Colorado's quiet slopes: Small, friendly ski areas keep winter sports accessible and affordable - Travel & Recreation - Directory

Sunset, Feb, 2002 by Claire Walter

Vail this, Aspen that, Telluride the other--pick up the tabloids this time of year and Colorado's fabled ski resorts seem to be on every celebrity's winter ski-and-be-seen list. That's all well and good, but if your goal is just to get out on the snow, be it for family fun or some serious slope-busting, Colorado's best siding isn't only at the megaresorts.

Often overlooked are the state's statistical small fry--mountains with relatively few lifts, relatively small acreage, and relatively modest verticals. Measure them by what they don't have--in terms of lifts and lodges--and you miss the whole point. Ask the regulars and you'll find these areas stand as tall as Jack's beanstalk in all the things that skiers and snowboarders really care about.

Colorado's smallest operations are ski areas--not ski resorts. They have free parking and simple base lodges that sell inexpensive food. Folks are welcome to bring their own snacks too, and in special "brown bag rooms," parents parcel out brought-from-home lunches to hungry youngsters. Instead of high-speed chairlifts, the areas' double, triple, and only occasional quad chairs allow time to chat and admire the scenery during the ride.

These are destinations that don't know the meaning of "trendy," places where infrequent skiers--those who go just once or twice a winter--can feel at home. The prevailing fashion statement tends toward warm and functional clothing, vintage or not. Comfortable, broken-in boots, skis with a few dings on the top surfaces, and poles whose baskets don't match won't elicit haughty stares.

While most areas are geared toward families and beginners, a few cater to experienced skiers and snowboarders looking for challenging terrain and fewer crowds. And though skiing is never cheap, prices at most keep the cost of a family weekend escape manageable--even when adding lodging in a nearby town.

Colorado's small ski areas are ideal for people--whether beginners or experts--who rue the gradual disappearance of old-time skiing, who don't give a fig about fashion and like to experience the sheer joy of sliding down a snow-covered slope without breaking the bank.

Good places to get started

You'll find lots of good family skiing at Ski Cooper, Eldora, Powderhorn, Sunlight, SolVista, and Loveland Valley, the smaller component of the Loveland Ski Area. All have well-priced, full-day rental and lesson packages for skiers and snowboarders.

Abundant low-angle slopes are ideal for making those first turns, and simple layouts allow children to ski on their own without getting lost or confused. In fact, local families drop their children off at the slopes on weekend or holiday mornings and pick them up again in the afternoon. Eldora even has direct service from the Boulder area by Regional Transportation District bus; Saturday runs are filled with kids heading for their series of weekly ski and snowboard lessons.

Day care and children's ski schools occupy youngsters while parents ski (call for age restrictions). Tykes as young as 3, dressed in ski suits bright as jelly beans, slide happily down the bunny slope. Before long, they're comfortable and in control, and soon thereafter they often outski their parents.

Drops for the experienced

Up at the high elevations where the snow gods dwell are Arapahoe Basin, Loveland Basin, Monarch, and Wolf Creek. These powder powers are located on the Continental Divide where the clouds bump up against the peaks, producing snow that falls frequently, piles up deep, and lasts long. A fifth, Berthoud Pass, isn't running its lifts this year, but offers snowcat skiing--like heliskiing but without the chopper--considered by many to be the creme de la creme of snow sports. Chicago Ridge at Ski Cooper (see "Family Favorites") and Monarch have snowcat-served areas as well.

Powder hounds will find complex and challenging terrain blanketed by abundant snow as nature laid it down. Only Loveland bothers with snowmaking on its lower runs, and that's just to jump-start winter--it opened for skiing this season on October 18. Modest lift capacity means less on-slope traffic, so you can find pockets to lay first tracks hours after a storm--sometimes days later during midweek. Without the crowds, midwinter snow usually stays silky between storms.

Because lifts at these high elevation areas serve cloud-kissed snowfields, steep bowls, and glorious glades just below tree line, most of these "small" areas ski big. Their challenging terrain can hold the interest of the fussiest, most adrenaline-stoked skiers in the land, but they still provide it without the pretense or the expense of the state's household-name resorts.

The best mountaintop views in the West are simply a bonus.