Where to Ski in Colorado for Total Beginners

Like many people, the first trip John and I took to Colorado was to go skiing. We went to Breckenridge for Spring Break with a group of friends and fell in love with Colorado instantly.

​We loved everything about the state: the mountains, the people, and the activities. Everything was perfect. It was also both of our first times skiing, and we enjoyed it, but it has taken us a little while to truly fall head over heels with the sport, even after moving here. ​

John and I both grew up in the southeastern United States and had never explored skiable mountains. When we moved to Colorado, it seemed like everyone asked us, “Do you ski or snowboard?” and “Do you have the Epic or Ikon Pass?” Resort skiing or snowboarding seemed like everyone’s favorite hobby, and it was a bit of a turnoff for us.

We are both adventurous, and we didn’t like the idea of going along with the crowd. Instead, we turned to activities like snowshoeing, winter camping, and fishing.

It has taken us a lot of time to get into all of these different activities, but they’ve been less expensive than skiing could have been. From new gear to season passes, there are plenty of ways to spend money on skiing.

Our tent at Conundrum Hot Spring October 2019.

Resort Fun = Resort Prices

We skied Steamboat Springs with our friends who have Ikon passes.

Season passes are a huge part of skiing in Colorado, and if you plan to do it most every weekend, it might be worth the asking price. Season passes, like the Epic of the Ikon, can range from $500 to $2,000 and allow access to certain mountains in Colorado and all across the world. Picking a pass is a big deal in Colorado because it then limits which mountains you usually want to visit since you’ve already paid for the ones on your pass.

You can look into both passes and compare the two on epicorikon.com to see if they work for you!

Also, they’re also subject to ‘blackout days’.  Usually on these passes the most popular days of the year are the ‘blacked out’ days, unless you pay for the highest premium package. Since John and I had no plans to ski most weekends of the winter season, we the last two years have chosen not to buy season passes.

Us at Steamboat, which is on the Ikon Pass.

Single day passes seemed to be the best strategy for us to ski when we wanted but not be obligated to ski for the season sake of justifying the investment in a season pass. That being said, single day lift passes range in price and can be upwards of $200 depending on the day, so we pick our days carefully.

Single-day passes on Valentine’s Day weekend 2021:
Breckenridge: $179
Keystone: $144
Steamboat Springs: $129-219
Loveland Ski Area: $89

Me and two girlfriends at Keystone, on the Epic Pass.

We often found ourselves using ‘buddy passes’ and ‘ski with a friend’ passes. These are discounted single-day tickets that season pass holders can give their friends. Taylor and I have purchased single day lift tickets for 25% - 40% discounts using ‘buddy’ or ‘ski with a friend’ passes on the Epic Pass - that’s how we got to see at Keystone!

To rent or to buy?

Another part of the reason that we haven’t bought season passes is because neither of us have invested in high-quality gear. At first, we rented skis from the resorts, but each time we rented, it would cost us around $50-$75 for boots, skis, and helmets.

In rented skis and a borrowed snow suit in Keystone.

Eventually, John and I both purchased clothing, helmets, goggles, and skis secondhand on Facebook Marketplace and Offer Up. Most of our gear works great, and we even use some of the winter coats snowshoeing and camping.

John's first time on his skis was in Steamboat Springs.

John bit the bullet and bought a brand new pair of high-end ski boots when he learned that good boots translate into more control of your skis. We each use second hand skis, and we found our respective pairs for under $100 each. The used skis are fine for a couple of ski days each year but probably couldn’t hold up for an entire season of skiing.

In general, getting into the sport has been quite a process for us, but every time we hit the slopes, we love it more and more as we become more comfortable on skis and on the mountains. We’ve been out each of the three winters that we have lived in Colorado and have decided to write about our experiences, as total newbies, at some of the best ski resorts in the world:

Breckenridge:

Breckenridge was the very first place John and I skied, and it maybe wasn’t the best place for us to “wing it”. We went out without any lessons and very little guidance. All we really knew was “pizza and french fry”. These are basic ski terms that refer to the direction your skis are pointed. You pizza to slow down and french fry to speed up. We had no idea what we were doing, but it was a ton of fun to rush down the mountain and crash into fresh snow.

