Epic Colorado
This week we were in Summit County Colorado skiing. Had our first experience with the EPIC app to make reservations for skiing. I usually ski the EPIC Resorts in Colorado, Keystone, Breckenridge, Vail, and Beaver Creek. I use the EPIC Local Pass. IKON is the other pass in Colorado which includes Cooper, Steamboat, and Winter Park. Great mountains all, I use the Epic pass because that’s the one I buy, no better reason than that. Both passes include many other mountains in Colorado and all over the world.
The best time to buy your passes or multi-day tickets is around Labor Day (Sept). The prices are low and you can score great deals at individual resorts. During Labor Day sales you can buy 3 or 4-day passes and get 1 day free (these don’t need to be used consecutively). This Info will be great in 2021 but not so much for pandemic times.
So you want to go skiing? What do you have to do? New to the Pandemic you need to decide in advance. The Peak resorts have an online system (app-based) that shows you each resort and a calendar where you reserve your spot. Ikon is using parking reservations to limit the number of folks on the slope. I have not tried that system yet. https://www.coppercolorado.com
This week I skied both Keystone and Vail, We made our reservations the evening before skiing. During the week there was availability each weekday, The Weekends for all of December were sold out. My son is pounding the App today (Friday) to see if he can find a spot for tomorrow. https://www.vail.com/plan-your-trip/lift-access/reservation-details.aspx
We headed off to our Mountain of Choice. Keystone and Vail checked out pass before the first lift and we got right on. There were no obvious problems at the bottom of the Mountains and the lift lines ran smoothly. At Keystone only family parties were put on the chairs (that is groups that went to the chair were allowed on and no singles were added). Both resorts allowed single rider chairs. They also required an open seat between unknown parties.
Vail would add a single rider to a party of 2 with an open seat, and accepted if you did not want someone you didn’t know riding with you. The old normal of grouping up on the lift line or adding singles at the chair is basically gone now, the liftlines themselves are socially distanced naturally.
Masks are required of everyone and you are checked while on the lift line and not loaded on the chair without a mask! Right now in Summit County Colorado https://www.summitcountyco.gov there is no indoor dining (A-Basin, Copper, Breckenridge, and Keystone). Vail and Beaver Creek are in Eagle county https://www.eaglecounty.us/ and their restaurants are open to 25% capacity.
If you plan on skiing in Colorado, be aware of all the Covid rules and check with me your friendly neighborhood travel consultant for all the rules and the best deals.
It is snowing like crazy this weekend and looks good for the future. The best site for weather for skiing is https://opensnow.com/dailysnow/colorado/ sign up with OpenSnow and you will be thrilled!
