Breck or Vail in Mid April??

My wife and I have pooled up the ski instruction money from this season and are taking our son to Colorado Easter week.  My original plan was to go to Vail since I had starwood points I could use to get a condo there.

Now I'm looking at a 40" base at Vail vs 56" at Breck.  Breck is about 1500 feet higher elevation at the base.  I'm thinking that Breck might be a lot better 3 weeks from now.  I found a condo to rent for $500 so that seems good.

Does anyone have experience skiing in Colorado this late in the season?  Where to go???

I'll check w/ my bro.  A-Basin is always good this time of year.  Fail really had a bad snow season....

forget Colo..Go to Washington or Oregon...Avg base is around 150" at all the areas..

i got $230 RT airfare to Denver on SW so that is where we are headed

I'm not an expert on Western skiing, but the one trip I did make was to Breck in April.  I'm sure Vail is a great mountain, but I would go with Breck.  Two reasons, really.  Elevation and A-Basin.  It will get pretty warm during the day, and when we were there skiing the bottom half of Breck was not something we found much fun.  Well, we didn't actully ski much low down, but heading down at the end of the day things were unpleasantly sticky.  Conditions stayed great up top.  So the added elevation might make a big difference.  Looks like most everything is open (althoughthe trail report doesn't seem to include the lake Chutes), and Breck has great terrain and views.  Drive over Loveland Pass.  Staying in Breck is great because you have other great options within a short drive.  A-Basin is a must ski, but you also have Loveland, Keystone, and Copper as options.  Looks like it really hasn't been a great year out there, as the East Wall at A-Basin and a good percentage of the expert terrain at Loveland isn't open.  Considering that, if Breck has a better base you can't go wrong there.

We are going to Breckenridge the week before Easter, coming home April 7.  We picked Breckenridge over Vail mainly due to the cost - condos are much cheaper in Breckenridge than Vail.  We may do a day trip to Vail during our trip. I've been watching the conditions there for a while, and most of the terrain at Breckenridge is open, but there has been no real snow in the last few weeks, and none predicted for the next 10 days.  We plan on checking out Arapahoe basin and possibly Keystone as well.  I heard that Copper is hosting the snowboarding nationals the week of our trip, and the freeskiing nationals the week after, so we will probably stay away from there.

We went to Steamboat a few years ago for Easter, and it was great, but it was a record snow year for them, and we received an additional foot of snow while we were there. I don't expect this year to be the same, but it will be fun regardless of the conditions.

my favorite area outside of Denver is Winter Park..usually they have the deepest snow base and have some very cool terrain along with cheaper lodging..

Vail is a great mountain, but the town is limited IMO.  

If you stay in Breck you have SO much to do from bars, resturants, spas, shopping ect.  Breckenridge has earned and lives by their motto.  "Perfect mountain, Perfect mountain town"

If you're staying in Breck you have Breck out your back door, bus access or a 15 minute drive to Keystone, Abasin, Copper, 25 min to Loveland.  If you want to ski Vail it's 40 minutes, and 50 minutes to Beaver Creek.  You can't beat the highest lift accessed terrain in North America, let alone in-bounds 45-55 degree skiing, that's a 10 minute hike from the lift.

I could go on and on.  The second you get on main street, you'll know you made the right choice.  Where is your condo?

Condo I found at The Lodge at Highland Greens in North Breckenridge.  5 star property but a few miles north of town.

What is the parking situation? Park at Gold Hill lot for $5 and take new Gondi?  

Where to start the day which Peak 7-10?

May still go to Vail one day but elevation may make a big difference depending on daily temp.

Poindexter - please do a trip report - we are going the week after you.

The free parking is very easy too.  Most likely less walking than the paid parking.  Buses run constantly from airport rd to the gondi.  The great thing about Breck is that all busses are FREE.  

