yamifumi Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 My friends and I are coming to CO for some carving session on 3/10, 3/11 and I was wondering where do you all think is best for carving (nicely groomed wide runs): I have been to the following and what I think of it: (Prefer EPIC pass mtn) Breck - crowded and didn't have much fun carving Beaver - it was one of the best carving I had as it was nicely groomed Vail - it was great but felt beaver was better I have not been to Keystone, A-basin, nor other locations near Silverthorne. Please let me know what you all think!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Most of us Front Rangers go to Loveland. It is only about 15 minutes from Silverthorne. There is a gathering of carvers every Sunday. Not an Epic resort but those there with Season Passes can get you discount tickets (~$50 - $60?). As for Epic resorts, I think the consensus is that Beaver is the best for carving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailertrash Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 EPIC pass mtns will be crowded except for the Beav and Abay. The Beav doesn't really have anything that steep so if you are looking for that you may be disappointed. Abay doesn't have that much for carving but it's not that crowded. Haven't been to Loveland but everyone says it's great. Go there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVR Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Just got back from there last week.... A Basin is a bit thin, and better for a more nimble board like a powder board... also, not for the faint of heart... Vail is a bit pretentious. If you want so much as a water, you have to buy something at a restaurant, and everything is cost excessive. Huge mountain, lots of terrain, and many wide groomers, but to be honest, it always felt like they were just trying to get all the money they could... I am sure it was just me... Beaver Creek was fantastic. It has plenty of snow, and good wide groomers. In addition, they have enough glades with plenty of snow to keep you busy all day. Pitch is just right as well, as the blues are actually blue, no more, and no less, and after burning your legs out, there are escalators to help the walk home. Water is free, so I had no issues spending money when done in the local grill, and the food was great. Breck is a good mix, and the snow was good. They take amazing care of the left side mountain where the "American" run is for a giant wide steep run for you to truly enjoy an alpine board. At 13K, you should acclimate first, but all these mountains are around 12K, so it isn't much difference. The main lift in the center has speed limits, but there is enough terrain to avoid that and the lines aren't too bad. Keystone looks good (Didn't actually go on the runs) but it has less snow than years before. All the same, it looked like fun... Hope this helped? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I've been to Keystone, A-Basin, and Loveland a few times. Keystone has some really nice runs, can be really crowded, have never seen another carver, slightly expensive. Does offer limited night skiing. A-Basin limited carving runs but they are nice. Inexpensive. It's A-Basin... IMHO a must visit for any snowslider. You never know... the Donek van might be in the lot and Snowman might be on the hill laying it down. Loveland- One of the biggest carving crews around. The Continental Divide! Fantastic views! OLD slow lifts that made me feel at home. My son's favorite place ever. Limited amenities (inexpensive)... lots of coolers on the tailgate action (nothing wrong with that!) Also a must visit, IMHO. IF you're lucky you'll run into the LCI crew. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamifumi Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 (edited) Thank you all for all the reply and suggestion!! We decided on Beaver on Saturday and Loveland on Sunday! If anybody wants to join, we will be there!! It is always nice to meet fellow carvers and chit chat!! Edited February 27, 2018 by yamifumi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I'm surprised Copper hasn't been mentioned. I've been a Vail epic pass holder for many years (first year was 1991 or 1992) even to the point of being an employee for 7 years. With that said, I have trained at Copper with Team Copper for alpine snowboard. I admit I had more fun at Copper on my alpine board than most of the mountains Vail owns. Breck's peak 10 ski lift is really fun with alpine. A-Basin... late Spring/Summer, if you like corn snow with my rock board (bare snow isnt' fun to mess up your Madd 158 on). Key's fun but quite family oriented and need to have keen awareness of who is riding/skiing around you. Vail? Ah, that's been my home mountain for many years and believe it or not, I enjoyed the alpine board at Golden Peak when I worked in terrain park maintenance. Bear Tree's fun and so is Giant Steps (and International) when it's been winch-cat groomed. The Beav's fun... but I prefer the Arrowhead area than the Beav side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.free Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Probably, you are going to be pretty bored after spending a day at Beaver Creek. IMHO BTW, Breck has lots of carving terrain on any Peaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.free Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 5 hours ago, trailertrash said: EPIC pass mtns will be crowded except for the Beav and Abay. The Beav doesn't really have anything that steep so if you are looking for that you may be disappointed. Abay doesn't have that much for carving but it's not that crowded. Haven't been to Loveland but everyone says it's great. Go there. I don't get it, are you saying that Beaver doesn't have steeps? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailertrash Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 12 minutes ago, b.free said: I don't get it, are you saying that Beaver doesn't have steeps? I haven't seen anything groomed that I thought was that steep. Please, show me the goods! What trail(s)!? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TVR Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Breck and American is the trail 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.free Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 19 minutes ago, trailertrash said: I haven't seen anything groomed that I thought was that steep. Please, show me the goods! What trail(s)!? Willy's face, Centenial, 1876, Cataract, Ripsaw, Latigo, Upper Centenial, Double diamond - at least these ones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 4 hours ago, yamifumi said: Thank you all for all the reply and suggestion!! We decided on Beaver on Saturday and Loveland on Sunday! If anybody wants to join, we will be there!! It is always nice to meet fellow carvers and chit chat!! Probably the best course of action. We meet in the lodge across from the bar on Sunday morning and then in front of chair 1 at 8:30 Look for the people with the weird boots! