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Colorado Snowstang to Loveland, Abasin, or Steamboat!

pchewn

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It's a tiny step in the right direction. Colorado has long needed a better car free way to get to the slopes. There should be multiple buses DAILY (not just weekends) from various parts of Denver to various ski resorts. From Portland (not nearly the skitastic city that Denver is) I can catch the Mt Hood Express to Skibowl and Timberline no less than 8 times a day including trips that allow night skiing for all of $5 round trip. IIRC, the only ski area served by RTD is Eldora, and that's on a fairly limited schedule.

The Mt Hood Express is wonderful if you are in Sandy Oregon. It does not travel from Portland. Sandy to Timberline Lodge is 36 miles -- that would be like a bus that goes from Arapahoe Basin to Idaho Springs .

The Mt Hood Express does not go to Mt Hood Meadows (the biggest area on Mt Hood).

I really don't see a good comparison of the Snowstang to the Mt Hood Express
 
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coskigirl

coskigirl

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The Snowstang will leave the Federal Center (west Denver) at 6:40/6:55 which is rather late compared to when I usually do the drive so it will feel a bit like sleeping in. I'm not sure I'd use it for a big powder day though for reasons Susan stated. On those days I'm likely to either figure out a way to stay up or leave my house before 5. What the mountains could do that would make things a bit more attractive for people like me is offer a secure bag drop (even for a nominal fee of a few additional bucks) where I could drop my bag without having to deal with lockers and know that my expensive textbooks are safe. I'm not planning on bringing my computer but the textbooks aren't cheap either.
 

Itinerant skier

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The Mt Hood Express is wonderful if you are in Sandy Oregon. It does not travel from Portland. Sandy to Timberline Lodge is 36 miles -- that would be like a bus that goes from Arapahoe Basin to Idaho Springs .

The Mt Hood Express does not go to Mt Hood Meadows (the biggest area on Mt Hood).

I really don't see a good comparison of the Snowstang to the Mt Hood Express

Huh? MHX is just an extension of the Sandy Area Metro bus which stops right at the Gresham MAX station. I can walk out my door in Close -in NE Portland, hop on the MAX, switch to MHX in Gresham, stop in Sandy for a coffee and get off the bus at Skibowl. $5 for a day pass!

Meadows has it's own bus program, with buses from various parts of the metro each day of the week, it's pricier though, at $25, and I've never considered Meadows to be that much better of a ski area to justify the extra cost and time. I go to meadows when friends go there that I can carpool with. MHX lets me go for a full day, part day, night skiing, etc and we can drink at the lodge without worrying about having to drive down the mountain.
 
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TonyPlush

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Does Denver International's new light rail drop off at Union Station?

As a visitor, it would be awesome to be able to fly into DEN, take the light rail to Union Station, then take the Snowstang to the mountains. IMO there would be a serious benefit to avoiding Denver's pricey winter rental cars, which all too often come equiped with bald tires or no AWD.
 

jmeb

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Does Denver International's new light rail drop off at Union Station?

Yes it does drop off at Union Station. It could work with a trip to Steamboat or Abasin (combine with Summit Stage bus to your hotel.)

Flying in, train to Union and then train over to Winter Park is even less of a headache, more comfortable and better scenery.

For those who haven't been to Union Station in Denver, really not a bad place to kill a couple of hours.
 

TexasStout

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While I will always advocate for better public transportation, the economics just don't work for this in the Front Range. As @coskigirl mentions, this round trip is already significantly subsidized by resorts to make it a break even.

The resorts have zero incentive to subsidize outside the weekends. The reason they are subsidizing these weekends isn't because I70 sucks or they are trying to make the world greener. They are subsidizing it because their lots fill up on weekends. Parking capacity is the current limiter on the number of people they can serve. By people taking a bus in, they can put more skiers on the slopes, more patrons at the bar.

To make the argument that the public agency should subsidize recreational trips to the mountains for well off skiers that can take a weekday bus is a political non-starter in a state where the dollar per mile traveled by the public has decreased dramatically for over a decade.

I hope Abasin/Loveland/Steamboat see the value out of this. As I would much prefer increased bus service to cutting more parking lots into these areas and adding additional traffic volume.
I'm all for this if it helps reduce the number of times the parking lot fills at Loveland. Being well west of Union Station and Lakewood, I'd appreciate not having to park in the overflow lots.

Having this bus option increases the odds that I may a trip to Steamboat this season or next season.
 

jmeb

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I'm all for this if it helps reduce the number of times the parking lot fills at Loveland.

It's not going to reduce the number of times that happens. Loveland's parking lots are its current capacity barrier (rather than the lifts). But honestly, they only ever fill up two days a week for a handful of weekends a year. Hard to justify building more parking for a dozen-days-a-year problem.
 

UGASkiDawg

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The Snowstang will leave the Federal Center (west Denver) at 6:40/6:55 which is rather late compared to when I usually do the drive so it will feel a bit like sleeping in. I'm not sure I'd use it for a big powder day though for reasons Susan stated. On those days I'm likely to either figure out a way to stay up or leave my house before 5. What the mountains could do that would make things a bit more attractive for people like me is offer a secure bag drop (even for a nominal fee of a few additional bucks) where I could drop my bag without having to deal with lockers and know that my expensive textbooks are safe. I'm not planning on bringing my computer but the textbooks aren't cheap either.
Nobodies stealing your text books. I leave my computer in my heated kulkea bag under the benches or something relatively regularly.
 
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coskigirl

coskigirl

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Nobodies stealing your text books. I leave my computer in my heated kulkea bag under the benches or something relatively regularly.

Oh, I certainly don't think someone would purposefully steal textbooks. But, all it takes is one person to decide the brand new heated kulkea bag looks nice and decide to swipe it and take the textbooks with it. Losing my textbooks is less about cost and more about what it would do to my studying and class prep until I could replace them. Yes, I realize people leave bags regularly but I tend to be a bit nervous about leaving shit unlocked so it would be nice to have something secure to take the stress off.
 
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coskigirl

coskigirl

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I can't quite tell from the website, but it appears you also can buy just a one way ticket?

I think that's correct. Which makes it a great option for someone who has a ride with someone else one direction or the other.
 

Itinerant skier

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Does Denver International's new light rail drop off at Union Station?

As a visitor, it would be awesome to be able to fly into DEN, take the light rail to Union Station, then take the Snowstang to the mountains. IMO there would be a serious benefit to avoiding Denver's pricey winter rental cars, which all too often come equiped with bald tires or no AWD.

Yes. But with early AM departures 3 days a week for the train and 2 for the bus, you should fly in the day before, take the train (to be pedantic, not light rail but heavy or commuter rail) downtown and stay overnight. Heaps of hotel options in the area. Have some good food and drink, then catch the train or bus to the mountain in the AM.
 

pete

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Yes. But with early AM departures 3 days a week for the train and 2 for the bus, you should fly in the day before, take the train (to be pedantic, not light rail but heavy or commuter rail) downtown and stay overnight. Heaps of hotel options in the area. Have some good food and drink, then catch the train or bus to the mountain in the AM.


On Amtrak note, I've taken Amtrak to Winterpark and from the east it arrives at Denver's Union Station at 7:15am (presuming it's running on time)

This wouldn't work with using the 5.25am departure (bus) to Steamboat if that were a desire.
 

pete

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Well, referring to not wanting to wait a day to catch a bus, may as well have a rental. train arrives roughly 2 hrs after bus leaves for the boat.

return trip too, train leaves east before bus from Steamboat gets to station.
 

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