Beaver Creek, Vail, Breckenridge, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone

Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek  is a unique combination of mountain excitement and village luxury, inspired by renowned resorts such as Switzerland’s St. Moritz, Italy’s Cortina, and Spain’s Val d’Aran. Beaver Creek is a purpose-build resort that offers great shopping and après ski facilities. Ski holidays in Beaver Creek also offer an amazing variety of runs, and provide enough slopes to satisfy all ability levels.

The Beaver Creek Ski Resort has three villages; Arrowhead, Bachelor Gulch and Beaver Creek Village (which is the heart of the resort). On your ski holidays in Beaver Creek you can relax in one of a number of spas and fitness centres scattered through all three villages.

Beaver Creek Village is full of quaint shops, art galleries, bars and restaurants, all conveniently linked by heated walkways and escalators. The Vilar Centre is also situated in Beaver Creek Village, and offers guests a variety of Ballets, theatres, symphonies and Broadway musicals. Bachelor Gulch is the home of The Ritz-Carlton and is perfect for those who wish to be near to the action of the village, but not be in the middle of it during their ski holiday in Beaver Creek. Arrowhead Village provide visitors with the opportunity to experience delectable wines and mouth watering cuisine at the famous Falling Creek Restaurant and Broken Arrow Restaurant. All three villages offer amazing experiences to add to your perfect Beaver Creek skiing holiday.

Accomomdation & Après Ski

Whether you were on the first chair or you spent the day in one of Beaver Creek’s world-class spas, apres ski is an event you can’t miss on your ski vacation! In Beaver Creek, the apres ski options are endless, don’t miss a few local favorites.

Maya in the Westin 3:30 – 5:30 pm Located in the Westin Riverfront in Avon. The Westin offers happy hour specials on specialty margaritas, wine, beer, tacos, and appetizers. Maya is a great option for those hoping to get out of the village for a night.

Beaver Creek Chophouse & C Bar 3:00 – 6:00 pm Located at the base of the Centennial Chair, the Beaver Creek Chophouse and C Bar are prime locations for apres outside or at the bar. From flatbreads to oysters, there’s something for everyone!

Coyote Cafe 11:00 am – 1:00 am A local’s favorite since 1983, the Coyote Cafe offers the best in casual dining. Known for their nachos, margaritas and vintage decor the Coyote Cafe is sure to keep your whole family entertained!

The Met 3:00 – 10:00 pm Where every hour is happy hour. Small plates and a large cocktail list make The Met a favorite with locals and visitors alike. Great for dinner before a show at the Vilar or a drink after a great day skiing in Beaver Creek!

Vail

Vail was discovered by a one Earl Eaton (not of the aristocracy , Earl was his first name) in the late 1950s . It opended for winter sports in 1962 . In 1997 all three resorts ( that is Vail , Breckenbridge and Aspen ) merged together and became Vail resorts , this includes Keystone. All these resorts plus Beaver Creek are available on one Ski Pass but they are not linked so you will need to drive in order to take advantage of this . There is a new lift now : that is the Imperial Express Superchair which takes you up to peak 8 at 12840 feet , this then gives you access to a lot of terrain near Peak 7 as well . Vail Resorts is one of the worlds highest users of renewable energy , all five resorts use wind power . Keystone in fact has all its lifts and lights powered by wind energy : this is the largest resort of all for night skiing. Vail has 1500 acres of slopes and almost 200 runs and 34 lifts

Accommodation & Après Ski

Vail has lively après ski and nightlife with a good variety of places to go that are usually packed when the lifts close, and a few late-night clubs.
It also offers great family entertainment at Adventure Ridge at the top of the Eagle Bahn gondola from the Lionshead area of the village until 7pm. Activities include ski biking, tubing, snowmobiling for kids, snowshoeing and an alpine rollercoaster.

Garfinkel’s Craft beer, imaginative cocktails, a sundeck, and the feel of a classic American sports bar. Photos of partying patrons, events and ski athletes decorate the walls, and it holds regular music and drinks events.

Red Lion First opening in 1963, the Red Lion in the middle of Vail Village has a popular sun deck, live music both at après time and later on, and big-screens showing sport and ski action. It hosts a big New Year party, with tickets going on sale in November.