Both of ours first times ever on skis!

Due to our skill level, we did not have a full-fledged experience of the Breckenridge mountains. We stayed on one lift at the base of Peak 8 all day, but we didn’t care. We skied until our bodies hurt then ended the day with drinks at the base with our friends! It wasn’t the best day of skiing, because we were pretty banged up at the end, but we enjoyed every minute of the ride!

See more from our “Spring Breck” Trip here! 

From the top of the "Snowflake" lift.

Keystone:

Post-ski parking lot party.

Keystone was the first place we skied once we were official residents of Colorado. Our friends wanted to take us out and try to teach us to ski. We were able to use their Epic Pass “Buddy Passes” for a nice discount. It was great to have friends show us how to navigate the mountains and to have someone to follow around the slopes. ​

It was a total whiteout day, and we could barely see in front of us. We started out only doing green (easy) routes, but by the end of the day, we were hitting blues (more difficult), and once, we accidentally went down a black (most difficult), and no one fell. It was an awesome day!

At the top of the Summit Express lift.

Reserve your own day on the mountain on, keystoneresort.com

Steamboat Springs:

WinterWonderGrass 2019.

​Thanks to the annual WinterWonderGrass Music Festival, John and I have been able to ski two different locations in Steamboat Springs over the two years we have attended. Howelson Hill and the Steamboat Springs Resort are very different, but both are very fun. 

You can read all about how fun the WinterWonderGrass Festival is here! 

Howelson Hill

Our first year at WinterWonderGrass, we didn’t purchase festival tickets that include lift passes. It would have been almost $200 extra to ski for the weekend, and we just didn’t want to spend the money. Instead, when we arrived in Steamboat, I found another, smaller ski area and made our way to the other side of Steamboat. ​

Howelson Hill is North America's oldest operating ski lift!

Howelson Hill is a famous skiing area, but we didn’t know that at first. All we knew was that it was $25 to ski for the day compared to the $180 at the resort. We quickly bought tickets, rented skis at a nearby store, and hit the lift.

Some of the jump and competition areas.

Howelson Hill has been operating since 1915 making it the oldest operating ski area in North America! It also has been the training grounds of more international competitors than any other place in North America. This made total sense, because a high school ski jump competition was happening while we were there.

Howelson is a tiny hill with its main focus being cross country trails and ramps for jumping. That being said, it was perfect for us. We spent all day on a few short runs practicing and perfecting our skiing skills. We wish we would have found this place the first time we went skiing, because it was perfect for beginners and there was hardly anyone around.

​Howelson Hill has been one of John’s favorite places overall, because we both had so much freedom to hone our abilities. Plus, John loved the inspiration of seeing the competitors every time we went up the lift.

The view down onto Steamboat Springs.

See more from Howelson Hill in our more detailed review here! 

Steamboat Resort

Our second year at WinterWonderGrass, we made sure to buy our tickets early to get special pricing on lift tickets with our festival passes. This year, we were determined not to miss out on the big resort!

Hiding in the trees in Steamboat.

We made the absolute most of our two days on the Steamboat mountains, hit the lifts as early as we could, and stayed until the lifts stopped and the music started! We had friends join us for one of the two days, and they introduced us to tree runs and really showed us the ropes of navigating more difficult terrain. Since then, we’ve never looked back and tree runs are our absolute favorites!

Steamboat really changed the way we ski, and we owe a lot to these mountains and their “champagne powder” snow. We also owe a lot to our friends who pushed us to ski terrain we’d never tried. 

Organize your own weekend in Steamboat at, www.steamboat.com

Coming down to the resort area in Steamboat.

Aspen:

John and I have both been to Aspen several times, but we have never been on the Aspen mountains together. Aspen has four mountains: Snowmass, Buttermilk, Aspen Mountain, and Aspen Highlands. With our combined experience, we have been to three of the four.

