Colorado Soon To Be Denver Local - Loveland Or Winter Park?

[oswaldr2]

I'm relocating to Denver from Chicago in August and am now considering my pass options for the season. I'm considering buying a 4-pack to each Loveland & WP, or getting a season pass to one or the other. My argument towards the 4-pack is that it'll allow me to figure out which I like more considering the terrain, lift lines, driving ease, etc... My argument for the season pass is that I'll get unlimited days and won't have to be conservative about when I go skiing. Obviously if I knew the mountain that I prefer ahead of time, I'd buy the pass there. Since I do not know this, I'm looking for some help from the forum.

My considerations:
Traffic: I'll be skiing on the weekends, I know it's not going to be pretty. Which is typically easier to get to?
Ability level: The more advanced/expert ability level the better
Terrain: glades, steeps, bowls & chutes are preferred
Hike to: having in bounds hike to terrain options would be preferred

I've read quite a bit of forums, site reviews, articles, etc... I'm torn at this point and will have to decide before the season starts given pass pricing and availability. I've skied all of the I-70 resorts but Loveland when I used to come in for out of town resort trips. I currently am a Mountain Collective Passholder for the past few years, so I haven't been back to I-70 for a few years.

 

[Chris Walker]

Loveland gets a lot of love from CO locals but personally I never got the appeal. I prefer Winter Park. I do like your idea of getting a 4-pack to both (or at least to the one you don't get a season pass for) so you can compare for yourself. My preference may not be yours. Both have glades, steeps, bowls & chutes, although maybe not the most around. Have you considered A-Basin? It adds about 8 miles and one mountain pass to your Loveland commute (more if the pass is closed as it often is on powder days).

It's honestly not a great commute to WP, but getting off of I-70 16 miles earlier can be a blessing. You have to negotiate Berthoud Pass, but only very rarely would I call that treacherous. WP is about 9 miles further to from Denver than Loveland, but again less time on I-70 can make up for that. In either case, I'd just avoid peak times. Get up early and either bolt early or stick around for dinner after skiing.

 

[Monique]

For what you list as priorities, both are pretty comparable. But they're vastly different places, and you'll likely prefer one to the other.

Loveland is smaller. It has no resort aspects at all, just a cafeteria and a very helpful ski tune shop. Winter Park is more of a resort, with slope side condos and a pretty decent village. In fact I don't think that WP really has a base lodge with a cafeteria per se - just multiple restaurants - am I blanking on this? Loveland's cafeteria food is cheap and tasty.

Loveland lift lines are almost never significant. I can't comment on WP lines, but I suspect they build up more than Loveland. Both can get extremely windy. WP shuts down some of their best lifts when it's windy; not sure about Loveland. Loveland will open earlier in the season, although that's WROD material. I think it also stays open later into the spring. Loveland's base is 1500 feet higher than WP with a commensurately higher top, and that may or may not impact your ability to breathe/function to a debilitating degree.

Possibly relevant fact: you can get the RMSP to ski at both WP and Copper. Similarly, you can get four packs good at both.

 

[Dave Marshak]

I like Loveland, but it's smaller than WP. WP is also avoids the I-70 traffic. Get an RMSP and you get Eldora, WP and Copper. Eldora is small, but it's the closest and it has a big bowl I've never skied. Sometimes we do a half day there from Denver.

dm

 

[oswaldr2]

Have you considered A-Basin? It adds about 8 miles and one mountain pass to your Loveland commute (more if the pass is closed as it often is on powder days).

I have skied A-Basin about a dozen times over the years as I was a Colorado Pass then Epic Local holder for a few years when my friends and I were doing I-70 trips. My thought on that was that I've been there before, so it's not new to me. Then also I didn't really want to deal with Loveland Pass if I could just stop at Loveland instead if I was going that way.

 

[oswaldr2]

Get an RMSP and you get Eldora, WP and Copper. Eldora is small, but it's the closest and it has a big bowl I've never skied. Sometimes we do a half day there from Denver.dm

I was considered the RMSP+ as well, was thinking I might not want to spend the extra money on the higher priced pass as I have already purchased the Mountain Collective Pass for the 2017/2018 season before I knew I was moving to Denver. Is Corona Bowl at Eldora any good?

