn't too crowded up on the mountain.
 

Magi

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@tball - So there is now a village at the base of WP?
Is it a good plan to rely on that village for bars/food when we are there, or should we plan on going nightly to Fraser?

Thanks for the suggestion about the train. I'll have to look into that.

You'd be going into Winter Park, not Fraser, about 3 miles from the resort (~8 minute drive). Staying on Resort (at Founder's point or the Zephyr [closest to gondola]) will give you access to a shuttle bus from the resort to town, that operates about every half an hour. Night life is centered in the town of WP, not at the resort. Eating at Sunspot (top of the mountain accessed via gondola, really cool experience), and Vertical are your two nice restaurant options in village for dinner. Goody's is can't miss for breakfast or lunch.

Odds are that Breck will be more crowded than WP, especially on the Saturday. Breck definitely has more amenities (but WP's distillery and brewery kick Breck's out of the water in my opinion, so there's that).
 

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