Starting point is up to you..  The 2nd stop on the gondi gives you acess to Peak 7 has some super fun rolling cruisers,  The 2nd stop puts you at the base of Peak 8 where ski-hill grill is.  Usually DJ's playing on the patio, everyone having a good time soaking up the sun.  Peak 10 is steep and some cool bump/tree runs.  ALWAYS play the wind, a 1" snowfall can be pretty fun if you find where it all gets blown.

You'e gonna have a great time.  

I was going to chime in for vail. Its also closer to beaver creek which is my fave of summit/eagle. Except for abasin but they are really hurting for snow this year.  Vail also has a good northerly exposure and you have a much better chance for pow. Breck will be fun though. Better skiing than what will be available here.  Maybe the lake chutes will be skiable. I really like the e chair, it's sort of eastern skiing with a good 1500 ft pitch and stunning trees and bump lines. Have fun.

Coach Z wrote

i got $230 RT airfare to Denver on SW so that is where we are headed

Woah.
Still available?
Link!

It was on the SW web site.  $115 each way Manchester NH to Denver direct plus free bags.  Its about 2 hours farther drive than Albany but it saves about 3 hours in total trip time by going direct.

Vail and Breck basically suck. Vail more. High Breck may be OK, especially after all of the spring break kids have gone away. A Basin is your mountain at that time.

It has been 10+ years since I skied Breck but I do remember that they have lots of black to double black stuff way up high.  What used to be hike to is now lift serviced.  Being at almost 13k feet it should hold snow well in mid april.  We will do one day at A-Basin.

I found a great deal on a Condo in Breck.  Under $600 for a ski in / ski out 1 bedroom for 5 nights at the base of Peak 9.

I'll do a TR.

Coach Z wrote

It has been 10+ years since I skied Breck but I do remember that they have lots of black to double black stuff way up high.  What used to be hike to is now lift serviced.  Being at almost 13k feet it should hold snow well in mid april.  We will do one day at A-Basin.

This is true. Most of the old hikes are now chair serviced. Please do more than one day at A Basin, though.

Don't forget Loveland. Their highest chair drops you off above 13,000, and nobody goes there after 4/1. Two of the best powder days I had when I lived in Frisco in '03 were the first two Mondays in April after a Sunday storm. The high chairs don't open when it's snowing and blowing, but, there were like 30 people skiing fresh the next day.

Benny

Are we better off skiing A-Basin on a Saturday or a weekday versus Breck?

How long of a drive is it from Breck to A-Basin?

thanks for the former local insight

Ski Loveland on Saturday. That's why I learned to love the place - it is the least crowded on weekends because it's off the Epic pass. Breck would probably be less crowded on Sat. vs A Basin, because there is no tourist trade at that time in April, and A Basin attracts a more local Denver crowd.

It's about, oh, 30-40 minute drive from downtown Breck to A Basin in good weather. A Basin is one of my favorite places on Earth, so, I'm kinda biased. This is not one of their best snow years, though, as you probably know, but, things can still change for the better. Last April was stellar - tons of snow. You can have a great powder experience there in early May. Tahoe is actually experiencing winter (finally) in late March, so, who knows.........

Benny, would you still recommend A-basin knowing that the entire back side is closed?  We are debating whether it's worth it to go there or just stay at Breckenridge. There's no snow predicted for at least the first half of my trip next week.

Gonna chime in and say that as long as Palli is open, you can ski A-Basin every day. I love the scene there compared to Breck, too. If they close Palli though it's the nail in the coffin of the season. Unfortunately, they close it earlier and earlier because of an inbounds slide a few years ago.

Montezuma bowl doesn't really matter much. It has some fun short lines, but if you dig steep lines and trees there is no reason to ride any chair other than Pallivicini. Every time I go up it I'm amazed that the lift has been around for 50 years and people skied it on old gear.

If you guys can't tell, I'm not a huge Breck fan.

Abasin > Vail+Beaver Creek (unless there is fresh) > Copper > Breck > Keystone