 

[Dave Marshak]

Is Corona Bowl at Eldora any good?

I don't get to Denver as often as I'd like and I haven't had a chance to ski Corona Bowl yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

dm

 

[jmeb]

My 2 cents as someone who has had a pass to Loveland for a few years, a few 4-packs to WP, and skis Berthoud Pass 10-15 days a year (on the way to WP)

Traffic: Loveland is the clear winner in my experience. Yes you have more time on I-70, but most of the worst stuff on I70 is Floyd hill which you encounter going to either, and coming back up the tunnel from the West which you don't have to do at Loveland. If you leave early, Loveland is almost always a shorter drive IME. Going to either early isn't a huge deal. Coming back from WP though can be very slow through Empire where traffic gets backed up by lights, and re-entry onto I-70 which is metered.

Ability level: I'll give this one a slight edge to WP because there is a bit more hard stuff in MJ. The Cirque (WP) and the Ridge (Loveland) both offer expert only lines in a high alpine setting. The Ridge is easier to lap than the Cirque and offers a free cat. The Cirque feels a bit more "remote" at times.

Terrain: Edge to WP because of the diversity of skiing. Loveland really only has two lifts that service a lot of very steep terrain 1 & 9, with small shots off of 4/8. Mary Jane has tons of steep trees.

Hike to: Edge to Loveland. The Ridge has more hike to that is easily accessible including some great lines like Wild Child.

Things you didn't include:

Crowds: Loveland is far less crowded on weekend. You may wait 3-4 minutes often on Chair 1, rarely more than a few chairs on Lift 9. You will wait on weekends at any high-speed lift at Winter Park. And often on Eagle wind as well.

Vibe: Slight edge to Loveland, although the Mary Jane side of WP is pretty cool. I like Loveland because it has 4 on-hill warming huts you can bring your lunch to, 3 of which you can pop a beer without bothering anyone. All have fireplaces and free gas grills to use.

Visitors: If you host people, more people who aren't good skiers will like WP which has far more long groomers and amenities than Loveland.

Eldora: I wouldn't call Corona bowl a big bowl. It's okay, but is not on the level of Parseens bowl or any of the big-alpine bowls at Loveland.

If you do go Loveland, feel free to drop me a line for a potential tour around.

 

[Jerez]

Winter Park.

I too love Loveland, but the RMSP is such a deal. You can try out Copper as a bonus or if you feel like a change of scenery. Once you know the mountain, you can avoid most all lift lines at Mary Jane.The Cirque has the hike-to, although it is often closed, as are the chutes. They did (don't know if they still do) offer an add-on for snowmobile tows out the ridge of the Cirque to make it comparable to Loveland ridge. And I think the Cirque terrain is a bit bigger than the Loveland Ridge, but may be wrong about that. Tree skiing, hands down Winter Park/Mary Jane. If the traffic is just too terrible, you can ski Eldora. Or if it's one of those years where all the storms get stalled east.

Where Loveland has the big edge is early and late season. It stays open a lot longer than WP. Maybe get the WP pass and the Loveland spring pass. You can often pick up Loveland lift tickets cheap in the parking lot in the spring from people who bought too many 4packs and haven't used them all.

You will kick yourself over and over if you limit yourself to 8 days of skiing and will end up spending more $$$ by far on day tickets when you realize this.

 

[jmeb]

You will kick yourself over and over if you limit yourself to 8 days of skiing and will end up spending more $$$ by far on day tickets when you realize this.

Sounds like he already has the MCPass.

From Denver that makes a weekend at Taos and Aspen, extended weekends to T-Ride and Jackson, and a week in SLC at Alta/Bird/Snowbasin (6 days of skiing total.)

 

[jmeb]

And I think the Cirque terrain is a bit bigger than the Loveland Ridge, but may be wrong about that.

Cirque is ~125 acres with 900' of vert.

Ridge is about ~550 acres with 1050' of vert served by lift 9, though most of the big lines are 8-900' of vert before you hit terrain served by other lifts (Golden Bear, Wild Child etc). (Defined at terrain that drops from the ridge, and is access only via Lift 9, hiking, cat or skiing straight off.)

