OK, we're planning a January ski destination, and the plan is to fly somewhere instead of the grueling 2 day drive to Colorado. We want a contingency plan in case the snow conditions do not cooperate. We've booked for Tahoe and Heavenly, but we need a backup. Utah, or Colorado? Prerequisites are easy to get to, a big mountain, and some night life.
It's hard to go wrong flying into Denver or Salt Lake City. I have stayed in The Summitt County area in Colorado many times. You have Breckenridge,Keystone,Copper Mountain and A-Basin close by. Vail is only 30-45 min drive away as well. Breckenridge seems to have a good supply of nightlife also. Enjoy!
We're already booked for flights to Denver in early Jan (something ridiculous like $75 each way, N/S on SWA). Snow could still be an issue that early though. We'll prob head to the Summit area and pray for a good snow storm.
Flying into Denver is a safe bet, I agree. You have the resorts within 60-90 minutes of Denver - Winter Park/Mary Jane, Breckenridge, A-Basin, Keystone, Copper Mountain and Vail. A bit further you have Beaver Creek. Good nightlife at Vail and Breckenridge, OK nightlife at Winter Park and Keystone. A few bars at Copper. A-basin is just a ski mountain but close to Breck/Keystone. If you wanted to drive another 90 minutes you can be in Aspen with its 4 ski mountains or in Steamboat Springs. Both have great nightlife and excellent ski runs. In early Jan, there should definitely be snow in Colorado. The ski season opens sometime in November. There may be a spell with no snow, but there will definitely be snow on the ground to ski on then. A-Basin is the highest ski mountain in CO, so if there are bad conditions, you should still find decent snowpack there.
If you go to Keystone, drink beer at the Goat, and have pizza directly across the alley at Pizza 101. That is all the sustenance you will need.
Fly into Calgary and ski one of the Banff resorts. Lake Louise, Sunshine Village, and Norquay have a 3 mtn pass available I believe. Won't be super crowded and it's a neat not so typical trip I think. edit: frontier flies there as a low-fare airline option
