We have always loved Colorado for skiing – something about the mix of cowboy towns, big powder, chilled vibe (discounting Vail of course) and wide-open bowls lures us in every time. We spent a couple of winter seasons living in Steamboat Springs many moons ago and have returned there regularly but on our last visit to the cowboy state we threw in a couple of new mountains: A-Basin, Copper and Keystone and found some great skiing. We based ourselves at an air bnb in Frisco – a highway service town – and drove to the three new resorts for a couple of days skiing at each.

Sensational Steamboat Springs

Overall: Classy without being flashy, big without being too bold

When we first started going to Steamboat it was super lowkey with ranching and summers being more popular than winters and skiing. Since it’s been bought and sold a few times and now comes under Vail resorts there’s been quite an influx of development, hotels and infrastructure but at its heart, Steamboat is still a cowboy ranching town that happens to have a very big mountain 20 minutes down the road with amazing trees, powder and endless bump runs that will rattle anyone’s knees (I’m looking at you Rolex.)

Highlights:

• 3,000 acres of terrain, 169 trails – so there’s space to spread out
• Champagne Powder – light and fluffy and some great stashes in the trees
• Big back bowls to carve some super G’s
• Natural Strawberry Park Hot Springs
• Horse-sleigh rides through Yampa Valley to a yurt with live music, cowboy beans and cocoa
• Authentic Cowboy town separate from the ‘resort’ area
• The Cowboy Downhill in January each year
• The winter Carnival in February where horses pull kids and cowboys on skis behind them down the main street

Getting around

You can fly into Denver and take a bus or hire a car for the 3-4 hour drive through Rabbit’s Ears pass or take a small flight into Hayden airport then catch a shuttle into Steamboat town. There’s a free bus that lops from resort to town regularly so you don’t really need a car but if you do want some independence and have a car – be warned that the ski carparks get full quickly!

Skiing Highlights:

• We love the tranquil Morningside bowl with great powder and plenty of birdlife
• StormPeak with its amazing views and great access to our fav powder trees – Closets and Shadows)
• Mt Werner and all the Chutes that dip below Christmas tree bowl (I like Chute 2 best) east face is good for wider trees and a more open powder area too
• And for the cruisers – Buddys run, Moonlight and Sunnyside are favourites
• And if your knees are up to it try and ski Rolex top to bottom

Eating/Drinking/shopping highlights

So many of our old favs have shut down or changed hands with creole restaurants now Sushi bars, and where you could once order a roadkill burger and throw your peanut shells on the floor there’s a Latino restaurant. A few of our old favs are still around in the Downtown area:

• The Shack for great breakfast hash and bottomless filter coffee
• Mazzolas is an Italian institution that won’t disappoint
• Old Town Pub and restaurant is an historic low key pub
• Lyons Corner Drug and soda fountain still serves up epic Spiders and Milkshakes
• And if you’re shopping for authentic cowboy gear you can’t go past the FM Lights and sons for Levis, cowboy hats and lizard skin boots

Highlights from A-Basin and Copper Mountain

A-Basin highlights

A-Basin is famous for it’s experts only hike to terrain on the East wall and it’s many couloirs and chutes off the back of Beavers Lift or Zuma Lift which we couldn’t access given it was a total white-out and blizzard when we visited. We did get to enjoy the famous powder in the trees and on a few occasions found ourselves stuck almost waist deep in drifts of powder.

Favourite areas to ski:

• Palavacini Lift tales you to some great double blacks like rollercoaster on the first ridge to the east
• motezuma bowl area which is anice open bowl with a mix of black and blue ways down
• We got lost in the dogwoods over in the Beavers area

Copper Mountain Highlights

As the name suggests this used to be a mining town where copper was found threaded throughout the mountain. Even more precious than copper now is the champagne powder that gathers in the many bowls around the mountain. Copper has exceptional lift access to expert ski areas – which expanded the year before we skied there with the addition of the Three Bears lift which takes you up to Tucker Mountain peak and from there you can ski down a wide pick of runs – our favourite was western slope.

Theres lots of wide open above tree line skiing at Copper which can be a bit problematic in a white out – when you best head down into the trees around the Resolution lift or 17 Glades. We loved the variety of terrain, the many faces of Copper and a big shout out to their Apres Ski which features live music at the base of the mountain – we got to see an Aussie fav – The Griswolds playing!

Skiing highlights:

• Copper’s powder around Union Meadows near the Sierra lift
• Great glades skiing between Far West and Loverly.
• Quiet cruisy blacks off Resolution Chair
• Three bears lift that takes you to wide open face of Tucker Mountain (used to have to hike up)
• Rockin’ Apres ski music in the square.