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Park City vs. Keystone vs. Breckenridge vs. others

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Tycp
Posts: 1 - Karma: 13
Hey guys,

I'm travelling the world with my girlfriend and we'll spend the winter in the US (working here and finally skiing the parks here - something new for me as I'm from Germany and used to the alps)

Now the question is: Where should we go to: We are planning to stay for 3 months (Mid January till mid April).

As I ski mainly park I immediately thought of Park City (thanks to good old Tom Wallisch and a few others :).

However, I wanted to hear your opinions: We are looking for a nice ski resort, which:

- has a nice park
- is not too crowded
- is not too expensive (I don't mind living outside of town)
- a nice and fun play to stay at and not just pure tourism

What ski resort would you suggest? Park City and then staying in Salt Lake City? Keystone? Breckenridge? Or even another ski resort?

Thanks in advance!

Niko
Sep 1 2019 1:59AM
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ASSholebomber22
Posts: 6594 - Karma: 69,700
A low cost, low traffic, low cost of living resort with a good park just doesn't exist at the places you mentioned.

I would suggest Keystone/breck, commute from denver but expect an hour drive to turn into 2 or 3 hours depending on traffic and other vacationers.

But I'm sure if you're planning on an international 3 month ski trip, we may have different ideas of what's cheap and what isn't.
Sep 1 2019 9:40AM
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TRVP_ANGEL
Posts: 12420 - Karma: 114,465
live/work in slc, ski pc
Sep 1 2019 12:19PM
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SkiBum.
Posts: 3597 - Karma: 3,895
Salt Lake City is your cheapest living closest to ski option.
Sep 1 2019 12:24PM
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Tycp
Posts: 1 - Karma: 13
BiffbarfA low cost, low traffic, low cost of living resort with a good park just doesn't exist at the places you mentioned.

I would suggest Keystone/breck, commute from denver but expect an hour drive to turn into 2 or 3 hours depending on traffic and other vacationers.

But I'm sure if you're planning on an international 3 month ski trip, we may have different ideas of what's cheap and what isn't.


Haha I don't think so. People always expect travelling to be so expensive, but you just gotta spend the money on the right things (and not on the newiest gear which you don't need anyways). We just rent a place and work from there, usually not much more pricey (only the flight/season pass adds up) than staying at a place.

Apart from that. Would you then recommend other ski resorts? We are still open to ideas, so if there is a golden nugget somewhere in the US, please tell :)
Sep 1 2019 1:19PM
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dolanslebensraum
Posts: 5959 - Karma: -13,100
Breck/summit county is the only place that wont leave you homesick for the alps. Breck/copper/keystone are real mountains surrounded by real 14,000 ft peaks. Park city is more like a hill than a mountain. And it starts to melt in february as opposed to may in summit county colorado.
Sep 1 2019 1:32PM
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casual
Posts: 6712 - Karma: 6,746
I’d say go with Summit. You could live in outside Breck or Keystone and it’ll be a lot cheaper and with only maybe 30-45 minute drives (look at Fairplay, Blue River, Georgetown, Idaho Springs, maybe Lakewood or Golden). Then at least you can ski both Breck and Keystone. It’s been a while since I bought an epic pass of any kind, but I know there’s passes that will give you some days at Vail and Beaver Creek as well.

You could also buy a few day passes and go ski Copper (great park) and try some of the less park focused mountains like A Basin and Loveland.

You can’t go wrong in SLC either though. I’m sure other people could give you better info about Utah. I will say Colorado is crowded as shit and Utah might be better in that regard. There’s also some of the best skiing in the country in Utah.
Sep 1 2019 3:39PM
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benharrington_
Posts: 194 - Karma: 872
Off topic but I have heard rumours of Keystone not having a park this season and Breck taking away Freeway jumps and pipe? Anyone know anything about this?
Sep 1 2019 5:26PM
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conorsux
Posts: 110 - Karma: 921
DolanReloadedBreck/summit county is the only place that wont leave you homesick for the alps. Breck/copper/keystone are real mountains surrounded by real 14,000 ft peaks. Park city is more like a hill than a mountain.

Lmaoooooo summit county scenery is downright lame compared even to other areas in Colorado let alone the Alps. What are you smoking dude
Sep 1 2019 5:37PM
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pastysmasher
Posts: 780 - Karma: 664
Whistler
Sep 1 2019 9:08PM
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LivingDaLife
Posts: 352 - Karma: 1,349
benharrington_Off topic but I have heard rumours of Keystone not having a park this season and Breck taking away Freeway jumps and pipe? Anyone know anything about this?


I've heard that rumor about Breck...Keystone is definitely having a park. Breck might not have Freeway due to no Dew Tour this year, but there's no reason why Keystone wouldn't have a park and considering I know the park manager and he's said nothing about that, Keystone is definitely having a park. The size of the preseason park will depend on amount of snow and temperatures.
Sep 1 2019 11:22PM
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SkiBum.
Posts: 3597 - Karma: 3,895
LivingDaLifeI've heard that rumor about Breck...Keystone is definitely having a park. Breck might not have Freeway due to no Dew Tour this year, but there's no reason why Keystone wouldn't have a park and considering I know the park manager and he's said nothing about that, Keystone is definitely having a park. The size of the preseason park will depend on amount of snow and temperatures.


