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Denver International Airport (DIA)

This central hub is the easiest to fly into from across the country (even the world) and within a two hour drive you can arrive at:

• Echo Mountain
• Eldora Mountain Resort
• Loveland Ski Area
• Winter Park Resort
• Arapahoe Basin
• Copper Mountain
• SolVista Basin

Regional Airports

From DIA it’s actually possible to connect to regional airports serving the following locales on the western slope:

• Gunnison (Crested Butte)
• Aspen
• Telluride
• Durango (Durango, Wolf Creek, Silverton)
• Steamboat
• Montrose
• Grand Junction (Powderhorn)

In addition to Aspen and Eagle…

Aspen/Snowmass

American Airlines has announced new daily non-stop flights from both Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles for the winter season beginning December 15, 2011.

Frontier will continue to offer four daily flights to Aspen/Snowmass from their Denver hub for a total of up to 30 daily flights in and out of Aspen/Snowmass on three airlines.

More details can be found at flyaspensnowmass.com.

Vail/Eagle County Airport

The Vail/Eagle County Airport serves the following:

• Vail
• Beaver Creek
• Ski Cooper

More details can be found at snow.com.

Once you get to Colorado you need to get to the resort. While there are plenty of shuttle services at DIA and Eagle, I’ve learned that Colorado Mountain Express (CME) is one of the more prominent services in the area. Learn more at coloradomountainexpress.com.

Destinations

The University Ski bus will travel to to Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail, Beaver Creek or Arapahoe Basin.

Weekly destinations will be chosen based on customer demand.

Pick-up and Pricing

As the name implies, the service departs the University of Denver campus with tickets ranging from $19-$29.

A secondary pick up location of Regis University is being considered and might be added at a later date.

More Information

Founded and operated by DU students, you can learn more and purchase tickets at www.UniversitySkiBus.com. For more information, contact Tyler Perlmutter at (847) 830-8797 or tyler@perlmutter.net.

Pickup Locations

The Boulder bus has two pickups:

• Christy Sports at Flat Irons Mall and
• CU Boulder

The Denver bus pick-up location is:
- Christy Sports at Denver West Plaza.

Pricing

A basic breakfast will be available for purchase on morning trips and lunch sandwiches will be available, also for purchase, from local restaurants on return trips.

Denver Ski Bus offers its customers discounted ski lift tickets to Winter Park and Copper Mountain resorts and either same-day or next-day return trips are available.

Tickets are:

• Adult $38
• Kids $33 RT (11 years old and under.)

More Information

Denver Ski Bus is a locally owned and operated business that partners with local businesses to support the local economy and to ensure that all products offered on its trips travel the shortest distance possible to the final customer.

Denver Ski Bus also offers ski charters targeted at student and ski clubs, as well as corporate and community. Ski charters can be fully customized and are available for travel to any Colorado resort.

For more information visit www.denskibus.com or contact Curt Spencer at 970-531-6612 or curt@denskibus.com.

The Courtesy Patrol program begins on Friday, November 25. Drivers of passenger and other smaller vehicles are provided free roadside assistance for services such as flat tires, fuel or water transfer, jump starts, short-distance towing, accident scene protection and minor mechanical assistance. Three pickups and a tow truck patrol I-70 between the top of Floyd Hill and Vail, looking for disabled vehicles. Truck personnel also respond to requests from the Colorado State Patrol, local police or the Eisenhower Tunnel. Courtesy Patrol operates primarily on weekends (Saturdays 6 a.m. to 8 p.m./Sundays 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.), including the holiday weekends of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President’s Day. Following the holidays, patrols will run every weekend through April 1, 2012.

Forbes has put together a great photo gallery describing some of the best resorts for families. Of course, Colorado dominates the list with five well known spots:

• Beaver Creek: escalators, kids teaching area, and most importantly warm cookies
• Crested Butte: single base area means less lost kids, reasonably priced
• Aspen/Snowmass: no greens but Buttermilk is good for learning, four mountains on one ticket
• Steamboat: invented the kids ski free program, great family dining options
• Vail: excellent ski school, Adventure Ridge, ice skating and “Kids Fly Free” into Eagle

Be sure to check out the full gallery.

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As expected, it’s not quite up to “5-8 inches” as expected… yet. There is certainly more to the storm but the forecasts now expect “snow mist” and “snow dusting” from here on out.

Waking up to an inch or two doesn’t spell “snowpocalypse” as much as the weather forecasters would have liked you to believe down here in town.

But, that’s not to say there’s not a ton of snow in the mountains. CDOT is requiring chains for trucks on most passes including Vail and CO 6 over Loveland. Loveland is reporting 10″ as of 5 AM. The cosnow is looking good for the weekend!

The Colorado State Patrol has been testing “speed harmonization” this summer. You may recognize this as “a police car driving in front of everyone at a slower-than-desired speed” in the winter when road conditions are bad. This is the CSP’s way of setting the pace for drivers to keep traffic moving safely and consistently.

Since the summer tests have proven effective, this could mean seeing more of it this winter to help keep speeds consistent and reduce crashes. In other words, if we all drive together at a consistent, safe speed, we’ll see less crashes and huge delays.

Sounds good to us. Learn more about road conditions, traffic forecasts, and about initiatives like this over at GoI70.

Best part? We have you covered from the tarmac to the ski slopes. Trip includes: a flight out to Colorado, a rental car to transport you from Denver International Airport to Copper Mountain, 3 nights of lodging that’s minutes from the slopes, lift tickets and even ski rentals.

Just visit the MapQuest Facebook page and click the “Snow Day Sweeps” tab for instructions on how to enter.

Anyway, we did a few runs on the front. There was a bit of a crowd in the morning but as soon as everyone realized it wasn’t worth it, they went home. The gondola was closed all day due to the high-winds and the visibility was pretty poor. So, luckily we had the place to ourselves by 10:30.

And to top it all off, the commute to and from Denver was delayed over an hour due to the roads and metering at the tunnel. From 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM, there was a 60 minute delay (the drive usually takes about 9 minutes) from Silverthorne to the east entrance to the Eisenhower Tunnel.

I’m likely not the only one getting frustrated at this point…

But here’s the best part: the jackrabbits. A crowdsourced collection of individuals that provide live road and weather updates. If this gets enough traction the value could be immeasurable. I’ve tried to keep people updated with real-time traffic status while I’m on the roads, but a centralized resource will reach more people and provide more value. I’m excited to see how this goes. Sign up to be a GoI70 jackrabbit today.

Besides traditional, retail rental locations a number of delivery rental companies are making a foot hold in many Western resorts. Ski Butlers, a ski rental delivery company started in Utah, has just opened yet another location, this one in Telluride, Colorado. Ski Butlers now serves all major resorts in British Columbia, California, Utah & Wyoming.

With prices being competitive with all local ski shops, rental delivery is a nice alternative to those looking at renting equipment without the hassle of early morning lines at the mountain ski shop. Customers can log onto Ski Butlers website, and enter their skier information, credit card number, and where and when they would like their equipment delivered. Certified ski technicians come to the customer and do all fitting and adjustments, at your accommodations, while you wait. It’s that simple.

When you’re packing up for your next ski trip save your self some headache and leave your skis at home.

Click here to check out SkiButlers.com.

Planning your next ski trip? Start here with our guide to see how the top 50 resorts in North America stack up. And stayed tuned to SkiNet.com for our upcoming, newly re-vamped Resort Finder.

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