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamifumi Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 1 hour ago, b.free said: Probably, you are going to be pretty bored after spending a day at Beaver Creek. IMHO BTW, Breck has lots of carving terrain on any Peaks. Everytime I go to Breck, it is so busy and condition wasn't ideal so I guess I just didn't have much fun because of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkoonyMcGroomer Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 (edited) On 2/27/2018 at 3:01 PM, trailertrash said: I haven't seen anything groomed that I thought was that steep. Please, show me the goods! What trail(s)!? On 2/27/2018 at 3:21 PM, b.free said: Willy's face, Centenial, 1876, Cataract, Ripsaw, Latigo, Upper Centenial, Double diamond - at least these ones. Don't forget that Beaver Creek hosts a World Cup Downhill every season on Golden Eagle. It's kinda steep... and with a WC race prep/finish, it will test one's meddle (and metal). Shooting Star, when groomed, is as good as it gets for steep groomer slope - see below. Edited February 28, 2018 by SkoonyMcGroomer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 If you are sticking to the Epic Pass, I'd hit up Keystone early morning and stay on the frontside (a ton of people go straight to the back to sideslip and shave the groomers down to the manmade ice underneath). There are several 'side runs' there where (for whatever reason) most of the tourists don't go, so you can get many sections of really good turns for quite an extended period of time (last weekend I rode the Proteus all the way until noon!). If you are going there on 3/11 I'd love to join you (have a powder cat trip planned on 3/10 so I won't be there). Same goes for anyone else who would like to carve there - I'm usually the lone hardbooter... However, I simply must recommend that you go against my offer to ride with you and take the Loveland Sunday crew up on their offer. Such a cool community from the few times I've joined them, and Loveland is one of my favorite resorts for variety of terrain, lack of people / %of really cool people, etc. I think I may do only a Loveland pass next year because it's awesome (I got sucked into Epic this year by the lure of lots of resort options...) A-Basin is great, but I'd go Loveland over it - the real magic of A-Basin (in my opinion) is taking out the all-mountain softboot board and riding Palli/New Terrain in the Beavers and Steep Gullies. With that said, as someone mentioned, I've seen Sean there many times - he really likes it! Copper is awesome, I loved carving there back when I had a pass. It has some good steeps on Super Bee. However, it hasn't been mentioned a ton because it's not on Epic and the ticket price is high. Our house is in Breck, so we never go to Beaver (too far) or Vail (too pretentious and parking is a shitshow), and I think it says something that we also never ski Breck on a weekend. Hope that helps! Let me know if you do want to try to meet up! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamifumi Posted February 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 20 hours ago, moose said: If you are sticking to the Epic Pass, I'd hit up Keystone early morning and stay on the frontside (a ton of people go straight to the back to sideslip and shave the groomers down to the manmade ice underneath). There are several 'side runs' there where (for whatever reason) most of the tourists don't go, so you can get many sections of really good turns for quite an extended period of time (last weekend I rode the Proteus all the way until noon!). If you are going there on 3/11 I'd love to join you (have a powder cat trip planned on 3/10 so I won't be there). Same goes for anyone else who would like to carve there - I'm usually the lone hardbooter... However, I simply must recommend that you go against my offer to ride with you and take the Loveland Sunday crew up on their offer. Such a cool community from the few times I've joined them, and Loveland is one of my favorite resorts for variety of terrain, lack of people / %of really cool people, etc. I think I may do only a Loveland pass next year because it's awesome (I got sucked into Epic this year by the lure of lots of resort options...) Our house is in Breck, so we never go to Beaver (too far) or Vail (too pretentious and parking is a shitshow), and I think it says something that we also never ski Breck on a weekend. Hope that helps! Let me know if you do want to try to meet up! Keystone is one of the mtn to hit from what I heard but sometimes there are over abundance of people and get congested on weekend. I think we will stick with Loveland on 3/11 and meet up with crew there but I would like to join you as I have EPIC pass and I have not used it yet so I got to come back before season end! I will PM you in advance, thanks for the offer. Always nice to hang with other hardbooter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teach Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Keystone has two downsides worth knowing about in advance: 1) as some have alluded to, there are lots of trail intersections making it even more necessary than usual to be looking everywhere, all the time. 2) lower elevation than A-Basin or Loveland, so it can be sloppy (or closed) when A-basin and Loveland are really nice. Nice runs for sure, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkoonyMcGroomer Posted March 1, 2018 Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 On 2/27/2018 at 11:19 AM, yamifumi said: We decided on Beaver on Saturday and Loveland on Sunday! If anybody wants to join, we will be there!! It is always nice to meet fellow carvers and chit chat!! I should be there through mid-day Saturday if you would like to meet up. Heading over to Vail for the US Open half pipe finals in the afternoon. Several of my son's bro's will be competing. 8:30 rope drop at chair 6. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamifumi Posted March 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2018 13 hours ago, SkoonyMcGroomer said: I should be there through mid-day Saturday if you would like to meet up. Heading over to Vail for the US Open half pipe finals in the afternoon. Several of my son's bro's will be competing. 8:30 rope drop at chair 6. Definitely, that would be fun! I will PM you the day before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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