I don’t keep up to date on dew tour and whatnot so first I heard of that. But if there is no stop at Breck for that expect their main park to be significantly scaled back for sure. Save the money when you can.
Sep 2 2019 11:05AM
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LivingDaLife
Posts: 352 - Karma: 1,349
SkiBum.I don’t keep up to date on dew tour and whatnot so first I heard of that. But if there is no stop at Breck for that expect their main park to be significantly scaled back for sure. Save the money when you can.


This could actually be a good thing - they always used all their snow blowing to make sure Dew tour was ready and skimped on the public park, so Park Lane was rarely fully open until after Christmas. If this means getting Park Lane fully open earlier, that will be great.
Sep 2 2019 1:48PM
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OCoffey
Posts: 648 - Karma: 3,693
Timberline bachelor mammoth
Sep 2 2019 4:08PM
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benharrington_
Posts: 194 - Karma: 872
LivingDaLifeI've heard that rumor about Breck...Keystone is definitely having a park. Breck might not have Freeway due to no Dew Tour this year, but there's no reason why Keystone wouldn't have a park and considering I know the park manager and he's said nothing about that, Keystone is definitely having a park. The size of the preseason park will depend on amount of snow and temperatures.


Thanks man! Yeah its a bummer Breck isn't doing Dew anymore, but I have heard copper is doing it and they should do a good job.
Sep 2 2019 6:06PM
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theabortionator
Posts: 51260 - Karma: 157,386
Lol at summit county coming up in "not too crowded"
Sep 2 2019 8:33PM
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Titus69
Posts: 9327 - Karma: 17,742
All those places will be very crowded, especially come any holiday period. I skied PC last year all the time and work there, its definetly crowded on weekends but if you're in the park you should be fine, usually just gotta be there by 10 on a weekday, 9 on weekends for a decent parking spot cause the lot kinda sucks. Lift lines usually fill out between there and the Canyons side of the resort so mid season its never really awful for lines. If you live in SLC it's the perfect spot cause you have plenty of fun around you besides skiing and then also have the cottonwood canyons closeby if you wanna do some bigger mtn skiing with twice the snow of PC. Not sure how CO is but breck looks like it can get really cocked with lift lines.
Sep 3 2019 1:27AM
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dolanslebensraum
Posts: 5959 - Karma: -13,100
conorsuxLmaoooooo summit county scenery is downright lame compared even to other areas in Colorado let alone the Alps. What are you smoking dude

Summit county is gorgeous. I dont know who the fuck you think you are fooling. The peaks around frisco and breck and copper are postcard material.
Sep 4 2019 4:00PM
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conorsux
Posts: 110 - Karma: 921
Summit county = dirt hills. Have you ever seen a picture of the Alps dude?
DolanReloadedSummit county is gorgeous. I dont know who the fuck you think you are fooling. The peaks around frisco and breck and copper are postcard material.
Sep 4 2019 5:57PM
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dolanslebensraum
Posts: 5959 - Karma: -13,100
conorsuxSummit county = dirt hills. Have you ever seen a picture of the Alps dude?


Ive skid at les arcs and zermatt. Most alps ski resorts like les arcs and zermatt are above the tree line, just like the upper half of breck and copper are above the tree line. The peaks of park city and most utah resorts are still below the tree line. So based on that, breck and copper are definitely more like mountains in the alps than utah hills. Also there are huge 14k peaks all over summit county and colorado that are very steep like the alps. Im not giving undue hate to park city. My fam has a place in canyons village. Living above 9000 feet in summit county co with huge mountains surrounding you is
the closest thing to the alps your going to get in the lower 48.
Sep 4 2019 7:49PM
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dolanslebensraum
Posts: 5959 - Karma: -13,100
Bump
Sep 6 2019 2:40PM
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conorsux
Posts: 110 - Karma: 921
DolanReloadedIve skid at les arcs and zermatt. Most alps ski resorts like les arcs and zermatt are above the tree line, just like the upper half of breck and copper are above the tree line. The peaks of park city and most utah resorts are still below the tree line. So based on that, breck and copper are definitely more like mountains in the alps than utah hills. Also there are huge 14k peaks all over summit county and colorado that are very steep like the alps. Im not giving undue hate to park city. My fam has a place in canyons village. Living above 9000 feet in summit county co with huge mountains surrounding you is
the closest thing to the alps your going to get in the lower 48.

Dude.... Keystone as an example has 2.3k feet of relief from the top of the resort (which is also the top of the mountain) to the valley bottom. The Aguille de Midi in Chamonix has 9k feet of relief, and the resort ends a full 1k feet below the top of the mountain.

The fact that summit county is high up in altitude is often used as some proof that it's a breathtaking place, and people (like yourself) completely ignore how big the actual scale of the mountains are. It doesn't matter if the tops are at 14k feet if the valley bottom is only 3k feet below you.

