With the recent storms in Summit County, the skiing at the local ski resorts is excellent after a somewhat varied start to the season. The mountains are now completely covered with snow and each Summit County ski resort has nearly all of their terrain open. With the skiing being this good, we at Summit Mountain Rentals thought it would be a good time to report what our favorite runs on the mountain are so that our guests can experience them and hopefully find some of their favorite runs on the way.
The crown jewel of the Summit County ski resorts is, of course, Breckenridge. Breckenridge has tons of varied terrain with some great groomer runs for beginners on the lower mountains and the high-alpine bowls offering some of the most challenging skiing around for expert skiers. For the beginners, the runs on Peak 9 off of Quicksilver and Mercury chairs can’t be beat. For the easier runs, we recommend Red Rover and Frontier. These two green runs offer plenty of space for learning how to turn and are not steep enough to allow you to start going too fast. For the more moderate skiers, the runs off the Mercury lift are rolling and steep enough to have fun but still offer plenty of room to make wide turns. For the expert skiers, the runs on Peak 10 off the Falcon Superchair are steep, groomed and fun! There are some bumps on the side of the runs and some steeper double black terrain for those looking for a little bit more of a challenge. For the extreme skiers, you can’t get much more extreme than the hike to terrain from the Imperial Express Superchair. The runs off of the Imperial lift are legendary for their steepness and technicality. A word to the wise here: skiing the hike to terrain is not for the faint of heart and requires expert skier abilities.
Right behind Breckenridge in terms of popularity is Keystone. With lots of beginner and moderate terrain and a fair amount of difficult terrain if you know where to look, Keystone can be a great destination for family skiing. If you’re just learning how to ski, the one thing that is going to make you a good skier is time spent skiing. To accomplish this, it’s a great idea to find runs that offer more time on the hill. Keystone has a unique run that accomplishes this goal called “Schoolmarm.” This run is an impressive 3.5 miles long, offering plenty of time on skis to help you master the basic skills. Once you’ve got the basics down, go exploring and ski some of the moderate terrain on the back side of Keystone. Mozart is an excellent blue run that takes you away from the front side and puts you on the Ruby Express and Santiago Express lifts that offer access to some great blue runs as well as some easier black runs that are groomed and great for moderate skiers looking for a little bit more of a challenge than the traditional blue run. If you’re an expert skier, stick $10 cash in your pocket before you head out in the morning so you can pay to ride the snow cat. This gives you access to the higher bowls in Keystone and afford you some great skiing on untouched powder!
A-Basin is one of the best ski resorts in Colorado if you are looking for the old-school charm of skiing from a by-gone era. Here you can enjoy some challenging terrain in a laid-back environment. While there isn’t as much beginner terrain at this resort, the runs that are green are a lot of fun. Wrangler and Sundance are two of the few green runs that are accessible to beginners. The more moderate skier can ski the front side on numerous blue trails that include Ramrod and High Noon. The more adventurous moderate skier can hop on the Norway or Lenawee lifts to access some higher altitude blue runs. Some of our favorite are Lenawee Face and King Cornice. Expert skiers have tons of available terrain including the famous East Wall as well as the brand-new Beavers area. Both of these expert areas have demanding terrain.
Copper is referred to as “Colorado’s Favorite” and for good reason. This resort has a great mixture of terrain for every ability level. The other bonus to this resort is it is less crowded than some of the other area resorts. For the beginner skier, head over to the American Flyer and enjoy the easy skiing on Roundabout and Coppertone. The moderate skier should head for the Super Bee and American Eagle lifts for a good variety of blue runs. Some of our favorites are Collage and Bittersweet. The expert skier should head to the back bowls of Copper and ski the Storm King lift. Hallelujah Ridge and the Enchanted Forrest offer some excellent skiing in the high-alpine terrain. Extreme skiers will enjoy the highly technical runs off the Three Bears lift. Boulderado and Ram’s Run offer some of the best skiing on the mountain!
No matter which Summit County ski resort you choose to visit, make sure you ski within your ability level, so you have a fun and safe time. Let us know what runs are your favorite in the comments are below!