Calculations based on CalTopo -- not anything supplied by the resorts.

One thing that this does show, is that when Lift 9 is not running at Loveland the place can feel a bit small.

 

[Monique]

Tree skiing, hands down Winter Park/Mary Jane.

+1

 

[fatbob]

I'd go Loveland out of the choice you offer. But I'd think hard about the breakeven on a RMSP for those days when I was prepared to get up early to beat the traffic.

 

[oswaldr2]

Sounds like he already has the MCPass.

From Denver that makes a weekend at Taos and Aspen, extended weekends to T-Ride and Jackson, and a week in SLC at Alta/Bird/Snowbasin (6 days of skiing total.)

You hit the nail right on the head. SLC & Jackson Hole are scheduled for January and February 4/5 day trips with my out of town ski buddies and then Taos / Aspen / Telluride are going to be more last minute and hopefully I can find people to go with. But I understand all have hostel type options if I have to go solo.

 

[oswaldr2]

New thought is A-Basin, Loveland & Winter Park 4-packs to each which runs about $500. Advantage to this would be that I'm not pigeon holed into a resort given that I don't know where future friends will be skiing (assuming I make them, hahaha). Then that would obviously be compared to getting the RMSP+ in the $600 price range, but then I could only ski with people on the RMSP+. If I went 3 4-packs, I could ski with Epics, RMSP, and Independents......

 

[Magi]

How many days are you looking to ski?

If you're skiing 8 or 12 (4 or 6 weekends) then buy some 4 packs and don't sweat it.
If you're hedging your bets - the RMSP+ (Assuming you'd use any of the the 6 days at Steamboat) with some supplemental loveland 4 packs or day tickets seems like a good value.​

Traffic is about even.

While I think winter park has a huge advantage for traffic over everything *past* Loveland, it's about a wash between the two.​

Get Snow Tires

Weather's not an issue if you have them, you're a menace if you don't have them.​

Berthoud Pass

Generally an easy drive, even when the weather's going off. There's an absurd number of plows that run the route and people tend to behave much better than I-70 past the Eisenhower tunnel.​

Terrain

Winter Park wins on availability/variety of tree skiing and moguls. I skied about 120 days at winter park last year, and never felt like I was doing the "same old thing".​

 

[oswaldr2]

Get Snow Tires
Weather's not an issue if you have them, you're a menace if you don't have them.

Great point about Snow Tires. So I have an AWD BMW 3-series with all-seasons, but don't currently own snow tires because I commute with public transportation in Chicago. I'm going to be living in an apartment in Denver so storage will be an issue for Snow Tires. Does anybody know about good storage options for an extra set of tires? Hoping maybe a tire company selling me them will also sell a combo to store the tires as well?

 

[jmeb]

Doubt you'll find company that stores your snows that sells tires. Could be wrong. I have a friend with the same car with snows and it works okay.

But really, just sell the BMW. Get a van with snow tires. It'll make your MCP trips much easier and you'll love having a van for summer camping.

Note: I may be biased.

(Last late winter/spring using up our MCP days in Aspen.)

 

[oswaldr2]

Doubt you'll find company that stores your snows that sells tires. Could be wrong. I have a friend with the same care with snows and it works okay.

But really, just sell the BMW. Get a van with snow tires. It'll make your MCP trips much easier and you'll love having a van for summer camping.

Note: I may be biased.

(Last late winter/spring using up our MCP days in Aspen.)

I read the story that you posted about your van life excursions last year, pretty awesome stuff and totally envious. Maybe one day I'll get there, but baby steps for me at this point. The AWD 3-series with some snow tires should work just fine for what I'm trying to do now.

 

[jmeb]

I read the story that you posted about your van life excursions last year, pretty awesome stuff and totally envious. Maybe one day I'll get there, but baby steps for me at this point. The AWD 3-series with some snow tires should work just fine for what I'm trying to do now.

For sure. Upside is you have cozy ride up and down the mountains. Downside is for day skiing people will learn that you have a sweet rig and ask you to drive.