Loveland Ski Area, Loveland Basin, Colorado 1/9/2014

Lift Hours: 9am 4pm (M-F), 8:30am - 4pm (weekends)

Elevation Base - 10,800 ft (3292 m)

Summit - 13,010 ft (3965 m)

Lift-served - 12,700 ft

Vertical - 2,210 ft (674 m)

Ski Area: 1,570 acres

Hikeable Area: 100 acres

Average Snowfall: 422 in (10.7 m)

Made my first trip to Loveland Ski Area a few weeks ago to check out how it is. If you're coming from I-70 East/Denver it it the first skiing area you will come to during your beautiful drive on the nation's highest interstate. This is my review and I hope most can find it helpful!

The trip: Driving on I-70 can be a complete nightmare in the winter. Rock slides, ice, heavy snowfall, and ridiculous wind gusts are all possible when heading through the high-country. Even if you plan your trip accordingly you can still hit a snag in traffic which can easily ruin a nice day on the slopes. Make sure to leave enough time for you to properly park your vehicle, get into your gear, use the restroom, etc. After you've planned your route check the weather and road reports. If they're calling for multiple inches of snow, leave early. Also make sure you have plenty of snacks if you get stuck on the road and of course, make sure you have the proper equipment should you have a break down. You do not want to be unprepared in the high country. As you very well know, shit happens. 

Rentals: As the early bird gets the worm, this philosophy should be your plan of attack should you need rental gear. The process went pretty smoothly. You fill out your info on a computer then take a space in the line where they will look up what info you just typed in under your name. The staff was pretty friendly, my friend and I were suited up in no time, however, my wife had some issues with the staff telling her she did not need two pairs of socks. She insisted that it was cold as shit and she did but the gentleman told her she was a specific boot size and that two pair of socks would not be appropriate. I have never heard this before but it bothered my spouse as her feet were frozen 2 runs in. So all in all helpful and friendly, but I did find the sock issue quite odd.

Slopes: As a novice, I enjoyed what Loveland Ski Area had to offer, especially when compared with Eldora Ski Resort in Nederland, CO (About 20 miles up Boulder Canyon). There were an ample amount of runs/lifts opened and their groomed runs felt just fine to me. I don't do anything more difficult than a Black Diamond, so I can't speak for some of the more extreme runs. There are plenty of variations in terrain and plenty of my personal favorite, trees!

Cons: A lot of the runs were in the shade all throughout the day which turned to ice very quickly. This is exacerbated by some of the grueling winds. The lifts were a little slow/dated and the slopes were a little crowded towards midday, but what can you really expect during a Friday in the middle of peak season? 

Overall: All-in-all don't let any of the cons deter you. Loveland Ski Area is a great place to visit from Denver and it's relatively affordable. If you are debating visiting Eldora or this place, definitely take the trip to Loveland Basin. You won't get bored as there will be plenty of runs for those of all skill levels. If you're a novice like me, or are just on the Front Range for a few days and want to experience high country skiing then this is the place for you. 

Getting excited yet? 

"The Ridge" on the Continental Divide. 

The #3 (and final) post on Eldora Mountain Resort.

Sorry I'm late!!! It's almost summer. I wanted to make sure I posted this before people started deciding if they wanted to go the Eldora route. After an entire season of almost weekly visits, I have written my conclusion and added some pics below. Email me or comment if you have a different opinion about any of this.

Pros:

-Close for Front Range residents. If Nederland gets a nice dumping of snow overnight and you can make it to the resort and be ready to jump on a lift at 9am then you're good to go. You can get 8-10 runs in by noon and be out of there. Do this on a weekday and you'll have a ridiculous amount of freedom to do your thing.

-The price if you have a college pass. If you live close to Boulder, $150 is not bad at all for an unlimited season pass. If you have your own gear and make it out there for some early season runs, peak season powder, and late season snows then the price of the pass will be cheaper than gas to actually reach Nederland.

-Staff. Everyone that works there is really nice. No elitist attitudes from attendants. Everyone just does their job and it is mostly a chill atmosphere. I have never had an issue with someone working there. They always pick up after my wife when she has a yard sale on the mountain and have even given me pointers while snowboarding.

