Beaver Creek Ski Resort Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

mrkstvns
Austin, TX

Great Ski Resort for Family Winter Fun!

on the mountain, love nature, fun-loving dad, skiier, praying for snow

Pros

family friendly, modern facilities, many trails for developing skiiers

Cons

expensive

DEC

2007

Colorado's Beaver Creek Ski Resort is posh. It's heavily focused on attracting a well-heeled crowd of skiiers with fat wallets and no hesitation to pull out the platinum credit cards for anything, regardless of how stupidly high the price tag might be. Beaver Creek is sister-resort to nearby Vail, and a lift ticket to one is good at the other. Naturally, Beaver Creek and Vail can stand together when they claim that prize for "Highest Ski Lift Ticket Price in the World" ($85 a day). Compared directly to Vail, Beaver Creek is substantially smaller, a whole lot newer, and a whole lot more consistent.

Despite the high prices and the well-heeled clientele at Beaver Creek, the place has a friendly, casual, nonchalance to it. Whereas Vail goes for the faux European alpine feel, Beaver Creek heads for the rustic western United States feel. It's a better, more natural fit, I think.

SKIING BEAVER CREEK
Yeah, the lift tickets are pricey, but the skiing was EXCELLENT and I'm going to stop complaining about the prices since the lift lines were very short. The resort has good capacity and can keep those lift lines down to manageable levels.

There's a great variety of terrain in Beaver Creek, with over 1,600 skiiable acres and 150 named runs and trails. I found a lot for me to like. These days, I like doing fast runs on smooth blues with about 20-25% of my runs being rocket drops down steep, but well-groomed single black diamonds. I don't care for moguls, so I usually avoid bump runs and I'm not good enough to handle real technical challenges, so I stay off the double-blacks. For a skiier like me, there's a LOT to like at Beaver Creek. Conditions were outstanding when we were there, with a 40-inch base and lots of new powder (in fact, it snowed us throughout most of our trip).

My favorite run of the first day out was probably Stacker --- which had been freshly groomed. It was a beautiful trail --- long, with just a few moderately steep drops. Not too wide, not too narrow. It's the kind of trail that just invites you to point skis straight downhill and let 'er rip.

The first day I was there, I put my kid in the ski school. It's expensive at $179 per day, but I have to admit, that the school was excellent, giving the kids a solid foundation in basic skills while also instilling a sense of competence and confidence in them. So, while I had lots of time to do fast runs on our first day on Beaver Creek, I've got my kid with me on Day 2, so we're sticking mostly to the gentler green trails. This is where Beaver Creek shines: they have roughly 35% of their terrain rated green, and there are alot of gentler, wider, more forgiving slopes --- especially on the lower half of the mountain. There's even a few excellent, very looooonnnngggg cruising runs that start from the summit. My short shadow loved the Red Buffalo trail, so we did it a few times, taking advantage of Beaver Creek's short lift lines and soaking up the fresh air and gently falling new snow...

BEAVER CREEK SKI VILLAGE
The ski village is very nice and well designed. Most of the shops are extremely expensive, and they have some galleries and fashion boutiques that strike me as out of place in a ski village, but that's me. I hyperventilated from sticker shock at the prices in the ski shops, which generally charge anywhere from 2 to 4 times what an Oshmans or Sports Authority would charge for identical merchandise (and by the way, there IS a Sports Authority in Vail, so even if you forgot to pack a ski mask or your snow pants ripped, there's no reason to buy from Beaver Creek village shops).

I like the feel of the ski village though, and my kids and I loved being able to ice skate at the village's large rink after dinner in one of the village eateries. Most of the dining options are expensive. The popular Chophouse at the base lodge charges about $25 and up for entrees. I recommend eating at the Dusty Boot --- their menu is more affordable, with huge 1/2 pound burgers for under $10 and the best selection of REAL Colorado microbrews in Beaver Creek (about 20 or so taps).

LODGING
On-site lodging at Beaver Creek is very expensive. The two on-peak hotels are the Park Hyatt at the main village, and the Ritz Carlton at the Bachelor Gulch mid-point village. Other lodging options are mostly ritzy mountainside villas or luxury condos near the main village. All moderate and budget lodging options are off-peak, and you could find less expensive options closer to Vail, or in the other direction, towards Edwards. Places in Avon would be convenient, and there are some affordable motels there and more moderate condo units.

RECOMMENDATION
Beaver Creek is a very nice place to ski. It's clean, modern, and comfortable with excellent facilities, a good ski school, and an excellent range of terrain that really caters to the family traveler. If I were a die-hard skiier out with my friends, I'd probably prefer to stay in the nearby Vail ski areas, but for the family man with younger kids who can afford the consistently high prices, Beaver Creek is an outstanding area for family winter fun.

RECOMMENDED.

Beaver Creek Ski Resort is recommended by mrkstvns

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Comments about mrkstvns’s Review

I love those long ski runs where you get to a point and might be the only person there; it's so quiet and beautiful. It's like you're skiing in your own private ski resort.