The George Models itself on a British pub and has a dive bar feel. Band posters plaster the George’s walls, there are games to play, live music and good-value drinks – and food including king crab legs.

Shakedown bar Live music until late, a great sound system and an always filled dancefloor, the Shakedown in Vail Village is the place to shake a leg. Musician owner Scott Radnor toured with Lenny Kravitz among others, and regularly takes to the stage.

Breckenridge

The highest resort in North America with its huge, snow-sure ski area right behind the village is great choice for intermediates. Using the high speed Beaver Run chairlift, you will be negotiating Peak 9 in no time at all, and from there, the mountains open up for a tremendous skiing adventure across all 4 mountain peaks.
With runs like ‘Psychopath’ and ‘Boneyard’ in the fantastic snow bowls of Peak 8, advanced skiers just keep coming back. The possibilities seem endless on the Ten Mile Range of Peaks 8, 9 and 10, with moguls (or bumps as the Americans call them) and double diamond black runs galore.
The area has five state of the art terrain parks and four half pipes. If you like cruising there are plenty of turns to be had on well groomed pistes.

The excellent friendly ski school offer beginners a great start. The gentle nursery slopes by the Quicksilver lift or at the base of Peak 8 will soon boost confidence to enjoy the abundance of easy green and blue runs.

Accommodation & Après Ski

The nightlife is very good for an American resort with a good selection of bars and clubs which goes on until the early hours. The village supports more than 50 restaurants with the usual healthy American portions.

The village also has good local shops and amenities that are refreshingly not department and chain stores. There are also a number of art galleries that provide a diverse selection of fine, impressionist and abstract art.

Arapahoe Basin

The high elevation ensures there is skiing and boarding at A-Basin long after Keystone has closed. Linked by shuttlebus to Keystone, Arapahoe Basin boasts the highest lift served skiing and riding in North America, and most of it is well above the tree-line. It is described as the nearest thing to European Alps style skiing in the USA, but it has some excellent snowsure beginners terrain, and there are easy steps up the ability scale off lifts nearby.

Accommodation & Après Ski

Arapahoe Basin has no accommodation at base station level. The nearest lodging is at Keystone, six miles away. Please contact us for details

Keystone

Purpose built Keystone is one of the best intermediate resorts in North America with acre upon acre of immaculately groomed tree lined runs, excellent beginners terrain which includes the long summit-to-base Schoolmarm run but it has limited advanced skiing and boarding. Night skiing, up until 9pm, is available on well over half of the mountain area which means that Keystone, as well as the USA’s biggest snowmaking operation (100% of the mountain is covered), also has the most extensive area of night skiing. Keystone has been virtually rebuilt over recent years but any amount of investment has yet to invoke atmosphere in the village centres. Still, there is plenty going on, the staff in lodgings, retailers, restaurants and on the mountain make a real effort. It is a well served, snowsure user-friendly resort which has won many awards for being family orientated. Children under 13 stay free and children under 5 ski free.

Accommodation & Après Ski

Essentially it is a sprawling collection of well served condominiums, which are linked to the main resort hubs by shuttle bus. The $700m River Run condos are the among the newest major developments and are located at the base of the main gondola station with their own local shops, restaurants and bars which come closest to offering an albeit sanitised taste of real village life, while the Ski Tip Lodge offers a more atmospheric choice – as a former staging post which has ski tips collected by Keytsone’s founder Max Dercum as door handles. The three village centres are all linked by shuttle bus to all main accommodation areas, and the centres all have a choice of restaurants, bars and a few shops. A unique multi activity card is available which offers all inclusive access to everything from yoga to hockey clinics, snowshoeing, a mountain tour, kids adventure night, kids glow bug skate tour, NASTAR and a tennis clinic. Apres ski in Keytone is widespread and varied. Start with North America’s biggest natural skating lake. For eating out the most usual recommendations are the Ski Tip Lodge and the Keystone Ranch, but so too there are a fair number of pizza, burger and italian pasta places. It is very much a family resort so apres ski is relatively anodyne.