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