-Not on I-70. Have you ever been stuck on I-70 in the dead of winter behind a 4 hour delay? If you haven't, let me give you some insight... It will ruin your day. At worst with Eldora, you will get stuck behind someone slow going up Boulder canyon.

Cons:

-First and foremost... MISINFORMATION!!! It was about a 75% chance that one of the runs they have open listed on their website (grooming report, here) is not actually open. I repeatedly checked the NIGHT before and the MORNING of right before we got in the car and still I would get there only to see a red digital "X" next to the run that the website says is open. Adding to the bad info, their snow report is either quite an embellishment or it is not properly updated. A couple times last season I would get an alert on my phone with an email from Eldora early in the morning saying "7 new inches." Well, shit...  That's good enough for me!!! Only to get there and see zero new snow and mostly hardpacked groomed garbage. Some people love that shit, but not me. I brought this to the attention of the appropriate person and was pretty much told that its not a perfect system. wtf? A perfect system? We have a remote control car running around on Mars and we can't get accurate grooming report?? Pfft.

-Size. It's really small. Most of the runs that are open most of the time are blues/greens. The blacks and doubles only past the midpoint in the season. So really, even if the season at Eldora begins on the 19th of Nov. It'll be after the new year until most of the runs are open. They claim to have some revolutionary snow making system, but I wasn't impressed in the least.

-The lifts***(see pic below). They are really, really slow. Pack a lunch, pack a smoke (this is not allowed), pack whatever you can do sitting down on a lift while cold air chills your bones. This brings me to the next con...

-The wind. It blows at this resort. If you are not prepared, it will ruin your day.

-The expenses: Pretty pricey. like $14 for a shit hamburger and a soft drink sorta thing. They sell beer but everyone knows if you drink on the mountain you bring it in your car.

-Boredom. If there are a limited amount of runs open, they get tiresome quick. You can only ski a short run so many times. Combined with the lift being so sluggish, you will wonder if you shouldn't have sprung for a pass somewhere else.

The verdict: All-in-all, I would not recommend this place to anyone. I realize people have a lot of love for this place because they learned how to shred here or they grew up here, but the fact of the matter is that it should be a LOT cheaper for what you pay for a full season pass. I would rather spring for the Rocky Mountain Super Pass or the Epic Local Pass. Sure, traffic sucks and the resorts are crowded but you're paying for world class skiing/snowboarding and having that experience. Eldroa is more of a place you would just buy a ticket for and spend a day trying to learn before you hit the big resorts here in CO. Then again, lift passes are pretty expensive also. Sorry, Eldora. I came in with an open mind but you left us very unsatisfied for the season. Hope this helps those of you considering a pass to Eldora Mountain Resort.

Busy day early. Lift lines were soon 20 minutes for basic runs. You can see how this could suck if only a few runs are open. 

**One of those particularly awful days. Below 10 with snow blowers blasting you all the way up the one lift that leads to blacks.

Eldora Mountain Resort, Trip #2- 12/16/2012, Nederland, CO

Taking a break.

First post of 2013 and way too late!!! 

This was our second outing to Eldo. We saw a storm was on the way the night before so we decided it was time to see some fresh snow. By the time it was all said and done, there was about 5-6 new inches. Snowed all day and since it was still early in the season we had much of the mountain to ourselves. A few more runs had opened but not nearly as many that are open at this point in time (1/29). I will say though, for obvious reasons, having a little bit of fresh powder makes all the difference in the world. Snowboarding is a different beast than skiing, but I enjoy it and look forward to hitting up some other Colorado resorts/ski areas soon.

Three things I've noticed that have bothered me so far:

-The lifts are antiquated. They are rickety and slow. You'll get used to this, but still it's worth noting.
-Their webpage has a grooming report, and often it is WRONG. I specifically went on this day not only cause it was snowing, but because they had supposedly opened another lift and some more runs. Turns out that was only half true. There has been inaccuracies 3/4 times we have been so far. The iPhone app I have that tells me the same information is also frequently wrong. They should also have another webcam. The one on their site is annoyingly deceptive and vague. I'm sure another one could be purchased easily considering what they charge for food. (More pricey than the movies, similar to going to a concert and getting gouged.)