​I went to Aspen for The Aprés Music Festival and “Bacon Days'' at Buttermilk Mountain in 2019, I visited Snowmass Mountain that same weekend, and John went to Aspen Highlands for New Year’s Day 2020 to ring in the new year! We had totally different experiences, but we both had great times.

The Apres music festival 2019.

You can learn more about each Aspen Snowmass Mountain on their website, aspensnowmass.com

Snowmass

The view from Snowmass Mountain.

Aspen is the only place I have attempted snowboarding. My friends convinced me to try it, since it costs the same as renting skis. It turns out that snowboarding wasn’t as easy for me to pick up as skiing. Sadly, I do not have much to say about this mountain, because I stayed in the beginner area, the “meadows”, and barely explored the mountain at all.

The terrain was beautiful, though, and all of the people were very kind. They gave me tips and tricks every time I came through the lift line. I’ll stick to skiing, but I can’t wait to be back on Snowmass! ​

The view from the Snowmass lift.

Buttermilk

The same weekend that I went to Snowmass, I hit up Buttermilk. This time, I ventured out of the terrain parks and beginners’ areas to try to give snowboarding a second chance.

I went to Buttermilk because it was their closing day, aka “Bacon Days”. My friends had told me that every lift would have a different kind of bacon, so I had to go check it out. 

I tried to make it to as many stations as I could and tried all sorts of bacon. From bacon-wrapped scallops to bacon-infused chocolate, it was all delicious. ​

The chocolate covered bacon station.

It was a difficult day on the board, but the bacon made it all worth it!

John's experience at Aspen Highlands:

Aspen Highlands

New Year’s Day 2020, a group of friends and I took on Aspen Highlands. Some of the more advanced skiers in the group crushed the legendary Highlands Bowl, while my friend from Mississippi and I explored the easier trails. We couldn’t have asked for a more gorgeous day on the mountain. 

The Aspen Highlands feature 144 trails, and a whopping 65% of those trails are expert runs called double blacks. The Highlands are also infamous for the ‘Inferno’ formally known as the Highland Bowl. Skiers and snowboarders who dare the Highland Bowl must hike from the highest ski lift up the rim of the bowl. Unfortunately for my guest and I, there aren’t any easy or many more difficult trails (known as greens and blues respectively) to balance out the expert terrain surrounding us. 

We started our day by riding the ski lifts to the very top of the mountain. My friend and I weren’t as skilled as those destined for the Highland Bowl, and when they immediately dove off the edge of the blue ‘Broadway’ run onto double blacks, we stayed on the blue terrain. The two of us enjoyed a day of skiing and watching New Year’s Day football games in the mountain’s lodges. 

At the end of the day, I took the lift to the top of the mountain one last time. On the ride up, I noticed the group of friends that had split off for a more difficult day on the mountain. I yelled, they stopped, and I quickly caught up to them. We bombed down the mountain together before finding a large table at the base to enjoy a bite to eat and stories of the famed Highland Bowl. 

Loveland Ski Area:

Our first trip in 2021 was to Loveland Ski Area. Since many resorts have COVID guidelines in place and require reservations, our choices of mountains have been more limited than ever this year. Fortunately, Loveland does not require a reservation and is decently priced for a single-day lift ticket It only cost us $80 for the day compared to $150-250 for Epic or Ikon Mountains the same day!

We went for Valentine’s Day and got an absolutely perfect powder day. It was “Colorado blue-bird skies” all day, and we got lucky, because we have heard that Loveland gets very windy!

​We had a ton of fun all day weaving in and out of the trees all across the mountains. We took just about all of the lifts that were open: Chet’s Dream, lifts #2, #4, and #6 and took to the trees any time we could.

Map of Loveland Ski Area Colorado.

We finally feel like we know what we are doing on the mountain, and Loveland really helped boost our confidence. 

​See more from our day at the Loveland Ski Area in our YouTube video here!     

See more Colorado Guides below!

• Colorado Hot Springs Guide: From Rugged Campsites to Luxury Resorts
  
• Rocky Mountain National Park Guide: Short Hikes for First Time Visitors
  
• Great Sand Dunes National Park: How To Spend A Weekend in the Dunes