Not to mention that Summit terrain is mostly rounded ridgelines, with very little in the way of sharp features that are interesting to look at. The San Juans as an example have far more visually going on than summit. Neither compare to the endless glaciers and extreme shark tooth peaks of the Alps (although the San Juans are much closer - Telluride has 4.5k of relief from the top of Palmyra to town, and far steeper mountains with much more terrain variation).

Thinking of summit county as interesting looking at all is pretty dumb imo... Comparing it to the Alps is sheer lunacy
Sep 6 2019 6:38PM
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dolanslebensraum
Posts: 5959 - Karma: -13,100
conorsuxDude.... Keystone as an example has 2.3k feet of relief from the top of the resort (which is also the top of the mountain) to the valley bottom. The Aguille de Midi in Chamonix has 9k feet of relief, and the resort ends a full 1k feet below the top of the mountain.

The fact that summit county is high up in altitude is often used as some proof that it's a breathtaking place, and people (like yourself) completely ignore how big the actual scale of the mountains are. It doesn't matter if the tops are at 14k feet if the valley bottom is only 3k feet below you.

Not to mention that Summit terrain is mostly rounded ridgelines, with very little in the way of sharp features that are interesting to look at. The San Juans as an example have far more visually going on than summit. Neither compare to the endless glaciers and extreme shark tooth peaks of the Alps (although the San Juans are much closer - Telluride has 4.5k of relief from the top of Palmyra to town, and far steeper mountains with much more terrain variation).

Thinking of summit county as interesting looking at all is pretty dumb imo... Comparing it to the Alps is sheer lunacy


Dude idk why you are fighting so hard. Copper and breck have a shitload of terrain above the treeline, and nice thin trees to cruise through at or around the altitude of the treeline.
Also the snow at summit county altitudes melts much later in the season than most mountains.
Just like the alps. And again i dont know who you think youre fooling saying summit isnt pretty.
Ive been to the alps and seen mount blanc. Duh the vert is on a different scale in the alps than in the rockies, but summit county has gigantic mountains hanging around which are visually stunning.
Sep 6 2019 8:17PM
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dolanslebensraum
Posts: 5959 - Karma: -13,100
conorsuxDude.... Keystone as an example has 2.3k feet of relief from the top of the resort (which is also the top of the mountain) to the valley bottom. The Aguille de Midi in Chamonix has 9k feet of relief, and the resort ends a full 1k feet below the top of the mountain.

The fact that summit county is high up in altitude is often used as some proof that it's a breathtaking place, and people (like yourself) completely ignore how big the actual scale of the mountains are. It doesn't matter if the tops are at 14k feet if the valley bottom is only 3k feet below you.

Not to mention that Summit terrain is mostly rounded ridgelines, with very little in the way of sharp features that are interesting to look at. The San Juans as an example have far more visually going on than summit. Neither compare to the endless glaciers and extreme shark tooth peaks of the Alps (although the San Juans are much closer - Telluride has 4.5k of relief from the top of Palmyra to town, and far steeper mountains with much more terrain variation).

Thinking of summit county as interesting looking at all is pretty dumb imo... Comparing it to the Alps is sheer lunacy


Also why do you say relief instead of vert? Calling it relief makes you sound like you dont know wtf ur talking about.
Sep 6 2019 8:19PM
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Titus69
Posts: 9327 - Karma: 17,742
I can't believe I'm witnessing two people argue Colorado looking and not looking like the Alps, the western states all have fucking gorgeous mountains whether they're Alp quality or not.
Sep 6 2019 8:52PM
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casual
Posts: 6712 - Karma: 6,746
conorsuxDude.... Keystone as an example has 2.3k feet of relief from the top of the resort (which is also the top of the mountain) to the valley bottom. The Aguille de Midi in Chamonix has 9k feet of relief, and the resort ends a full 1k feet below the top of the mountain.

The fact that summit county is high up in altitude is often used as some proof that it's a breathtaking place, and people (like yourself) completely ignore how big the actual scale of the mountains are. It doesn't matter if the tops are at 14k feet if the valley bottom is only 3k feet below you.

Not to mention that Summit terrain is mostly rounded ridgelines, with very little in the way of sharp features that are interesting to look at. The San Juans as an example have far more visually going on than summit. Neither compare to the endless glaciers and extreme shark tooth peaks of the Alps (although the San Juans are much closer - Telluride has 4.5k of relief from the top of Palmyra to town, and far steeper mountains with much more terrain variation).

Thinking of summit county as interesting looking at all is pretty dumb imo... Comparing it to the Alps is sheer lunacy


I lived in Breck for 6 years, and have been in Georgetown for going on 4, and you’re absolutely right.

summit is nice....but I was in Ouray a couple weeks ago and there’s no comparison. The San Juans are on a whole other level. Summit is cool, and it’s become “cool” to hate on it which is lame, but it doesn’t stack up against some of the true mountain paradises out there.
Sep 7 2019 1:54AM
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