One of the bunny lifts

Sliding around. We were only two people on this run..

More fun.

Naomi trying to catch some speed.

Trekking to  other lift.

Love Subaru.

Frozen lake right before you reach Nederland.

Us. 

Eldora Mountain Resort- #1 (Nederland, CO) 10/16/2012

I'll be doing quite a few posts on Eldora Ski Resort because I received a season pass on the cheap. Before this, I skied in West, VA (Snowshoe, which was actually pretty nice), North Carolina (App Ski Mountain) and Dubai (Ski Dubai indoor skiing). Those were not the most challenging of locations so it was ideal for learning. Eldora is where we are continuing along our learning curve. I plan on honing my skiing/boarding skills so next year I'm ready for some killer shredding next season at the big resorts on the western slope.

The photos for this post were taken on the first day of the season. Obviously, the snowfall isn't coming down in any great amount. I'm not sure if the snow season hasn't kicked in or what. The only available runs open for this first day were "International" and "Hornblower." I believe this was a 20" base.

So, when I first told people what I was doing for the day, I got a lot of "Eldora sucks" and this and that. To be honest though, I really did not care. Naomi and I got sick deals on our passes and we felt it was ideal for a couple of East Coasters just getting our ski boots wet, especially her.

Okay, so the actual review.... The staff was really friendly. No one treated us like assholes and everyone scanning our passes at the lifts were polite. The ski patrol was really nice... I mean, really, really nice. Naomi had a couple nasty yard sales (If you don't know what a "yard sale" is, click this 8-second video) and they were always there to help pick up poles, get her footing, or just ask if we were okay. Naomi is a beginner, so she probably shouldn't have been on these runs, but in her defense, she crept down the mountain at a safe speed and was not a danger to anyone else around.

The man-made snow and grooming isn't all that bad. I suppose if you're a pro and you've been tearing up slopes all across the Western US, then this wont be that special to you. However, if you're around Boulder or Northern Colorado this isn't that far a drive for you. I was told by a local that it is a perfect place to get up a little early on powder days and go tear it up between 9-noon.

Next trip will be strictly snowboarding.

Shoutout to reddit.com/r/skiing and r/snowboarding

About 5 miles away. Dirty ass Subaru.

Looks better in person, obviously.

Naomi coming down "International"

Who needs carving skis? Straight-edge HEADs and boots from circa 1990. 

Going up lift photo 1

Going up lift photo 2

View from top of Challenge/Cannonball lifts when you get off and look right

App Ski Mountain- 2/24-2/25/12 Blowing Rock, NC

Beginning of the night session

Decided to take a 2 day ski trip to App Ski Mountain that consisted of a night session on Friday and an all day session on Saturday. In my limited skiing experience this seemed like a small place, but definitely a great venue to learn if conditions are right. The first night sucked for learning because it got so cold that everything was ice. However, the next morning was much better when they were making fresh snow.

Everything about this place was bi-polar. We would discover something awesome about it, only to have it countered by something negative. First, the staff. We met a nice woman named Diane who set us up with the one set of clothing we needed to rent between the two of us. She was happy to hook us up with a woman's pair of ski pants for my partner and a men's coat for myself. She was very polite and got us excited for our time there. Next we went downstairs to rent skis, a locker and buy our lift tickets. WHAT A HASSLE! The staff down there were incredibly rude and short with us. We were 20 minutes early for our night session and they wouldn't let us rent our equipment OR lift pass until 5pm. They would only give us our locker. I'm sorry, but that is bullshit... Especially when they told us on the phone to come AT LEAST 90 minutes early. The lift ticket I understand, but the equipment? What the hell? After waiting, we finally received our skis from some nice people who chatted me up regarding my Ski Dubai hat. I'm telling you, half the people were real jerks and the other half were really awesome folks. They were also terribly inefficient! So much paper mumbo-jumbo to deal with. They need to do themselves a favor and buy a computer system to streamline everything. It can't cost that much and I know they're not broke charging $55-60 for a lift ticket. It was a decent mountain and we had a nice time tearing up their slopes, but we definitely wont be returning. I would suggest this place only if someone is paying for you. The Google reviews speak for themselves.