by Safety Third

Created on: February 13, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

Depending on your skill as a skier/boarder, there are many choices of areas to ski in the Rocky Mountain area. If you are just starting out or have minimal experience on the snow, then a place like Ski Cooper (near Leadville) would be a good place to start. Also, Buttermilk mountain in Aspen.
Aspen is a good place for skiers of all skill levels since it has 4 mountains nearby. Buttermilk, Snowmass, Ajax (Aspen Mountain) and Highlands. Buttermilk is the least steep and Highlands is the most steep. Highlands also has an incredible bowl up top to ski, but only if you're willing to hike. the hike could be anywhere from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours. The hike seems to longer the more times you do it in a day. Snowmass is also a good place to hone your extreme skiing skills. With lots of steeps and quite a few big drops without having a lot of hiking, it's the perfect place to try new things without wearing yourself down into the ground. Snowmass also has less brutal slopes for beginners and intermediate skiers.

A good place to ski for the whole family to ski would be Mt. Werner in Steamboat Springs, CO. With a large variety of easy to moderate terrain, it's a good place to ski for all skiers. There are some steeps way high on the mountain, but they're short and usually not worth the hike. also, the further you hike, the more of a pain it will be get out because of a massive flat trough that is a mandatory hike or skate.
Another all family ski area is Eldora Mountain near Boulder, CO. Although there aren't very many steeps on it, it's a good intermediate area.
Crested Butte is another fairly well rounded ski area. Although most of the skiing is intermediate to expert, there are some not-so-steep trails near the base. The difficult skiing has a minimal (on average) hike and isn't too extremely steep. However, there are lots of rocks and drops and it requires lots of thinking on you're feet.
Also in Colorado, there's a mountain called Telluride. A fairly easy ski area with some exceptions high up or dropping back down into the main town. It would also be a good place to take the whole family for a weekend of skiing. Unfortunately, it's a small town and doesn't have the super high-end lodgings as some of the other resorts.
There are more resorts and mountains in the Rocky Mountain, but I haven't been there yet, so this list is by no means complete. But it should give you a vague perception of some ski resorts in the Colorado region.

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