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Colorado

Colorado USA is world renowned for its ski resorts, thanks in part to plenty of Warren Miller exposure. The magnificent Rocky Mountains provide spectacular skiing and awesome views. The Colorado powder is great, and they like to brag about the statistic of 300 days of sunshine annually – if that’s what you’re into? Colorado has plenty of ski terrain to choose from that suits expert skiers, families or complete novices.

The state has 27 ski resorts (blimey!) and with that much competition, the resorts work hard to get business, and have invested millions of dollars in recent years to enhance the skiing terrain, chairlifts and resort amenities.

Colorado is the nation’s highest state, so not surprisingly it has the highest ski peaks in the US. Colorado likes to boast about this, but some visitors see this as a disadvantage, so take it easy for the first few days or the altitude sickness might grab you.

The Colorado skiing resorts and towns all vary significantly and offer something unique. Some offer world class luxury, rustic charm or quaintness. Vail is a huge resort, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Arapahoe Basin is about a sixth of the size. Vail also has an incredibly high profile, as does Aspen, and both resorts are where the beautiful and glamorous people go to strut – whoops, I mean ski. Conversely there are some lesser known resorts that fly under the radar. Colorado calls these resorts “gems”, and you’ll find minimal crowds, minimal frills and a much cheaper skiing experience. Examples include: Arapahoe Basin, Eldora, Loveland Ski Area, Monarch Mountain, Powderhorn Resort, Ski Cooper, SolVista Basin, and Sunlight Mountain Resort. At the extreme end is Silverton Mountain which has one lift, 100% expert terrain and absolutely no grooming. Powderhound heaven!

See our USA resort comparison document which compares statistics (such as terrain for ability levels, lift ticket prices, hectares of terrain, and annual snowfall) for some of the Colorado ski resorts.

Colorado Ski Resorts By Region
Northwest Region
- Howelsen Hill
- Steamboat

Roaring Fork Valley region (Aspen area)
- Sunlight
- Aspen Mountain
- Aspen Highlands
- Buttermilk Mountain
- Snowmass

Western Slope & Mountains
- Powderhorn
- Crested Butte

South West
- Telluride Ski Resort
- Silverton Mountain
- Kendall Mountain Ski Area
- Purgatory (Durango)
- Wolf Creek Ski Area

Summit County
- Arapahoe Basin
- Breckenridge Ski Resort
- Copper Mountain Resort
- Keystone Resort

Vail Valley
- Vail Mountain
- Beaver Creek

Denver & Northern Front Range
- Eldora
- Loveland
- Echo Mountain

Grand County
- Winter Park Resort
- SolVista Basin

Arkansas Headwaters
- Ski Cooper
- Monarch Mountain

In addition to resort skiing, cat skiing is available near Aspen, Copper, Durango, Keystone, Monarch, Steamboat and Ski Cooper.

When To GoLike most other North American ski resorts, the resorts are incredibly busy and expensive between Xmas and New Years, and then prices for accommodation fall dramatically for January. Prices rise during February and the weekend of President’s Day is super busy. Late March and April are cheap times to visit, but as to be expected the snow conditions are not as reliable. Of course, if you don’t have a heavy social calendar in December, pre-Xmas is a great time to visit.

Getting ThereDenver International Airport is serviced by many international flights and is the main gateway airport to Colorado ski areas. There are also eight regional mountain airports such as Telluride airport. Airport shuttles are available from Denver to most of the resorts.