Expert: Steve Collins - 7/28/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hello, my family and I are interested in going on a ski trip to Colorado for the Christmas season. I know this is the peak season when it's most expensive but it's the only time everyone will be able to take a break from their jobs.

We are from Florida and not used to the cold weather, there will also be small children traveling with us. Are there any resorts/parks in Colorado that are especially sunnier and warmer? Even during the frigid temperatures of that time of year?

ANSWER: Well.....

Unfortunately you ARE talking about the coldest and darkest time of the year up here.  We average 300 sunny days per year, so sunshine is not necessarily the problem.  Our days are VERY short that time of year (I grew up in Clearwater, FL, so I know there is not as much of a difference in the length of days between summer and winter).  In December, the sun normally rises around 8am and sets at about 4:15pm (when it drops behind the mountain).

Of all the resorts, Steamboat and Crested Butte tend to be the coldest (although Crested Butte is also one of the sunniest). Winter Park is not far behind in the cold category either.  The Summit County resorts (Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, and Keystone) get a lot of sunshine, but they are also some of the highest elevation resorts, so they are not exactly what I would call warm (but not as bad as the others previously mentioned).  

Probably the warmest (although sometimes snow can be a bit of an issue earlier in the season) would be Durango Mountain Resort (formerly known as Purgatory) in far southwestern Colorado.  The ski area there is really nice, but it is about 20 miles outside of Durango (so not much right there at the base of the mountain).

Personally, though, my absolute favorite resort is Snowmass (just outside of Aspen).  Even at Christmas, it is not overly crowded, and is GREAT for kids (90% of their lodging is slopeside or ski-in/out).  As part of the Aspen area, prices there are not always cheap--although you can save about 1/3 of the total cost if you vacation the week PRIOR to Christmas (even including Christmas Day) instead of coming in the week after Christmas.

The nice thing about Snowmass is that it gets a lot of sun, is never outrageously crowded, and that mountain alone is enough to spend a week on and have fun--but your lift tickets there are also good at 3 other mountains (Aspen, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk), which are all connected by a free bus service (total distance Aspen to Snowmass is 12 miles, and all 4 ski areas are in that 12 mile stretch).  Plus, you can fly right into the Aspen Airport (ASE), which is between Aspen and Snowmass--only 4 miles from downtown Aspen and 8 miles from Snowmass.  Flights into ASE are going to be more expensive, but most hotels offer free airport shuttles there, which eliminates the need for a rental car (in fact, having a car is a liability in the Aspen/Snowmass area because there is no free parking anywhere--but there ARE free busses).  The Snowmass Inn or Pokolodi Lodge are very inexpensive B&Bs that are slopeside--not fancy, but very clean and nice accommodations.  The Aspenwood Condos are GREAT value condos that are also within a very short walk of the slopes.

Does that help?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your very helpful response, especially on how to save about 1/3 of the total cost.

So Snowmass is usually warmer around Christmas time than the Summit County resorts and than Winter Park? I read somewhere that during the winter, temperatures tend to be in the 20's at Snowmass, and that the coldest month of the year is January with an average minimum temperature of 7.40 degrees Fahrenheit. So it seems like mid and late December are warmer than January.

Also, a friend of mine insists that Breckenridge is the most beautiful place to ski at in Colorado during the Holidays and is noticeably cheaper than Aspen. This park supposedly goes all out with the Christmas decor and activities. How warm and sunny is this resort supposed to be? Is Snowmass warmer and sunnier?

Thank you so much for your help!

Answer
I live just outside of Breckenridge (about 15 miles south of town, just over Hoosier Pass), so I am very familiar with the area.  It is true that Breckenridge is absolutely gorgeous at Christmas--the whole town is decorated and looks like something out of Currier and Ives.

Our weather is very fickle, and can be COMPLETELY different from day-to-day depending on which way the wind is blowing.  The mountains do funny things with weather patterns, so even the weather reports from our local Denver stations are not usually very accurate up here.  January is the coldest month, but only slightly colder than December.  It all depends on if a strong cold front comes through or not.  In between storms, it is usually sunny and absolutely beautiful.  One thing for you to note--there is a significant difference between cold out here and cold in Florida.  When you drop into the 40s, you still have 100% humidity.  Up here, when it drops into the teens, our humidity is usually also in the teens.  This means that you do not feel the air temperature NEARLY as much as you do down there in Florida (we don't get that damp cold that you all get).  I tell my parents I would much rather be in 10 degrees out here than 40 degrees down there.  If the sun is out and reflecting off the snow, you can walk around in a T-shirt even when it is that cold outside.....of course, you DON'T want to go into the shade at all!

Breckenridge is about 1500 feet higher than Aspen/Snowmass, so it does tend to be a bit colder.  Both resorts tend to have similar patterns of sunshine, though.  Winter Park is outside of Fraser, CO, which quite frequently records the coldest temperatures in the continental US (when it is not in Gunnison, CO--just below Crested Butte).  Breckenridge is slightly cheaper than Aspen/Snowmass on average, although some of the deals in Snowmass can be incredible.

The biggest difference is in the crowds.  Breckenridge is only about 90 miles from Denver, so we get a LOT of day skiers, and the mountain tends to get VERY crowded.  Even with around 27 lifts (most of which are high speed quads), lift lines in Breckenridge can be as long as an hour at Christmas.  In the Aspen/Snowmass area, they are not near any major city (about a 3-4 hour drive from Denver), so they do not get day skiers.  That means that almost everyone on the mountain has to be staying in a local hotel--and there are not enough beds in town to reach capacity on the mountains.  If a lift line in Snowmass hits 10 minutes, you will really hear the locals start grumbling!  Plus, the ski area in Breckenridge is about 2900 acres (I don't have the exact numbers, but these are close), but the ski area in Snowmass is over 4000 acres--so you have more area to spread out the crowds.  The bottom line is, you might pay slightly more in Snowmass, but you will get a LOT more ski time for your money there.

As for Christmas atmosphere, Snowmass itself is nothing spectacular, but Aspen is.  It is also a small Victorian town (like Breckenridge), and they also decorate quite extensively for Christmas.  They even have a group of Dickens Carolers (I used to be one when I lived over there!) who stroll around in period attire singing carols.

If you want to see a few photos comparing the areas, I have a few on my web site at www.ColoradoToursLtd.com.  One caveat--the prices on that site are still from last season.  We have not updated for 2010-2011 yet.  The web site for Aspen/Snowmass is www.aspensnowmass.com.  Breckenridge ski area is at www.breckenridge.com, or the Breckenridge Resort Chamber's site is www.gobreck.com.

Does that make your decision any clearer?.....